Rereading

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I have an old copy of Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. The other day I read a Writer’s Digest article, “What You Might Find in Your Old Notebooks,” by blogger Kate Monahan, which mentioned free writing and referred to a quote in Goldberg’s book. I decided to revisit the book, especially the chapter Goldberg wrote on “Rereading and Rewriting.” She mentions putting your writing aside for a while and then coming back and rereading. I recently mentioned just that in a writing workshop I conducted for senior citizens. I commented how I’ve revisited an earlier piece several days or weeks later and discover that I have a different perspective. Most of the time, it’s a much better perspective. Goldberg writes in that chapter, “See revision as ‘envisioning again.’ If there are areas in your work where there is a blur or vagueness, you can simply see the picture and add the details that will bring your work closer to your mind’s picture.” It works for me. Happy writing.
“Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.” — Natalie Goldberg

Letters from students

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I was reading this article by Ingrid Roper on Publishers Weekly online blog about Patricia MacLachlan, award winning author of one of my favorite books, Sarah Plain and Tall. In this question- and- answer session, Ms. MacLachlan mentions school visits and how it contributed to her new book, Word After Word After Word. That peaked my interest because I do quite a few school visits myself. She too gets letters from the children and I can relate with the questions they ask, i.e., how much money do you make, where do you get your ideas, how much do you revise, etc.  Here is one letter from a student during one of my school visits.
“Writing… is … brave. You are brave.” – Patricia MacLachlan (Word After Word After Word)

Happiness Award

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Yesterday I received a pleasant surprise. An award! A fellow writer, Catherine Winn, honored me with the Happiness Award. How cool is that! She had lovely comments about my blog on her blog, which by the way is super. When she got this award, she listed the ten things that make her happy. Here are mine.

1. A good cup of coffee in the morning.
2. Watching the birds building a nest in my back yard.
3. Visiting with my children and grandchildren.
4. Getting an “aha” moment when I’m writing.

5. Relaxing with a good book that has “spirit.”
6. A good movie and dinner with friends.
7. A flower that suddenly sprouts overnight and surprises me in the morning.
8. Art that touches my soul.
9. Exuberant faces of children when I do a school visit.
10. Gentle breezes.

What ten things make you happy? I think for most of us, it’s the simple things in life that we cherish. I am grateful for my many blessings. Have a great writing day!

Gems

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I don’t know about you, but I love great bargains. I just came from our local Half-Price book store where everything is half price. Sometimes even lower than half price. Most of the books are used, but many are new. I love it when I find what I call “gems.” I found an old Don Quixote book (with illustrations no less) for under five dollars. So what if it’s an old book published years ago; it’s still a good read and I happen to love old books.
I especially like it when I find books on writing. One book I’m looking forward to reading is The Little Red Writing Book. No kidding, the cover is RED and it’s got a wolf illustrated on the cover. Neat! This one I found discounted at B&N.; I browsed through it and found it pretty interesting. Has principles of structure, style, and readability and grammar. All great tools a writer needs, wouldn’t you say? But like I recently read in a writer’s magazine, you can read all these books on writing but unless you sit down in that chair and WRITE, it won’t do you any good. So absorb all you can from these books but then take your craft seriously and write that novel that only you can write.
I highly recommend visiting Verla Kay’s blog for tons of information for published authors including contract negotiations, school and author visits, promotion of your book, the business end of publishing, etc.
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” — Stephen King (On Writing)

Goals

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Half of the year is almost gone. Where did it go? Is time flying fast for you too? Have you met some of the goals you set at the beginning of the year? I know I haven’t. As the months go by, we tend to forget the enthusiasm we felt around the New Year – all kinds of expectations about where our writing will take us. Have we pitched those stories we were going to pitch? Have we done our market research? Have we finished that story that needs to be finished? I’ve done a lot of things so far, but I still have a long way to go. Right now I’m trying to squeeze some reading in too. But I’m working on time management as well. Go back and revisit that list that you started at the beginning of the year. It feels good to check off a few off the list.
 For book lovers, here’s a quote that one of my writer friends emailed to me. Enjoy.
Giving Someone a Book Has ‘Undeniable, Totemic Power’
“Of course, you don’t have to buy a book to read it, but the act of giving someone a book of his or her own has an undeniable, totemic power. As much as we love libraries, there is something in possessing a book that’s significantly different from borrowing it, especially for a child. You can write your name in it and keep it always. It transforms you into the kind of person who owns books, a member of the club, as well as part of a family that has them around the house. You’re no longer just a visitor to the realm of the written word: You’ve got a passport.”


–Laura Miller in her Salon essay, “Book owners have smarter kids.”

Rejection Letters

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We all get them at one time or another – rejection letters. Like most writers, I’m sorely disappointed when I get one. After calling my writer friends and basking in a couple days’ sympathy, I put aside my disappointment, reread the manuscript, make changes if I feel it is needed, and resubmit elsewhere. We need to remember to not take it personally. Maybe the editor already had a similar story. Or maybe it wasn’t what they were looking for. Unless you keep getting rejection after rejection on the same manuscript – then you need to take a good look and find out what the problem is.

“Was it a good rejection?” one might ask. By which I mean, were there constructive comments in the letter. Many times, some editors will take the time to jot down significant feedback, which is always appreciated. My advice is to keep submitting, hang in there, and it will happen. Your story will find the right publisher.
Here’s Bethany Roberts’ neat blog, which addresses how to deal with rejection letters and other writing tips.

 “The biggest mistake a writer can make is not taking the time to fully understand the publications, publishing houses, or literary agents she queries.” — Writing tip from Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Book of Thanks

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What a wonderful surprise I received in the mail yesterday. A bound book of letters of appreciation from some of the students of Graebner Elementary here in San Antonio. It was my pleasure to do a school visit there last week. The students were such a good audience and asked excellent questions after the reading/presentation.
Part of my presentation included demonstrating the writing process from idea for story to final publication. I stressed the revision process of writing and showed them messy drafts of some of my writing and the final, clean copy that went out to publishers. When I asked, “who likes to draw?” all hands went up. That’s when I brought in how illustrator and writer collaborate on a book. Using Power Point, I showed them black and white illustrator sketches and then the final product.

It was a rewarding experience for me, and I hope for them, as well. They seemed really excited to have an author at their school. They told me they had never had one before. Needless to say, their enthusiasm made my day. But the letters in the bound book touched my heart. I hope to share some of their letters on this blog at some later date. In the meantime, I’ll share with you the beautiful cover they made.   Muchas gracias, estudiantes y maestras/maestros de la escuela Graebner!

Joy of writing

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“The secret to writing is joy.” That’s what blogger, Rebecca Serle, recently posted online on The Huffington Post. “The best kept secret of publishing,” she goes on to say, is ”that the true secret to writing is not brilliance or talent or even commitment – albeit they’re important. The secret to writing is joy.” In her article, she comments extensively on the children’s world of publishing. She started out writing for adults but then something happened that convinced her she should write for children. For those of us who write children’s books, I believe we can relate. Read her inspiring article.

“Writing is a pleasure, and I feel that if I did not enjoy writing, no one would enjoy reading my books.” — Beverly Cleary

Author Jane Yolen

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Just read an archived article published in a recent The Writer magazine. The topic is about writing apprenticeship. In it, the author, Jane Yolen, writes about writing as a craft, one where you “can eventually master the tools of the trade.” She likens the craft of writing to that of a potter taking the time to really learn his craft. She writes about discipline in both crafts (writing and pottery) and working at the craft continuously, “not just in leisure moments.”
Here are some excerpts that I especially like from her article: “There is continuity in the work of a craftsperson. Just as the potter uses scrap clay, unfired clay that did not respond properly to the potter’s hands, so, too, the writer uses and resuses ideas, sequences, and characters.” She goes on to write, “I no longer fear the language. I respect it.”
I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Yolen at a writer’s workshop in Boerne, Texas, a few years back. She was a true inspiration to those of us who attended. I consider that meeting one of the highlights of my writing career.

“The greatest children’s books are about the journey to wisdom.” — Jane Yolen

Author visits

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Just got back from three days in the Rio Grande Valley. I was there to do school visits. It’s always a pleasant experience to meet the children and their teachers and librarians. Some of these schools had never had author visits before and they were thrilled to have one. At one school, the librarian had arranged for the top ten AR readers to have lunch with the author (that’s me). At lunchtime, they rushed in, full of questions and in awe. (Made me feel so humble).
I knew in advance about the luncheon, so I brought brightly-decorated journals for each one and autographed them, which delighted them. We ate pizza and talked about writing. They shot questions left and right. They were so eager to find out how writers come up with stories, how and when they write, how it feels to have a book out, if we get to meet famous authors, etc.
I had a brief writing exercise for them and they did not disappoint me. They came up with excellent ideas for stories and knew about conflict and resolution. They even did a little dance for me about “action verbs.” How can any author resist such enthusiasm? It made my day.
On the drive back to San Antonio, I saw acres and acres of sunflowers. Couldn’t resist taking a picture.

“Children are the hope of humanity. If they are going to change the world, they have to start off optimistically. I wouldn’t consider writing a depressing book for children.” – William Steig