FALLING IN LOVE WITH FALL...

To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:

FALL

I'm pretty sure my sister didn't realize just how much I admired her when we were growing up. I thought Janet had it all...a witty personality, a bevy of friends, and the coolest wedge sandals I had ever seen.

I've been 5'10" since I was eleven years old. Tall enough to tower over most of the other students in my class which didn't win me any popularity contests, but the thought of adding another 5 inches to my height was too tempting to resist. Besides, to a gangly pre teen, those shoes represented about the sexiest thing I had ever seen.

My sister let me borrow those shoes one day and I strutted around the playground like I was the Homecoming Queen. That is, until I tried to turn the corner of a building and ended up FALLING off those shoes.

Hitting the concrete face first.

In front of a group of kids.

Who started to laugh and point at the goofball on the ground trying to gather her dignity and her high heel wedges before slinking off to hide in the girl's bathroom for the rest of recess.

I never wore those wedge shoes again, but for one moment in an otherwise mediocre elementary school career, I was on top of my world!

Writers FALL in love with their stories. They are passionate about those writerly relationships,  sometimes extending the "honeymoon" phase of loving their main characters long past what is best for the overall storyline. That's where a good critique group or critique partner comes in.

An outside pair of eyes will catch weaknesses in those manuscripts, preventing those main characters from FALLING into the dark hole of the slush pile.

For writers looking for a critique partner or critique group, here are a few links to check out...

 http://thewritersmatch.com/

https://www.ladieswhocritique.com/ 

 https://thewritelife.com/find-a-critique-partner/

 http://lisapoisso.com/2016/07/26/find-critique-partners-groups/

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, time at the beach, and good stories.

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WRITERLY WISDOM: Janee Trasler

 



I'm sure you are wondering what I am doing here on a Thursday? Well, when the fabulous Jim Averbeck decided to talk about critique groups yesterday on WRITERLY WISDOM,

(http://donasdays.blogspot.com/2013/07/writerly-wisdom-jim-averbeck.html), I also received a request from the equally talented children's book author, Janee Trasler, to be able to do a follow up post on how to tailor make a critique group. How could I refuse? Instead of waiting until next week, I thought it would serve my readers better by posting it here today, so there you have it.  Take it away Janee...

 

 

Tailor-made Critique Groups

by Janee Trasler

Like Jim Averbeck, I count myself lucky to be a member of an excellent critique group. But don’t be fooled; it is by no means dumb luck. What I have is a tailor-made, suits-me-to-a-T critique group.

Unlike Jim, I was not lucky enough to find my perfect group on my first try. I had to shop around a bit before I knew exactly what I liked and needed in a critique group.

Once I had the answers, I just needed to ask the questions.

 

 

Who did I want in my group?

 

Some critique groups are made up of members who are at varying levels in their writing education and careers. This can work out really well. It gives the newer writers access to the more seasoned writers’ experience and gives the seasoned writers the chance to see how far they’ve come and to give a little back.

Other groups are made up of members who are all at a similar level, whether that be total newbie, almost published, or published. This type allows the members to grow together and offers an equal level of confidence across the board.

I knew I wanted a group of writers at a similar level, so I chose to ask people who were all represented by the same literary agency but by different agents. I figured this would keep it all in house and make the sharing of information easier. At the same time, we would avoid any hurt feelings if an agent spent more time with one writer than another.

 

What did I want my group to be about?

I’ve been in groups that have writers from board books to YA, and I’ve been in groups that stick to one genre. Both have merit and it is strictly a matter of personal taste.

I know I am not equipped to comment on novels (and you can only say, “Yup, I like it.” so often before your critique group also realizes how little you know about writing novels), so I opted to ask writers who write picture books/board books.

Where would we meet?

In-person groups allow for more socialization. You can bring along a book you’ve found, break bread, and just get to hang with other writers.

Online groups, which allow you to critique at your own convenience, give you the opportunity to really study a submission before you comment. They are easier to fit into a busy schedule and don’t require geographical closeness to the other members.

I’m an online type of gal. I like to read a manuscript several times before I comment, and I like to get feedback in writing. It makes revising much easier for me.

How big?

Just how many members should you invite? This is an important question because it dictates how much time you devote to critiques.

I prefer a smaller group, so I invited three other people.

Once all had been invited and inducted (Oh, you don’t even want to know about the initiation ritual we all had to go through. Let’s just same some of us look better in lampshades than others.), we still had a few logistical questions to answer:

When would we meet and submit work?

This is heavily influenced by whether you meet in-person or online.

I’ve been in critique groups where members just submitted whenever they had something, and I’ve been in groups run like a military boot camp. It’s up to you how often you meet or submit work, but I’ve found having a set schedule helps me get work done.

As a group, we chose to have a designated member submit work on the first four Tuesdays of each month. (I’m Third Tuesday Girl.) The other three members have until the following Tuesday to send comments.

Life gets in the way sometimes, and we’ve been known to swap a Tuesday here or there. We also try to remain flexible as to what you can submit. If we don’t have a complete draft ready, we can submit what we have and ask for brainstorming help. I’ve also been known to sneak in two board books instead of one picture book.

How would we submit and critique work?

This is one area where I feel online groups have the advantage over in-person. It’s so much easier to read and comment on manuscripts online.

We send our work in MS Word format in my group and use the comments feature to put our feedback right in the document.

After all these tough questions where answered, we found ourselves right back to “Who?”

Who are we?

 

We are:

Kim Norman (www.kimnormanbooks.com)

Tammi Sauer ( www.tammisauer.com)

Janee Trasler (www.trasler.com)

Jessica Young (www.jessicayoungbooks.wordpress.com).

We are the PBJeebies, and since we joined forces two and a half years ago, we have collectively sold 18 books.

My critique group suits me to a T. It ought to; it was tailor-made.

 

 

 

Janee Trasler is the author illustrator of eight books for kids, including the upcoming board book series for HarperCollins which kicks off in January, 2014 with BEDTIME FOR CHICKIES.

 

Website: www.trasler.com

Blogs: www.trasler.typepad.com

Email: janee@trasler.com


 

WRITERLY WISDOM: Jim Averbeck

 It's time once again for WRITERLY WISDOM where every Wednesday we will sneak a peek into the world of writing and publication. My next guest is award-winning children's book author, Jim Averbeck, who shows us how to create a successful critique group.  Take it away Jim...

The 5 Cs of a Successful Critique Group

By Jim Averbeck

I am a very lucky writer. With some friends, I founded a critique group, the Revisionaries, in 1998 and that group is still going strong. When we started we were all unpublished and just learning the craft.  Now everyone in the group is multi published by prestigious houses. I’ve lost track of the awards, honors, stars and contracts we have under our collective belt.  And I marvel at the longevity of the group. So, how did we manage to stick around long enough to find success?  I give you the 5 Cs of an accomplished critique group.

Communicate:  One of the most important things my group did was to make it clear from the beginning that we had high expectations of anyone who joined. Members were expected to pursue their writing education by signing up for classes, attending conferences, and reading extensively, both craft books and current and classic bestsellers. We expected people to come to the meetings, whether they had work or not. We expected participation and cooperation as we all strove to find our voice and our place in the industry.

Commit:  Once we found people who met our expectations, we very explicitly made them commit to the hard work ahead of us. There were no formal rituals- no killing of chickens or drinking of blood – but we did have a very formal meeting where we outlined our goals, both those of the group and our individual goals. We made this a yearly custom. Each year around Christmas we set aside our stories and reimagine what we want to do with our work and our creative lives. We commit to following through (and talk about how we did the previous year.)  This might sound a bit grim, but we float our goals on a sea of wine and good food, so it’s really something to which we look forward.

Create: This is the fun part. The part all writers and illustrators live for: the spark of ideas, the bringing together of words and sentences (or lines and colors for our illustrators).  And, of course, the sharing of what we made.

Critique: This may sound like a no-brainer. Of course you critique in a critique group.  But I have been surprised to hear many stories of crit groups that become mutual admiration societies, or moan and groan sessions, or just fun parties. Sure it is important to support each other, and to listen to each other vent on issues in the industry. But ultimately you are there to help each other improve your work. It’s time to put on your big boy (or girl) pants, grow a thick skin, and listen to what people are telling you. You’ll find that each person has something at which they specialize. This one is great at finding just the right word. That one is superb at pinning down the emotional heart of your story. Another knows every punctuation rule in the book. Learn to listen. You needn’t take all the advice given, but you should consider it all.  

Celebrate: This is the other fun part. When someone sells a book, or wins an award, or gets a starred review, take the time to celebrate. Buy a cake. Do a dance. Have a party. And most importantly – pop open the champagne.

Because that is the sixth “C” of a successful critique group.

Champagne.

Cheers!

Jim Averbeck works, plays, and evades the law in the San Francisco Bay Area. Between dodging the falling bodies of vertiginous blondes, crouching to avoid killer birds, and taking quick and fearful showers behind a triple locked bathroom door, he writes and illustrates for children. His first book, In a Blue Room, was a Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book. His popular books, Except If and Oh No, Little Dragon! feature charming protagonists with long pointy teeth. His book The Market Bowl was a JLG Premiere Selection. A Hitch at the Fairmont, his first novel, will be released Summer 2014 from Simon and Schuster. Spy agencies can find Jim online at www.jimaverbeck.com.

Sometimes It's Okay To Can't

Sunday was not a good day for me.  I thought I had a good night's sleep but woke up at 8 a.m. EXTREMELY SICK.  Out of nowhere sick.  CAN'T keep anything down and CAN'T stay out the  restroom sick.  And CAN'T keep my eyes open in between being sick so I slept until almost 4 p.m. when I wasn't being sick.  During my coherent moments I was actually thinking about my Monday blog post and I realized that it is okay sometimes to CAN'T.  My body was telling me it CAN'T do all the outside chores I needed to do so I gave in to my CAN'T and took care of ME instead.

To the people that know me well enough, they know I would be that chicken that WOULD fly despite everyone around me saying chicken's CAN'T fly.  But then there are times when I will give in to the CAN'Ts in my life because I need to.  I CAN'T go to my regional SCBWI conference this fall because I simply don't have the financial means.  But that doesn't mean I give up my dream of writing.  I will find ways around this and go in search of lessons to learn what I might have learned there.  

I CAN'T hope to polish my writing without the help of critique groups and professional groups like Rate Your Story.  I must give in to the CAN'Ts and allow others to show me where my work needs improving.  It's okay to say I CAN'T do it without you and seek out the wisdom of those who have come before me.  

But there is one thing that I CAN'T ever forget...and Wil Smith from the movie The Pursuit of Happiness says it best...

Perfecting My Juggling Act

Before January of 2011 I would have considered myself to be a fairly busy person.  I worked and trained full time at my TaeKwonDo school.  I would get there around 10 am and leave around 8 pm every night during the school year and put in about 14 hours every day during the summer.  I sometimes felt like THIS guy...trying to juggle everything on my plate and sometime not getting the results I wanted.

Then I decided that I was going to return to my writing.  My son had moved out of the house and I quickly converted his bedroom into my study before he could change his mind.  But the world of writing is very different from twenty years ago and there was much for me to learn.  And the more I learned, the more things I discovered I needed to juggle. Things like a website, and a blog site, and social sites like Linkedin and Facebook and critique groups and writers online communities and other peoples blog sites and other peoples websites...you get the idea.  Then I started to feel like THIS guy because I now find myself with the idea of trying to juggle two full time careers and determined to make both passions work for me.

So how do I do it?  Keyword...time management.  I want to squeeze as much writing time out of each day as I can so I get up at 6 or 7 am each morning and juggle my writing...whether picture book or fantasy novel or blog post and then I spend the next ten hours focussing on my martial arts.  When I get home,  I spend the next 3 hours reading and responding to emails, catching up on other blogs or websites or online writing groups before tumbling into bed around midnight.  Saturdays I run errands and Sunday I focus on editing, doing critiques, researching submission avenues, and reading articles or books to further my writer skills.  Oh yeah, I also take time out on Sunday evening to watch Once Upon A Time...the only TV I indulge in during the week.

Juggling my time and my life may seem crazy to other people but I feel energized with my life in a way I haven't been before.  I didn't mention the volunteering I do on the side or my charity organizations or school programs I also participate in because I fill those in when I have the extra time...lol...

I can look back on this past year and wonder how did I ever manage to juggle all those obligations of my time or I can just sit back and reflect on how satisfied I am with my writing life and my martial arts life right now.  I'm privileged to be able to share my excitement with others through this wonderful writing community and give back to all the lovely people who have enriched my life this past year.  Now I'm looking more like THIS lady and thinking if I could just learn to toss in some chocolate with those clocks I'd be doing just fine!