I love fall. The trees are absolutely beautiful, the air is crisp, we're almost done with yard work... I drove along the Yellowstone river this week, completely awestruck around multiple bends of the freeway. I can't help but feel grateful for living in such a wondrous place. We're studying trees in 5th grade science right now. We get to look at some leaves and evergreen needles under the microscopes. Pretty impressive. Plants are fully equipped to produce their own food, with just a few simply obtained ingredients. They produce and store, and produce and store some more. Then fall comes. The changing of the leaves always gives me a sense of calmness. Maybe it's the knowledge that change will surely bring more change. Maybe it's the feeling of readiness to hunker down through the cold. Maybe it's just the anticipation of hot chocolate by the fire. Here's what I do know. Change and growth are constant and necessary. That is fact in every aspect of my life, from family, to work, to nature, to my writing. Sometimes change brings stress, or anxiety, or even frustration. But as in the case of the spectacular cottonwoods along the Yellowstone, I love the calmness of the change to fall. Both my sons have played football this fall. My older son is on the high school freshman team, my younger son the middle school team. That means lots of practices and games for us to coordinate and watch. I love watching football. It's a sport where the offense work very hard to make something happen - to push toward the goal line. They constantly try new methods, shifting sides or formations or players. At the same time, the defense is working very hard to read the play, to stop the progress, and thwart the efforts of the opposing team. As I'm stewing about revisions to my writing, I've been thinking; Does my main character spend most of her time calling the plays, or is she more in a defensive mode, trying to read what is happening and stop it before it's too late? Is she choosing what is happening to her, or is it being thrust upon her by the opposing side? Which side of the game should she be spending the most time on? We've all read books where the main character tends to spend all their time responding to outside forces, being pulled along by the plot. Sometimes those books have even won awards. But I tend to prefer the books where the main character is calling the shots. Sure, they make mistakes, fumble the ball, and then have to clean up the mess that follows, but they were the ones calling the play in the first place. I like a proactive main character. The more I write, the better I am at recognizing when that needs to happen, and when it's time for defense. Usually, a winning football team spends most of their time on offense - with lots of drives and first downs - just keeping their wits ahead of the opposition. That's what I'm trying to do in my writing. At the same time, I can be my character's biggest cheerleader from the sidelines. I heard at a writers conference once that the main purpose of a writers group is to teach us what rejection is like, so we'll develop a tough skin. I remember sitting there thinking that was very odd. That is not the main purpose of MY writers group. I guess each group has their own way of doing things, but I see a writers group's purpose as much more than skin thickening. This week a few of us in my group ARE dealing with rejection, and we've each rallied around in support and encouragement, and I think most importantly, ideas. Being a writer of children's books in the current publishing climate is treacherous to say the least. Trying to find the balance between what the editor wants, what the agent thinks will sell, and the story you the writer want to share can be more precarious than a tightrope balancing act. At what point does the writer trump all? Don't get me wrong here. Any critique or suggestions from an editor or agent should be very carefully considered, because they have a lot of experience at the business end where many of us have never been. And we do want our books to sell, and sell well. I'm a firm believer in listening to every critique, analyzing the 'what if's' of the suggested issues, thinking through the possible revisions entailed, and then honestly stepping back. Will this really make my story better? Honestly. That's where the writers group comes back in. What a fantastic place to bounce these honest ideas around. Your group has read your story. They know the struggle you've had to get the characters just so, or keep the plot flowing in an interesting way. They've given their stamp of approval to the submitted draft. And now that the rejection has come, they want to know what's up too. What did they not see, or feel, that the agent did? Does what the rejection stated ring with them too? What ideas might float through their minds at the instant of acceptance? I think there is a time when editors and agents are wrong. They are human just like writers. Again, this is where a strong writers group is invaluable. They know your work. They are your safety net. Their job is to work with you through all the ups and downs, to help you truly see your place on the tightrope, and to help you become the best writer you can possibly be. And bring chocolate to writers group. My husband is a vocabularist. I don't even think that's a word, but that is what he is. He loves to use odd, old, funky, unusual words and phrases. I have a notebook on my nightstand to write down the vocabulary he uses, because I love to look back and have a good chuckle. His interjections are the best. When he hits his thumb with a hammer, he says "Sweet Mother McCready!" If something is surprising, he will say "Sweet Land o' Goshen!" He calls our children 'vermin' in a very loving way. Some days they are 'miscreants' or 'ne're-do-wells'. Luckily, our kids know their dad well, and also enjoy his vocabularist status. Once, after reading a book on the importance of teaching kids vocabulary, I decided to shake things up a bit around the house. Instead of hollering, "Time for PJ's!", I changed it to "The hour has arrived to don your nocturnal attire!" My children said, "What?", and then got their PJ's on. This continued for months, and always brought a smile. We encourage them to be creative in their descriptive word choice, and we discuss words that fit any situation best. Building vocabulary is not just a subject reserved for school. My oldest daughter wrote a paper for her college English class. She used the word 'plethora' and her professor made a big deal of it in front of the class. A fine example of excellent vocabulary choice in writing, he said. She was surprised, and responded with "Sweet land o' Goshen! Thanks!" Learning to navigate the world of publishing is like learning to survive in the wild. You can take your skills with you, but you never know what you'll actually find when you get there. My writers group got a taste of survival skills this past week. Sandra Brug, a wonderful poet and storyteller, has recently learned that her picture book Soccer Beat was going to be re-released in paperback form. She learned this after sending a letter to her editor at Simon and Schuster requesting information about having the ebook rights returned to her. She was considering launching a personal ebook release. Instead of returning the rights to her, they decided to relaunch the book, which has been out of print in America for years. Needless to say, Sandra was thrilled. So at our meeting this week, we were discussing when her book would be available again. She'd received an email from the editor stating that they didn't know yet when it would be coming out, but when it did, it would be in a print on demand format. Maurene Hinds, another excellent writer and writing teacher, pulled out her Droid and looked up Amazon. Sure enough - Soccer Beat by Sandra Brug will be released on September 21, 2012. That was in just a few days! We found it interesting that the editor didn't even know when it would be released, even though it was already in pre-order standing at Amazon. And Sandra wasn't even told! This news has obviously sent Sandra into a sudden blitz of blogging and linking and promoting. Writers, we live in a whole new world. Information can drag for months and even years,or suddenly shift in a matter of moments. No more steady plodding through the writing and publishing process. Now we live the jumps and jerks and waits. Who knows what might happen next? I highly recommend Soccer Beat by Sandra Brug. My sons and I fell in love with Soccer Beat when we checked it out from the library years ago. A few weeks later, my roommate stranger at my first ever Big Sky SCBWI conference was Sandra Brug. What a wonderful surprise connection! The rest for me is writing history. My husband and I love to go for drives. We have lived in Montana now for ten years, and we are doing our best to see all the parts we can. Yesterday, we decided late in the day to go exploring in a canyon pretty close to home. We drove up the South Boulder River south of Cardwell. Our air right now is extremely smoky from all the fires blazing high in the mountains. The smoke added quite a foreboding feel to the spectacular scenery. it settles in among the pines, making silhouettes, and eerie movement. I was reminded how important creating a vivid setting is in my writing. Sometimes I get so caught up in plot crafting and character deepening, that I forget how easily the setting can influence both. How would my character feel about the smoke everywhere? Would they sense the foreboding? What could that be foreshadowing? Along the drive, we did see some pretty remarkable sights. There were high mountains, layers of trees stretching for miles, rocky cliffs, and meandering rivers. We live in an incredibly varied, beautiful place. We also saw two bull moose and a cow, a bunch of white tail deer, four wild turkeys, and a pair of pheasants. How would my character have responded to those sights? The towering rocky cliffs, or abundant wildlife? So much of what our brains view as common, the reader's brains need to absorb as vital. So today I'm thinking about setting. Have I used it to the fullest extent? Have you? In honor of the back to school season, I'm giving you a play! On the 'My Plays' page of my website is a document frame where you can read The Great Outlaw Heist, and then print it for your drama club or classroom. This play is great for kids in 2nd - 4th grade. Costuming is simple, the set can be as creatively wild-westy as you choose, and the casting is flexible. When I produced this play, the kids loved the lasso scene. They got to lasso each other! Very fun! There's nothing like seeing kids excited about performing and sharing their talents with each other. Drama is an amazing avenue to learn things about kids that you never knew before. Please pass this website offering on to any teachers you know. We teachers are always looking for classroom plays. I can't wait to hear about all the productions of The Great Outlaw Heist! Every writer needs support and guidance as they are learning to hone their craft and navigate the world of publishing. I wrote for several years before I found my current writers group, and with it some wonderful mentors. I never knew what I was missing! One of those mentors is Elaine Marie Alphin. Elaine joined our writers group not long after I did. She is a passionate children's writer with more than 30 books under her belt, and numerous awards, including the Edgar Allan Poe Award for mystery for her book Counterfeit Son. Elaine took me under her wing. She spent hours discussing my stories with me, offering suggestions and critiques, but always in a strong, positive way. She helped me see my writing in new ways. She worked with me during writers group time, in the car on the way to conferences, over gyros for lunch, and by email and phone chats. She taught me what it means to truly live your writing. Elaine also taught many other people. She traveled extensively for school visits, SCBWI Conference presentations, and writers retreat collaboration. I brought Elaine into my school where I teach, and she worked with me and the entire student body to write our own mystery. The kids actually wrote a mystery novel, with each grade level providing a chapter. This was an amazing project that inspired the writing of countless kids. A little over a year ago, Elaine suffered a massive stroke that has left her physically unable to write. She is in the process of rebuilding brain neuron pathways to hopefully bring her passion back. I imagine there are probably thousands of writers out there who also claim Elaine as their writing mentor, but I claim her special. I'm so grateful for her teaching, her guidance, her knowledge, and her friendship. Here's a shout-out to you, Elaine! We got our cat from the animal shelter after he'd been there for almost a year. No one wanted him. He still had his claws, had a fierce reputation, and didn't know how to purr. We were looking for a mouser, to maintain patrols at the wood pile in the back yard. His name was Sailor Jerry. Who can resist a cat named Sailor Jerry? He was perfect. "Do you have a dog?" they asked us. "Yes." "Oh, then you better not take him. He hates dogs, and has been known to attack them." My husband smiled. "We can handle it." They weren't kidding. Poor, sweet Alice couldn't understand why we'd brought home such a vicious beast. For the first two weeks, Tim had them sleep in separate kennels, doors butted up against each other. Alice cowered in a tiny pile in the back of hers, and the cat stuck his paw through the bars and hissed whenever anyone was watching. Gradually, they began to tolerate each other. We knew Alice would be the weaker specimen - she's just too nice - and Sailor Jerry quickly figured out that she wasn't even the tiniest threat. It's been two years now. Sailor Jerry has a solid place in the household. He's a great mouser, just like we needed. He teases Alice and even plays with her when he thinks no one is looking. And he has learned how to purr. He snuggles and purrs for hours on end if we let him. We took the fierce Sailor Jerry and taught him what it means to be loved. He loves us right back. Photographing snowflakes is a tricky proposition. First of all, they are tiny, delicate, precariously frozen natural creations that don't like to be caught. When you do catch them, they clump together with their friends, or instantly melt into a pool of quivering destruction. Learning to catch them and then take photographs is a skill that takes lots of practice, and lots of failures. Unfortunately, most snowfalls don't produce interesting snowflakes anyway. Only when the conditions are perfect - just the right amount of humidity, just the right temperature - are beautiful snowflakes formed. It's a little like trying to manipulate anything in nature. We humans really don't have a lot of control. Most of my snowflake photographs have been practice - experimenting with catching techniques, using the digital microscope's focusing specs, figuring temperature controls, and trying to keep my bare hands from freezing. I've practiced on my own, with my family, and even with my whole 5th grade class. My students loved it, and actually got some pretty good pictures. My daughter Bailey and I are teaming up this coming winter. She's a photographer, with lots of know-how at that end. We're going to take all we've learned so far, do some fine tuning, and hopefully create some exceptional images. The process is the battle. We need to mix a large amount of craft knowledge and practice, with an even larger amount of luck. That sounds a little like becoming an author. After months of practicing, planning, researching, and preparing, I've just taken the next step. For my birthday today, I asked for a new digital microscope. A Dino-Lite AM413T. I hope it does just what I hope it will do. Now if only it would start to snow... |
AuthorWriting for children is a passion - along with reading kid's books, writing plays for kids, and teaching kids how to write! Archives
October 2020
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