An Unexpected Win!

I've been doing a bit too much ordering by mail lately. Nothing too big, just printer ink, mailing labels, a jacket or two . . .
Perhaps I'm distracting myself from the stresses of life right now, including getting this novel rewritten. It's coming, really. But sometimes online shopping is just so much easier. (Do I sound whiny? I should.)

Anyway, as I opened a manila envelope that arrived in the mail, I wondered, "What did I order this time?"

I didn't order anything.

I entered a contest.

Thanks to the encouragement of our local League of Utah Writers chapter, who set a goal for our group to have a good showing in the statewide writing contest, I entered the first part of my latest novel. (Yes, the same one I was just whining about.)

And it won!

I got first place in the League of Utah Writers Middle Grade Fiction Category!

I had a conflict I couldn't change on the day of the banquet, so I didn't even know.

Until the certificate showed up in my mailbox.

Sometimes a little boost like that helps me keep writing.
 I had to tell someone, so thanks for letting me brag just a little.

Editing Novels: Round Three + More Notes from Martine Leavitt's class at WIFYR

I just finished another revision of my MG novel. (fist pump).

It's cause for going out to lunch tomorrow (especially since my husband's guys-only backpacking trip has evolved into going out to dinner twice and one afternoon by a pool). I'm excited.

It isn't time to put the manuscript away yet, however.

I believe it was Ann Cannon who said her approach to editing involves only focusing on one fix each time through a manuscript. Since in the past I've to get bogged down on sentence structure and wanting to fix every little thing at once, this time I tried this approach.I went through the book with a goal to to fix the supporting character and give her better motivation.

Good things happened. Besides getting through another draft and actually liking the result, I found my changes to the supporting character added a new dimension and motivation to my main character.

Which never hurts. Because finding, clearly defining, and sticking to the main character's overarching desire is something I can never review too much.

As Martine Leavitt told our WIFYR workshop last June, desire seems to be the thing with which almost all her students [at Vermont College of Fine Arts] struggle.  I think most writers have to wrestle through a draft or two, or at least some major outlining, before we truly find the heart of our character's story.

Martine quoted John Gardner. To paraphrase this quote,  plotting, however childish or elementary it may seem in comparison to surgeons, physicists…the writer has no story until he has figured out a plot that will efficiently and elegantly express it…although action without meaning will have no universal appeal, plot is the essential element of every writer’s plan.

And a quote from Kurt Vonnegut which Martine reminded us of, with good cause, more than once: "Every character must want something, even if it’s a glass of water."

To me, desire means more than a casual wish for something. A glass of water can be nice. But if you're dying of thirst, that changes everything.

After a bit of a break, and lunch, I'll need to tackle my next two projects: 1. Making sure that desire or need, is clear and important throughout the book, and 2. Tackling that boring part in the middle. Which is good subject for another post.

Part 2: Creating a Book I Feel Good About Writing

Then again . . .

As much as I want to write a book that kids will want to read, as important as that is to selling a book, it isn't the whole reason I write.

Writing is expressive and cathartic for me. As my characters discover things about themselves, I often find they discover things I needed to know or relearn.

So I can't make that scene that had 1 cop car in it suddenly have "a whole troop of squad cars" like my daughter suggested, unless it's true to my intent and to my character.

Which makes me remember that important rule Martine Leavitt taught me at WIFYR: is every scene related in some way to the character's central purpose and desire? Even if it might be more Hollywood to have twenty police cars with sirens blazing, if I throw it in just for sensational appeal, it isn't right for my story. Am I adding things the way a new teen might add too much makeup, too many accessories? Time to remember the old design maxim.

Less is more.

While I could add more Hollywood action or fluff, maybe the emotion, the setting, and the description need bolstering. In other words, the true elements essential to the driving need of the main character, need more time and attention.

Off to do more editing.

And to go with my goal of adding photos, here's my oldest after getting a haircut. The stuff on the floor, as well as his great new do, is a great illustration of less is more.

Where I've Been

My husband is somewhere in the above photo. Spotting him may be a bit easier than finding any blog posts from me in the last month or so.

I've been editing.

I've been soo tired.

I've been on vacation.

Editing on vacation, and getting more tired from jet lag.

I'm back now. And as I've been trying to start reading other blogs, I've noticed I like posts with photos. So I think I'll insert a few here and there. This is a beautiful street in Nice, France. I had this idea to take photos of windows and come back and make a books of fabulous doorways and balconies.

What does this have to do with writing? Nothing.

But even if I don't get that book of windows made (a book for me, not for publication), I plan to keep working on the books I write.

And start blogging more consistently.

And actually follow other people's blogs better.

I also need to at least write down where I took all these photos before I have to say, "I took this somewhere, but I'm not sure where."

What do you need to do better in your writing world? Do some research to make sure your scene snapshots are authentic?

Write consistently?

Do a better job supporting other writers?

Or take a vacation?

Creating a Book Children Want to Read

I've mentioned it before. My children read my books.

Don't peg me as the type to send a query stating, "my family loved this book." I have a critique group (two  now, actually). I go to writing conferences. I send my work out for others to read. Okay, now that we've cleared that up, back to why my kids read my books.

Adult writers are kind. They, like me for them, appreciate the bundled hours of labor, worried effort, rejection and grief that go into creating a book.

Kids just want something great to read. It has to be fun. They have to like the characters, and stay interested.

So while my critique partner may politely suggest I might want to add a little more drama to a section, kids have too many other distractions to stick with a book that stops making sense or stalls. Unlike in critique group, at home I'm competing with Percy Jackson and Goose Girl. My kids are avid readers, and they know books well. If my daughter puts my book down, I know my plot just hit a sinkhole.

That's when I beg her to stop being nice and tell me what's wrong. So far I've heard, "I hate [Insert name of character I thought complex and fascinating]. She's too whiny."

"You didn't make the scene with [insert what I thought was a scary situation] bad enough. You need to add a whole bunch more, and make it last longer."

Sometimes my daughter asks about a part that didn't make sense. Then I'll say, "What about where . . .?"

And she will say, "Oh. I didn't know that happened." Uh-oh. In other words, I'm not getting that part of the story out of my head and onto the paper. It might need more sense of setting, or clarified language.

If my book is getting as boring as math class, they'll tell me. And if I'm going to write a book that's going to keep my kids attention, I really have to step it up. A bit like this photo of my youngest, trying to stand tall enough to fit this Bahamanian mask.

This book will go back to more beta readers. It might get a professional edit after that. But for now, I'm enjoying the fresh and honest perspective of my kids. Because if they want to read it, really want to, when they have the option of picking up a bestseller instead, then I know I'm off to a good start.

Tenacity--the Successful Writer's Secret

I went to the Solstice Writing Conference a couple of weekends ago. Not only was it delightful having a conference in my home court, but the invited authors, including Ann Cannon, Louise Plummer, and Dean Hughes, were a delight as well.

In Thursday's panel discussion, the topic of bad reviews came up. Louise Plummer mentioned how a bad review (from a random person posting on Amazon, not a knowledgeable critic) stopped her writing for some time. Even Louise? Ann Cannon made a great point. "If you want to write, you have to be tenacious." She said not everyone is going to like your writing, but the writers who make it have one thing in common: they don't quit.

The next day I got to test this maxim when I made the mistake of discussing a current plot idea with a non-writer. Bad idea. After hearing the message that my plot had completely unrealistic, impossible ideas, I changed the subject and spent the next hour depressed.

 I tend to be too concerned about what people think, according to that same plot-wounding family member. I take critique suggestions seriously, and have learned to listen rather than argue. I've never been the it's-my-story-and-you-just-don't-get-it's-brilliance type. So why wasn't I scrapping the entire book?

 I finally went for a walk in light rain that turned into a thunderstorm. As I darted from awning to awning, my brain sifted through ideas on how to rework my plot egress. Soon I had a potential solution, and felt good that I hadn't quit. But how do you know when to keep working on a book, and when to realize an idea just isn't worth continuing?

 At WIFYR, our workshop asked Martine Leavitt that question. She told us to hold onto the stories that are in your heart. If we're going to put our work out there in knowing it may end up with critic heel marks, it has to mean something to us. We have to believe it in knowing not everyone else will. If we are writing just to meet someone else's expectations, our ideas will shift as quickly as the newest trend. But when we write the story that means everything to us, it's different. We may shelve it for a time, wait for the ideas to ripen or even for our ability to write it to increase. But if it keeps coming back to us, we must at some point get back to the story.

Don't get me wrong. I refuse to blindly move ahead with a bad idea. I will continue renovations to make sure the plot is solid, the story line doesn't wander, and in this case, remove any plot twists too unrealistic to allow the reader to continue her path of suspended belief. But I can't give up the book itself. Because even as I'm taking a long, pouting walk through a rainstorm, the story is in my head with every step. It's stuck there, because my heart can't let it go.

Historyrectomy and Plotting Your Novel

My husband, who frequently reads health histories, often gets a good laugh out of peoples' creative spellings and interpretation of medicals. A rotator cuff surgery becomes surgery on a rotary cup, sounding like some civic award. Another term that confused me is "stent." Here in the west, the doctors say it like, "Stint." But it isn't a stint in jail, although the painful tubes they put certain places may make it feel like that.

Today a woman reported having a female procedure she wrote down as a "historyrectomy." After I finished laughing about painful ways to have your history removed, I thought that all of us, at times, may wish bad experiences could be surgically extracted.

Sorry,history removal isn't yet a real procedure. However, writers may at times need to do some serious surgery on our characters' life.

I'm doing a draft revision of my latest book. Yesterday I sat eating ice cream and feeling frustrated. I knew there was something wrong with my latest plot event. I've made some big revisions, but part of me still longs for the "history," or old parts of the story that no longer fit. I put down my spoon, picked up a notebook, and started writing questions:

1. Is this event true to my character's true inner desires, or is it something I'm twisting to make fit?
2. What are the main character's desires?
3.  What will happen if he doesn't get them?

Then I tried some brainstorming alternate plot ideas based on advice Agent Ammi-Joan Paquette gave us at WIFYR in June, "Brainstorm three ideas, then pick the fourth. Don't go with the easy solution."

I brainstormed several ideas, once elaborating one idea and then suddenly writing, "bleh!" But as I wrote more ideas, I realized my character should have to do the hardest thing, not the one that helps me avoid having to research criminal law. (Teeny tiny plot hint).

 Martine Leavitt said we have to be open to our book and its characters enough to let go of our preconceived ideas of how we want the story to go. I've still got work to do. But stepping back and having the courage to do some historyectomizing (yes, I know it isn't a word) helps get my characters back where they want and need to be.

P.S. I have several blog drafts I need to post, including the final notes from the WIFYR conference. I'm still typing in a sling, and have other varied excuses too, but maybe this confession will help me finally get them edited and posted.