October 13, 2010

(Read Regain the Passion–Part 1 first.)

So…when does passion flourish? Under what conditions?

First, a writer’s passion is generally at its highest point when life is going well. (Big surprise!) When relationships are smooth, health is good, there’s enough money to pay the bills, the writer is following a healthy diet and getting sufficient sleep: these are the optimal conditions.

Whatever is draining your passion needs to be attended to, thoroughly and persistently. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always bring back the passion. It simply sets the stage, giving yourself the optimal environment for your resurrected passion to grow.

Habits of a Passionate Writer

How do you recognize passion for writing? Yes, it’s a feeling, but it’s so much more. Each writer will exhibit certain habits when she is being passionate about her writing. These habits are individual and personal–and present in your life whether you feel passion or not. Take a moment to make a list of habits that (to you) marks a writer as passionate.

To me personally, a passionate writer:

A. writes, almost daily.
B. listens, observes and thinks—alert to her surroundings.
C. carries a notebook everywhere to jot down impressions, descriptions and ideas.
D. journals—daily, if possible.
E. is focused—begins and continues her writing with energy.
F. reads other good children’s books, both current and classics.
G. keeps up with professional reading.
H. shares her enthusiasm at conferences and workshops (but doesn’t over-schedule such events so they don’t interfere with writing).
I. leads a more secluded life than the average person, in order to nurture and explore her talent.
J. is physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually healthy.
K. is a 24-hour-a-day writer. Even when washing dishes or cutting grass, the passionate writer’s work is close at hand, on the edges of her mind. Everything she does is writing-related and life-related, so that her work and her life are inseparable.

Those are just my own personal ideas. Everyone is different. On Friday we’ll talk about practical ways to get the passion back. Before that, leave me a comment and tell me what a writer’s passion means to you.

May 5, 2010

I’d like your opinion about something, and the first three people who leave a comment today will receive a free copy of either my 50 Tension Techniques or my Writing Mysteries for Young People.

Writers’ conferences can be expensive, but the right conference can literally change your life. (I know because it happened to me back in 1997 when I attended my first week-long Highlights Chautauqua Workshop.) Others have said the same thing about the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) summer conference in California. The right conference is worth its weight in gold.

Choices, Choices!

When you first receive the conference brochure (like this one from the 2010 SCBWI event), it can be overwhelming. You feel like a kid turned loose in a candy store. So many choices! And then dismay hits when you realize you can’t attend them all.

For any given time slot, there may be six or seven workshops to choose from. You may truly wish to attend several of them, but the schedule won’t allow it. Even smaller regional and state conferences often have several workshop choices for the same time slot.

So how do you choose?

What’s Your Criteria?

In the beginning, I simply chose what appealed to me. I love inspirational talks, workshops on organization and motivation and where you get ideas. That used to be my #1 choice every time. It was pure dessert.

After I’d published a bit, I realized I need less help getting inspired and more help with dialogue, voice, and other craft topics. I still attended at least one motivational talk, but then concentrated on learning and improving writing skills. This was meat and potatoes.

After I’d published a lot, I bit the bullet and started adding a few workshops on things I hated: taxes for the writer, marketing on a shoe string budget, writing proposals and queries. This was definitely brussels sprouts.

It’s Your Turn

Pretend it’s your first major conference, and you’re choosing workshops to attend. When you leave a comment (which I will read and post tonight and tomorrow) please tell me two things: (1) which e-booklet you’d like, and (2) what criteria you use when choosing among conflicting workshops.

I hope you’re one of the first three!

October 16, 2009

A year ago, I urged you to sign up for the free Muse Online Writer’s Conference. It’s been running this week, October 12-18, and my brain is over-stuffed at the moment. (Next time I won’t sign up for 28 different workshops!)

I’ve attended lectures on voice, overcoming creative blocks, writing tight, plot points and tension, enjoyed Q & A with agents and editors, pitched my middle-grade novel to an agent and got a “go ahead,” and so much more. Forums contain lecture notes and assignments, plus postings of lessons with feedback. The handouts were especially good, and I have a small binder full.

It was also especially helpful to me this year for health reasons to be able to sit in my good office chair, sleep in my own bed, eat my own food, and get up and walk around when necessary. I Skyped with a writer friend a couple of times this week (who was also “attending” the conference via her computer.) Discussing some of the workshops was helpful.

Don’t Miss Out!

It’s been a full week, and admittedly I got behind on the assignments. Next year, if I’m lucky enough to get one of the 1,000+ spots available, I will have to be more selective. I was, admittedly, like a kid in a candy store–where the chocolate was all free!

There are so many wonderful things about the Muse conference, and directors Lea Schizas and Carolyn Howard-Johnson are to be commended for the tremendous amount of work they’ve done to give writers this chance.  I’ll let you know when it’s time to sign up for next year’s conference. You don’t want to miss this opportunity.

June 22, 2009

How do you make good use of the notes and information gleaned at a writer’s workshop or conference?

A woman in my weekly critique group spent last week in Honesdale at one of the Highlights Foundation Founders Workshops on novel writing. The rest of our group was “pea-green with envy,” as Scarlett O’Hara said. From the enthusiastic email we received from her, she learned as much as she’d hoped and came home greatly encouraged. This Thursday at our critique meeting, we are setting aside an hour or more for her to share with all of us what she learned last week.

The book Networking at Writer’s Conferences: From Contacts to Contracts (Spratt and Spratt) has a section about what to do after the conference is over. In a chapter called “Where Do You Go from Here?”, the authors talk about returning from the world of the conference to your world of day jobs and the outside world clamoring for your attention. Before you get caught up in it again, how can you retain what you learned from your conference? I hope our friend’s mini-presentation at group on Thursday will do just that.

“Before you file them away [the conference notes]  for the future, review them (and your postconference evaluation) for new ideas, new information, and new possibilities gleaned from your conference…If your notes contain any gems dropped by conference speakers, post the most encouraging statements in your office or writing area where you will see them often–preferably every time you sit down to write.”

Share the Value

When our writing friend gives her talk to us on Thursday, I think it will help all of us. It will certainly be a treat for those of us who couldn’t attend the workshop to learn some “members only” insider tips and insights and techniques for writing deeper. I think the sharing process will also help my friend “cement” her revision ideas and talk through her critique suggestions.

I will also make sure she posts those very encouraging comments from the workshop leaders on her writing wall beside her computer. She will need the reminders as she delves into her four-week revision process.

 

Conferences are expensive and time-consuming to attend. So be sure you are well prepared beforehand, work hard during the conference, and take the necessary time to follow up when you get home. Sharing your new-found insights with other writers is one (generous) way to do this!

What thing(s) do YOU do when you get home from a conference or workshop so that you retain what you learned? Share some ideas!

April 29, 2009

The book club I started last fall (for writers to discuss current children’s books) has been eye-opening. The club members have widely divergent tastes sometimes, and it’s been a good lesson for us all not to take rejection personally. With any title we’ve read so far, at least one or two people hated the book while as many absolutely loved it.

I’m finishing a middle-grade novel right now for Thursday’s book club. It’s a Newbery Honor Book from a few years ago, and it deserves the honor. At least, that’s what I think today. Last week, as I struggled through the first 70 pages, my thoughts were less charitable, like How in heaven’s name did this thing win an award? If I had been reading for pleasure, or if I still had my old job of reading “slush pile” submissions for a publisher, I would not have finished it.

And that would have been a terrible shame.

A Diamond in the Rough

You see, this book (unlike many others I’ve read) really did get good about Page 75. It turned into something focused instead of fuzzy, funny instead of slapstick, with deeper themes and real tug-at-the-heart moments. If I had not had to finish the book (I’m in charge of the book club, after all), I most certainly would have quit along about Page 25.

The opening chapters were all over the place, I couldn’t figure out what the conflict was supposed to be, the humor was stupid, the hero was a combination of a ninny and whiner. If the author hadn’t been very well known, I wonder if this book would have been given a reading by an editor or agent at all. Maybe not–and a really terrific book would have been rejected.

At the Starting Line

All this is to say that first impressions do count. We can’t expect editors and agents we query to be like a child forced to read a book for an assignment. They won’t–and they’ll never know that your book really DOES hit its stride in another fifty pages or so. Instead of hoping for that particular miracle, take extra time to make your opening its best. Study books like Hooked! by Les Edgerton or Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress.

First impressions count in other areas of our writing life as well. How you present yourself to other writers when you first attend a conference or meeting counts too. If you’re unsure of yourself, study books like Networking at Writer’s Conferences by Steven Spratt and Lee Spratt.

On the Right Foot

There’s an old saying: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Even Jane Austen knew this. She changed the title of her famous book from First Impressions to … Pride and Prejudice.

December 8, 2008

Today is my birthday. Before I open any of my gifts from family and friends, I already know what my favorite gift is going to be. It’s one I decided to give to myself.

Always Running, Faster, FASTER!

I’ve been writing and publishing since my kids were babies. They’re in their twenties and thirties now, having babies of their own. Many of those growing-up years were either single parenting years or times when the family relied heavily on my income. Slowing down to read more or study my craft was not an option. The 50+ hours of work per week needed to generate income: writing books, teaching, speaking, writing test questions, doing private critiques, etc.

Whenever I thought about studying more, reading more, taking more time to grow as a writer (versus making every hour a billable hour), I would promise myself, Later, when things slow down and the cash flow eases up. Even when that day came where I could cut back, I found that the very idea panicked me. I had drummed into my head for so many years that freelancer warning, “If you don’t work, you don’t eat.” You learn to go without paid sick days or paid vacations–much less time to study one’s craft.

If Not NOW, When?

For several years, I’ve been having a discussion with a dear writing friend who would also love to slow down and study and spend time to improve her writing. It’s a dream we’ve both had for a long time. We’ve done motivational workshops, learned how to “work smarter, not harder,” streamlined our work habits, multi-tasked until we met ourselves coming and going. And what did we do with the time freed up by all this smarter working? We worked more, took on more projects, learned how to do website design/blog/Twitter, and lamented ever finding more time.

The Tipping Point

What pushed me over the edge into making the decision to give myself the gift of time? I went to a writer’s workshop Saturday in Austin, a “first pages” workshop hosted by Cynthia Leitich Smith where Cynthia and HarperCollins editor Jill Santopolo critiqued three opening pages from every workshop participant. One of the many things that struck me Saturday was Cynthia’s broad knowledge of what’s being published. I asked her on break about her reading schedule. She reads a juvenile/YA novel or a stack of picture books DAILY. Most times, I’m embarrassed to say, I do well to read a children’s book a month (usually something a friend has had published.) We learn so much about good writing from reading. I’ve always known that. But at some point–while trying to keep food on the table–I had let that part of my writing life lapse.

Cynthia is an instructor for the famous Vermont MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Jill had been one of her students. Several writers in the audience had completed their MFA program as well. While I don’t have the $$$ to do the two-year program, I can make the time (if I really want to) to read widely what is currently being published. I can study the excellent writing books on my shelves that have gathered dust after I only read the first chapter or two. I always intended to finish the books later–but later had not yet come.

Now is later.

Starting today, I am giving myself the gift of time to study and read. I think if I do my writing/teaching/moneymaking activities in the morning that I can read/study my craft in the afternoons. I’ve wanted to do this for years, and given the economic times, it’s a smart career move too, I expect. We will all need to become better writers. And if not now, when?

Maybe you can’t afford to work part-time yet. I know that situation is a reality for many of us. But if you can squeeze out even a daily hour to read current books in your field and study a writing craft book, I encourage you to do it. I can’t wait! It’s going to be a very good year.

November 24, 2008

I love writers’ conferences, but let’s face it. They’re expensive: the travel (often including plane tickets, shuttles), hotel rooms, and food. (Plus child care, if you have small children.) Even if money isn’t an issue, you might not be physically able to handle a conference away from home.

Have I got great news for you!

If you don’t delay, you can sign up to attend the week-long Muse Online Writers Conference in 2009 for FREE. The conference isn’t until October 14-18, but I encourage you to sign up now. I waited too long last year, and it was full when I tried to register.

Lea Schizas and Carolyn Howard-Johnson are co-founders of the Muse Online Writer’s Conference. They wanted to create a FREE conference, designed to help writers get together to mingle and network with some of the professionals in this business. Their first conference was in 2006, with nearly 1,300 attendees from around the world.

You attend from the comfort of your own home. No need to worry about conference clothes, finding a sitter for the kids or coming up with the extra money to travel. Just settle in at your computer and enjoy.

The conference is geared to anyone, from mystery, poetry, and children’s writing, to romance, suspense, and nonfiction. They also have workshops that are specifically geared for promotion, writing media releases, scheduling, making time to write, handling rejections, and more.

This free conference also allows attendees to get to know some of their favorite authors by chatting with them either during their scheduled real time chats or all week in their private forum.

Next year’s The Muse Online Writers Conference will be held October 12 – 18, 2009. Remember, it’s one week of FREE workshops and FREE chats with their presenters, along with FREE handouts to be given out before the conference begins so everyone can read and begin preparing their questions for the presenters.

For more information, check out these links that tell about last month’s conference. This is what could be available to you next October for free-if you act now.

*Seven pages of presenters for the 2008 October conference

*The week’s worth of workshops in 2008

*Here’s the page where you find the yahoo registration link:

The deadline to register is August 1, 2009, but I urge you not to wait to register. I waited last year, and it was full. I expect this year it will fill up even faster. I’m hoping to encourage my critique group to “attend” this conference with me.

(After you register, you will get a free sample copy of Lea Schizas’ Monthly Links Newsletter.)

March 19, 2008

Late last night I returned from California’s Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. It was everything I had hoped for, and much more. I’ll be sharing bits and pieces in the coming weeks about some things I learned or saw there. One of the keynote speakers was Jerry Jenkins, co-author of the Left Behind series. After one speech, we were each surprised with a copy of his writing book, Writing for the Soul: Instruction and Advice from an Extraordinary Writing Life. I was reading the book on the plane coming home, and the advice below struck a chord with me. (I had just spend five days listening to talks by bestselling, world famous writers. While I know we aren’t supposed to compare ourselves to others, it’s tough not to do. So this excerpt from his book was especially meaningful.)

“Don’t try to write a bestseller or be a modern-day Shakespeare. Simply write your best… If you’re committed to being the best you can be, you’ll achieve your best. If you’re halfhearted, you’ll be only that. I’m not saying that if you commit yourself 100 percent, you’ll sell a million copies, but I can promise you’ll be the best writer you can be. How bad to you want to be the best you can be?…Decide what’s important to you. You will always make the time to do what you really want to do. If your goal is to be the best you can be, you can arrive there every day.” Now that’s success!

His last statement was like a cup of cool water on a dry and thirsty day. Read it again. We can be successful every day if it’s a day we do the best we can with our writing. And if we continue to write every day, the best we can do next month or next year will be much higher than the best we can do today. Like so many things, it’s step by step. We don’t get better in our writing by giant leaps. We get better like the tortoise, not the hare: slow and steady is the pace, slow and steady wins the race.

Do you want to write better? Then commit to writing your best today…and tomorrow…and the next day. You can’t–in the end–be more successful than that. And it will have the added bonus of making your writing days a pleasure.

March 15, 2008

I usually post on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays–but I won’t be able to for a few days. I’ll be at the Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference March 14-18. I’m so excited to be going, and the Career Track looks wonderful. Some of the finest writers in the Christian field are on the faculty, and a large number of agents and editors will be in attendance as well. I’m sure I’ll have lots to share when I get back!