The first week back at school was slow on the writing front, as expected. I took my class to the computer lab so they could work on typing up their own stories, and thought maybe I could get a little of my own writing accomplished. No dice. "How do I center this?" and "She's typing on my keyboard" kept me occupied.
The one thing that did get accomplished was that I did read a little bit of The Blue Alfa to the class. Just the first two pages - which is titled "Chapter One" right now, but will likely become "Prologue" later. Anyway, it was fun to read even though I hadn't proofread it myself! The funny part was that a boy named Zach was sitting behind me as I read, and he noticed his name on the page. You see, the main character is named Zach and while I never got that far out loud (it was the start of Chapter Two), it got everyone all fired up anyway.
With so many kids and so many names coming through my classroom, it always happens that characters and students have the same name. Try as I might to explain that these are both coincidences and meaningless...kids don't always believe me.
We'll see how they react when I get into the heart of the story.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Distractions
All I seem to be able to find are distractions. My productivity has plummeted in the 24+ hours I've been home. I guess I'm not surprised by that, but I was hoping for something better. At least I got in some writing last night. Other than this blog, I haven't done any today.
That's the benefit of being somewhere with no TV and no Internet: I'm actually able to work. I can't forget that I might never have gotten The Blue Alfa off the ground if I hadn't gone on my retreat. I have to keep that in mind. If I actually turn off the wireless function on my my laptop and bring it upstairs to the dining room table, I might be able to partially replicate my Salem, Wisconsin getaway. I'm on page 44 of The Blue Alfa right now and haven't hit the point where, as I mentioned in the last post, I might have to stop due to a lack of plot clarity. That means I should make the most of this last day before school restarts.
I'm setting a goal: get to page 60 before going to bed tonight. It's ambitious, but I'm going to see if I can force myself to do it. I can sneak peeks at the NCAA games on my breaks. (I can normally write for 30-45 minutes straight before needing to get up, stretch my legs, refill my glass of water and get back to work).
Before going, I have to mention (again) the great breakfast I had on Friday with Todd. We went to Frank's Diner in downtown Kenosha. It's housed in an old railroad car (it's been expanded) and it's a true, down-home cooking diner. I had the "garbage plate" - a half-portion - which consisted of 3 eggs, hash browns, bacon and mozzarella cheese, all mixed together. My gosh, it was fantastic. You can add all sorts of veggies to it (onions, peppers, etc.) but that's not my style. Note that that was a half portion. The full size garbage plate has 5 eggs. And more of the other stuff, I'm sure.
Here's their website: www.franksdinerkenosha.com
I encourage any Chicago-area people to head up there for breakfast or lunch some day. I will be back. That's for sure.
That's the benefit of being somewhere with no TV and no Internet: I'm actually able to work. I can't forget that I might never have gotten The Blue Alfa off the ground if I hadn't gone on my retreat. I have to keep that in mind. If I actually turn off the wireless function on my my laptop and bring it upstairs to the dining room table, I might be able to partially replicate my Salem, Wisconsin getaway. I'm on page 44 of The Blue Alfa right now and haven't hit the point where, as I mentioned in the last post, I might have to stop due to a lack of plot clarity. That means I should make the most of this last day before school restarts.
I'm setting a goal: get to page 60 before going to bed tonight. It's ambitious, but I'm going to see if I can force myself to do it. I can sneak peeks at the NCAA games on my breaks. (I can normally write for 30-45 minutes straight before needing to get up, stretch my legs, refill my glass of water and get back to work).
Before going, I have to mention (again) the great breakfast I had on Friday with Todd. We went to Frank's Diner in downtown Kenosha. It's housed in an old railroad car (it's been expanded) and it's a true, down-home cooking diner. I had the "garbage plate" - a half-portion - which consisted of 3 eggs, hash browns, bacon and mozzarella cheese, all mixed together. My gosh, it was fantastic. You can add all sorts of veggies to it (onions, peppers, etc.) but that's not my style. Note that that was a half portion. The full size garbage plate has 5 eggs. And more of the other stuff, I'm sure.
Here's their website: www.franksdinerkenosha.com
I encourage any Chicago-area people to head up there for breakfast or lunch some day. I will be back. That's for sure.
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Blue Alfa
That's the title of novel #4. And I'm happy to report that I actually have more than a title written down for my newest story. I've written 27 pages over the last two days, and I expect to get more done later today. It's much harder than I recall it being to jump into a brand-new story. Or maybe this one is just harder to write.
I am fairly confident that I have most of the pieces in place for this novel, but there are a few things - some minor, some major - that I'm adopting a wait-and-see approach on. I'm not much of a pre-planner when I write. Some of my previous work has been completely seat-of-the-pants for the first draft and some has been more explicitly planned out. The Blue Alfa is somewhere in between. I remember hearing someone say somewhere that the first draft of a story is best known as a "vomit draft." Pardon the imagery, but basically you get it all out of your system. Then, once you're through with the purge, you go through the mess and decide what stays and what doesn't.
I had breakfast with my friend Todd this morning, and as I explained to him, I'm going to write as much as I can of this story until I get to a part that I haven't figured out yet. Then I'll have to make a decision. (You should note that since Todd and I were eating, I left out the reference to this being a "vomit draft.")
Despite the struggles and the frustrating periods of time where I just stare at the computer screen and what my characters should be saying or doing...I'm having a good time. My biggest concern right now is that there's too much dialogue. I frequently stop and try to figure out if I could replace dialogue with action to make the story a bit more balanced, but I realized that I can't right now. Or at least, considering this is a rough, rough first draft, I don't need to. Let's see if the story even holds together.
On a completely random note, I drove by Culver's just now to get a Lemon Ice cooler, my favorite treat from there. It was supposed to be a small reward for all the progress I've made during this writing week. They don't have it! It's a "summer" item. Now I'm mad. I'll just have to vent through the villain in my story.
I am fairly confident that I have most of the pieces in place for this novel, but there are a few things - some minor, some major - that I'm adopting a wait-and-see approach on. I'm not much of a pre-planner when I write. Some of my previous work has been completely seat-of-the-pants for the first draft and some has been more explicitly planned out. The Blue Alfa is somewhere in between. I remember hearing someone say somewhere that the first draft of a story is best known as a "vomit draft." Pardon the imagery, but basically you get it all out of your system. Then, once you're through with the purge, you go through the mess and decide what stays and what doesn't.
I had breakfast with my friend Todd this morning, and as I explained to him, I'm going to write as much as I can of this story until I get to a part that I haven't figured out yet. Then I'll have to make a decision. (You should note that since Todd and I were eating, I left out the reference to this being a "vomit draft.")
Despite the struggles and the frustrating periods of time where I just stare at the computer screen and what my characters should be saying or doing...I'm having a good time. My biggest concern right now is that there's too much dialogue. I frequently stop and try to figure out if I could replace dialogue with action to make the story a bit more balanced, but I realized that I can't right now. Or at least, considering this is a rough, rough first draft, I don't need to. Let's see if the story even holds together.
On a completely random note, I drove by Culver's just now to get a Lemon Ice cooler, my favorite treat from there. It was supposed to be a small reward for all the progress I've made during this writing week. They don't have it! It's a "summer" item. Now I'm mad. I'll just have to vent through the villain in my story.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Still blank...
...but for a good reason. I really came up to my writing retreat with four objectives:
- Make all the changes to the 4th draft of King of Buckthorn that I noted while reading the book to my class
- Compose a good, tight, one-page synopsis of Buckthorn to prepare for the upcoming agent queries
- Write a good, tight, one-page query letter for said agent queries
- Start the fourth novel
So, objective #1 was accomplished and I have to be pleased with that. And truly, that had to come first. The new novel has no timetable, but if I started sending queries out and agents want to see the whole manuscript of Buckthorn (please! please!), then it has to be ready. And now I think it's in pretty good shape. I've been working on it nearly exclusively for 18+ months and I'm pleased with where it is. I think I'll go over it with a fine-toothed comb for editing purposes over the next few weeks, but there really don't need to be any more large or small revisions. At least, not as far as I can see.
I do have a few objectives left to accomplish and I do think both the synopsis and query letter can both be written today. The synopsis should be fairly universal. The query...well, it'll just be a template and will be adjusted based on whichever agent I'm querying wants from me.
But I'm aiming to start the new novel...tomorrow.
Incidentally, I blasted through Andrew Clements' A Week in the Woods last night. A fantastic story by a fantastic author. I've read most of his books and encourage you all (especially teachers) to do so.
Back to the writing...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The blank page
Well, it's about to begin. The blank page that awaits the first words of my fourth novel is looming. It's even weirder than I realized to be starting this as-yet-untitled book. I started The Vonnesta Project in 1998. I started the first draft of the sequel in 1999. And while King of Buckthorn, presently undergoing its fifth revision, was mostly written in 2007, the first five chapters were started six years before that - in 2001.
So, what does that mean? It means I haven't started a new story from scratch in EIGHT years. That only just occurred to me. Despite the fact that I've been writing, revising or editing the whole time from 1998 until now, I haven't been staring at a blank page in quite some time.
So, what does that mean? It means I haven't started a new story from scratch in EIGHT years. That only just occurred to me. Despite the fact that I've been writing, revising or editing the whole time from 1998 until now, I haven't been staring at a blank page in quite some time.
The upside is I've barricaded myself in a house in Wisconsin with no Internet and virtually no TV (the antenna only seems to get in ABC, so Lost is all I'll be watching). That lack of outside distraction should hopefully lead to productivity. Of course, I'm sitting in the Antioch Public Library right now using their free wireless Internet. But I am going to try to make this my only visit. We'll see.
Perhaps one short, daily trip to update my blog will be enough motivation. There better be progress to report!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Search Begins
Last Wednesday, I met with a local group of children's authors for a presentation on finding an agent. Over the years, I'd wavered back and forth as to whether or not this was something I wanted to pursue. Well, Jenny Meyerhoff's presentation has me convinced that it's the way to go. And frankly, I'm excited.
But it's a giant task ahead of me. Her recommendation was to get together a big list. A really big list. At the least 30 agent names. But maybe even more like 60. Or 100. Sort them into groups (dream agents; really want them agents; and want them agents), send out queries to a few of them at a time (maybe 2 or 3 from each group), then wait. Waiting is hard for me. That will definitely be the biggest challenge.
Nevertheless, I couldn't wait to get started. I spent most of Saturday on the Internet, building an Excel file with agent info: name, agency, area of expertise, how they like to receive submissions, response time, and more. I was amazed at how long it took me to cull through the info. (I should mention that www.agentquery.com is a wonderful resource.)
I wanted to find agents who I thought would be good for me. Who I am as a writer. And while I didn't make it a must-have, I definitely am giving favor to childrens-only agents. For some reason, I just want an agent who only works in kid lit. But if someone else comes knocking, that doesn't mean I'll say no!
So, after maybe five or six hours on Saturday, I have a list of (only) 35 agents. I couldn't believe how much time that took me. But I'm going to get back at it this weekend and try to get that list to at least 60 agents. And then, I'll start sending stuff out.
It's a pretty exciting prospect. I have my fingers crossed!
But it's a giant task ahead of me. Her recommendation was to get together a big list. A really big list. At the least 30 agent names. But maybe even more like 60. Or 100. Sort them into groups (dream agents; really want them agents; and want them agents), send out queries to a few of them at a time (maybe 2 or 3 from each group), then wait. Waiting is hard for me. That will definitely be the biggest challenge.
Nevertheless, I couldn't wait to get started. I spent most of Saturday on the Internet, building an Excel file with agent info: name, agency, area of expertise, how they like to receive submissions, response time, and more. I was amazed at how long it took me to cull through the info. (I should mention that www.agentquery.com is a wonderful resource.)
I wanted to find agents who I thought would be good for me. Who I am as a writer. And while I didn't make it a must-have, I definitely am giving favor to childrens-only agents. For some reason, I just want an agent who only works in kid lit. But if someone else comes knocking, that doesn't mean I'll say no!
So, after maybe five or six hours on Saturday, I have a list of (only) 35 agents. I couldn't believe how much time that took me. But I'm going to get back at it this weekend and try to get that list to at least 60 agents. And then, I'll start sending stuff out.
It's a pretty exciting prospect. I have my fingers crossed!
Monday, March 16, 2009
"But that's always how I read."
Today's tale from the classroom:
I met with a group of my 4th-grade students this afternoon who had been reading the fantastic book, The Watson Go to Birmingham - 1963. As we were discussing some of the deeper issues that come up during the last third of the book, a girl asks why Kenny speaks without using correct grammar. He frequently says things like "Me, Byron and Joey went to Grandma Sands' house" instead of "Byron, Joey, and I".
So, we pondered this. I asked the kids if they frequently switch "me" and "I" when they speak. Every kid raised a hand, not surprisingly. I said that I would guess that if regular kids speak like this, then the author must have done this on purpose. Since the book is told first-person, he wants people to feel like they're in the head of a real 10-year-old when they read. To which one girl responded, "But that's always how I read." Can't argue with that.
I met with a group of my 4th-grade students this afternoon who had been reading the fantastic book, The Watson Go to Birmingham - 1963. As we were discussing some of the deeper issues that come up during the last third of the book, a girl asks why Kenny speaks without using correct grammar. He frequently says things like "Me, Byron and Joey went to Grandma Sands' house" instead of "Byron, Joey, and I".
So, we pondered this. I asked the kids if they frequently switch "me" and "I" when they speak. Every kid raised a hand, not surprisingly. I said that I would guess that if regular kids speak like this, then the author must have done this on purpose. Since the book is told first-person, he wants people to feel like they're in the head of a real 10-year-old when they read. To which one girl responded, "But that's always how I read." Can't argue with that.
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