Get your WIFYR on

First, I must confess a shameless partiality toward Carol Lynch William’s WIFYR conference. Pronounced, wiff-er or wife-er, it is coming in June. It’s time to get your WIFYR on.

The assistants met today to plan. It felt good to be back with a community of writers. That is what the conference is about, coming out of our solitary endeavors and sharing with like-minded others. No matter your level of skill or where you are along the spectrum, there are others cheering for you and helping you improve your writing. The draw is the the collegiality, the chance to mingle with other writers.

The WIFYR site is almost up. Technicals issues, you know how they go. The authors include: Natalie Whipple, Dean Hughes,  Dave Farland, Kathi Appelt, Dan Wells, Julie Berry (whom I’m assisting for), Lisa Mangum, Jennifer Adams, Ann Cannon (whom I’ve assisted for previously and can attest is a kind heart and an entertaining writer. And of course, Carol.

You should consider joining WIFYR this year. It will do you and your writing good. All the local conferences - LTUE, LDStorymakers, League of Utah Writers - have a community of writers in common. It is inspiring to being in their midst. WIFYR offers five intensive days of it. The level of commitment varies with each writer depending on cost, time, and other commitments. There are less expensive options for just the afternoon sessions or one of the daily mini-workshops. But I say take a big bite of the whole thing. The morning workshops is where real writing takes place. Knowledgeable, published authors pour over your manuscript and offer suggestions. Ten or twelve of your new best friends, in a gentle and caring manner, look at each other’s stories try to make them all better it. Bang for buck, there is no better deal than this conference.

The most important reason to should consider WIFYR this year is you’ll love yourself for it. You’ll  grow as a writer. Your manuscript needs this make-over. 

(This article also posted at http://utahchildrenswriters.blogspot.com)

Midway NaNoWriMo

How has NaNo gone? We’re at about the halfway point and I’m at about 15,000 words, 10,000 short. It took me a while to get out of the gate, but I had a big day yesterday and posted 2700.

A writing style problem/obsession for me is getting that first chapter or two just right. Not just the storyline and character arc set-up. The voice has to feel right. It took a couple of versions until I found what works and now that is carrying me through. One of the NaNoWriMo pep talk emails talked about the mid-NaNo blues in which the excitement of a new story has worn off and the “the end” is too far off. The author said that if you fall behind the daily word goals, it’s easy to make up with a big day or two. Seems she said 10,000 words big day with 3000 words here and 3500 words there throughout the day. Whatever.

Outlining continues to be instrumental. At each chapter’s start, I chart out what needs to happen. I can even project ahead and add scenes for a chapter or two down the road.

Another thing that hit me was a free write. Ann Cannon at WIFYR likes the free write idea and has pushed it. I don’t really have a set agenda, like asking how would your mc react if such and such were cast in his direction, as Ann would do. I start typing something like how I think the story is going and what it needs. It is ten minutes of non-story writing, but it seems to loosen the juices for actual writing time. I’ve done it for a few days and have gone a day or two without.

And breaks are important. I’ve managed three or more writing hours the last few days. I can’t sit in one place for too long, so I pull the laptop and the lap to various couches and chairs and whatnot around the room. Got a timer on the phone that goes off every hour (actually set for 1 hour and 1 minute) at which I pick up and change positions. I try to give myself five minutes or so. I pace around the place, bug the dogs because I need a diversion, or get something to drink.

Whatever works for you, hope it is working. Happy NaNo-ing.

(This article also posted at http://utahchildrenswriters.blogspot.com)

Marathon goals

Carol is at it again. Our resident children's writer's friend, Carol Lynch Williams has set up another marathon. She did one in the spring. The idea is you set down some writing goals, work towards them for 2 weeks, then go to dinner and discuss. It's awesome.You get to do dinner even if you don't meet your goal. I know.

Last time I tried. I think I had a time goal of 60 writing minutes a day. Don't know why I do that. It is a good goal, but impossible to maintain. Too many people or things demand your time which I had less of back then. Summer vacation provides more minutes in a day. It doesn't guarantee the goal will be met, but the odds are better. I'm involved with more writing projects this time around, though.

There's a bunch of things that need to be done. Book #3 was what I took to WIFYR. I made a goal back then to write 2 hours a day on it. Ninety minutes is more attainable, except for some days. Book #2 is now ready to start sending out to agents. That is an ongoing thing, so I need to find some time for that each day. Then there are other writing things: SCBWI's Great Critique is coming up. I've got at least 2 full manuscripts that must be critiqued by Aug. 24. I like to follow various writing blogs including Carol's, Ann Cannon's, From the Mixed Up Files, Utah Children's Writers to name a few.

So, the marathon goals I hope to accomplish August 1 through 15:
-90 minutes a day on book #3 - everyday, for sure
-30 minutes a day pushing book #2
-60 minutes a day on various other writing tasks (that can include fiction reading)
-bottom line: that is 3 hours each day engaged in some writing related task.
-I should be able to manage it since it's only 2 weeks. If life gets in the way and something has to give, it can be the other goals, but not the first.

Wish me luck.

For info on Carol's marathon, click here.

Revision

I was in Ann Cannon’s WIFYR workshop last month. She offered plenty of advice on the craft and among the gems, she shared how she revises a novel.

The first thing she does is print out a copy of the story. She puts it in a three-ring binder then celebrates that she has a book. Good in and of itself. We need to pat ourselves on the back whenever we can.

At this point, she puts it away for a few weeks. This is so when she returns to it, she comes back at it with fresh eyes.

Next – and this is important - she checks into a motel for a day or two just to read the story. Got to get away from the day-to-day interruptions – family, friends, the garden, chores – half finished chores, chores not started, etc.

In the motel, armed with colored sticky notes, Ann reads the book several times through. She has a different purpose with each pass over. She reads looking at plot, to see if the story makes sense. Are there gaps in logic? Is it is moving forward in a logical manner? Does one chapter lead to the next? Do readers want to find out what happens next? At WIFYR, Ann spoke of grounding the characters in the space/time continuum, which she looks at her initial reading as well.

With a different colored sticky, Ann reads again, concentrating on her characters, asking questions as she goes. How soon do readers learn names, age, and gender of the main characters? Do we know what they want and have a sense of what is preventing them? She looks at the minor characters. Are they distinct in name and personality? Do you have too many of them and if so, can you combine them into fewer? For major and minor characters, are their motivations consistent and realistic? Do they have purpose other than to just to move the plot?

Another reading and Ann looks at setting. Does she have enough physical description to give a sense of place? Does she maximize setting to create mood or to tell about the characters. Has she engaged the readers’ senses?

Then Ann reads just for language, to insure clarity of meaning and intention with a rule of thumb: precision first, flowery words second. Is she saying things the best way possible? Has she avoided passive language?

Great advice. Wish I had followed it. I have been 99.9 % finished with a project the four months. I’m tired of it and want to get it into publishers’ hands soon. I did not shelve it for weeks. I didn’t do the different colored stickies, nor read it several times. Probably should have checked into a motel for a few days, too. There’s way too many things going on that interrupt the flow of analyzing a story.

(This article also posted at http://utahchildrenswriters.blogspot.com)

Know your people

Torture your character. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get that. We heard it a WIFYR.

But you also have to know your characters. Who are these people? You've been writing through them, about them, but do you know them? I've got three main ones in the current project. Do they sound alike? Can they be distinguished? They all have separate histories they bring to that moment in the story. They have their purposes.

Experts have advised you do some exercises to nail down your people. Ann Cannon had us analyze our characters by answering a series of questions. There are the normal: age, gender, family members, physical description, etc. Then others that are more specific and can reveal personality. Do they go to school and do they like it? For middle grade characters, ask what does she do at recess? What is she good at? What's her favorite  TV show, sport, book, animal, music, or thing to collect. How revealing if you give them a nickname or describe their bedroom. Torture your characters, but do understand who they are.

Goals

It's late and I haven't done everything I set out to do.

Ann Cannon at WIFYR asked us to come up with three goals for our works-in-progress. One of mine, now that it is summer vacation, was to write 120 minutes a day. Hey, it's summer vacation. Teachers have all kinds of time then, right? Another goal is to spend at least an hour per day on an older project. That one is 99.9 percent ready to send off to prospective agents. It's been at 99.9 percent for a month or more.

Do other writers set goals? What kind of goals do you set? How does that work out for you?

Last goal: go to bed at a decent time.

debut the WriteTime blog

I have been meaning to do one of these things for a long while. Some time has freed up and with inspiration from the wonderful people at WIFYR, it is the write time.

I am a writer and I would like to share what I've learned about writing.

Got the bug a few years ago. I actually had an idea for a story a long time ago. I sat down at it but it didn't go anywhere. The I gave it another try and think I did a fairly good job on it. Shared it with a teacher friend and she said go to WIFYR. WIFYR is the Writing and Illustrating For Young Readers conference.

I workshopped the story there and discovered I didn't know how to write. I worked on it and went the next year and learned I still didn't have the writing thing figured out. I've gone back each year, six times in all. Some are just slow learners. I'm still not sure I've got it, but it feels like I'm getting closer.

So, whatever I understand of writing, I think it is the write time to share.

And I would like to invite an open discourse on the craft.

Look, we're addicted, let's admit. Therapy involves talking this thing out. For the last week, we talked about what a novel really takes. I starts with a character and a want, that much we know. You have to figure out your character and try to understand what they want in life. But there's more. The word at wifyr was you've got to get an antagonist, then torture those sweet people you created. Nobody said writing is easy.

We are writers. Let's share what we know and help each other get better. As my good friend Ann would say, we are all writing a book that someone will want to read.

It's the write time to share our authoring experience.

The week at the conference was wonderful. The sessions were amazing. Morning critique workshops are an intense five days with your kind of people. Your craft grows in so many ways there. You have got to do a WIFYR.

What other good conferences are there for children's literature writers?