How many of you get the Writers Digest? I just started getting it, and was amazed at so many of the articles that pertain to writing for children/young adults. I took the magazine years ago, and seldom saw anything I could use. This last issue had 101 best websites for writers, so I thought I would pass some of them along ( not all 101, however.)
The first ones are on "Writing Advice." A couple I already have listed but I'll share them again, anyway.
Editorial Anonymous: http://www.editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/
An unnamed children's book editor gives practical advice about everything from rejections to book promotions, and does so with a bit of wit.
Evil Editor: http://www.evileditor.blogspot.com/
A straight-talking editor dispenses tough-love advice on queries, snyopses, and the first pages of books, and does so humorously.
Long Story Short: An E-zine for Writers: www.alongstoryshort.net
This e-zine gives excellent writing tips and also offers a personal touch that most others don't. The editors of Long Story Short reply personally to every author who queries for advice on how to improve their work.
Novel Journey: http://www.noveljourney.blogspot.com/
There is great advice here from the sites 12 contributors, who offer a collection of interviews with authors, editors and freelancers.
Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers: http://www.plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/
The always inspiring Martha Alderson helps you work out your plot problems.
That's all for now. I know, I know, 5 out of 101 isn't very much, but if you want to get them all, you'll just have to subscribe to Writers Digest !
I'll be back later with a few more.
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Friday, April 23, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Thoughts on Wintergirls
When I first began reading Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, I almost returned the book to the library. It is morose, it is chilling, it is frightening because it strikes so close to home in its truth.
Lia and Cassie have been friends forever. In high school, they enter into a pact to see who can lose the most weight the quickest. However, by the time both are totally caught up in the throes of anorexia, they have a falling out, and refuse to speak to each other. Before long, Cassie is found dead, alone, in a motel room...where she had called and texted Lia 33 times, but Lia refused to listen or read the calls until after she found out that her best friend was dead.
Cassie's death sends an already fragile Lia into a morass of painful self-destruction. Cassie ( who died as a result of a ruptured esophagus, in turn a result of violent bulima) becomes a ghost who haunts Lia and tries to draw her even further down into self-destruction. Lia's parents and step-mother are too busy and self-involved to really see what is going on with her, especially since she convinces them she is gaining weight...merely by adding clothing before she weighs. Finally, it is her art teacher who begins to slowly nudge her back from the edge of death.
This is not a story for the faint-hearted, nor should it be read in the midst of feeling "blue." But it is a marvelous book, written with understanding, sensitivity and passion from a first-person present-tense point of view. It is a book to be read by any parent who knows or believes that her/his daughter in involved in anorexia or bulimia. It is a book to be read by any teen who is considering trying to be "the skinniest person in school" or who, perhaps, is already experiencing the mentality of anorexia...where every bite of food is not to be thought of in terms of name, type or nutrition, but merely as a caloric number...the lower the better. It is a book to be read by every teen who believes that self-perception is tied to being thin, the thinner the better, and who is already exploring the caverns of self-starvation and the painful disconnection between perception and reality.
A hard-to-read book, but one which is even harder to stop reading.
Lia and Cassie have been friends forever. In high school, they enter into a pact to see who can lose the most weight the quickest. However, by the time both are totally caught up in the throes of anorexia, they have a falling out, and refuse to speak to each other. Before long, Cassie is found dead, alone, in a motel room...where she had called and texted Lia 33 times, but Lia refused to listen or read the calls until after she found out that her best friend was dead.
Cassie's death sends an already fragile Lia into a morass of painful self-destruction. Cassie ( who died as a result of a ruptured esophagus, in turn a result of violent bulima) becomes a ghost who haunts Lia and tries to draw her even further down into self-destruction. Lia's parents and step-mother are too busy and self-involved to really see what is going on with her, especially since she convinces them she is gaining weight...merely by adding clothing before she weighs. Finally, it is her art teacher who begins to slowly nudge her back from the edge of death.
This is not a story for the faint-hearted, nor should it be read in the midst of feeling "blue." But it is a marvelous book, written with understanding, sensitivity and passion from a first-person present-tense point of view. It is a book to be read by any parent who knows or believes that her/his daughter in involved in anorexia or bulimia. It is a book to be read by any teen who is considering trying to be "the skinniest person in school" or who, perhaps, is already experiencing the mentality of anorexia...where every bite of food is not to be thought of in terms of name, type or nutrition, but merely as a caloric number...the lower the better. It is a book to be read by every teen who believes that self-perception is tied to being thin, the thinner the better, and who is already exploring the caverns of self-starvation and the painful disconnection between perception and reality.
A hard-to-read book, but one which is even harder to stop reading.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Book Review
I mentioned in my last blog that I was going to do a book review. And so I am. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, a debut novel by Jacqueline Kelly, is one of the best books I've ever read, for adults or children. I definitely encourage all of you who are writing for kids 10 and over to read this book, and see how Ms. Kelly brings to life her young heroine, Calpurnia.
Calpurnia Tate is eleven years old, going on twelve, in 1899 Fentress, Texas. She is the middle child of seven, three older brothers and three younger ones. She is expected to grow up learning...and liking...the humdrum skills of cooking, baking, sewing and handiwork. All of which she not only hates, but is definitely not good at. She loves the outdoors, animals and the nearby river which holds all kinds of secrets and fascinations. Calpurnia, surprising herself, creates a bond with her grandfather, a crusty amateur naturalist who prefers the solitude of his library, and his "lab", ( just a shack outside of the house), to the noisy and often boisterousness of his six grandsons. Grandfather gives Calpurnia, unbeknownst to her parents, his copy of Darwin's Origin of the Species, and Callie immerses herself in the discovery of the scientific method and the theory of evolution.
As Callie works with her grandfather in collecting the different species of nature, they discover a new species of vetch, which they immediately send to Washington, D.C., in an effort to have it officially recognized. While this provides one dramatic issue, the real issue is that of Callie's gradual self-realization that life as her mother wishes for it to be is definitely not to Calpurnia's liking.
It isn't long before Callie's mother realizes that Callie's progress in the skills of being a "lady"...cookery, sewing and handiwork...is severely lacking, so she curtails her free time and insists that she spend more time in the kitchen and in developing all the trappings of young womanhood which will lead eventually to her debut in society.
Interwoven with the scientific theme of the story are all the ups and downs of living in a large family, and of being the only girl among six boys. We read about the romantic inclinations of Callie's oldest brother towards two different young ladies, the heartbreaking story of Travis, Callie's just-younger brother who has made pets of the Thanksgiving turkeys and tries to convince the family not to kill and eat them, and of J.B, the baby of the family who clings to Callie.
Calpurnia Virginia Tate is a wonderful young girl who is happy, curious, intelligent and thoughtful. She will appeal greatly to those girls today who see themselves as "different", and don't want to be stuck in the "average" mold by either parents or society. Callie takes a different journey to self-discovery, trying to overcome her confusion and despair over what she sees as an impossible dream...the belief and hope that she can to go university and become a scientist, instead of having to give in to society's expectations of the "homebody" who struggles with corsets and spends her days cooking and sewing.
The conclusion brings both humor, pathos, and excitement to the arrival of the new year 1900, and leaves Calpurnia's future somewhat up in the air. What is not up in the air is the fact that this book is written with both sensitivity and humor, and tells a true story of what life was like for young girls at the turn of the century.
I really encourage all of you to get this book and read it. Written in first person, it is a very appealing story of a young girl's struggle to develop her own identity, in the face of what both parents and society expect of her.
Read it! Let me know what you think.
Calpurnia Tate is eleven years old, going on twelve, in 1899 Fentress, Texas. She is the middle child of seven, three older brothers and three younger ones. She is expected to grow up learning...and liking...the humdrum skills of cooking, baking, sewing and handiwork. All of which she not only hates, but is definitely not good at. She loves the outdoors, animals and the nearby river which holds all kinds of secrets and fascinations. Calpurnia, surprising herself, creates a bond with her grandfather, a crusty amateur naturalist who prefers the solitude of his library, and his "lab", ( just a shack outside of the house), to the noisy and often boisterousness of his six grandsons. Grandfather gives Calpurnia, unbeknownst to her parents, his copy of Darwin's Origin of the Species, and Callie immerses herself in the discovery of the scientific method and the theory of evolution.
As Callie works with her grandfather in collecting the different species of nature, they discover a new species of vetch, which they immediately send to Washington, D.C., in an effort to have it officially recognized. While this provides one dramatic issue, the real issue is that of Callie's gradual self-realization that life as her mother wishes for it to be is definitely not to Calpurnia's liking.
It isn't long before Callie's mother realizes that Callie's progress in the skills of being a "lady"...cookery, sewing and handiwork...is severely lacking, so she curtails her free time and insists that she spend more time in the kitchen and in developing all the trappings of young womanhood which will lead eventually to her debut in society.
Interwoven with the scientific theme of the story are all the ups and downs of living in a large family, and of being the only girl among six boys. We read about the romantic inclinations of Callie's oldest brother towards two different young ladies, the heartbreaking story of Travis, Callie's just-younger brother who has made pets of the Thanksgiving turkeys and tries to convince the family not to kill and eat them, and of J.B, the baby of the family who clings to Callie.
Calpurnia Virginia Tate is a wonderful young girl who is happy, curious, intelligent and thoughtful. She will appeal greatly to those girls today who see themselves as "different", and don't want to be stuck in the "average" mold by either parents or society. Callie takes a different journey to self-discovery, trying to overcome her confusion and despair over what she sees as an impossible dream...the belief and hope that she can to go university and become a scientist, instead of having to give in to society's expectations of the "homebody" who struggles with corsets and spends her days cooking and sewing.
The conclusion brings both humor, pathos, and excitement to the arrival of the new year 1900, and leaves Calpurnia's future somewhat up in the air. What is not up in the air is the fact that this book is written with both sensitivity and humor, and tells a true story of what life was like for young girls at the turn of the century.
I really encourage all of you to get this book and read it. Written in first person, it is a very appealing story of a young girl's struggle to develop her own identity, in the face of what both parents and society expect of her.
Read it! Let me know what you think.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Blogging and Platforms
Today I've been thinking a lot about the art of blogging. At least, I think it's an art. Do you 'follow' many blogs? I have some of my favorites listed on this blog, but then I go to a lot of others just to see what is going on with them. Most of the ones that interest me the most are professional blogs...professional in terms of the writing community: other writers both published and not, editors and agents.
But have you ever thought about the differences in the blogs that you read? Differences in appearance, in what they blog about, in the kind of professionalism ( or not) they display. No two ever seem to be similar. One I go to has lots of personal photos, contests...most that are made up by the blogger...personal thoughts, etc. Another one is almost nothing but interviews and book reports, all about the writing world. A third is just...umm, well, silly. Nothing professional at all, yet she is a professional.
What does all that mean? Or does it mean anything? I keep hearing about how we are supposed to build a "platform" in blogging, if we are or are trying to be professional writers. I don't know about you, but the only "platforms" I know about ( that aren't the kind you walk on) are political, so I'm not real sure what a "platform" is supposed to be in writing.
So I blog about the things that are important to me, as a writer. Oh, and I guess I can't forget the 'teacher' part, because being a teacher is something that never leaves me. I blog about things all writers need to learn, and hope...very sincerely hope...that the writer who reads about them will "learn something new." Or, if it's not new, perhaps it is just explained in a way that will be easier to comprehend.
I blog about plots, dialogue, characters, setting, research...the things we all need to know and perfect. ( Not that I have perfected ANY of those things !). A friend told me that I was "predictable"...hmmm...okay, maybe I am predictable, but maybe that's also my "platform?" Is that good or bad? I have no idea. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to blog if you are a professional. I think you have to write...blog...about what's important to you, and what you'd like for others to take away from your blog.
At least, that's how I feel about my blog. What about you? Do you have a "platform?"
Think about it. Let me know.
But have you ever thought about the differences in the blogs that you read? Differences in appearance, in what they blog about, in the kind of professionalism ( or not) they display. No two ever seem to be similar. One I go to has lots of personal photos, contests...most that are made up by the blogger...personal thoughts, etc. Another one is almost nothing but interviews and book reports, all about the writing world. A third is just...umm, well, silly. Nothing professional at all, yet she is a professional.
What does all that mean? Or does it mean anything? I keep hearing about how we are supposed to build a "platform" in blogging, if we are or are trying to be professional writers. I don't know about you, but the only "platforms" I know about ( that aren't the kind you walk on) are political, so I'm not real sure what a "platform" is supposed to be in writing.
So I blog about the things that are important to me, as a writer. Oh, and I guess I can't forget the 'teacher' part, because being a teacher is something that never leaves me. I blog about things all writers need to learn, and hope...very sincerely hope...that the writer who reads about them will "learn something new." Or, if it's not new, perhaps it is just explained in a way that will be easier to comprehend.
I blog about plots, dialogue, characters, setting, research...the things we all need to know and perfect. ( Not that I have perfected ANY of those things !). A friend told me that I was "predictable"...hmmm...okay, maybe I am predictable, but maybe that's also my "platform?" Is that good or bad? I have no idea. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to blog if you are a professional. I think you have to write...blog...about what's important to you, and what you'd like for others to take away from your blog.
At least, that's how I feel about my blog. What about you? Do you have a "platform?"
Think about it. Let me know.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Writing Software...and Frustration!
I recently downloaded some software that is supposed to help you write. It has sections for scenes, chapters, characters, settings and so on. It was easy to install and looked easy to use. HA!
Actually, it's probably just me. I'm the world's most technologically challenged person. It took me three days just to figure out how to operate my computer camera. This software was just as bad, except I don't have three days to figure it out.
I'm working on an historical novel about pre-Civil War days...the Underground Railroad. I thought I had my story line all figured out, so I set about writing the first few chapters. Sounded good to me. Sounded good to my critique group, except for a few things they pointed out. So it's good, right? Another HA!
My ICL instructor pointed out several things that were so obvious it was pitiful...things I should obviously have seen for myself. So now I have to go back, regroup, and basically start all over again. I wanted the software program to help me do this: something where I could paste what I had already written in somewhere...preferably in a screen I could see while I was writing something else. Then I could change, add, delete or whatever, but not have to write every single word over again. Well, this softward doesn't do that...or, if it does, I can't figure it out.
So now I'm back to square one, and Word. Talk about frustration! Oh, I know I can do two screens at once in Word, but so far it still isn't working right. I need to have what I've already written on one side, the new stuff I'm writing on the other side. Word can do that...so I'm told...but I still have to figure it out. Husband is no help, he's more challenged than I am. I may have to get my grandson to come over and show me how to do this. You would never in a million years know that I've been using a computer for at least 15 years, would you?
I've decided to start doing some book reviews. I'm reading the neatest book...The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly. It's a middle grade novel and I'm anxious to finish it so I can review it. "Calpurnia"...isn't that the neatest name? Did you know that Julius Caesar's wife was named "Calpurnia?"
Stay tuned for the review. So far it's a great book.
If you've ever used a writer's program software, and been successful with it, let me know!
Actually, it's probably just me. I'm the world's most technologically challenged person. It took me three days just to figure out how to operate my computer camera. This software was just as bad, except I don't have three days to figure it out.
I'm working on an historical novel about pre-Civil War days...the Underground Railroad. I thought I had my story line all figured out, so I set about writing the first few chapters. Sounded good to me. Sounded good to my critique group, except for a few things they pointed out. So it's good, right? Another HA!
My ICL instructor pointed out several things that were so obvious it was pitiful...things I should obviously have seen for myself. So now I have to go back, regroup, and basically start all over again. I wanted the software program to help me do this: something where I could paste what I had already written in somewhere...preferably in a screen I could see while I was writing something else. Then I could change, add, delete or whatever, but not have to write every single word over again. Well, this softward doesn't do that...or, if it does, I can't figure it out.
So now I'm back to square one, and Word. Talk about frustration! Oh, I know I can do two screens at once in Word, but so far it still isn't working right. I need to have what I've already written on one side, the new stuff I'm writing on the other side. Word can do that...so I'm told...but I still have to figure it out. Husband is no help, he's more challenged than I am. I may have to get my grandson to come over and show me how to do this. You would never in a million years know that I've been using a computer for at least 15 years, would you?
I've decided to start doing some book reviews. I'm reading the neatest book...The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelly. It's a middle grade novel and I'm anxious to finish it so I can review it. "Calpurnia"...isn't that the neatest name? Did you know that Julius Caesar's wife was named "Calpurnia?"
Stay tuned for the review. So far it's a great book.
If you've ever used a writer's program software, and been successful with it, let me know!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
This and That
Happy Easter every one! Hope you are all having a good day, enjoying friends and family, and the ever-present ham dinner. Did you ever wonder why 'ham' is almost pre-determined to be THE meat for Easter dinner? It seems so prosaic to have the same thing every single year. But guess what, in my family "prosaic" is the name of the game. One year I had roast lamb for Easter, and I've never heard the end of it. Oh yes, we're having ham this year, only not today. With the family's medical professions all over the place, Sundays don't seem to be a day we can all get together, so this Friday evening is our...ham...Easter dinner. sigh...
I just began reading Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel. Yes, I know, I'm probably years behind everyone else else, but nobody ever said I was the first one out of the gate. Anyway, it seems to be a great book. Of course, my ICL instructor may not think so when she gets my latest assignment. I had hardly finished reading the second chapter when I got this "wonderful" what if idea. You know how we're always supposed to ask what if such and such a thing happened? Well, this particular what if will throw the entire first part of my novel out...given that my instructor likes it. Oh...what if she doesn't but I do? Umm...I just thought of it, so I'm not really that invested in it...it would mean a HUGE rewrite...but...in the long run, it might make the novel better. But I guess I'll just wait until I get the assignment back and see what she says.
Last night we watched The Blind Side. What a great movie! No sex, no violence, no profanity, no horror, no vampires, no werewolves, no outlandish fantasy. Oh my gosh! How did Hollywood goof up and actually make a movie that didn't have at least one, and preferably all, of those elements in it? It will probably be at least another 10 years or so before they make that mistake again! What made is so great, though, was that someone thought enough of this boy to write his story and then try to get a movie made of it. That's what made it totally AWESOME.
I just began reading Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel. Yes, I know, I'm probably years behind everyone else else, but nobody ever said I was the first one out of the gate. Anyway, it seems to be a great book. Of course, my ICL instructor may not think so when she gets my latest assignment. I had hardly finished reading the second chapter when I got this "wonderful" what if idea. You know how we're always supposed to ask what if such and such a thing happened? Well, this particular what if will throw the entire first part of my novel out...given that my instructor likes it. Oh...what if she doesn't but I do? Umm...I just thought of it, so I'm not really that invested in it...it would mean a HUGE rewrite...but...in the long run, it might make the novel better. But I guess I'll just wait until I get the assignment back and see what she says.
Last night we watched The Blind Side. What a great movie! No sex, no violence, no profanity, no horror, no vampires, no werewolves, no outlandish fantasy. Oh my gosh! How did Hollywood goof up and actually make a movie that didn't have at least one, and preferably all, of those elements in it? It will probably be at least another 10 years or so before they make that mistake again! What made is so great, though, was that someone thought enough of this boy to write his story and then try to get a movie made of it. That's what made it totally AWESOME.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Originality: Trends and Plots...continuted
For awhile there, I was afraid I was going to lost this blog. I had been hijacked! ! Yep, my pretty crystal clock, a Blogger gadget, was the culprit, so after many hours of frustration, I finally got it and the other gadgets deleted. Wish it were not so, I really liked that clock !
Anyway, today we're going to talk about plots and originality. We all know that people have been making up stories ever since they learned how to communicate, and even more so once they developed written communication. So...has every plot that is conceivable been written? Well...yeah, probably. I once had a Creative Writing professor tell us that there were only 7 plots in existence. That may be true, but did you know that there are a lot of people who have 7 different plots that they believe to be the only ones in existence? So, let's take a look at some of them:
William Foster Harris, in his Basic Patterns of Plot, written in 1959 lists these:
Then there are another 7 which were proposed by Christopher Booker in The Seven Basic Plots, published in 2005:
Let's go about this from a different point of view. Remember what we are taught in writing classes, whether it's ICL, online classes, college classes, or whatever...we are taught that every plot has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. What does that mean for our characters, especially our main character?
1) Our MC has to want something very, very badly.
2) If she (or he) doesn't get what she wants, there are going to be consequences of some kind for her.
3) So she goes about trying all sorts of different things to attempt to get what she wants or reach her goal, and
4) in doing so, all sorts of things happen to hinder or prevent her from attaining what she wants.
5) Finally, though, there is some kind of resolution, wherein she either gets what she has been striving for, or...she doesn't and some of those consequences come true.
Now, don't these things happen in every single story you write, or you read? It doesn't matter if the basic plot is a murder mystery, a contemporary novel, a novel about vampires, a fantasy about an orphan boy and a school of magic, an historical novel about the Civil War, or anything in between. The above 5 elements are what make up the beginning, the middle, and the end of your story.
And that, in turn, is your plot, right ?
So where does originality come in? In your characters: their behaviors, emotions, actions and reactions, dialogue, background, motivation, and so on; in your settings: modern day, historical era, fantasy world, etc; in your location: city streets, country/Western town, jungle, alien planet, suburbia, etc.
The basic plot of every story ever written or ever to be written is always going to be basically the same...or perhaps one of seven...but YOU are what makes it original...your voice, your characters, your scenes, your dialogue, your narrative description, your motivations, your "supporting cast," and everything else about the story that makes it YOURS. That is your originality.
Writing is a journey. It starts, it continues, it ends. It is up to you to make it a journey all will want to take.
Think about it. Let me know.
Anyway, today we're going to talk about plots and originality. We all know that people have been making up stories ever since they learned how to communicate, and even more so once they developed written communication. So...has every plot that is conceivable been written? Well...yeah, probably. I once had a Creative Writing professor tell us that there were only 7 plots in existence. That may be true, but did you know that there are a lot of people who have 7 different plots that they believe to be the only ones in existence? So, let's take a look at some of them:
William Foster Harris, in his Basic Patterns of Plot, written in 1959 lists these:
- [wo]man vs. nature
- [wo]man vs. man
- [wo]man vs. the environment
- [wo]man vs. machines/technology
- [wo]man vs. the supernatural
- [wo]man vs. self
- [wo]man vs. God/religion
Then there are another 7 which were proposed by Christopher Booker in The Seven Basic Plots, published in 2005:
- Overcoming the monster
- Rags to riches
- The quest
- Voyage and return
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Rebirth
Let's go about this from a different point of view. Remember what we are taught in writing classes, whether it's ICL, online classes, college classes, or whatever...we are taught that every plot has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. What does that mean for our characters, especially our main character?
1) Our MC has to want something very, very badly.
2) If she (or he) doesn't get what she wants, there are going to be consequences of some kind for her.
3) So she goes about trying all sorts of different things to attempt to get what she wants or reach her goal, and
4) in doing so, all sorts of things happen to hinder or prevent her from attaining what she wants.
5) Finally, though, there is some kind of resolution, wherein she either gets what she has been striving for, or...she doesn't and some of those consequences come true.
Now, don't these things happen in every single story you write, or you read? It doesn't matter if the basic plot is a murder mystery, a contemporary novel, a novel about vampires, a fantasy about an orphan boy and a school of magic, an historical novel about the Civil War, or anything in between. The above 5 elements are what make up the beginning, the middle, and the end of your story.
And that, in turn, is your plot, right ?
So where does originality come in? In your characters: their behaviors, emotions, actions and reactions, dialogue, background, motivation, and so on; in your settings: modern day, historical era, fantasy world, etc; in your location: city streets, country/Western town, jungle, alien planet, suburbia, etc.
The basic plot of every story ever written or ever to be written is always going to be basically the same...or perhaps one of seven...but YOU are what makes it original...your voice, your characters, your scenes, your dialogue, your narrative description, your motivations, your "supporting cast," and everything else about the story that makes it YOURS. That is your originality.
Writing is a journey. It starts, it continues, it ends. It is up to you to make it a journey all will want to take.
Think about it. Let me know.
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