How many of you meditate? Take a daily walk? Go for a run without your iPod?
If no downtime is built into your day, you may consider it too much of a luxury in an already over-scheduled life. But, in fact, practices like meditation or quiet walks are a necessary part of your writing work day.
My downtime (running, walking, meditating) has helped me:
Solve character problems
Flesh out scenes
Reveal new themes
Talk out dialog
Play around with rhythm
Break through a block
Ease back into an old project
Brainstorm a new project
Discover an epiphany
This is no small stuff. It’s huge, important stuff. And I’d call that work, right?
How do you practice downtime? What has it done for your writing?
When I wrote my article Preschool Wardrobe Wars which appeared Monday in the New York TimesMotherlode blog, I knew the topic was universal. After all, that’s why I wrote TOO PURPLEY! But I didn’t expect so much emotion to surround what I considered a humorous and mostly harmless issue. Based on the growing list of comments, I was wrong. Check them out and post your own – if you dare.
Or better yet, tell me your favorite “kids clothes” story.
I do very few things well under pressure. So when I sit down to work on a book, especially a novel, I usually make sure I’ve set aside a large block of time, giving myself a chance to get back into the story, set up achievable goals for words on the page and then actually write those words.
But lately, those blocks of time have become smaller and smaller. I won’t bore you with the details of my busy life – we’re all wishing for 40-hour days these days, right? – but I do know that my time will free up a bit later this year. And I’ve been tempted to say “Well that’s when I’ll work on this novel.”
But I grew impatient. I was anxious to get back into this exciting project.
So for the past two days, I’ve been squeezing in some unexpected writing time. I’ll admit, I was set up pretty well for this experiment with ten pages of my own handwritten revision notes and a marked up manuscript.
One might expect that with a wee bit of time, I’d opt for wee revisions. But honestly, by the time I open up my 150-page manuscript and jump around finding just the right spots for those adjustments, and skip from revision note to revision note, I could have written an entire scene.
So that’s just what I did.
And there was something terribly freeing about opening up a brand new document labeled with a scene title and jumping right in.
I had no sense of foreboding about the task at hand because my expectations were low – I’ll just jot down some thoughts related to this scene. After all, I only have a few minutes. But then my fingers were flying across the keyboard as dialog and setting and metaphors (some were quite dastardly, I’ll admit) flowed with ease. And the delight of getting some work done when I expected to get none, actually inspired me to go beyond the stale scribbles of pressured revisions and take risks with the story. I wrote an entire scene. And just like with my golf game – when my expectations are low I play my best – the writing was surprisingly good.
So try it sometime. Write when you least expect it. The quantity and quality of what hits the page might pleasantly surprise you.
Have you had random writing moments? Tell me about them.
World Read Aloud Day (WRAD), an international event being held by LitWorld, a global literacy organization based in NYC, is being celebrated on March 9th. And you can be part of the movement.
WRAD’s mission is not only to celebrate the power of words and stories, but to rally together and stand up for the 774 million people in the world who cannot read or write. WRAD is on a mission to raise a collective 774 million minutes of time spent reading aloud with participants and literacy leaders throughout the world on World Read Aloud Day.
Here’s what LitWorld has to say:
What would you miss most if you could not read or write? Imagine your world without words. Let’s join together and read aloud for a collective 774 million minutes in support of the 774 million people worldwide who cannot read or write. With this global rally we show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people and we lend all our voices to the Global Literacy Movement. Let the children of the world know we believe in the power of words and stories to change their lives.
“I know the day is coming when global literacy isn’t fiction. I don’t know how long it will take, but I know that day will come.”
– 10 year-old World Read Aloud Day Participant
Visit litworld.org to participate in World Read Aloud Day and to “Read it Forward” and donate to LitWorld’s mission to change the world with the power of words.
I’ll be reading aloud via Skype to schools around the country. Please e-mail me if you’d like to schedule a Skype read aloud with your school or library.
Check my website for my most up-to-date read aloud schedule. www.jeanreidy.com.
So often, as I critique picture book manuscripts, I’m drawn into a story that has a fabulous premise which as carried out is “nice.” But “nice” is usually not good enough for a picture book to be competitive in today’s market.
In novel writing we talk about “raising the stakes” or “tension on every page.” And a similar notion holds true in picture book writing. We need a payoff in every page turn and often that payoff comes from an elevation of surprise or humor or emotion or trouble.
In a picture book story, the payoffs build if the story builds in some dramatic or emotional way – for example, if the picture book situation grows more and more outrageous or our main character gets into deeper and deeper trouble. But as writers, we have a tendency to play it safe in our stories.
Maybe it’s because when we take risks, the story starts feeling illogical in our adult minds. But we need to trust the fluid mind of a child to fill in that logic.
Maybe it’s because the story feels good as it is and we want kids to feel good. Well apart from bedtime books and concept books for the very young, we don’t want to put our reader/listeners to sleep either.
Maybe it’s because of our own writer’s fear of taking our main character to a point of no return. I have this trouble myself. I often ask, “If I keep raising the stakes, how will I get my character out of the trouble I’ve created?” Well, no one said this job was easy.
Let that be your challenge. Rocket your story to the highest level of hilarity, trouble or emotion. Take some risks with your writing. Your readers will be safely buckled in for a wild ride they’re sure to enjoy.
It’s a Valentine’s Day Picture Book Peek Week Free critique of a selected picture book manuscript
It begins February 14th!
Here’s how it works:
Sign up for a critique by entering your picture book WORKING TITLE in the comment section of this blog post anytime (midnight to midnight Mountain Time) on February 14th. Titles submitted before or after February 14th will not be considered.
I’ll throw all titles into a hat and pick 1 for critique. Keep in mind:
* Manuscripts must be 1000 words or less.
* I accept only fiction.
* Level of detail in the critique will vary based on my impression of the caliber of the writing.
* Please understand that I’m not an editor and will not be providing line-editing of your work. My critique will be comprised of suggestions for improving your manuscript. So please send me your most polished piece.
* The critique winner must e-mail me his/her manuscript as a Word attachment within 72 hours of the announcement . Manuscripts will be kept completely confidential. When I receive the manuscript, I’ll let the author know when they can expect my critique.
* As with any art form, likes and dislikes are entirely subjective. Please understand that my critiques are only one reader’s/writer’s opinion. It’s always wise to seek feedback from a few different readers. If my ideas resonate with you, they’re yours to use. If you disagree, I encourage you to compare my comments with those of other readers. But in the end, it’s your book. Stay true to your vision.
I look forward to reading your work.
Jean
“Jean’s critique played a direct role in getting me an agent. What more can I say? She’s an invaluable resource for kidlit writers.”
Tara Lazar, author of THE MONSTORE coming soon from Aladdin/Simon & Schuster 2013
I’m currently revising my latest middle grade novel and going through the exercise of dropping the chapters into a spreadsheet with columns labeled for chapter numbers, chapter description, setting, and a column for each major character where I place an “x” if the character appears in the chapter. This helps me find scenes more easily as I rewrite, relocate and restructure the chapters.
In some of my novels I title the chapters, but I hadn’t planned to in this one. Yet, for purposes of this exercise I thought it would further help me identify scenes more easily later on.
I’m realizing that when I’m forced to write a pithy title for each of my chapters, I’m creating a sound bite for a mini-story with a built in climax, cliff hanger and sequel. If I’m unable to focus the chapter title, it’s usually because my chapter strays too much from it’s purpose. If I can’t imagine a title, it’s perhaps because my chapter has no point or perhaps my scene has no internal climax. And finally, if my title is as dry as the description, perhaps the scene has no hook. When the title comes easily, I’m finding the scene has strength on its own.
I may keep the titles in the novel. I may not. But for now the exercise of titling is pointing me to chapters that need further work.
Today I’m participating in a Speed Mentoring program at a local high school. I’m one of 30 mentors giving kids my best 3 minutes of advice, rotating through five groups of 10 kids each. So essentially I’ll be imparting “wisdom” on 50 kids. Wow! Talk about the weight of responsibility.
But as I honed that nugget of wisdom for teens, I thought about what speed mentoring might look like for writers. As I mull over what I might consider my best writing sound bite, I’m wondering what yours would be.
So take a look at this “Minute Mentoring” video, then post your best snippet of writing advice in the comments below.
So I pulled MOCKINGBIRD from the shelf because I’d been aware but not completely in touch with the praise it’s received. I hadn’t read the reviews. I didn’t even know what it was about. I just knew that people – a lot of people – thought it was good – really good.
But I’m not always swept away by books that have other readers swooning. This time I was.
Kaitlin our MC – who admits to failing at “emotion” and is struggling with “finesse,” stuffed-animaled me into a deep aching and longing and she did it with such finesse, I only felt and felt deeply.
I was never told to feel. Because after all, that’s not what Kaitlin does. She repels being told what to feel and how she should feel and how others feel. And it’s her emotional vacuum juxtaposed with her family tragedy, her new friendships, her father’s anguish – and those surprising glimpses of her heart that took my heart to a place it’s never been before in a book.
This book took my heart and twisted it out of my chest and chewed it up and spat it out. And that’s a good thing. Because I think feeling is a gift – whether overly sensitive or insensitive or somewhere in between. I’m in awe of Erskine who took me there with only character, low action and unadorned dialog. And it proved to me that emotion is the heart of a truly great story.
Amazingly, Erskine took me there via a first person who was allowed only her dispassionate observations, conversations and actions. The story is a brilliant lesson in “show don’t tell.” Erskine so gets us to feel without telling us how to feel.
Have you read the book? How does Erskine do it? What other books have finessed you on an emotional journey with a delicate hand and high impact?
Just one book can change a life. Imagine what a difference that one book would make if it were put in the hands of a little girl or boy who had never before held a picture book, let alone had one for their very own.
You can make that possible through LitWorld’s annual Holiday Book Drive (Dec 1 to Dec 31.
LitWorld is a non-profit organization that advocates for global literacy. LitWorld believes stories are life-changing and sharing stories will create connections that have the power to change the world.
LitWorld works closely with teachers all over Liberia, providing professional development around reading and writing. We also provide schools with much needed books, supplies and school materials. Currently the ratio of children to books is 75:1. Our dream is to change that to 1:1!
The International Book Bank is an organization that has been delivering free books and educational materials to developing countries since 1987, with the goal of increasing literacy and advancing education.
As you may know, thousands of people were killed in Liberia’s 16-year civil war, leaving the nation in economic ruin. Many places are still without electricity and running water. Unemployment and illiteracy continue to be endemic. The country is attempting to rebuild and recover from this long and arduous war. A large part of this effort is rebuilding the educational system. In order for that to be successful they need an increased supply of books and materials.
Though Sierra Leone is well known for its diamond industry, it was ranked as the poorest country in the world in 1998. The dispute over the control of the diamond mines erupted in an 11-year civil war, which began in 1991 and ended in 2002. Sierra Leone faces the intense challenges of reconstruction, with poverty and unemployment leading the major issues. The Civil War deconstructed 1,270 schools, leaving 67% of children in 2001 without an education. Today, two thirds of the adult population in Sierra Leone are illiterate.
The book drive is simple. Donate children’s picture books, sending or bringing them to one of three drop-off points in New York. LitWorld, in partnership with The International Book Bank, will fill a 20ft container with the books (around 3,000 are needed) and ship them to Liberia and Sierra Leone. There, the books will be put straight into the hands of children (see picture above of LitWorld Ambassador Kimmie Weeks reading aloud from book donations). Some of these children will never have seen a picture book before; the majority are used to sharing what they do have: one book is shared among 75 children, on average.
