Donna L Martin's THE STORY CATCHER: WRITELY WISDOM

Showing posts with label WRITELY WISDOM. Show all posts

Monday, October 10, 2016

Encore presentation: WRITERLY WISDOM

***I have a number of writing deadlines coming up over the next couple of months so I have decided instead of stepping away from my blog completely to concentrate solely on my writing, I will bring back an encore performance of my WRITERLY WISDOM series from three years ago. WW is 52 glorious posts by authors, agents, and editors from around the country providing writerly wisdom in categories from why even become a writer all the way to how to publish and market your books.

There will be two posts loaded per week...Mondays & Wednesdays...so be sure to stop by and check out all the encouraging information given by my lovely writerly friends! I hope you enjoy the encore presentation of my WRITERLY WISDOM series and I will return with shiny, new posts in the fall!***

The Seven Sins Of Procrastination
by Donna L Martin

Any one of these temptations could be a potential roadblock preventing a writer from reaching their publication goal. Take a look and see if any of them seem all too familiar.

TALKING IT TO DEATH

Ideas are all around us. Different people and events cross our paths every day and snap, we suddenly have a handful of ideas. Every one of them potentially able to carry us over the threshold from simply wishing we were authors to becoming the real thing. But instead of gluing our seats to the chair and actually using one of them, we mull things over and talk our ideas to death while we drown in a sea of indecision over which one to use first.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Contrary to popular belief, the only things a writer really needs to create a story are a writing instrument and something to write on. Sure, things like a top of the line computer system, antique writing desk, & pearl handled ink pens are all fine and dandy, but our ancestor the caveman still told a great story with just stone and ash. Don't let your search for the perfect tools of the trade distract you from the task at hand which is to get your story written.

FINE TOOTH RESEARCH

Some stories like nonfiction require a lot of initial research before the actual writing can begin. Other stories like fiction, not so much. It's one thing to gather the right amount of information in order to maintain your story's believability and quite another to bury your idea under mounds of unnecessary research. Learn the difference.

CHANNEL SURFING

There will come a time in every writer's career when they need a mental and sometimes physical break from actual writing. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact a writer will usually return with more clarity when their story is seen through a fresh pair of eyes. Just don't let the time spent away from the writing to become an excuse for channel surfing. Television, social media, online games and the Internet in general are extremely tempting and it takes a dedicated writer to exercise some self-control when it comes to their "down" time.

FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL

This is where a writer decides on a story line and might even get off to a great start. The words fill up the pages and the dialogue flows sweet like wine. Then comes the reality check when the writer takes time to actually read what they have written and discovers they have been playing Plot Ping Pong...a nasty little game where a story's main character zigzags through a great story idea with no clue of where they are going.

REVISION HELL

Very few writers stand on the mountain top and proclaim to love doing story revisions. Most consider them a necessary evil. But again, like fine tooth research, there is a difference between performing multiple revisions in order to mold your story into the finest creation you can and revising simply to avoid facing the fact your story is now ready to face the critics of the world.

HERE A CRITIQUE, THERE A CRITIQUE

Successful writers know they can't travel the path to publication alone. Well, they can...but chances are they will not achieve their highest goals. Great stories are the result of a collective process where a manuscript goes through the hands of critique groups, agents, editors, and publishers before it makes it to book form. It may even pass through those same hands more than once. But when a writer continuously seeks the opinions of others simply because of a fear...be it fear of failure or fear of success...a potentially great story finds itself stuck in the never ending Critiqueland Loop until it passes out from exhaustion.

I have found there is a simple weapon in the fight against these sins of procrastination. I call it my SHIELD OF BELIEF. When I BELIEVE in the strength of my story idea, I will put my best writing foot forward. When I BELIEVE I have done the proper research to create the foundation of my story's world, I can relax and let my story speak for itself. When I BELIEVE in the opinions of those I trust to be honest with me about my work, I can send my completed manuscript out into the world with the confidence it will one day find a proper home.

All I need to do is BELIEVE. What about YOU? Do you BELIEVE you were born to write or do you let the seven sins of procrastination prevent you from your true calling?

Monday, August 29, 2016

Encore Presentation: WRITERLY WISDOM

Rhyme and Meter, GOLDI ROCKS Style!

By Corey Rosen Schwartz

There are a lot of resources on the internet for people who want to write in rhyme. Rhyme Weaver (http://www.rhymeweaver.com) for one, is an extremely comprehensive site where you can find detailed explanations of the different types of meters. But... I’ve never seen a post that steers you toward one type over another. In my opinion, not all meters are created equal. Some are definitely better for picture books than others.

Let’s compare a few.

Mama Bear’s Stanzas

I said, “Sit down,

It’s time to eat.

Please come and try

your cream of wheat.

But Baby said,

We’d better not.

We’ll burn out tongues.

It’s way too hot!”

The problem with this meter is…. The distance between rhyming words is too SHORT.

i SAID sit DOWN. (2)

it’s TIME to EAT (2)

please COME and TRY (2)

your CREAM of WHEAT (2)

There are two stressed beats per line, which means four stressed beats (or 8 syllables) between rhymes

When this goes on for a while, it starts to feel very sing-songy. Also, since you only have eight syllables between rhymes, it tends to lead to forced rhymes. The rhymes are coming too often, which makes it difficult to tell the story you want to tell. The rhymes end up driving the story.

I see this in a LOT of manuscripts.

Papa Bear’s Stanza

Mama Bear made porridge and she called out “Time to eat.”

I yawned and rubbed my eyes and then I got up off the couch

It smelled so good. My favorite kind- delicious cream of wheat

But it was hot. I burned my tongue. I jumped and hollered, “Ouch!”

The problem here is… the distance between the rhymes is too LONG.

MAma BEAR made PORridge AND she CALLED out, “TIME to EAT” (7)

i YAWNED and RUBBED my EYES and THEN i GOT up OFF the COUCH (7)

it SMELLED so GOOD. my FAV’rite KIND- deLICious CREAM of WHEAT (7)

but IT was HOT. i BURNED my TONGUE. i JUMPED and HOLLered, “OUCH!” (7)

There are seven stressed beats per line which means 14 stressed beats (or 28 syllables) between rhymes. The rhymes are so far apart, the reader can completely lose the thread. It kind of defeats the point of writing in rhyme, which is to help kids predict what is coming.

Baby Bear’s Stanza

Mama Bear made cream of wheat

But I am not a fool

I saw the pot was scorching hot

And warned them, “Let it cool!”

Baby Bear’s stanza is just right. It’s neither too short nor too long.

MAma BEAR made CREAM of WHEAT (4)

but I am NOT a FOOL.(3)

i SAW the POT was SCORCHing HOT (4)

and WARNED them, “LET it COOL!” (3)

It also has another feature that I really recommend. It does NOT have the same number of stressed beats in every line! When the meter has the same number of stressed beats in every line, it can start to feel monotonous (Think GREEN EGGS AND HAM)

Remember, when you are writing in rhyme, you want to make the rhyme scheme and meter work FOR you, not AGAINST you. Don’t choose a crazy ABAB rhyme scheme like Papa Bear did. It’s much too difficult and all the extra work it requires doesn’t really provide any pay off to the reader. Did anyone even notice that the first and third lines in Papa’s stanza rhymed? For me, getting in an internal rhyme has a much greater pay off.

Work with a meter like Baby Bear’s and you will have seven stressed beats (or 14 syllables) between rhymes. This gives you ample opportunity to tell your story without being constrained by the rhymes. It will allow your picture book to turn out “Just right!”

Corey is the author of HOP! PLOP! (Walker, 2006), THE THREE NINJA PIGS (Putnam, 2012) GOLDI ROCKS AND THE THREE BEARS (Putnam, 2014) and NINJA RED RIDING HOOD (Putnam, 2014). Corey has no formal ninja training, but she sure can kick butt in Scrabble. She lives with three Knuckleheads in Warren, NJ.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Encore Presentation: WRITERLY WISDOM

Writing in the Real World: It’s Not A Hobby, Dammit.

By Allan Woodrow

When I tell people I write books for kids, they are surprised to hear that I also have a full time job. “Oh, so writing is just a hobby?” they ask.

“No, not a hobby,” I say cringing, mentally comparing writing novels with collecting stamps, gardening or building model trains.

Not that there is anything wrong with any of those things, but most people collect stamps and build model trains because they enjoy it. I’m not sure if enjoy is a word I would use about writing. That implies I write because it’s fun, rather than because I have to, because I feel like I’m roaming haphazardly though life if I’m not writing, if writing didn’t make me feel like I have a purpose.

So writing isn’t an option, but neither is working, or being a dad to two wonderful girls (and going to their soccer games and dance recitals), or being a husband, or sleeping and eating and practicing good hygiene and somehow cramming it all in a day.

Which means finding time to write isn’t a choice either. Because if it were a choice I would probably choose to do something else, like watching TV or sleeping more.

When I decided to get serious about publication, I met a lot of people who had been working on a novel for ten years, or more, and were still working on it. My first thought was, “You’ve been writing a novel for ten years, every day?” That didn’t seem likely. So I assumed they meant they wrote for a few weeks and then stopped for a few months, and so on and so forth and they were still working on it. For them, writing was a hobby.

If you have a full time job, or a part time job, or if being a mom is your job, you can’t perform those things when you feel like it. You do them every day, or at set schedules. Writing novels it the same thing. You might not be getting a paycheck (right away) but it is a job and you have to treat it as such.

If you treat it as a hobby that’s all it will ever be.

So how do you make the leap? You need to open an office.

Find your office space

If you have an extra room or space at home, then great. Or maybe it’s the kitchen table. Or Starbucks. Or, like me, maybe it’s the train. But pick a consistent, habitual writing spot. Because if you don’t have an office, you don’t have a job.

Set office hours.

When I wrote my first published book, The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless, a middle-grade graphic novel about the world’s most evil boy, I wrote from 8:45 to 10:00pm every day. That’s after the kids went to bed. Now, I work downtown and am on the commuter train for two hours every day. Those are my office hours. Those aren’t my sleeping or game playing hours, but the time I get to work. Office hours don’t have to be long, but they do need to be consistent and honest. An hour a day is enough. But that’s a writing hour, not a Candy Crush Saga hour.

You also need to be consistent. Your office should be open the same time every day. If you start changing the days or times, then you’ll always find excuses not to open the office that day. You wouldn’t choose to stay home from a job, would you? Well, this is a job.

Respect the office

When the office is in session, your other jobs are not. You can’t be a mom and a writer and make dinner at the same time. Respect the office hours, but make sure the family does, too. Put your husband in charge of the kids for the hour, or if that won’t work, wait until the kids are asleep, or wake up before they do. Turn off your email manager. Tell your best friend you’ll call them back in an hour.

There’s nothing more magical to it than that. Of course, you don’t have to treat writing as a job. You can treat it as a hobby. Maybe you’ll even find success. After all, even a stamp collector sometimes finds that allusive one-of-a-kind stamp. I just wouldn’t want to count on it.

AUTHOR BIO

Growing up, Allan was cursed with a boring, happy and loving family, giving him nothing interesting to write about. He resented it for years. Allan eventually harnessed his feelings into writing for kids. He is available for school and library visits, and games of kickball.

Allan is the author of The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless (HarperCollins), the upcoming The Pet War (Scholastic , Fall 2014) and under the alias Fowler DeWitt, The Contagious Colors of Mumpley Middle School and its sequel, The Amazing Wilmer Dooley (Simon & Schuster, Fall 2014 and 2015), as well as approximately 400 other books in various stages of development.

Visit him at www.allanwoodrow.com