Post-Pandemic---A Plan for the Immediate Future

 What a difference a week makes! I was so jazzed to write about "post-pandemic" life, how I'm making plans for in-person conferences, lining up school visits. I was so thrilled to read Esther's exuberant plans for "up-close and personal" contact with her writing friends and other TA's.

Just a week ago, it all seemed possible.

I see now that "Post-Pandemic" was a mirage we've lived in all summer. We heard about the delta variant, but it was always somewhere else...Great Britain, India, Thailand...not here.  Well it's here now, with a vengeance. I live in Atlanta. As for this morning, the state of Georgia has had 19,000 new cases in the last 72 hours. The rate of the fully vaccinated is 37.4%. 

People here never did take the pandemic seriously, few masks, fewer vaccinations...and this summer all precautions were thrown to the winds. While people partied in bars, jammed swimming pools and crammed into Sun-Trust Park to watch the Braves...the delta variant tip-toed in...and dropped a viral bomb.

I think a lot of us feel we are back to square one, wondering when this is all going to end. I've decided that for the foreseeable future, this is the "new normal" (a term I dislike...but can't think of a better one.) I can't put off living waiting for the "old normal"...which may never return. I spent most of last year waiting for the vaccine, never dreaming everyone wouldn't want to take it. 

I need a new plan for my current reality. 

TA's Mary Ann, Carmela, April c.2010 

First, I am keeping Bobbi's latest post close at hand. What a spectacular job she did of culling resources of all kinds...everything I could need in a new, mostly virtual writing life. ("Virtually everything"? OK, bad pun.)

Next, I'm going to read my way through Zena's extensive reading list on diversity. I was lucky to work in the University of Wisconsin library system in the 90's and attend conferences at the Children's Co-operative Book Center. At the time, I was very aware of collecting multicultural literature for the School of Education collection, because I was the one doing the selecting. I have not been as diligent recently in keeping current in my reading. I've only read half of Zena's list so...work to do!

I have a picture book coming out Fall 2022 (I think...it could be later). I need to figure out how to connect with schools and students virtually. School visits are my favorite part of being an author. There is nothing like the give and take of talking to kids in person. Those odd ball moments when a kid asks you to autograph his notebook or tells you what your book what has meant to them...I'm pretty sure they can't be reproduced on Zoom. I will have to re-tool my hyperactive presentation style....walking through the student groups, asking questions, doing lots of "dramatic readings." (When I was teaching, my classroom presentations were known as "Big Vivid"...to make sure my students stayed awake!) There must be a way to do Big Vivid on a screen. 

Mental stimulation-Chihuly exhibit

And then there is Esther's last post.  I was so happy....and envious of Esther's happy plans for the "non-socially distant life." Even though Atlanta was still deep in delusion, I knew even last week that I would never leave the house without a mask, let alone eat in a restaurant. Sigh. But this won't be forever. I have a list of people I am planning to visit as soon as it's safe, none of whom live within driving distance. My big post pandemic plan is to visit my favorite cousins...and milk them for family stories and pictures. So many missing pieces of family history that I can no longer ask my parents, or anyone else in their generation. (If you are a regular reader of Teaching Authors, you know that my extended family has shown up in most of my books.)

What I have missed most in the past two years, is creative stimulation. In my case, being out and about and eavesdropping. I literally dash in and out of stores, not lingering in check out lines, only shopping where there is self-check. 

I didn't realize how much I missed hearing other people talk until I got a haircut this week (an appointment I made back in May...who knew?) Not only do I look better, I spent a wonderful hour listening to the woman in the next chair talking about her teenage and daughter and her boyfriend dying their hair...the night before school started...with disastrous results. I came home and scribbled the whole thing down in my journal. For awhile, I've thought my Writer's Brain was turning to sludge. It hasn't. It just needs stimulation...from real people. You just don't get the same sort of brain jolts from reading...and definitely not from watching TV! I've been writing this stuff in my journals for decades...maybe it's time to re-read those journals for some "stored inspiration."

And then there is The Novel. I no longer tell people I'm working on it, because I don't think anyone will publish it. (An agent told me this years ago, and his voice is still in my head.) This story is from my dad's family, and I've felt guilty that I didn't finish it before he died. So I'm moving past "this-isn't-good-enough" and "guilt-guilt-guilt" and moving on. 

It's a blow to realize that 'normal life" is on hold once again. However, I've had over a year of feeling paralyzed and overwhelmed. That's long enough. I grew up at a time when students were required to memorize poetry. My school system was overly fond of Longfellow. Me, not so much. But his "Psalm of Life"--all gazillion stanzas of it--stayed in my head, long after I've forgotten "Hiawatha" and "Evangeline." In fact, on mornings when I don't want to get up, the last stanza automatically prods me out of bed--(Iambic pentameter will do that to you!) Thanks, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow!

  Let us, then be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

What's Your Motivation?

Spring brings daffodils and new hopes for better times ahead. Did you know the daffodil also symbolizes inspiration, creativity and reflection? It’s often the time when, after finishing our winter revisions, we now start a new project. We anticipate new characters with the same enthusiasm of a new relationship. We wake up early, eager to see how they are doing. We spend the day with them, meeting their family and friends, going on fancy adventures, and otherwise worrying about them.

And at night, we dream about them.

We fall in love with our characters. And we want our readers to feel the same affection. For a reader to bond with your story, s/he must fall in love with your character. James Scott Bell (The Art of War for Writers, 2009) identifies three lead character types:

 The positive lead character is your traditional hero. S/he represents the values of the community. The hero gives the reader a window into the story. Readers love traditional heroes because if the hero wins, everyone wins. Including the reader.

A negative lead character does things that most wouldn’t approve of. In fact, readers don’t always like the negative lead. As such, this character type becomes the hardest to create. Hannibal Lecter is the serial killing antagonist in Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs. But he becomes the primary character in the third book and movie, Hannibal. We don’t like him, but we certainly are fascinated with him!

The third lead character, the antihero lead is a specialized kind of hero. Society may see her as an outlaw or a villain. But the reader sympathizes with the anti-hero. She is the individualist, the one who goes it alone. Readers fall in love with these types of characters.


The key to creating memorable characters is understanding their motivation. Her motivation helps establish the vital bond between herself and the reader. After all, readers can empathize with a character’s motivation, especially if it’s similar to her own. Readers want to know why these characters are in the mess they are in.


In fact, psychologists distinguish two kinds of motivation: social and physiological. Your character has basic biological needs. Our bodies are hardwired to fear and avoid pain and death. Your character may also find motivation in social situations, from familial to cultural to national situations. The social motivation reflects behavior, and determines how behavior influences personality. These also include unconscious response to early conditioning, and ingrained beliefs on gender, race and religion.

If the plot is what happens to your character, then her motivation is the force that sets it into motion and keeps it going. It’s why she goes after her goal in the first place.

Story is driven by motivation. Gregory Martin (New Writer’s Handbook, 2007) points out that this ‘desire’ is driven not only by the character’s desire but by the reader’s desire as well. The reader wants to see the character succeed, or at least wants to see what happens next. And, more importantly, it’s the writer’s desire to “thwart both the character and the reader,” for that is the essence of story.

But motive and motivation can be complicated.

Just as there are times when we don’t fully understand why we do the things we do, you’ll discover that your character does not always understand her behavior. This confusion, however, makes your character real to the reader. Her confusion reinforces her struggle.

As Rust Hill explains, motivation may lead to conflict, but if the story reflects only two characters who motives are each clear and distinct, and who eventually come to a face to face confrontation, this is just external conflict. Far more effective “…is the internal conflict that occurs when motivations are in conflict within the same character. With some exceptions, all the intriguing characters in literature have very unclear motivation.” (Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular, 2000)


Your character’s history relates to her inner struggle. As Dr Phil tells us, our past affects our present. Understanding this psychological make-up of your character adds depth to your story. Daughters who grew up neglected by their fathers often look to their lovers to fill some fundamental sense of emptiness. They may be too needy, always wanting to be told how special they are, always too eager to please. Sons who mothers abandoned them at an early age often have a hard time trusting women. Are monsters created or are they born? Remember the lead character in Monster (2003), in which Charlize Theron plays lead character Aileen Wuornos, a serial killer who – we discover through backstory -- had been brutally victimized as a child.

 “Whatever your characters do and say will be born out of who they are, so you need to set out to get to know each one as well as possible." -- Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird, 1994)

By the way, read about the backstory and motivation for April's wonderful brand new book, More Than Enough! And enter the giveaway!

Meanwhile, take a walk with your character, and fall in love again!

Bobbi Miller 

(PS. All photos by morguefile.com)

Searching for The Answer: Online “Clippings”

I enjoyed reading Esther’s, Laura’s, and Jill’s posts about their clipping habits. Although I listen to Public Radio in the car and follow the news online and on TV, I rarely read newspapers or magazines. Instead of clipping paper, I keep too many tabs open in my browser. I periodically devote an hour or two to skimming, bookmarking, and adding links to don't-forget-to-read-later lists until I reduce the number to something more manageable.

This actually appeared on my computer screen once:



It’s a bit much, isn’t it? I know. I don’t want to miss anything.

Today’s post is a look at some of the many tabs currently open in my browser. Here are the latest I couldn’t resist but haven’t yet made time to explore fully:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Releases 400,000 Images Online for Non-Commercial Use by Christopher Jobson on May 20, 2014:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has released a vast archive of 400,000 (mostly) hi-resolution digital images online that you can download and use for non-commercial purposes.

Make Way for Monarchs: a June 6 research symposium at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I’m registered! Several varieties of milkweed grow in our backyard, I've raised monarchs there for the past four summers, and I plan to do it again this year. Last fall, my husband and I collected milkweed seeds and scattered them in hospitable locations all over the city. I've already started seeds in pots to give away, and I'm revising a monarch manuscript. I can’t wait to soak up everything I can at this meeting--I'm hoping for an on-the-brink-of-disaster recovery.

Never, Ever Give Up: Long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad's TED Talk about motivation, sent by my sister Eileen, who knows I need it!

Nonfiction in Picture Books: A Panel Discussion by Matia Burnett, May 08, 2014

Today’s Poetry Friday Roundup

These topics might seem random, but they are all parts of a big picture that includes everything from research for current projects to random things I’m curious about. I can never know all there is to know, but I’m always searching. I start by collecting everything I can, trying my darnedest to gather every last snippet of information.

Then I narrow it down to what’s usable, eliminate redundancies, and focus, hoping to locate that one magic nugget.

Framed above my computer is a birthday card from my sister Judy with a Gertrude Stein quote:

There ain’t no answer.
There ain’t going to be any answer.
There never has been an answer.
That’s the answer.

I may never have The Answer, but I won't stop looking.

JoAnn Early Macken

My (NON) Writing Ritual: For Times When I'm Lost

So,

I’m here to report:
there are those times when even though I’ve ritualistically readied myself to write, I am unable to move forward with my story.

I lose my way somehow.

My fingers freeze.
My North Star is elsewhere playing Hide-and-Seek.

The Good News, however?

Like that wondrous woman who lives inside our cars’ or devices’ GPS,
the one who expertly and melodically repositions our course when we turn left instead of right or bypass our designated Exit or come to a grinding halt at the wrong destination,
I know how to RECALCULATE!

Here’s my 3-Step Easy Ritual for finding my way back.

#1

I take myself away from my writing space, sit still and quietly re-read the encouraging hope-filled greeting cards I’ve mailed myself the past 37 years (!) while out-and-about on my Writer’s Journey.

#2

Next I re-read and think on the inspirational quotes I’ve tucked away inside my treasured Hansel and Gretl box.

#3Finally I empty my beautiful one-of-a-kind carpet bag of its contents - the notes, letters and Thank You’s I’ve received, and read my way through, savoring the words,

especially and always those penned long-ago by my fellow TeachingAuthor Carmela Martino when I sold, at long last, my very first picture book.

Before I know it,

I’ve recalibrated my compass, refueled my heart and found my way home to my keyboard and story.

Happy Writing – and – Recalculating (if and when needed)!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.
The above Rx is a true-blue twofer; the 3-step ritual helps me REBOOT too!

P.P.S.
Let’s hear it for that hard-working second-chance prefix RE! Where would we be without it?

Getting back into the writing groove

For whatever reason – illness, a move or job change, family crises, or other circumstances beyond our control – most of us fall out of the writing habit at one time or another. And getting back into the groove can be tough. Confession:  Right now, I'm having a little trouble with it myself. Okay, a lot of trouble.

A few Decembers ago, I was chasing my tail, trying to steal writing time from the holiday-related hoopla on my calendar. But with all the cleaning and decorating, shopping and party planning, baking and visiting I wanted/needed to do, I felt really guilty every time I sat down to write. So I made what, at the time, felt like a drastic move:  After more than 10 years of keeping my nose firmly pressed to the grindstone, I gave myself permission to take December off from writing. Wow, was I a happier camper that holiday season (and those since). I could immerse myself in holiday prep/events without that constant nagging feeling that there was something else I should be doing (don't we drive ourselves crazy sometimes?!)

January-March have traditionally been my favorite writing months. And that month-long December break spring-boarded me into them, big time. I was raring to go. Outta my way! Lemme at the keyboard! I have a story to get to!

*sound of squealing brakes*

Not this year. Granted, it's only January 4, so I'm not panicking. But sadly, I'm just not feeling an urgency to get back to my writing. Maybe it's because the mg novel project I was enthused about a year ago got pushed to the back burner by a couple of work-for-hire projects. I've definitely lost momentum on that one. And it's a story I need to get back to, because I have a terrible if-I-don't-write-it-somebody-else-will feeling. But after a year of thinking about it only sporadically, I now have so many questions about my plans for the whole project that I'm doubting my ability to even pull off writing the thing. Ugh. That's not a great place to be.

So how am I going to regain that enthusiasm, retrain myself to get back into the writing habit? I've searched the internet for wisdom, and everything I've read boils down to these 3 steps:

1.  Stop fretting. Worrying about not writing is a time waster and certainly won't free you to create.

2.  Schedule writing time. I'm about as sharp as I'm going to get in the mornings. So right after my time on the treadmill, a quick shower, and breakfast, I'm heading to my office, where I will plop my rear into the chair and begin. I'll answer e-mails, check out the few blogs I follow (and maybe work on my own next post), then reread what I wrote the day before, which always jumps starts my mind.

3.  Give yourself permission to write (excuse me, Mother) crap. I don't know how, after writing for more than 16 years, I can STILL sometimes forget that writing is a process. Nobody sits down and bangs out The Perfect Story on the first try. Revision has always been my favorite part of writing. If I have to remind myself of that every day by taping a big note to my computer screen, I will.

My next post won't be until later in the month, but I'll let you know how I'm doing. Looking forward to a productive month!

*knocks wood*
*crosses fingers*
*rubs the troll*

Jill

Have you entered our current book giveaway? You won't want to miss this one. Read the entry details in Carmela's Wednesday's post.

My Typical Writer's Day

We had LOTS of great entries in our latest giveaway contest--see the end of this post to find out who our winner is. 

As Jill shared last Friday, for our current TeachingAuthors topic we're talking a bit about our daily lives/routines as writers. Before I discuss my routine, I have a confession to make: I don't want to be writing this blog post right now.

It's not that I mind the topic, or that I dislike blogging, because I enjoy these posts and the opportunity to connect with you, our blog readers. It's just that I've been working hard, keeping "butt in chair" for the past few weeks, trying to finish the revision of my young-adult historical, and I'm almost done--"almost," as in, to start this blog post, I had to stop at page 274 of a 280-page manuscript! I really wanted to keep plugging away without interruption until I reached the end AND worked through Chapter 1 again so I could send it off to my Beta readers.

Ironically (given today's topic), I would easily have made it through those last pages if regular life hadn't intervened with a minor household crisis this afternoon. But that's a topic for another day.

However, since I'm being brutally honest here, I should also note that these last few weeks have really been more "fun" than "work." That's because I FINALLY got through the revision of Chapter 12--the pivotal chapter where the two formerly antagonistic main characters realize they're falling in love! Once I had that chapter working to my satisfaction, I was on a roll: tweaking scenes, pulling threads, deepening sensory details, adding imagery, polishing language, etc. The stuff I love to do!

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you know it's taken me a LONG time to get to this point with this current work-in-progress. In fact, I've been ready to give up on this novel countless times. Back in June 2011, I blogged about how having a "writing buddy" turned out to be the key to my getting a finished draft. But that draft still needed a lot of work--work I hope to have finished by the end of this week. Hooray!

[By the way--my blog post about having a "writing buddy" led me to write a freelance article on the topic for the 2013 Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market (Writer's Digest Books), edited by Chuck Sambuchino. The book was just released on September 21, and is also available in ebook form.]

So, what IS my typical day like? I blogged about my "ideal" day back in June, 2009, and that ideal hasn't changed much, though I rarely live up to it.

I find I'm most productive if I get up around 6-6:30 in the morning and get to work as soon after breakfast as possible, without checking email or Facebook. Since I have a hard time resisting email, I set a timer and don't allow myself to look at it until after I've put in 2-4 hours of work, depending on what else I have going on that day. After email and lunch, I work another 2-4 hours, though I take an exercise break in the middle of the afternoon on most days. (If you haven't read about the recent studies citing the dangers of prolonged sitting, you may want to read this Forbes article: Why Sitting at Work Can be so Deadly.]

I should clarify that "work" varies depending on my teaching schedule and my work goals for the week. I'm not currently teaching any classes, so the "work" time these days may include:

• writing/revising my current historical YA novel-in-progress (that's almost done!)
• researching/planning where to submit a novel I recently finished co-writing with another author
• writing a blog post, like this one, or planning future blogging topics
• pitching/querying new freelance writing projects
• writing/researching freelance writing projects
• updating my website with information about upcoming classes, publications, etc.

Weeks when I am teaching, my "work" time includes lesson planning, publicizing classes, and reviewing student work.

Depending on how much time I spend on email and social media, my typical work day is usually 5-8 hours long, Monday through Friday, plus 4 hours or more on Saturday. (I often teach on Saturdays.) If I'm on deadline, or on a "roll" as I have been the last few weeks, I may put in some extra time after dinner. But I can't do that for an extended period. I agree with what Jill said on Friday, that we need to have time away from our work to gather the material that will enrich our writing.

I know many of you have full-time jobs that make it pretty much impossible to spend 2-4 hours per day writing. The good news is, many writers who have much less time to devote to their writing are still able to have successful careers. Esther recently mentioned a new blog by Carol Coven Grannick called Today I Am a Writer. In one of her first posts, Carol talks about how productive she's been by following the simple tenet of devoting the First, Best Hour to her work. As Carol has discovered, knowing we have a limited amount of time can sometimes help us stay focused. I'm a believer in Parkinson's law--work often does expand to fill the time allotted for its completion.

But even if an hour is more than you can muster, you may be surprised at what you can accomplish by writing simply fifteen minutes a day. Every August, award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson hosts the "Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge" on her blog. Here's an excerpt from what she posted on the last day of the challenge::

Life happens whether you are writing or not. You don’t have to wait for the right time, or that Muse-blessed idea or a fellowship to a writing colony or a winning lottery ticket or anything. You just have to give yourself permission to take seriously your writing dream.

So I hope you'll give yourself permission to take your writing dream seriously. Why not start today, by setting aside some regular writing time?. Even if you missed Anderson's Fifteeen Minutes a Day Challenge last month, there's nothing stopping you from using her posts to work through your own month of writing fifteen minutes a day. Day one begins here.  

And now, time to announce the winner of Lisa Cron's Wired for Story: The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence (Ten Speed Pess). Our winner is:

Mary Jo Campbell

Congratulations, Mary Jo! (Please respond to my email so we can get the book in the mail right away.)

If you didn't win, never fear--we have more giveaways coming SOON!

And now, I'm going back to my novel.
Happy writing!
Carmela

Staying Motivated: My Buddy and Me

After recently celebrating our Second Blogiversary, I asked readers to submit questions they would like us to address. In response, Sue Ekins posted this comment:

"I have trouble motivating myself to write. How do you do that, especially when you are (or were) working a day job?"

I've struggled with this same issue even though, technically, I don't have a "day job" because I only teach part-time. As one of my students likes to say, "writing is hard." And some projects are more challenging than others. A few months ago, I shared a bit about my difficulties finishing a historical young adult novel that required a great deal of research. I'd tried to motivate myself in a variety of ways with mixed success. Then in January my co-blogger April Halprin Wayland posted about how she is inspired by her "tribes(s)," and she shared a brilliant Writing Workout. Here it is again:

April's Writing Workout: Working with Someone in your Tribe

1. Grab a buddy from your writing tribe.
2. Both of you write three commitments for the coming week. Don't set yourself up to fail. Don't commit to writing a novel in a week. Start out easy and see what you can realistically accomplish in seven days.
3. Set a deadline.
4. Select a "salary" you will pay yourself. The important thing is to pay yourself every week whether you've completed all three commitments or not. Don't business execs get paid even when they've had an unproductive week? It happens. This is not about whipping yourself. This is encouraging yourself. Put the whip away and take the paycheck.
5. Read your commitments to each other.
6. Check in with each other at the end of the week.

After reading April's post, I solicited a member of my critique group, Leanne Pankuch, to be my Writing Buddy. Unlike me, Leanne has a full-time "day job," so she has to be creative when it comes to finding writing time. Leanne and I followed April's guidelines with one minor modification to step 5: instead of reading our commitments to each other, we email them at the beginning of the week. In that email, we also set a time to connect by phone the following weekend.

I found it very motivating to put my goals in writing and to know I'd have to be accountable to someone at the end of the week. I didn't want to disappoint Leanne by not living up to my goals. That is precisely what I'd hoped would happen. But the rewards didn't end there. April's strategy also taught me how to set realistic goals that truly motivate me. For example, this was my first week's Commitment to Me:

1. Spend at least 6 hours revising my young adult novel—this includes thinking and planning time, but not research time.
2. Get to bed by 10:30 pm at least 3 nights so that I can get up early and focus on my writing before being distracted by other things.
3. Consistently log how I spend my “work” time.

While making this first commitment to myself was helpful, I wasn't as productive as I'd hoped that week. After discussing the results with my Writing Buddy during our check-in, I modified my goals for the following week to include one that read:

1. Add at least 500 words/day on at least 3 days for a total of 1500 additional words. (Current word count is: 61,022.)  

For me, a specific word count goal was much more motivating than a time-oriented goal. When Friday afternoon rolled around and I hadn't reached my word count, I resolved to get up early on Saturday to accomplish it before my check-in with Leanne. And I succeeded!

Another surprising plus: our weekly phone conversation ended up being more than simply a time to report on our progress. Leanne and I also talked about our process. We shared not only the day-to-day challenges that threatened to derail our writing goals, but also the difficulties we faced with the writing itself. Talking through my plot and character dilemmas with Leanne led me to finding solutions to those problems.

Partway through drafting this post, it occurred to me to ask Leanne how having a Writing Buddy has influenced her. Below is what she wrote. (Keep in mind, she had no idea what I'd already written about our relationship.)

My Writing Buddy and What She Does for Me

Carmela isn't judgmental.  She isn't cruel.  She also isn't a cheerleader and she doesn't give gold stars.  She is my equal--my colleague.  She encourages me to choose realistic and attainable goals and I--quite simply--don't ever want to tell her that I couldn't accomplish goals that were definitely within my reach.  For example, if I set a goal that I will add 1000 words a day to my new novel--that would be a very unrealistic goal and, consequently, I would have plenty of legitimate reasons for missing my total.  However, if I think about my week--as Carmela tells me to do--and figure out how much quality time I can realistically make for writing, I might set a goal of 1000 words for the entire week and then add a couple of supporting goals and  "voila!" there is no reason why I can't make all three goals.  So, I write on the train/bus rides during my commute from Aurora to Chicago and back, and I write during my lunch hour, . . . . And when I write, 20 words at a time, 30 words, 10 words, then I can make my goals.

And, if the week is winding down and I still haven't made my goal, then I'll sometimes even--gasp!--leave the shirts at the cleaners, tell my husband to make us some cream of wheat for dinner, leave the dishes for tomorrow and knock out those last few hundred words--Just so I can tell Carmela I made it!

Having a Writing Buddy is like the push you need from your friend to get your toboggan going down the hill. It makes the ride so much better.  It's so good you're willing to climb back up the hill--legs burning--and let her push you again.

Thanks, Leanne, for sharing your side of the story, and for being my Writing Buddy!

With the extra "push" Leanne provided as my Writing Buddy, I finally finished the draft of my historical young adult novel on May 23! Hurray! Of course, the work doesn't stop there. Leanne and I and two other writers have exchanged copies of our completed manuscripts. Later this month, the four of us will get together for a self-directed whole novel critique session.

Meanwhile, Leanne and I continue to set goals and check in with each other on a weekly basis. I am SO grateful to Leanne for agreeing to be my buddy, and to April Halprin Wayland for sharing her Writing Workout with us. I think EVERY writer could benefit from having a Writing Buddy. If you need help choosing yours, see the Writing Workout below.

Blogosphere Buzz

• Today kicks off a new feature in the Kidlitosphere: "Interview Wednesday." If you have a link to a Kidlit-related interview, or you enjoy reading or watching such interviews, visit today's post at Tina Nichols Coury's blog.
• Speaking of Kidlitosphere round-ups, the May Carnival of Children's Literature is posted at the Playing by the Book blog.
• It's not too late to sign up to participate in this year's 48-Hour Book Challenge being held this weekend, June 3-5, at the MotherReader blog. After watching from the sidelines for two years, I've actually signed up to participate. I'll be posting my reading log on my website blog.

Writing Workout:

Choosing a Writing Buddy

Here are some things to consider when choosing your Writing Buddy:

• Would the person you have in mind be willing and able to make a serious commitment to April's 6-step approach listed above (or something similar to it)?
• Would you be comfortable sharing your writing struggles with this person?
• Would you enjoy chatting with this person once a week, or every other week, about your writing progress?
• Would being accountable to this person help motivate you, either because you wouldn't want to disappoint her or him, or because you'd be embarrassed to fail in front of this person?
• On the flip side, would this person be understanding and encouraging even if you didn't achieve your goals, for whatever reason?

If, like me, you're lucky enough to be part of a critique group, I suggest you look for your Writing Buddy among your critique group members. If you're not part of a critique group, are you part of any writing organizations, such as SCBWI, where you might find a compatible buddy? Still no prospects? Consider friends who may need motivation sticking with creative goals in areas other than writing, such as illustrating, knitting, cooking, etc.

I encourage you to read April's original blog post on the topic. Then, if the idea of having a Writing Buddy appeals to you, give yourself a goal of finding one in the next week or so, and report back in the comments below.

Good luck and happy writing!
Carmela

What Keeps YOU Going?

Congratulations to all the winners of this year's American Library Association (ALA) Media Awards in children's and young adult literature. If you haven't seen the list yet, visit the ALA press release. And see below for more Blogosphere Buzz.

We've kicked off the new year with a series of posts answering the two-part question: "What keeps you going? And how do you overcome disappointment, distraction, rejection, etc.?” The question was inspired, in part, by an encouraging guest blog post by award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson on the Debutante Ball blog. Anderon's post, called "Triaging Rejection Pain," contains helpful, specific advice on handling rejection.

My problem lately hasn't been rejection. Instead, I'm struggling to finish revisions on a historical young adult novel I started in January 2009. That's right--2009! Just writing that date makes me cringe. This is the same novel I blogged about in November, the one that I worked on for my pseudo-NaNoWriMo project. For this novel, my answer to the question "What keeps you going?" is a Deadline.  Writing "on spec," as Jeanne Marie called it, is difficult for me, especially when the project requires as much research as this one does. (Did I mention that the novel is based on the life of an 18th-century Italian composer, and I don't read Italian very well?)

When I was pursuing my MFA in writing at Vermont College, the monthly deadlines kept me on task. I was more productive in those two years than I have ever been, either before or since. I miss those deadlines. I also miss having someone I'm accountable to.

I used the artificial deadline of "write a book in a month" to motivate me to create the first draft of the novel back in January 2009. After meeting that deadline, though, I kept procrastinating on revising the draft. So I created another deadline via my recent pseudo-NaNoWriMo project. During those 7 weeks, I made significant progress. While I fell short of my 70,000-word goal, I did get to 60,885 words. That was on December 14. I haven't added one word since.

Sure, I can blame the holidays. But it's now the middle of the second work week of the new year and I haven't so much as looked at the manuscript. Instead, I took on the huge project of cleaning and reorganizing my office. Now don't get me wrong--my office was sorely in need of reorganization, and I'm pleased with the progress I've made. (Believe it or not, I'm still not done.) But the cleaning could have waited. Or I could have cleaned just enough to have a usable writing surface again and saved the major overhaul for later. Why didn't I? I was procrastinating. In other words, I was blocked. There, I've said it. I was blocked.

How could I be blocked now, when I'm so close to the end? After thinking about it, I realized there were two underlying reasons. First, I felt guilt (and shame) for falling short of my goal of reaching 70,000 by December 15--a goal I'd announced not only here, but also on my Facebook page. I felt like a failure. Unlike Esther, our resident PMA cheerleader, I chose to ignore how far I have come. Instead of beating myself up, I could have celebrated the fact that in seven weeks I'd added 28,303 words, almost doubling my word count.
 
The second reason for my block was fear (as it so often is). I'm terrified that after investing so much time and effort into this novel, no one will want to publish it. If only I could follow Mary Ann's example and lock my worries in a closet. :-)

The good news is that admitting all this to myself has helped dissolve my block. So, my answer to the question "What keeps you going?" is more than simply having deadlines. It includes taking a step back to figure out the reason(s) why I get stuck when I do.

Another thing that helps me: knowing I'm not the only one in my situation. I recently read an interview in The Writer with A. Manette Ansay, author of the adult novel, Good Things I Wish You, a historical novel based on the life of the 19th-century composer and pianist Clara Schumann. I was encouraged to read that it took Ansay 8 years to find a structure that worked for her novel. While I certainly hope my novel doesn't take me that long, I'm relieved to read about another writer's success following a similar struggle.

Now I'm excited again about returning to the manuscript and making my way to the end of my story. I'm looking forward to tasting that joy JoAnn talked about in her post. Until I'm done, the rest of my office reorganization will have to wait. :-)
 
So what keeps YOU going? Please post a comment sharing how you deal with disappointment, distraction, rejection, etc.    

Blogosphere Buzz

• Looking for more ideas on how to stay motivated by focusing on the positive? Read Carol Grannick's column in the current SCBWI-Illinois Prairie Wind. Or better still, work through Carol's "self-directed resilience workshop" on her blog, The Irrepressible Writer.
• If you'd like to have more joy and happiness in your life, or you need help following through on your New Year's resolutions, check out The Happiness Project's 2011 Happiness Challenge.  You don't have to actually register--just click on the link that says "Videos for the Year of Happiness Challenge."
• It's not too late to participate in the annual Blog Comment Challenge. This is a great way to discover new Kidlit blogs and also to help others notice your blog. For details, see the MotherReader blog.
• Shy about writing blog comments? Read Nathan Bransford's advice on how to write a good comment.

Happy writing!
Carmela