Tag: writing

Five on Friday

1. Once again, after all the hand-wringing and fuss, I made deadline on my freelance work. I guess I should be happy but I must say the next deadline is right around the corner and I’ll gear up for that again soon. What I’d really like is about a month retreat without any other responsibilities but to focus on my WIP’s. (I think that is what everyone wants though.)

2. Collaboration on a manuscript is challenging as you pair the difficulty of writing with personal give and take. Most of all, my experience collaborating has been a whole barrel of fun, laughter, and honest sharing.  Thanks Joyce! 

3. My deepest respect to all the Picture Book author/illustrators out there who make it look easy. Those of us who are struggling at the computer and drawing board know better.

4. I am so happy to feel my relationship with my agent grow as we handle challenges together. I totally feel that he has my career and best interest at heart. Thank you, Steve!

5. I am going to do all the last minute errands before we go to Florida including: cleaning out the van (ick, was that a banana peel?), packing up gifts (my present sack will be black plastic sealed with duct tape), delivering teacher gifts and volunteering at holiday parties at school. Then we’re off!

Jacob- First Full Draft Complete

 I am so happy to report that I have completed the first full draft of my novel. At 107 pages, it seems a little short, but I feel as if I told the story that needed to be told. I’m sure there is plenty to be fleshed out in the second draft but I can’t even think about that yet. First a little happy dance… then some caring for my two sick kids. I’ll read it to the family over the next couple of days and then start to make changes. First readers, get ready.

 There comes  a point in my WIP where I am almost done and then I decide that I suck. I cannot write. I shouldn’t be writing and the thought of writing one more word will be pointless. No more pointless, might I say, then pilfering my child’s Halloween candy, checking election news for some infamous gaffe, checking my email every 2 seconds, walking around my house aimlessly, starting and stopping various projects…. ARGH I cannot focus today but this is the day that I put aside for novel writing. I hate it when the schedule doesn’t work. How did it get to be 1:30. I’ve been up for so long and feel that I’ve done nothing. Some one please give me a good cyber- kick in the pants. 

Reunions and such

This weekend I didn’t attend my 20th reunion but I did go to a lovely party hosted by a fellow classmate. If you read my blog regularly you know that before the event I was full of healthy anxiety. I didn’t need to worry. Twenty years seems to mellow out people and the cliques in which they were involved. It was interesting to find out what everyone has been doing in their lives. There were a lot of people who had gone into teaching, and many involved in politics and production work. A modern twist on an old ritual, everyone passed around their cell phones with pictures of their children on the screen. This made me smile.

The counterpoint to this experience was High School Musical 3. Yes, I was one of those families helping the Disney empire rake in billions this weekend. The movie is everything you’ve come to expect from the franchise. My two boys love the hip hop scenes and there were too few of those. Instead they had to deal with quite a bit of romance and even a … kiss. (GROSS!) This was actually the funniest part of the movie. Troy and Gabriella finally kiss, it is all serious and in the packed theatre we hear a single kid, "Ewwwww" which started a chorus of "Ewwww…" and then all of the parents laughed hysterically because we each thought that it would be our kid to start the chorus.

After the flick, I went into Disney repair mode. I’m a sucker for a sappy Disney flick but I can see the misogyny coming a mile away and always feel required to point it out to the kids. I’d like to have boys who are respectful to whoever it is they choose to like and know that not all girls feel that they’ve "waited their whole lives for prom." That said, coupled with my reunion and my walk down memory lane I think that when I was 15 and 16, I really wanted the East High experience however ridiculous and romantic and absolutely unattainable that is. Maybe these movies and teen mags are so successful because as mature and educated and wordly as they may be, so many teen girls have these expectations. As a writer for children, I  think we have to challenge this assumption but I do wonder. 

I think the biggest discoveries at a reunion is within one’s self. I often remember my high school experience as one of being unwanted. I certainly had my share of unrequited love. I identified myself as having only one or two good friends. Looking back, it is sort of silly actually. I was very involved I was on the crew team, in plays, ran for senior class president…but still I always felt on the outside looking in.  Perhaps this is the angst of high school no matter who you are and how involved you choose to be. Perhaps with the expectations I had, nothing would have been good. Perhaps I just need some therapy.

A Poetry Friday Post on Sunday

 I’m a little behind on my postings. I wanted to tell you all about my visit to Newport, RI last weekend and the amazing group of volunteers at the workshop committee meeting, how thoughtful and considerate everyone was. This is not that post. This post really should be on Friday (as in Poetry Friday) but I’m posting it now because I have time. 

A scene from my home on Thursday last:

E: Mommy. I was on the bus and I made a poem. 
Me: Do you remember it? I’d love to hear it. 
E: Uh-huh. Red, blue, yellow, green, my favorite colors, especially green. 
E: But green isn’t my favorite color.
Me: Right, I thought it was purple, has that changed?
E: No. 
Me: What do you want your reader to feel when they read or hear that poem.
E: I don’t know.
Me: I think you have a really good first draft. Sometimes, that’s the hardest part, getting past the white paper and writing down an idea. Remember when I came into your class we talked about creating a picture for the audience with words.
E: We used your toolbox.
Me: Right, metaphors and similes. But how do those colors make you feel. Close your eyes. What do you feel or see when I say red?
E: Hot. 
Me: What about blue?
E: (Closing eyes) Blue is like a cool breeze at the ocean.
Me: E. that’s beautiful, and it’s a simile. You’re using the tool box. 
E: (excited) I’m going to do it again, I’ll be back.

The new poem…by E.C. Boll, reprinted with permission.

blue like a cool breeze at the ocean
red on a hot summer day
yellow like a sandy park
green like morning dew
purple like the sky at sunset
the best of all

Schmoozing

Creative people often work in isolation so some of us will do anything to see other humans (adult humans). This weekend, I boarded a plane and flew to Manchester, NH where my good friend Joyce picked me up and drove me to the Poland Springs Campground. Here I get a chance to schmooze with all these amazing writers and friends. We work, we laugh, we talk, we eat, we drink, we eat, we drink, we laugh more… you get it. My hubby has been away quite a bit so I totally needed this break. On Monday, I’ll be back to work and busy but for now, I’m so happy being surrounded by support and love. 

 In eight minutes I will swing into action making PB & J’s, prodding small children out of bed, and nagging them toward the bus. Thank goodness they are not big enough to take the middle school bus 6:30 or the high school bus 7:00. I just said good-bye to hubby. September is full of business travel for him (three weeks in a row but home for weekends.) We are headed to Maine for two of those weekends. One to visit his family and attend the Great State of Maine Air Show. (Bring your ear plugs.) The second time to take me to my writers schmooze. I can’t wait.

I’ve been working hard on my novel. Writing, reading craft books, and thinking. A lot of thinking about who my character is and what he would really do. Trying to let him write the story and not insert myself too much. Since he is loosely based on my older son (9), I’ve found myself delving deeply into I.’s personality. All characters need a flaw, and he certainly has them (as do we all). As a mother (a jewish mother : )) it is hard to believe that my son could have any, so the journey into this character and into this book (with an anti-semitic and bullying plot) is emotional.

Once the kids are on the bus. I’ll settle down with a cup of tea and my laptop and write another couple of chapters. Hope I can revise the first draft by schmooze time. Until then, I’m looking forward to cool nights, loons on the lakes, and you all.

Five on Friday

 1. Hooray for LJ. I have rich text on Safari. Thank you.
2. I find that I like to work in sweeping waves. All novel. All newsletter. All conference. Unfortunately that doesn’t take dates, deadlines, and billable hours into consideration. I’m learning to manage my time better.
3. For me, a big part of writing is reading about writing. I just got the 2009 CWIM and found some great inspiration. Nancy Lamb’s, The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children is one of my recent favorites. 
4. With all of this writing, illustration (art in general) has disappeared from the schedule. I’ve been plotting, composing in my head and I’m eager to find a time to follow through. Still, I’ve decided to generally focus on writing and leave the illustration to someone else. This is only giving me passing waves of sadness. Perhaps I’m too overwhelmed to miss it. 
5. Exercise has also disappeared from my schedule.  I tried to go walking with my hubby in the mornings but late nights watching the convention ended that practice. Maybe we’ll start up again this weekend. 

(I know I said five but I didn’t talk any politics at all yet)
6. What a historic line-up of candidates. It makes for a very exciting election but do not be caught up by any candidate’s historical first. I choose to back Obama because of his focus on the future of this country. I believe he is a candidate who will work to find common ground, will nominate supreme court justices who protect our civil liberties, and will focus on the complex issue of economy/education/and environment. I believe he is honest, and intelligent and I urge you to join me in supporting the Obama/Biden ticket. If you have specific questions about policy and feel you haven’t heard enough, go to http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ and find out more. Be educated, be active. Vote.

School Tomorrow

You may have noticed that I have been absent from the blogosphere for the last two weeks. Or you may not have missed me at all. (Read: shameless plug for pity and love.) 

I have been writing diligently. Unfortunately, I’ve not been writing for my work in progress. I’ve been working on my freelance writing. This is fine because it brings me money, (must complete timesheet and turn it in) and experience writing to deadline, but it does not fulfill me in the way that working on my novel manuscript does. I’ve also been noticing an itchy feeling that starts where my neck and shoulder meet and tingles down my arms into my fingers. It is a feeling between longing and stress and usually happens when I think about how many months have past (4) since the Scholastic editor told me she wanted to see the completed manuscript. She was very kind and told me 6 mos to a year was fine and that she’d remember me and the manuscript but I fear that she will not remember me at all. Or that she will get a similar, better manuscript in that time. Or that she’ll come to her senses and realize that my manuscript sucks. (Read: shameless plug for pity and love.) 

My kiddos go back to school tomorrow after a shortened vacation. They kind of got jipped when we moved from Maine to Maryland. (A late end date and an early start date.) So we will cut the summer short when it is still 90 degrees, they will return to the grind, NESCBWI Conference planning will ramp up (Call For Proposals anyone? They are due on September 15th.), and I will get my writing time back.

Moving has it’s ups and downs.  While everyone is very kind in our development, I’m not really a development kind of girl. We have a year lease here and then I think we’ll make some other decision. I’m trying to keep an open mind.  There are a lot of positives about being in this area, the most important is that I’m close to family and have been able to take advantage of this while hubby goes away on business, etc. Also, we took a spontaneous camping trip to Shenandoah National Park this past weekend which was just amazing. The mountain scenery made me think of Kerry Madden

[info]mountainmist

 and her lovely Gentle’s Holler series . Books  2 and 3 are on my TBR pile. I’m excited about getting back to that as well. Right now I have two kids itching for us to finish Chamber of Secrets and take them to meet their new teachers. I promise I won’t be a stranger.