FINALLY...Doin' As I Tell Others!

                            "And now we're back where we started

                              Here we go 'round again

                              Day after day, I get up and I say

                              I better do it again."

                                        - The Kinks - Do It Again, 1983

I'm happy to report:

I'm doin' it again,

returning to the picture book biography I've yet to get working

as it should so my subject - a little-known but needs-to-be-

known colonial woman whose efforts changed her people

and our country, grabs the hearts of Young Readers the way

she grabbed mine.

This time, though?

After revisiting my research,

rereading successful mentor texts,

re-examining my numerous rejections,

and of course, reliving in my first notes how I fell in love

with my subject,

I reassessed the last of my iterations, the one that earned 

admiring declines,

with both eyes fully refracted and cataract-free.

FINALLY...I'm doin' as I tell others - the students I teach,

the writers I coach, the Readers of this blog.

Why I didn't do so at the start, seven years ago (!) leaves

me gobsmackingly flummoxed.

Think: the proverbial shoemaker whose children go

shoeless.

Thankfully, in reading through the draft, I did discover

a few story elements that were already working as they

should.

I focused the telling on just ONE of my subject's many

lifetime accomplishments, making sure that accomplish-

ment was child-centered.

(Previous iterations offered a cradle-to-grave overview.)

My language and word choice allowed for a tone that

honored both the woman and the Times.

My love for the subject came through loud and clear.

I cringed, however, identifying all the parts that worked,

but needed to work better.

For starters, I offered my Reader not enough of a way 

in to both this long-ago story and my subject's heart.

I needed to intensify the Recognizable Sentiment 

that allowed my Reader to connect with the subject's 

longed-for-quest  - and - as important, with the 

children my subject knew had lost their way.

The hook I offered wasn't enough to compel the 

Reader to turn the page, worried, caring, fearful.

Sadly, too, my subject was not on the page.

She rarely spoke of what she sought, of what she was

feeling.

"Not enough Show..." I would have written in the 

margins were the text written by one of my writers.

Lots of narration. Little scene building.

I left my Reader helpless to draw any relevancy to

the World today, despite the story's children's

status as immigrants.

More concrete details would have brought to life 

my subject's World and Times.

Though beloved by me, my subject as presented

proved less inspiring than I'd hoped.

In summary, I'd paid little attention to the advice I 

shared in my May 16, 2025 TeachingAuthors post

"It's All About the Heartbeat."

The Good News is, armed with Next Steps, I did

as I shared in my TeachingAuthors post in

November of 2010. I found a piece of music that

sounded like my story - Sergei Rachmaninoff's

Piano Concerto No. 2, first performed in 1901.

For months I've been walking and writing in this 

Russian's company, fully lost in the wonder of his 

sumptuous composition.

If you don't know the piece by its given name,

you will certainly know its themes.

You can listen here: 

Like my picture book biography's subject, this

concerto - its poignancy at times, the longing

it expresses, the sweeps that build and crest,

grabbed my heart long ago the first time I heard 

it. It has never let go.

And that was before I learned how Rachmaninoff

came to write the concerto.

Three years ago, in a Grant Park Symphony

program, I read how Rachmaninoff suffered 

severe depression after his first piano concerto

was disastrously received, so severe he was

unable to compose, until he worked with an

acclaimed hypnotherapist for three years.

"You will begin to write your concerto," he was

told. "You will work with great facility. Your

concerto will be of excellent quality."

Need I write more?

This concerto not only holds Rachmaninoff's

story of Triumph with a deserved capital "T."

It holds my subject's story - one of finding a

way to help children find their way, never

turning back to do what she knew she needed

to do. 

And it holds mine, too - one of FINALLY

finding a way to tell my subject's story to

Young Readers!

At the moment, while considering my 

ending's wording and awaiting my 

brilliant critique partners' critical 

comments, I've decided to use the 

Five-Star Revision Tool I recommended 

in my September, 2011blog post to keep 

me focused.

I've gathered for inclusion in the review 

I wish to receive several of the critical 

comments Amy Alznauer, Candace

Fleming, Barb Rosenstock and Suzanne 

Slade - four of my Favorite Illinois authors -

garnered for their pb bios.

"A great book for a brave woman."

"An important story for children and adults

alike."

"...poetic text..."

"a perfect tribute..."

"Beautifully-written and timely."

"Brings an amazing woman to life."

Here's hoping I won't be singing the Kinks song

I opened with any time soon, at least to ready 

this pb bio for submission.

But if that turns out to be?

At least I know: I'll  be doin' as I tell others!

Here's to sowing, growing and readying your 

stories!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.

Thanks to Rose Cappelli for hosting today's

Poetry Friday at Imagine the Possibilities.

Recycling, Revising, Rethinking Old Projects Into New Mediums

 I am writing this post at 11:42 pm after a day of attempting to produce a new short film. I am compelled to direct another film for a 72-hour challenge sponsored by an organization dedicated to inspiring beginning filmmakers, Cinematography for Actors, because they provide an opportunity to get out there and make films with other creatives.  It is an opportunity that is too delicious to pass up.  It requires 72 intense hours of your life and the reward is that you have completed a film.  The last film I made, Don't Assume is now being shown in the LA Film Festival on May 21, 2026 at 7:00pm.

To buy tickets if you're in LA

LOS ANGELES FILM FEST | May 13th-24th 2026 Tickets, Wednesday, May 13-Sunday, May 24 | Eventbrite

Although I was enchanted by filmmaking when I first arrived in Los Angeles in the mid 80's, I never fully pursued this "dream" in serious ways.  I worked on crews and dabbled, but made my way into education and other art forms instead.  This new interest is a much more realistic approach.  I love the format of the short film.  I am long past any "Hollywood Dreams" and am much more interested in telling a story in a different medium, in addition to as an author.

As the writer/director/producer, I find that the first step for me is to pair with a cinematographer, with whom I can collaborate. With this accomplishment, the potential script can begin its journey into the formation of a cinematic reality.  

As an author, the story reality begins with me.  The creative work done, is solitary.  Yes, there are critique partners along the way, my agent's expert adjustments, an editor's desire for the story, and the acquisition team’s decision to make the manuscript into a book.  But for the most part, the process is a relatively solo journey until the manuscript is ready to make its way into the publishing world.

A story on its way to the screen is a completely different process, with many collaborations along the way.

I began this particular endeavor with a creative partnership with the cinematographer, Evan Parquette. Together, we worked the script into shape.  It had many layers for a 7-minute film so there were many hours spent tweaking and twisting the words and directions on the page.

Once satisfied with the shape of the story, we set about finding other members of the crew.  We found a film editor who will take the footage we will shoot and arrange the sound and images into a cohesive story, paying close attention to tone and pacing. Using their artistry, they will tell the story by the arrangement they choose.

We have spent the past few days securing equipment necessary to record sound and image.  As these pieces came together, we were hopeful. But one cannot make a film without a location or actors.  This is where we stumbled.  It is easier said than done.

Writing a manuscript as an author isn’t easy but there are some key differences of the artform.  As an author, I must world-build.  I must use the words to create images of place, in the imagination of the reader.  I must create living, breathing characters with histories, objectives, desires, motivations, and relationships.  If I succeed, the characters come to life in the readers imaginations as well.  Taking up emotional space and navigating a journey through a story that the reader is willing to embark on.

Throughout the day, we thought we had secured the location.  We were on our way, and then we lost it and had to start from scratch.  By afternoon, we were unsuccessful in securing another location.

Meanwhile, we were scrambling to cast the two main actors.  Without actors, we are unable to bring the story to life.  By late afternoon we threw in the towel and pivoted.

As an author, I have complete control over the characters in my story.  In film, I must depend on other people to act out the parts on camera to tell the story.  I have no real control.  It is a feeling of helplessness and frustration.  A feeling that I am not accustomed to.  As an author, the story dictates my progress.  I am experiencing that in film; the logistics and other people dictate the progress.  Film is truly a collaborative medium. I love story crafting as an author.  I am learning to love story crafting as a filmmaker with many collaborators. 

The film story we were trying to tell was multi-dimensional, with many different complicated levels. We were beginning to worry that the elements necessary to tell such a sophisticated story with very little prep would result in a telling that was sophomoric and trite.  

Did I have a different story that we could film? Could I recycle an old story?  How much revision would be necessary?  Changing from a manuscript to film script would take some rethinking.

By late evening, I pulled out a scene from the novel that I have been working on about the twin sister of the school shooter. 

I know these characters backward and forward.  I know what's in their hearts.  I know their wounds.  I know how they love and hate.  Fortunately, it didn't take long to rework the scene into a 7 minute short film.  Thank goodness.  We were out of time.

By late night, we were back to looking for a location and searching for actors for a different story.

It is now 2:32 am.  Tomorrow will tell if the pieces to this puzzle come together.  So many pieces must align.  It’s so labor intensive as well as expensive.  If you have an explosion in the story, it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.  As an author, it’s free.  It is all created in the reader’s mind.  Such different mediums, and yet, there is enchantment and excitement in both.  A journey to be taken.

By Zeena M. Pliska

Author of 

Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story

Egyptian Lullaby

Chicken Soup for the Soul for Babies Say Thank You? (But Why?)

Chicken Soup for the Soul for Babies A Gift For Me? (I Want It!)