September 28, 2009

I’m back home after seeing Laurie off to her deployment. This will be a catch-up day for marking lessons, but first I wanted to thank the many blog readers who commented last week or emailed from my website about Laurie. Your caring and your prayers are soooo appreciated by our whole family.

It was a special three days with Laurie, and I got to see her more than I had mentally prepared myself for. It’s always a lovely surprise when life exceeds our expectations! You can see a couple of photos of us here and click on them to enlarge them.

Writing and Families

I’ve long suspected that writers juggling family issues is a much bigger challenge than writers trying to figure out how to plot or write sparkling dialogue or deepen characterization. Being able to focus when life is “happening” to your loved ones is a bigger challenge to me–and always has been.

We flew to Phoenix to see Laurie, then drove her car home to store here (a fourteen-hour drive). I decided ahead of time how I was going to practice what I always preach to my students and make good use of my time. I took along a huge bag of books (which made me re-think buying a Kindle!) I had a middle-grade Newbery book to read, a book on writer’s voice, and a fun adult mystery.

Using the reward system I’ve blogged about, I spent fifteen minutes on the voice book and exercises, then fifteen minutes on the Newbery book, and then rewarded myself with the adult mystery for fun. When my eyes gave out, we listened to a book on tape in the car. (I realized I was blessed by two things: a quiet husband who likes to drive and the ability to read without becoming car sick.) Yes, I interspersed a lot of praying for Laurie, but then I got back to making good use of this rare long period of quiet.

Heading into the Year

I know from past experience that this year will be difficult. I worried myself sick through Laurie’s first deployment. I was better the second time. And this time I’m determined to pray a lot more, worry a lot less, and get a lot more writing done.

I don’t know what challenges you are personally facing, either in your own family and marriage and health or with someone else’s. But I encourage you to do whatever is necessary so that it doesn’t overtake your writing life. It so easily can, but with enough determination and the grace of God, it doesn’t have to.

September 9, 2009

“Blogs are like a box of chocolates…” Isn’t that how the saying goes? I love opening a new box of candy–the picking and choosing, the sampling, the enjoyment!

Well, in today’s blog, I’m offering you a box of chocolates from various blogs I read. Here are some of the best I’ve read lately. Pick and choose. See what looks good to you. Enjoy!

Take Your Pick

You’ll want to give yourself a whole weekend for this particular blog entry. It will take that long to check out the 100 Essential Tips and Tools for Writers of the Future. It covers marketing, creativity, niche writing, finding paying work, and much more.

How can you think outside the box and create a novel that is unusual and meaningful? In this hurry-hurry world, what can we do to unleash our hidden creativity? Author Gail Gaymer Martin gives you ten great ideas here.

When you land an agent, here’s how NOT to make your agent worry. Read Agent Wendy Lawton (Books and Such Literary Agency) on this subject.

If you’re hoping to write full-time, you need to do career planning. Here’s a realistic step-by-step guide from top literary agent, Chip MacGregor.

Time to Sample

Open your box of chocolates, settle back in  a comfy chair, and enjoy this sampling of some fine articles!

September 7, 2009

“Your manuscript doesn’t meet our current needs.” Anyone who receives this nondescript rejection assumes that her manuscript needs revising, but what’s wrong with it? What’s missing?

We often tell new authors that “writing is rewriting.” However, the actual process of revising is difficult to explain. It includes so much on so many levels! There are basics of character and plot and conflict. On deeper levels, appropriate language must convey theme and motivation. It all must engage the reader.

But HOW?

How do published authors take an “okay” manuscript and turn it into something that grabs an editor? And after that, how do they work with editors to incorporate yet more changes? Look no further for your answers than Sandy Asher’s new book, Writing It Right!: How Successful Children’s Authors Revise and Sell Their Stories. It’s a gold mine.

Whether you’re writing picture books or middle grade or young adult novels, Writing It Right! (400 pages!) will show you how to pinpoint your weak areas–and how to fix them. Sandy uses nine essential questions to guide you through the process. Each question is critical to creating a solid manuscript. It’s a terrific checklist–one I intend to use myself on a couple of MG novels I’m currently working on.

Nuts and Bolts Exposed

In the book, each story (full picture book or a chapter from a longer work) is analyzed in several ways. You’ll see before and after versions. The before version highlights areas that need work. The after version shows the changes.

In another section, you will see the actual line edits that brought about the changes.  This includes the type of detailed comments an editor at a publishing house might make after accepting your manuscript. (Yes! Usually there are more revisions after acceptance.) You will also see several versions as the author works through the problems and issues, ending with the version that was published.

Personally Speaking…

I’ve known Sandy since the mid-80s. She was the first “real author” I met. At a young writer’s festival in Warrensburg, MO, she was my roommate. I was one petrified speaker, brand new at talking before groups of kids, and I barely slept the night before our first scheduled talks. I know I disturbed her sleep. (At least, I assumed she didn’t usually sleep with a pillow over her head.) I crowned my nervous performance by waking her up at 5 a.m. I accidentally knocked over the floor lamp between our beds and hit her. I was mortified, to say the least. Sandy looked up at me. Heart pounding, I said, “It’s morning.” She replied, “It certainly is.” She graciously took me under her wing that weekend, introduced me around, and became a dear friend. So I’m especially pleased to be able to recommend her book so highly.

Sandy knows her stuff. She’s had more than twenty books for children published, has edited five collections of fiction, and has published well over thirty plays. My girls read her books growing up, and I’ve seen a couple of her plays produced, and they’re excellent.

You can order Writing It Right! and examine it for 30 days without cost, and I’d really recommend that you check it out. It can bring your work up to a whole new (and publishable) level.