You Are Not Alone

Photo by Visual Hunt

Mary Ann’s heartfelt journey about rekindling the flame:  “I’ve written my whole life. That’s a long, long time…to stay in love with a career that often doesn’t love you back.”

JoAnn talked about carrying on anyway, and about the power of letting go of the clutter in our lives. 

Carmela offers insights into improving your writing, about the evils of perfectionism, and how perfection murders the joy of writing. 

Carla offers tips to start – or restart – your writing career by highlighting a few things she wishes she had known when she started.

A writer’s life is an oxymoron. 

We need to live a solitary existence. Most of us are introverts. We live inside our heads, giving birth to fictional beings and struggling to give them meaning. We deconstruct an experience to its heartbreaking core. To do so, we send our characters into battle, into outer space, move them forward and backward in time. We kill off their favorite pet, or their best friends, and sometimes their mothers. Even as they cry, we cry.

It’s hard work, and it’s exhausting.

But even as we exist in a self-imposed solitary confinement, we also have to run a business. We have to leave our cabin in the woods and venture into the real world of flesh and bone. This means, we have to navigate a life external to our comfort zone and the writing process but one that is not separate. We have to persuade editors and agents that our characters matter. We have to toot our horns. We have to explain why and how our work matters in the broader world of literacy even as we address why and how it fits into the corporate business plan. We have to navigate techno-babble, like tweeting and snapchatting and instagramming, and become proficient in cross-platforming. We have to earn money to live, often finding second and third jobs to make sure our bills are paid. We have to buy health insurance and pay our taxes.

We have to deal with rejection, again and again and again. We're told it’s not personal, but it certainly feels personal. Friends offer empathy, asking when are we going to write real books, like those for adults. Then these killjoys offer that they plan to write a children's book, once they retire from their real jobs, because there just aren't any good books out there.How hard can it be, they say most affectionately.

Is it a wonder, then, that sometimes we just can’t go on. We’ve had enough. We can’t say another word, or write another chapter.

Our wells and wills of inspiration dry up, and our joy ebbs.

Christopher Vogler once suggested (A Writer’s Journey) that a writer’s journey is like a hero’s journey. The self-doubts and perfection-seeking, the writer’s block and procrastination are the shadows of our inner darkside. They are the annoying voices in our head confirming every  self-doubt we assume about ourselves. They threaten to destroy the process, and often succeed.  Bad reviews, computer break-downs, never-ending revisions, deadlines and all the other life’s demands become the ordeals we have to overcome. Editors and publishers and marketing directors stand at the threshold, shouting in a booming Gandolf baritone, “You shall not pass!”

Take heart. You got this.

It takes courage to write. And you have it inside you to fight this fight, as James Bell once said. (The Art of War for Writers).

Sentence by sentence. Day by day. Chapter by chapter. Week by week.

One step at a time. One scene at a time. You write, then you think about what to write, then you write some more.

Until it’s done.

You are the hero of this story. So be the hero.

And just remember, you are not alone.

Bobbi Miller


And, don’t forget to enter to win a copy of Cheryl Klein’s THE MAGIC WORDS (W.W. Norton). The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and ends September 26.

There are three ways you can enter. Visit Esther’s review of THE MAGIC WORDS here to enter the giveaway!

Rekindling the Flame

  No one has followed our current blog series on starting a writing career or jump starting an old one with more interest than I.  In my case, the jump-start part.

  How appropriate, because this morning, I have a bad case of the Blogger Blahs.  Symptoms: feeling as if you have already said everything you had to say on a subject. Inability to focus on topic at hand.
Need for many. many cups of coffee. Sudden urge to clean office. (I never have an "urge" to clean, unless I am avoiding doing something else.)

 I've written my whole life. That's a long, long time. A long time to stay in love with a career that often doesn't love you back.

 I had about thrown in the towel with writing, when, at age 50, I sold my first book.  Suddenly the world was sunshine and roses. Every moment, every conversation, every observation was fraught with meaning. All of life was weaving itself into beautiful sentences and moments of serendipity...just so I, Mary Ann Rodman, could "use the moment" in a story.

Some ego, huh?

This fizzy, light-headed feeling reminded me of ...what? The desire to share every single last thought in writing was just like...oh yeah! It was just like falling in love!  I remember my first serious boyfriend, a guy who considered conversation a worthy way to spend an evening. (Fortunately, so did I.) We'd talk for hours, no story too insignificant, no detail to small to share, parse, consider. Seven hours talking could fly in an instant.

Winning the Zolotow Award for My Best Friend

That was exactly how I felt when I fell in love (again) with writing. With the validation of a book sale, this thing that I had done for decades now seemed sparkly fresh.  I had new-found confidence in my abilities. I could sit down at my desk and the next thing I knew it was six hours later. Not only six hours later, but with pages of new work to show for it.

And I sold books and sold books and sold books.

Such a lovely world.

But just as Real Life can follow a fairytale wedding, Real Life reared its dull, boring head in my post-publication life.  The best description of how I felt comes from one of my favorite books, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh.

         ...it was hard for her to think. The thoughts came slowly, as though they had to squeeze through a tiny door to get to her..."

When you write on a regular basis (and not just the occasional weekend or vacation), sometimes those words won't come. And when they do come, you don't like them. They don't sparkle and shine the way they did when you were first in love. Perfectly good solid words...but the magic is gone.

The disappearance of "the magic" (or the giddiness of new love) does not mean you can no longer write, and more than noticing that your significant other leaves underwear on the floor means you are headed for divorce court.  It means the miracle has become mundane. Mundane can get on your nerves. Mundane can turn your technicolor world into shades of oatmeal.

Mundane, however, is not fatal.

Where has "the magic" gone? Not very far. It's up to you to re-discover it, relish it, allow it to amaze you again. Take time to re-kindle that love of words and turn of phrase that once sent you into Outer Orbit.

The re-kindling process is different for each one of us. Working with young writers in my summer camps always gets my motor running again. Speaking to them of writing in an enthusiastic way, forces me to act out an enthusiasm I may not feel first thing in the morning. By afternoon my creative cup always runneth over.

Changing up the same old same old also works.  I listen to different music, read different genres than I usually do.  I'll hang out in the International Section of the supermarket. I am not a cook, but finding unfamiliar foods and implements sends my brain down unfamiliar paths. (The path were I actually cook something is still unexplored.)

I also have a feeling that our latest Book Giveaway, The Magic Words by Cheryl Klein, might just be part of my own re-kindling process.  Click on link for details and deadlines, as well as the Rafflecopter entry link.

As for myself, I think I'll turn my car radio from On Broadway to All-Bluegrass-All-the-Time as I head over to the library to pick up a copy of Tess of the d'Urbevilles. Time to shake off that long time indifference to British literature and banjos. Maybe I'll find The Magic again.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

A Book (PLUS Book Giveaway) for Every Children’s Book Writer!

No matter where you are on your Writer’s Journey – still thinking about writing for children and thus refusing the Call to Adventure, half-way past the First Threshold and revising your story or in the throes of a Supreme Ordeal while readying your manuscript for submission, I’ve got the perfect guide book to keep you moving forward:  Cheryl Klein’s THE MAGIC WORDS (W.W. Norton, 2016).

As luck would have it, you can have it!  Simply enter our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway at the end of this post.

For those new to writing for children, Cheryl Klein’s credits as executive editor at Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Inc.  guarantee writers the kinds of insights, techniques, exercises and reflections that are essential when placing the right words in the right order – “the magic words,” she says, that allow our books to change lives.

And not just our readers’ lives, but our writers’ lives too.

Knowing how this editor of award-winning books views her life’s work and passion speaks volumes for all she shares in THE MAGIC WORDS.

“I think of my work as an editor as being a mechanic for stories:  I take books apart, examine their component pieces, and help my authors assemble them again as more elegant and polished machines. My writing for writers, from this point of view, is the instruction manual that comes with the cars — how I articulate the instincts and knowledge about fiction I’ve gained over fifteen-plus years of working with writers and their books.”

Chapter by chapter, Cheryl Klein mines her years of editorial experience to clearly and thoughtfully instruct and show writers how to use and develop their gifts to craft a strong (and personally meaningful) story concept told in an appropriate format for their intended audience – a story that builds bonds between readers and characters, that keeps those readers engaged and turning the pages, that speaks to them with truth and thus is worthy of publication.

Each chapter offers Exercises, well-known referenced titles and concrete examples from esteemed authors such as Lisa Yee and Trent Reedy, all to support the stated take-away – The Power of Plot, for example, Seven Ways to Look at a Scene, Fundamentals of Voice, or Twenty Revision Techniques. Informational Asides, Book Map instructions and Checklists for Character, Plot and First Pages add to the content.

Together, the chapters underscore the 5 qualities this editor deems essential to magic-making:  good prose, rich characters, strong plot construction, thematic depth and powerful emotion, for both the reader and the writer.

A Recommended Reading List is also included.

Readers close the book smarter about story, craft, genre and format possibilities, children’s book literature and publishing as well as smarter about themselves as writers.

My all-time favorite chapter?  Chapter 16 – Perspective and Polishing.  Readers are offered the first scene of a YA novel, followed by Cheryl Klein’s annotated notes, followed by author Morgan Kass’ revised draft, followed by Annotations Part II. Talk about Show, Don’t Tell!  This eye-opening chapter should be compulsory reading for every writer of fiction. 

Speaking of which, I’ve now added THE MAGIC WORDS to my Recommended Reading lists for my University of Chicago’s Writer’s Studio and Newberry Library Workshops.

Why not see for yourself?  Click HERE to read an excerpt from Chapter 2 – Experience and Emotion -  Cheryl posted August 28 pre-publication.

MARY POPPINS creator P.L. Travers wrote, “We are all looking for magic…But indeed we have to wave the wand for ourself.”

Thank you, Cheryl Klein, for helping us wave our wands.

Happy Magic-Making!

Esther Hershenhorn

. . . .

AND NOW FOR OUR BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win a copy of Cheryl Klein’s THE MAGIC WORDS (W.W. Norton).  The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and ends September 26.

You may enter via 1, 2, or all 3 options.

If you choose option 2, you MUST leave a comment on TODAY'S blog post below or on our TeachingAuthors Facebook page. If you haven't already "liked" our Facebook page, please do so today! 

(If you prefer, you may submit your comment via email to: teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com.)

Email subscribers: if you received this post via email, you can click on the Rafflecopter link at the end of this message to access the entry form.

Good Luck!

P.S. If you've never entered a Rafflecopter giveaway, here's info on how to enter a Rafflecopter giveaway and the difference between signing in with Facebook vs. with an email address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3 Insights Into Improving Writing Productivity

Our current series is about beginning a new writing career or jump-starting a stalled one. Carla shared 5 things she wished she’d known when starting out as a writer and JoAnn talked about coping with a lull in her enthusiasm for writing. My post today focuses more on the latter, but I think it's also of value to beginning writers. Before I get to that, I'd like to share two bits of news:

• The revised edition of my middle-grade novel, Rosa, Sola, (originally published by Candlewick Press) is now available in both ebook and paperback, and includes a new "Discussion Questions" section for classroom use. I'm currently sponsoring a Goodreads giveaway, which I invite you to enter on this Goodreads page or via the widget below:  

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Rosa, Sola

by Carmela A. Martino

Giveaway ends October 05, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

• Also, for those of you who live in the Chicago area: it's not too late to register for my class on "Finding Your Writer's Voice," which begins Tuesday, September 13, at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn. See my website for details. 

Now for today's post.

Like JoAnn, I’ve been stalled in my writing lately. The problem started back in April, when I was sidelined with a repetitive stress injury to my dominant hand. The injury has not only interfered with my ability to type and to write longhand, but it has also caused me to lose my enthusiasm for writing. Fortunately, though, I'm currently leading a small, private class on Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. The timing of the class is perfect, as it’s helping me examine my writing process and the causes of my current lack of productivity. Here are three insights I’ve been led to recently, via Cameron’s book and other reading I’ve been doing:

1. “In order to do something well we must first be willing to do it badly.”

These are Cameron’s words in The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Tarcher Books), but they convey a concept I've found in other books on writing and creativity--think the “sh**tty first draft” in Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird (Pantheon Books). Elizabeth Gilbert also touches on the topic in her book Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear (Riverhead Books) when she talks about the necessity of accepting imperfection if we want to lead creative lives.

I’ve always been a perfectionist, and now that I’m a published author and a writing teacher, part of me thinks that I should be able to produce a polished draft right off the bat, with little or no editing. And when I don’t do that, I feel like a failure. So I was shocked when, in Big Magic, Gilbert confesses to publishing a novel she’d written without revising a major flaw that her beta readers had pointed out. I listened to the audiobook, so I can’t quote Big Magic directly. But I did find an interview in The Guardian where Gilbert is quoted as saying:

“Perfection murders joy. You cut yourself out of the game before you even start. You cut yourself out of the game because you’ve decided it’s never going to be as good as your ideal.”

I also found the following image, which I’ve printed out and posted in my office as a reminder that I will always be a beginner. I’m hoping that trying to keep an open, “Beginner’s Mind,” will help me overcome my perfectionism.

found here with caption "Image Source: Facebook user Elizabeth Gilbert"

2. If I can’t “find” time for my writing, I need to “make” the time.

My students often complain about not having enough time to write, and lately I’ve been using the same excuse. Julia Cameron addressed this recently in a blog post:

"Most of us think, 'If only I had more time, then I would work.' We have a fantasy that there is such a thing as a 'good' creative time, an idyll of endless, seamless time unfolding invitingly for us to frolic in creatively. No such bolts of limitless time exist for most of us. Our days are chopped into segments, and if we are to be creative, we must learn to use the limited time we have."

That's how I worked on this blog post, in little segments of time stolen between physical therapy appointments, lesson planning, household chores, etc. If I can make time to blog, I can make time for my own creative writing, too.

When I explain this to my students, they often reply that they can’t just sit down to write. They need to feel “inspired.” But, as M. L’Engle says in Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art (Crosswicks):

“If the artist works only when he feels like it, he’s not apt to build up much of a body of work. Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of the artist is to listen to the work, and to go where it tells him to go.”

3. My attitude has a profound effect on my productivity.

It’s not enough for me to “make time” for my writing. I need to bring the right attitude with me when I sit down to write. I’ve shared before about how research is showing that happy people tend to be more productive. But this is a lesson I need to constantly remind myself of.

In an excerpt from The Artist's Way posted on her blog, Julia Cameron says:

“Over any extended period of time, being an artist requires enthusiasm more than discipline. Enthusiasm is not an emotional state. It is a spiritual commitment, a loving surrender to our creative process, a loving recognition of all the creativity around us. 

Enthusiasm (from the Greek, 'filled with God') is an ongoing energy supply tapped into the flow of life itself. Enthusiasm is grounded in play, not work. Far from being a brain-numbed soldier, our artist is actually our child within, our inner playmate. As with all playmates, it is joy, not duty, that makes for a lasting bond.”

Hmm. There’s that word again: JOY.

For years I’ve been signing my posts here with “Happy writing!” I think I need a more expansive catch phrase. What do you think of this:

For more joy and inspiration, head over to this week's Poetry Friday round-up at The Poem Farm.

Carmela

Carrying On Anyway

In this series of posts, we're discussing how to start or reboot a career in writing for children. Carla gave us five really helpful things she wished she had known when she started. I'm focusing more on the reboot.

In my last post, I wrote about That Awful Balky Feeling and carrying on anyway. Here are a few things that helped me:

1. Ugh. Summer cold. Enough said.

2. I'm halfway through Julia Cameron's It's Never Too Late to Begin Again: Discovering Creativity at Midlife and Beyond. I've long been a fan of The Artist's Way, and although much of this book repeated what I'd already read, I found the reinforcement helpful.

3. Around here, we've been clearing out clutter. For me, that means sorting through and recycling lots of paper--ancient work-for-hire contracts, poems that students wrote in my workshops, half-baked ideas, and previous drafts of work I've since revised. It's a big relief to let go of that stuff! The good news: I found a few nuggets I'm excited about working on again. The other good news: If and when we find the perfect new home, we'll have less to move.

Our latest Book Giveaway: Pamela C. has won an autographed copy of Amy Cattapan's middle-grade mystery Seven Riddles to Nowhere. Congratulations, Pamela!

Penny Parker Klostermann has today's Poetry Friday Roundup. Enjoy!

JoAnn Early Macken