Goodbye Summer!

This picture from Words in The Woods seems like it was taken long ago, before the chaos that was summer. Ah summer; kids at home, visitors, vacations, parties. Life as I knew it stood still for a few months. Yes, my writing was stagnant. Non-existent, really. I look back and wonder where the time went. The only thing I accomplished over the
summer was depleting my bank account. But those months were filled with good times and now I am renewed and energized to work on my manuscript again.

The break wasn't a complete bust, I was able to visit Gettysburg which gave me a feel for the time period when some of my story takes place, and I did buy some good research books. Maybe I'll even use some of the creepy things that happened on that trip in a future YA ghost story.

I think everyone needs time away to re-group their thoughts and ideas. I guess I am fortunate that I'm not getting paid and don't have a deadline. Although it sure would help the empty wallet syndrome. My dream: to effortlessly get through the rest of my manuscript, immediately find an agent or an editor that is dying for it, get published, and get paid so I can write the plethora of ideas swimming around in my overactive brain. Hey, a girl can dream.

By the way, my fellow writers and I typically have better fashion sense, the picture was taken before a costume party.

Writing...and Publishing

We attended a writing conference this summer. I had an online class working on a specific manuscript. We met monthly to critique (in the nicest possible way!)and we still love to write. Some of us make progress on big projects. Some of us flit from one little project to the next. And we still love to write.

It would be so...urbane? sophisticated? mature?... of us to simply love writing and do it for its own sake! And never care if the only people who read it are our families and critique group.

Here is my dirty secret: I want to see the Javalina Brothers in a school library. I want Victoria Dragon to be on the display table at Borders. I want a stuffed Tuk-tuk! Under all the "love to write" is a desire to move to the next step: getting published.

So every year I wait for the Children's Writer's Market to emerge and - clutching my yellow highlighter - I flit through the first pages of the Publishers Index knowing somewhere is the editor who is waiting for Danny Lion! Flitting becomes slogging very quickly as one entry after another "is not accepting..." Well, think of all the time I have saved by not contacting THEM! Or them. Or them...

Ah, the route - they say at conferences - is long and difficult. We noticed. Is it interminable?

So I am trying this year to squelch the Insane Hopeful Direct Publisher Contact Gene that drives me to the SASEs and focus on agents. Most of them take e-mail. All have websites and useful contact information. Many have not said "no" yet...

So that is hopeful...

What Happened to Summer?

I can't believe I had to put a sweater on today to go bike riding with my kids. It was 96 or something earlier in the week.

On the one hand, it seems like summer passed in the blink of an eye, but on the other, looking back on all the things my family and I did, the time was both relaxing and fulfilling. We reconnected with relatives and old friends and met new people.

From a writing perspective, I can't say that I have a whole host of new stuff written. But, I do have a lot of new ideas waiting to put on paper. In June, five of my six blog-mates and I went on a retreat called Words in the Woods. As far as I'm concerned, pretty much every minute of it was worthwhile in some way, be it time spent getting to know my fellow writers better or learning more about the craft of writing. While forbidden by my friends and family to actually work on the opening of my manuscript again right now, I do have some great ideas for it based on what I learned at the retreat.

My family and I spent part of our vacation in Wildwood, NJ, which is where part of my YA novel is set. I grew up going to the Jersey Shore every summer since my parents have a business there, but I hadn't been back in about five years. It was an interesting experience to look at everything through the eyes of my heroine.

With vacation over, real-life has started again and it is busier than ever. We've started our home school year and somehow I am the president of one home school group and field trip coordinator for another. Most of the work is up front, I hope, and so maybe one day soon I'll be able to spend evenings after the kids go to bed solely on my manuscript and not registration forms.

writing..."long after the thrill of living is gone"

So "Jack and Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp came up on my ipod when I put rock music on for my baby girls to fall asleep to (yeah, don't ask me why it works) this afternoon. And I was struck by the line about how "life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone." It made me think about being old, like in my eighties if I am indeed so lucky. I guess the "thrill" of living, the main "tasks" of my life will have been completed. Children will have long been grown and getting to middle age themselves, perhaps grandchildren close to adulthood. Of course I want to be close with them, but they will have their own lives, lives that aren't mine. And hopefully I will have had decades of redefining my life, possibly my marriage, after raising children. Hopefully I will have old friends in my life and continue to meet new friends and find satisfying activities. Then I thought about writing. How I really hope that writing is still a part of my life. If I never publish a thing, if I never share another piece of work with anyone, I hope that I will still write for myself. When I want to reminisce, I will look through all the snail-mail letters and holiday cards, any journals I have saved through the years. I had better have a treasure trove of life experiences to inspire the writing. But it doesn't have to be just looking back. I can create whole new worlds to live in, even if I am the only one who knows about them. It might be nice to be 85 or so, sitting at a desk in a quiet space by a window, knowing my kids and their kids are busy somewhere, not even thinking about me at that moment, and I ignore whatever post-laptop technology is the current tool of writers and simply set pen to paper. I write. And it is thrilling.

Summer Holiday

Actually we are hard at work making all our trips and lattes tax deductible by doing research!

But for this month let's reflect on how we respond to feedback - not emotionally, but after the first "Hey - I worked hard on Chapter 1 for the 7th time!" resistance is past. Total rewrite? Major character change? Minimal tweaking?

I write picture books so it is more like an on/off switch than a rheostat when it come to rewrites. Some recent feedback I got was: "This has possibilities once you rewrite the story - love the setting and character!" My first reaction was to offer to send a different story. But I decided to take the challenge and started at Square 1 - in this case the Sonora Desert. I did try to hang on to some of the stuff I loved - certain phrases or lines. Slowly, over 2 more revisions, 96.475% of that is gone, too. Now there is more action, more character development, more a story appropriate to the age intended. Well, it is probably more sale-able - and that was the feedback I was seeking.

Now it is at it's last edit before the partner editor sees it. I wonder how much she will change back without knowing it! The truth is I kinda miss the first story and the funny little character I had in my brain. I really miss the alliterative title!

At the Words in the Woods conference I got some great positive feedback from a professional writer and my critique group. Do you suppose that means those stories are ready to go after minimal tweaking?

Part of me thinks there can always be a better word on page 6 or more perfect rhyme in the last line. Did Very Hungry Caterpillar come out of Carle's pen the first try?

New Venue!

We are mostly (Trager is still doing double duty with adorable babies) off to Springfield IL for a writers retreat this weekend. Letting our precious work out to a larger world. How long before we do so many revisions that the stories are back the way they were originally? Watch next week for updates on the event and our experineces!

Getting over yourself

When I first started writing seriously. I was naturally scared that my writing would be horrible or that people would hate it. I was very territorial with my writing. It was as if I wrapped my writing in swaddling clothes and kept it close to my chest growling at all who come near. Over time and with every successive rejection and or new book on the world of publishing, I let go of my insecurities and let others read and critique my work. I realized that it can only help no matter how harsh a critique group may be. They were not harsh. (I am lucky because I have heard horror stories.)

The feedback I received has been both constructive and fun to work with. The reviews I get from family and friends has been constructive as well and not all roses and praise. I specifically asked them not to be just nice about it but to be tough on it. Some were tougher than others.

I also know in my heart that the writing can be great but the story can be bland. I am confident by letting others read and critique that my work that what hooks them is the tale. The story takes them away from reality and the words act as a vessel they board to take the journey into my imagination.

In my opinion, the story has to be something worth writing about. All the technical, grammatical, and mechanics of writing should come second to your story. I can say that with feedback one gets help on the mechanics of writing AND story. So seeking feedback is the way to go. Get over yourself.