July 29, 2009

Have you reached a point in your writing career where you’re not as gung-ho as you were? Your fingers aren’t as fast on the keyboard, your neck gets stiff more quickly, or sleepiness overtakes you before you’ve written more than a page?

Maybe you’re in need of renewal.

Like the Eagle

I read a fascinating bit of information about bald eagles today. There comes a time when an eagle can no longer take off as quickly or fly at top speed, when his sharp talons have grown dull, when calcifications have formed on his beak, and his feathers are worn. Did you know that this smart bald eagle takes time to renew himself at this point?

He goes away alone, sits on a high rock close to the sun, and begins to pluck out all his feathers, one by one. (He may have 7,000 feathers! Talk about pain!) Then he finds a stream to clean himself of the caked mud, parasites, and insects he’s collected. When he’s clean and nearly naked, he sits in the sun and waits.

Renewal

During the waiting period–up to forty days–the eagle sharpens his talons and beak on the rock. He beats the calcifications off his beak. He waits for his feathers to grow back in. Much of the time he rests. He may look battered, he may feel weak, but he is being renewed. [Updated note: see comment below about this being a myth. I hope you find the analogy useful, just the same!~~Kristi]

Writers need renewal too. Are you at that point? Have there been one too many rejections or disappointments lately? Have you given it your all for months (maybe years), but without seemingly much progress?

If that’s the case, you may want to carve out some renewal time for yourself before disappointment becomes despair, before the rejections make you give up, before natural tiredness becomes burnout, before brain sludge becomes writer’s block.

Stumped for ideas on how to renew the writer within? One place to start is Monday’s blog post on restoring balance in your life. I mentioned a good resource there. What are some of YOUR favorite ways to find renewal (both short-term and when you need a deeper rest?) Please share!

July 20, 2009

On Friday I wrote about refusing to give up and pushing through obstacles if you really believe in a writing project. Over the weekend, I read a story in Joyce Meyer’s Never Give Up! book about how the Brooklyn Bridge came to be. It was news to me–and it was accomplished by two men (father and son) who believed in the dream when all others laughed at them.

Double Tragedy

But that wasn’t all. The father was killed when the project was only a few months underway. Three years later the son was injured, suffering brain damage that left him unable to walk, talk or even move–EXCEPT one finger. He worked out a system of communication with his wife using that one finger.

Over the course of eleven years, he used his one finger to give his wife instructions to pass along to the bridge builders. The bridge was finally completed in 1883. (If you’re interested, you can read the entire inspirational story and see more photos and historical facts about this amazing feat.)

Most of us haven’t encountered discouragement or setbacks of this magnitude in our writing lives. Let’s keep things in perspective. Usually we’re battling disappointment or trouble getting started or lack of family support. Next time you feel like quitting because the writing life has become difficult, remember the builders of the Brooklyn Bridge.

July 15, 2009

About ten years ago, someone said to me, “You write fiction because you can’t handle the real world.”

I was stunned by the accusation. For one thing, my fictional characters were very real to me! And I tackled real situations in my books–often based on actual events. From my childhood on, I’d learned a lot of truth about the human condition from reading fiction. In many cases, I learned more from fiction than from observing my real world.

Do Facts Equal Truth?

In Madeleine L’Engle {Herself}: Reflections on a Writing Life, the Newbery-award winner wrote about “the truth of art”: “Once when I suggested to a student that he go to the encyclopedia when he wanted to look up a fact, he asked me, ‘But can’t I find truth in stories too?’ My reply: ‘Who said anything about truth? I told you to look up facts in the encyclopedia. When you’re looking for truth, then look in art, in poetry, in story, in painting and music.’ Now this student was doing no more than making the mistake of many of his elders, confusing provable fact with truth, and then fearing truth enough to try to discount it. If I want to search for the truth of the human heart, I’m more apt to go to Dostoyevsky’s Brothers Karamazov than a book on anatomy.”

I think that people who discount fiction don’t really understand it–or haven’t read much of it. They don’t grasp the power of story to carry truth. They have a bit of a superior attitude, as if reading a biography or a book on unclogging your sink has more merit than a novel.

Truth Learned in Fiction

I still have most of my favorite childhood books, and I still re-read some of them. I loved sharing them with my daughters, and I now love sharing them with my grandchildren. Some truths are universal and timeless (like the lessons on friendship learned from Charlotte’s Web.)

My all-time favorite children’s book was Little Women. I learned a lot of important truths from the March family: how to love deeply, how to grieve a loss and go on, and how to feed the imagination. (I expect the writing “bug” bit me then, as I watched Jo March toiling away in the attic over her stories.) I learned that writers wrote about what they knew.

Life Lessons

If you have a minute, leave a comment and share a book or two from your own childhood that impacted you–and tell why. What truths do you remembering learning in fiction?

July 10, 2009

There’s magic in a well crafted picture book, magic that lasts from one generation to the next. Maybe that’s why so many writers want to create picture books. Students sometimes ask me for advice on writing picture books, and one how-to book full of great advice was sent to me a few weeks ago.

Because my publishing has been mostly with middle grade novels (and no picture books), I asked a writer friend who’s had picture books published to review this for me and ask if she could recommend it. Her review is below:

Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On-Guide from Story Creation to Publication by Ann Whitford Paul

Review by Lupe Ruiz-Flores

This 2009 248-page Writer’s Digest book, written by the award-winning author and poet, Ann Whitford Paul, goes into depth just like the title implies: from story creation to publication.

Beginning writers and seasoned published writers as well will find this guide an easy-to-follow genuine gem. The playful illustrated cover draws you into the magical world of picture books. The Table of Contents has titles like: Before You Write Your Story, Early Story Decisions, Structure of Your Story, Language of Your Story, Tying Together Loose Story Ends, and concludes with After Your Story is Done. The chapters focus extensively on the craft of writing, including how to make a dummy book.

A unique feature in the book is a blocked message at the end of each chapter called What’s Next?, which lets the reader know what to expect in the upcoming chapter. Then another blocked message, Before You Go On, briefly summarizes the chapter you’ve just read and also recommends writing exercises to practice before continuing. Always at the end of this summary, the reader is encouraged to read a new picture book. The list of recommended picture books is awesome.

Like a Workshop at Home

The author offers a wealth of information and examples for using different techniques in writing a picture book.  She points out what keeps a good story moving.  In each chapter, the author takes you through the writing exercises, step by step, creating a story, exploring different ways to tell your story, coaching you along the way. It’s like being in a writer’s workshop with one of your favorite authors. Experimenting with tenses, using different points of view, changing the story location, changing time periods or human characters into animal characters are just some of the possibilities mentioned in the book to help make your story a great one.

The section on creating memorable main characters was intriguing.  The author stressed the importance of doing an in-depth character study and knowing your character inside out. An outline on how to do this is included in the chapter. I found this especially enlightening because I’ve heard comments that character development in a picture book is not that important. Wrong!

Regardless of which level you’re at as a writer of children’s books, you will pick up something new by reading this book. From story structure and language, to finding the right critique group, to submitting to the right publisher, to finding agents, to coping with rejections, to using writing prompts, this reference book is a tool that every serious children’s picture book writer should not be without.

Lupe Ruiz-Flores is the author of three bilingual picture books. She is currently working on a middle-grade book. Visit her Web site at: www.luperuiz-flores.com and her blog at www.luperuiz-flores.blogspot.com .

July 8, 2009

The most common complaint I hear among writers–especially those who have published and are writing seriously–is that they no longer have enough time to read for pleasure. By the time the necessary writing, blogging, marketing, and studying is done, the day is gone.

Like most busy people I know, reading for pleasure is relegated to the end of the day after crawling into bed. If my eyes will still focus–less and less likely these days–I can’t stay awake for more than three pages. Reading for pleasure had almost become a thing of the past.

Until last week.

Enter the Playaway

Do you know about the nifty books-on-MP3-players called Playaways? I had never heard of them until last week at my local library branch. They’re recorded books, but not on CD like most audio books. They come on tiny MP3 players (weigh less than two ounces and are smaller than a deck of cards). Playaways feature both fiction and nonfiction, new titles and old classics. You check them out like books on your library card.

As it says on their website (where you buy or rent Playaways): “Welcome to Playaway, the world’s first pre-loaded digital audio player. Playaway is the easiest way to listen to a book on the go. Simply plug in the earphones and enjoy. No Cassettes or CDs. No Downloads. Just Play.”

If this interests you–but your library doesn’t have any Playaways yet–encourage your librarian to check their website before July 15. Until then, they are running a “buy two, get one free” deal.

Reading on the Run

Playaways have really improved the quality of my daily life. I know that statement sounds over the top, but it’s true. After being on the computer all day, my eyes are too strained to read for pleasure on my breaks. NOW I take my 15-minute breaks, put in eye drops, grab my earphones, and close my eyes. Someone with a beautiful reading voice reads a chapter or two of my favorite mystery or English novel.

I’ve also listened to the MP3 novels while doing dishes, sweeping, cooking, gardening, driving, and during my daily hour-long bike ride. I don’t mind the chores anymore–a miracle in itself–and I’m getting to enjoy my pleasure reading again.

Implications for Writers

Both adult and children/YA books are on Playaway now, so children’s authors can also keep up with their reading of new titles this way. I will be interested to see if “Playaway rights” shows up in my next contract. For sure, from now on I will be reading my work aloud before the final proofing to make sure the story sounds good out loud!

Time to fix my omelet for lunch. But first, let me slip that Playaway into my pocket. I’m dying to find out how that murder mystery ends!