Wednesday Writers Weigh In: Aaaaaarrggghhh!

Hey writers!

I know I have been MIA lately.  I didn't post on Friday and I didn't post on Monday.  Grrrrr. 

Truth is, I have been feeling a tad overwhelmed lately with writing activities!  The result has been that I have shut down.

So...Writers Weigh-In!

Sometimes we can have too many writing activities.  My list just keeps growing.  And most of the deadlines are self-inflicted.  Between writing class, critique group, critiques to return to fellow writers, grant applications, blogging, reading, reading blogs, etc I am pooped!

How do you organize it all and make sure you are productive but not over-productive?  I keep telling myself to relax.  There is no hurry.  But its difficult.

Help!

Wednesday Writers Weigh In: Give Up...

" I skip social engagements, I skip sleep, I skip showers. If it is important, fit it in. No one has time to write."  - Kiersten White on finding time to write.

I started this blog back in September 2011 with one goal in mind...stop dabbling in writing and make it a part of my daily life for the next 10 months.  However, in order to stop dabbling in writing I had to give up some other things I loved dabbling in.

I had to see a decrease in my time spent noodling around on the guitar or ukulele.  I used to take my uke with me to work every day and spend time playing it during naptime.  But now, I strictly take my laptop.  That is the time I get the most writing done.

I used to attend an open craft session every Monday evening sponsored by Etsy.  Every week we would be taught a new craft (ie. making lip balm, working with clay, sewing, etc). I loved those nights!  But alas, to focus on my writing I am now taking a Children's Writing class on Monday nights.

Bottomline, I LOVE to dabble! I love to spend countless hours learning new skills and being creative.   But I challenged myself to focus mostly on writing for 10 months (the duration of a regular school year).  I felt that I needed to set this goal in order to make writing a priority and a habit in my life.

I have to admit, it has worked.  I feel more like a writer now than I ever did!  And I am only 6 months into my 10 month challenge.  Its a sacrifice...but one I am willing to make.  After all, Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers: The Story of Success figure that it takes ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert in almost anything.  Well...I'm giving it 10 months...we'll see from there.  :)

Writers Weigh In....is there anything you have had to sacrifice. "give up" or see a decrease in to focus on your writing career?

New Friday Series: Its all about Treats!

OK. Maybe not those kinda treats.  Many of us indulged in too many of those early in the week and still have some laying around the house.

But today I want to talk about Treating Your Writer-Self.

I am starting a Friday series on "Treating Yourself and Having Others Treat You as a Writer".  For many writers, simply identifying yourself as "a writer" is difficult.  In this new series we will discuss techniques and activities to help you do just that.  If that means carving daily time out of your schedule, or taking a class, or attending a conference...I am aiming to give advice on how to make each of these happen for you!

If you know of a writer who could benefit from these Friday posts, invite them along.  The more the merrier.  We are all writers here.  :)

For more info on this idea, please visit a previous post from December 2011.
If It Walks Like a Writer and Talks Like a Writer.

And to kick this off...

What does "treating yourself as a writer" mean to you?

What can you do this weekend to "treat yourself" and "have others treat you as a writer"?

Happy Writing!

Wednesday Writers Weigh In: The Cybils, The Controversy

Yesterday the winners of the Cybils (Children's and Young Adults Bloggers Literary Awards) for 2011 were announced. 

In the Fiction Picture Book category, there was a strange result. The award was given to "Me...Jane" by Patrick McDonnell.  According to the write up cybils.com, "Me...Jane" is a touching glimpse into the life of a young Jane Goodall as a curious girl with a love of nature, and books, and a stuffed chimpanzee named Jubilee. A unique combination of dreamy watercolor vignettes and nature-inspired vintage engravings complement a simple and evocative text. Every element of the book's design, from its album-like cover and heavy yellowed pages to the inclusion of photographs and Goodall's own childhood drawings, helps create a picture book that feels like a relative's cherished scrapbook. Readers of all ages will take inspiration from a young girl who so fully follows her dreams.

But am I mistaken?  Isn't this book a Non-Fiction Picture Book?  Apparently it was orginally nominated in the NFPB category and then was switched to Fiction.

Don't get me wrong.  I love love love this book and have blogged about it in the past.  However, I believe it should have won for Non-Fiction.  Otherwise it takes the award away from a real Fiction book.

Writers Weigh In!  Do you think this book is Fiction or Non-Fiction? How do you feel about this award given to "Me...Jane"?  Anyone have any answers as to why?

Looking forward to hearing your opinions and getting a discussion going on.

How to Kill Your Darlings

Well, I did it.  It wasn't easy and I didn't feel great about it at first.  But I did it.  I committed murder this weekend.  That is saying that while revising my latest picture book manuscript, I "killed some of my darlings".

The phrase was first coined by William Faulkner who said, "In writing, you must kill your darlings."  Stephen King followed up by saying, “kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings” in his book On Writing.  But what exactly does this mean?

Basically, this phrase is referring to those parts of our manuscript that we have simply fallen in love with but are no longer needed for the story and can perhaps even be distracting to the reader.  It can be a character, a phrase, an image, a joke, etc.  As writers, we feel maternal towards these "darlings", but once a manuscript has grown these items might need to be pruned.

I had a few of these darlings in my latest manuscript.  One was the opening line.  Although I thought it was a fine opening line, the rest of the story did not convey the same feel or voice. 

The other darling was an event in my story that framed the main event.  When it came right down to it, I had to kill it.  I was sad.  I really liked this framing, but as the story was fleshed out, I realized it was no longer needed.

Perhaps you have some darlings in your manuscripts.  You might know they should go, but you don't know how to do it.  You might have your knife positioned to kill, but there is something inside you that won't let you delete this text.  So...how does one kill a darling?  Here are 5 tips.

1)  Use the strike through tool.  Do not delete entirely.  This allows you to still be able to see the text, but work around it in a new way.  Plus, it is always nice to know that you can "go back" if you regret your murderous ways.  :) 

2)   Use footnotes.  This gives you a place to gather all of the darlings, if you cannot quite pull the trigger yet.  They aren't far, so you can always pull them back up into the manuscript if you decide to resurrect them.

3)  Place them in a "graveyard" document.  Sometimes placing your darlings in a separate document helps you rid them from the current manuscript, yet know you can retrieve them for something else later, should you want.  Perhaps they can be placed in another story, if they were that good.  Others' you might be ready to fully kill at a later date. 

4)  Slash or pull them off like a band-aid.  Sometimes the only way to get rid of a stubborn darling is to completely delete it.  Highlight the text, push the delete button and then walk away.  Take a deep breath.  It will only hurt for a minute.

5)  Start a whole new version of the manuscript without your darling.  Basically, as the Girl Scouts used to say, "Make new friends, but keep the old."  Therefore, that older version is there if you want it. 

Chances are, you will not ever resurrect a murdered darling.  But hopefully these tips will help you do the deed when the time comes.

Happy Writing Revising!

SCBWI Winter Conference Recap Part 3: The Breakouts

Well, today I conclude my SCBWI Winter Conference Recap with a look at the Breakout Sessions that I attended.  I should start by saying, however, that the Breakout Sessions were based mostly on Genre at this conference.  One could choose to go to Thrillers or Fantasy or Fiction or eBooks and Apps.  For someone who was looking to learn more about a certain genre to see if they were interested in trying their own hand at it it was a nice offering.  Personally, I was a little disappointed.  As a "picture book only" writer (at least at this time in my life), I felt like the offerings left a little to be desired.  But more on that later.

Here are some basic notes from the 3 sessions I attended:

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Breakout #1 ~ Making Your Picture Book Stand Out (presented by Martha Rago, Executive Art Director, Harper Collins)

Martha Rago focused on her "4 Tent Poles of a Successful Picture Book)

1)  Characterization

• emotional connection between character and reader
• character needs to be likeable and appealing
• character must seem real and relevant

2)  The Narrative

• each image is a simple dynamic scene and sometimes tell more than text
• attention paid to pacing and Point of View
• page turns are thoughtfully considered
• rhythmic
• reader is "moved along"

3)  Voice

• fresh
• unique
• solid and stylistic
• this comes from trusting and loving your own work

4)  Skill

• whatever you write, do it well
• write with objectivity and discipline

Rago also added that in addition to these 4 Tent Poles, one should consider humor, universal appeal/resonance and form.  Bottomline, she said, was to be honest and "create from the heart"!

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Breakout #2 ~ Picture Books (presented by Samantha McFerrin, Editor at Harcourt)

Samantha McFerrin focused mainly on what a writer needs to know in order to make their pb viable in today's market.  She said writers need to know a) their audience, b) competition and c) the current pb market. 

In addition, she spent time talking about what an editor looks for...mainly, promotability of the book.  In doing so, she says that editors ask themselves 4 questions.
1)  Do I love it?
2)  Is it fresh?
3)  Will I want to keep reading over and over again?
4)  Does this story need to be told?

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Breakout Session #3 ~ Narrative Fiction (presented by Alvina Ling, Editorial Director at Little Brown)

Alvina Ling chose to base her talk on Narrative Fiction by focusing on a work's voice, structure and plot.  What was perhaps the most interesting here was the time spent on Structure. 

When talking about Structure, Ms. Ling told those present to be adventurous!  Be creative!  So many examples in today's market take structure to a whole new level and break away from the conventional novel format. 
Examples:

• "ttyl" by Lauren Myracle which is told completely in instant text messaging lingo.
• "Falling for Hamlet" by Michelle Ray which is partially told in a tv talk show format.
• "Chopsticks" by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral which is told in photographs, pictures, words and even a youtube.com link.

It was refreshing to see how many alternate ways stories are being told in today's market.  We are artists.  So let's not limit ourselves to the conventional way.

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As I said at the start, I don't think these sessions were anymore than an overview of the business through genre.  Perhaps nothing earth-shatteringly new was shared.  But it is always good to refresh the basics. 

All in all, the conference was a win for me.  The people I met, the connections that were made, the inspiration garnered, the time spent being treated as a writer...it was ALL PRICELESS!

Therefore, continue to join me on Fridays as we look at conferences worldwide and how to get YOU there!  Stay tuned.

Have a wonderful weekend.  And as always, Happy Writing!

Wednesday Writers Weigh In: Questioning Querying

Back in December I wrote the post, You Gotta Know When To Hold 'Em, regarding why I was not going to send any queries to the publishing world during the week between Christmas and New Years. If you didn't read it...it is worth checking it out.

Which brings me to this past week.  I have had a few conversations with writer friends regarding this issue: Knowing when its best to send a query.

Ever hear of "Decision Fatigue"?  Wikipedia defines "Decision Fatigue" as

In decision making and psychology, decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual, after a long session of decision making.  It is now understood as one of the causes of irrational trade-offs in decision making.  For instance, judges in court have been shown to make poorer decisions later in the day.  Decision fatigue may also lead to consumers making poor choices with their purchases.There is a paradox in that "people who lack choices seem to want them and often will fight for them"; yet at the same time, "people find that making many choices can be [psychologically] aversive."

As if us writers did not have enough to think about, it is worth giving thought to when your manuscript hits an agent or editor's desk.  Of course we cannot be in complete control over this.  But giving thought to the time of day and day of the week that you query could be beneficial.

Querying over the weekend or early Monday might not be the best, due to the mail piling up over the weekend.  However, querying at the very end of the week when editors and agents are tired/overwhelmed from the week might not be in your benefit either.

Also consider...

1. NOT querying during holidays/long weekends.  Most people return to work after such days to be faced with an overflowing inbox.  This almost guarantees your manuscript will be buried.
2. what is going on in the publishing world.  Querying during busy times such as the annual ALA conference when most editors and agents are "away from their desks" is not advised.
3. If you can, keeping a tab on the individual you are querying.  Don't query them the week they are getting married or on vacation, etc.

Just be saavy and mindful.  Remember, you want to be "seen".  Do whatever homework you need to to make sure you are.

Now its time to Weigh In!  What time of day and day of the week to you think its best to query?