As some of you may recall from earlier posts, I'm taking part in the "Writer's Platform Building Crusade" spearheaded by Rachael Harrie. You can read about (or sign up for) this great blog-sharing-for-the-sake-of-building-followers idea here. And check out my sidebar for links to all my fellow crusader's blogs!
Anyway, we are being issued a challenge this week. And it is to write a post that starts with
"I sat down to write the other day and..."
my cat, Alex, jumped into my lap. He nudged my hand and looked up at me and said, "just who the heck do you think you are? You aren't a writer! You are Megan the mom, the wife, the sister, the daughter, the participating parent, the dutiful employee, the friend. Isn't that good enough?"
"Geez, Alex! You weight as much as an elephant and you're a buzz kill. Get off my lap."
"No way. I need some attention and love and if you are going to be all distracted with this crazy new idea that you can write a picture book or two, I'm going to demand my fair share of your time."
"Look, cat. I know I can be all of those other things and write too. It is a juggling act, but I'm good at juggling. Besides, I need something for me."
"I thought your family and friends and everything else were already for you."
"Well, I suppose they are. I'm blessed a million times over. But another one of my blessings is my creative self and it wouldn't it be wrong to deny myself that?"
"Whatever. What makes you think you can write anyway? You've never been a person who creates, you interpret. Theater was just building off of someone else's creative work."
"I don't know for sure that I can create whole worlds. I mean, I would never come up with a world that involved quidditch, paintings that move and interact, and invisibility cloaks. But maybe I can tap into my childhood imagination and have something interesting to share. And maybe encourage other children to tap into their imaginations.
"You have lofty goals for someone who doesn't know what they are doing."
"I'll shoot for the moon and maybe land on Mars, but at least I'm out there!"
"I'm tired of your lap. I need to go take a lengthy bath in the hallway and then chase an invisible bug."
"I'm changing your name to Freud."
"Meow."
Monday, October 4, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Weekend Recommendation #4
Happy Saturday everyone!
I've been particularly interested in good rhyming picture books this week because they are SO hard to write! So, I'm going to recommend one I found at the library called Bear In The Air by Susan Meyers and illustrated by Amy Bates. It has the amazingly rare qualities of not tripping you up while reading it out loud, it actually rhymes all the way through like it should and it is an adorable story to boot! So check it out for a good rhyme!
Have a wonderful weekend!
I've been particularly interested in good rhyming picture books this week because they are SO hard to write! So, I'm going to recommend one I found at the library called Bear In The Air by Susan Meyers and illustrated by Amy Bates. It has the amazingly rare qualities of not tripping you up while reading it out loud, it actually rhymes all the way through like it should and it is an adorable story to boot! So check it out for a good rhyme!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Celebrate!
Just thought I'd do a quick celebration for hitting 25 followers! Imagine me throwing confetti and giving each of you a hug, high-five or fist bump (depending on your level of germophobia). And you each get a really awesome or really lame (depending on your level of imagination) pretend star sticker! Cheers!
Where is the bleepin' mail?
A huge part of the adventure of trying to be published is not adventuresome at all. It is waiting. Waiting for some kind of response to those envelopes you prepare so carefully and kiss before you slip them in the mailbox (do editors and agents know we all do this? They may want to wash their hands after opening submissions).
I have no clue how an acceptance would come. Mail? E-mail? Phone call? I'm hearing that often agents call to offer representation and I know from experience that magazine rejections come via mail (hence that self addressed stamped envelope we include in the submission).
But regardless of how an acceptance or rejection would come, I have become obsessed with the mail. I have always been a big fan of mail. My best friend and I tried to send an actual physical card or note to each other on a regular basis in college because non-bill-non-junk mail can totally brighten your day. And I mentioned earlier this week how receiving books in the mail as a child turned those books into my favorites instantly. Now mail has a whole new importance in my life. When it is a half hour later than usual, I get all testy! At this point I'm excited for any word (good or bad) about my writing, so I need that mail carrier to be prompt!
I wonder if there is any way I can get them to re-do their route so I can get my mail in the morning instead of the afternoon...
I have no clue how an acceptance would come. Mail? E-mail? Phone call? I'm hearing that often agents call to offer representation and I know from experience that magazine rejections come via mail (hence that self addressed stamped envelope we include in the submission).
But regardless of how an acceptance or rejection would come, I have become obsessed with the mail. I have always been a big fan of mail. My best friend and I tried to send an actual physical card or note to each other on a regular basis in college because non-bill-non-junk mail can totally brighten your day. And I mentioned earlier this week how receiving books in the mail as a child turned those books into my favorites instantly. Now mail has a whole new importance in my life. When it is a half hour later than usual, I get all testy! At this point I'm excited for any word (good or bad) about my writing, so I need that mail carrier to be prompt!
I wonder if there is any way I can get them to re-do their route so I can get my mail in the morning instead of the afternoon...
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Picture Book Hesitancy
After re-writing my way through a couple manuscripts now, I'm finding that the third time is not the charm.
When I sat down to write my first one, I hammered it out in like 30 minutes and figured I rocked that puppy. Then I started reading this fabulous book "Writing Picture Books" by Ann Whitford Paul. And with each chapter I re-wrote, re-imagined, and re-focused my manuscript. Then I went through the whole thing another two times and revamped it each time. And then I let some folks critique it. And wrote it again. And then I finally submitted it. And now I wait for an editor to hopefully love it enough to send me more revision notes!
My second manuscript is still in the revision process. And while I haven't had to rewrite it as much as the first, it is still on version 7.0 or something like that.
So, as I have this fabulous idea in my head for my third manuscript, I'm hesitant to start. Not because I'm afraid of revision, but I'm clogging my brain so much with what I've learned, I'm having a hard time writing anything. I would start a sentence and think, "Oh, but I should use stronger words there." Or, "I shouldn't introduce a character like that." I finally just made myself sputter the idea out on a page so I have a starting place. I'm finding that trying to coordinate all of that knowledge about character, form, plot, pacing, word choice, strong beginnings, satisfying endings, showing instead of telling, etc. is just impossible to get down all at once. Revisions are the key to getting all that in. Hopefully more than one point can be addressed in each revision, but if not, so be it. I must be patient with myself as I learn! My blissful ignorance sure did make that first version of the first manuscript much easier to get down.
When I sat down to write my first one, I hammered it out in like 30 minutes and figured I rocked that puppy. Then I started reading this fabulous book "Writing Picture Books" by Ann Whitford Paul. And with each chapter I re-wrote, re-imagined, and re-focused my manuscript. Then I went through the whole thing another two times and revamped it each time. And then I let some folks critique it. And wrote it again. And then I finally submitted it. And now I wait for an editor to hopefully love it enough to send me more revision notes!
My second manuscript is still in the revision process. And while I haven't had to rewrite it as much as the first, it is still on version 7.0 or something like that.
So, as I have this fabulous idea in my head for my third manuscript, I'm hesitant to start. Not because I'm afraid of revision, but I'm clogging my brain so much with what I've learned, I'm having a hard time writing anything. I would start a sentence and think, "Oh, but I should use stronger words there." Or, "I shouldn't introduce a character like that." I finally just made myself sputter the idea out on a page so I have a starting place. I'm finding that trying to coordinate all of that knowledge about character, form, plot, pacing, word choice, strong beginnings, satisfying endings, showing instead of telling, etc. is just impossible to get down all at once. Revisions are the key to getting all that in. Hopefully more than one point can be addressed in each revision, but if not, so be it. I must be patient with myself as I learn! My blissful ignorance sure did make that first version of the first manuscript much easier to get down.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Every book day is like Christmas day
Yesterday was my father's birthday and, naturally, we went to a bookstore to find him a present. This is a terrible idea! Me and my husband and our three boys in a bookstore is a recipe for financial disaster. We could easily have to get a second mortgage if we aren't careful in there.
Now, my eldest son had made a deal with me that he could spend some of his piggy bank money on some books he was wanting. Okay, no big deal. But then the two younger ones see the oldest with books in his hand (when my usual mantra in the bookstore is, "no books today"). Oh the injustice! The misery! Sadly, we can not afford to buy a lot of books in the bookstore. We are library/garage-sale/second-hand-store book people. I want to support my fellow writers by buying their books retail, but it just isn't always possible. So, I had to convince the "not fair" chorus that we would buy them books at a second hand store later this week.
In the end though, I couldn't help but think what a wonderful problem this is to have. My husband and I have actually had to devise a strategy because our children want books so badly. How awesome! I remember the same desire when I was a kid too. Every once in a while I'd get to order books from the book order forms that came home. And when they arrived...JOY! And for a while we belonged to several book-by-mail clubs. Some of those books are still my favorite today. Not necessarily because they are the best books, but getting them produced such happiness, it has carried with me all these years.
How fantastically awesome would it be to be the writer of a book that brought a child that much joy? That's one reason I write.
Now, my eldest son had made a deal with me that he could spend some of his piggy bank money on some books he was wanting. Okay, no big deal. But then the two younger ones see the oldest with books in his hand (when my usual mantra in the bookstore is, "no books today"). Oh the injustice! The misery! Sadly, we can not afford to buy a lot of books in the bookstore. We are library/garage-sale/second-hand-store book people. I want to support my fellow writers by buying their books retail, but it just isn't always possible. So, I had to convince the "not fair" chorus that we would buy them books at a second hand store later this week.
In the end though, I couldn't help but think what a wonderful problem this is to have. My husband and I have actually had to devise a strategy because our children want books so badly. How awesome! I remember the same desire when I was a kid too. Every once in a while I'd get to order books from the book order forms that came home. And when they arrived...JOY! And for a while we belonged to several book-by-mail clubs. Some of those books are still my favorite today. Not necessarily because they are the best books, but getting them produced such happiness, it has carried with me all these years.
How fantastically awesome would it be to be the writer of a book that brought a child that much joy? That's one reason I write.
Monday, September 27, 2010
"Stop screaming!" I yelled
Do you ever have a moment as an adult where you think, "What in the world is wrong with me?" I have those moments a lot as a parent. I often find myself wondering what my children must think of their slightly deranged mother. I mean, really. Who has fits over eating one bite of broccoli (not just the bushy tree part, but the WHOLE thing)? What kind of person goes nuts because there are puzzle pieces in seven different rooms in the house? I do. That's who.
Occasionally I have these moments of very un-mom-like clarity when I think, "this is why kids think grown-ups are nuts." And such is the stuff of picture book legend! So often in picture books the adult is either absent, part of the problem to overcome, or a baffling enigma to the child. And rightly so. It is important for the grown-ups to be characterized this way, I think. We force our adult world on to them too often in too many ways as it is. And besides, it is how children genuinely see most adults (with some obvious exceptions). And who can blame them when I do things like restrict candy intake, wash faces with spit-moistened napkins, and look at them like they've lost their heads when they turn chairs upside-down to sit on them? I routinely hear myself say things that I would have thought ridiculous as a child. Tapping into that part of myself is essential as an author...and as a parent. Maybe I should stop giving fuel to my children's perceptions...
Nah.
Occasionally I have these moments of very un-mom-like clarity when I think, "this is why kids think grown-ups are nuts." And such is the stuff of picture book legend! So often in picture books the adult is either absent, part of the problem to overcome, or a baffling enigma to the child. And rightly so. It is important for the grown-ups to be characterized this way, I think. We force our adult world on to them too often in too many ways as it is. And besides, it is how children genuinely see most adults (with some obvious exceptions). And who can blame them when I do things like restrict candy intake, wash faces with spit-moistened napkins, and look at them like they've lost their heads when they turn chairs upside-down to sit on them? I routinely hear myself say things that I would have thought ridiculous as a child. Tapping into that part of myself is essential as an author...and as a parent. Maybe I should stop giving fuel to my children's perceptions...
Nah.
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