I'm Blogging on The Nightstand Again!

Today I am blogging on The Nightsand! Come over and read: Oh the Places I had To Go: My Rocky Road Writing BLIND SPOT.

What I've Learned About Writing from Watching Project Runway

I'm guilty. I watch reality television. Not all of it; some shows are simply a flimsy platform created for idiots in search of quick fame. I do have my favorites though, like Survivor, Amazing Race, and Project Runway. My husband rolls his eyes when I say one of those shows is about to come on. I tell him I have to watch - I am doing research. "Research? Really?" He says. "Survivor?"


Yep, a wealth of character sketches and dialogue and human dynamics on that show. Amazing Race? All the places they go and challenges they must complete are interesting details to enrich plots and settings. Project Runway? Hands down, the best place to learn about the craft of writing.


What? I hear you saying - my husband too. How can a bunch of wannabe fashion designers making dresses for models teach you anything about writing?


Let me show you what I've learned from watching the show:


1) In the fashion world, everything has been done before - pants, skirts, shirts, etc. The designer's job is to make what has been done, new and fresh by mixing materials, colors, styles, etc. It is the same in the writing world. You'll find similar themes and premises in all literature - your job is to morph what's been done into something innovative and new through plot, setting, characters, etc.


2) The ideal in fashion is to create something clean, fresh, and sophisticated while still being wearable, new and fun. The same is true in writing. Publishers want well-written, 'literary' stories that will stand the test of time, but have a commercial hook that will appeal to the masses.


3) In writing like in fashion design, when we begin executing our ideas, sometimes something doesn't work. You have to be willing to change it up, alter it, or scratch it and start over , even if it means losing something you really liked. How many fashion designers have we seen fall out of the competition because they got too attached to their idea and lost sight of the big picture? Don't lose sight of what your goal is - if it isn't working, take it out and save it for another project.

4) Learn to listen to yourself and others. All artists have a little voice that tells them when something isn't right. Listen to it - don't get lazy and ignore it. Same with professionals in your field. If people are telling you the same thing about your work, listen. Sometimes that means a major overhaul - and we tend to ignore the comments if that means the work will be hard - but don't. Listen, listen, listen.


5) And ignore, ignore, ignore! You also have to learn to ignore yourself and others! We all doubt ourselves. Learn to recognize which voice is talking to you - your professional voice or that insecure child. Ignore the child. Same with people who mean well. You are the person who understands your vision the best. If what people are saying to you doesn't make sense for your vision, ignore their advice. Learn to identify what is good advice and what is not.


6) Never get too cocky. Everyone has talent, but no one starts a project perfectly. When you get complacent, so does your work. Push yourself every time.


7) Even the best ideas can fall apart with the wrong choices You've seen it happen on Project Runway before - a safe dress costs a designer the competition because she/he chose the wrong accessories. Make sure all the pieces of your story work together.


8) Stay current, but don't get trapped into creating yesterday's trends. Nothing worse than writing with shoulder pads and big belts, i.e. outdated devices and dialogue. Try to stay classic while being fresh and thinking out of the box.


9) Don't be afraid to try new things. If you think all you can make are dresses and you never try to make pants, you may be missing out on a talent you never knew you had. Don't let the fear of using chocolate or paper napkins scare you out of the race. BE OPEN AND INNOVATIVE!


10) The most important thing I have learned from Project Runway: Don't give up. You may be at the bottom on one project, but at the top the next. Don't let rejection cut you out of the pack. Learn from it and move on.



And that's what I've learned from Project Runway!

Happy creating!

What's Been Stopping You From Writing?

Every time I send an email out to someone lately, I cringe at my perky little "Check out my blog!" note that automatically attaches to the end of each email. I have even erased it several times to avoid being seen by the recipient because I know if they actually DO check out my blog, they will be sorely disappointed.

Writing has been hard for me lately - not just the blogging, but the actual writing, working on my books. I'm not stuck. I think about my revision all day long; I know exactly what I need to do and how to do it. But when I sit down at the computer to work, I shut down.

Why? What's stopping me?

Things have been busy around here. My daughter started her junior year in high school and a job at McDonald's, so she's juggling work schedules, PSAT/ACT/SAT prep, and AP classes. My son started middle school and is adjusting to the increase in tests and homework plus playing flag football for his school. My youngest started third grade and has an increase in homework too plus basketball. Put that together with my husband's full-time job and his part-time National Guard job that may as well be a full-time job and dentist appointments and doctor appointments and school functions - and well, yes, life has been over-the-top busy.

But while that has contributed to my lack of productivity, that's not totally it. My life is always ridiculously stressed like that. Whose isn't?

I think my productivity problem has more to do with me trying to justify the time I put into writing. It is something I enjoy tremendously, but I don't get paid to do it - and who is to say I ever will be? How do I justify all the time I spend on it when it is not something I 'have' to be doing and there are chores to be done, a household to run, kids to attend to? I look at other stay-at-home moms and all they do at their kids' schools, at home, etc. and I feel like a failure. I volunteer, but not as much as others do, and half of them have REAL jobs. I don't. I have nothing critical going from 7 AM to 3 PM five days a week.

This past June my stepsister lost her battle with cancer. She fought hard for about four years and all the while she was giving her seven kids and husband a hundred and twenty-five percent in addition to helping people in her church and community. She was one of those rare people that makes everyone a better person just by knowing her. I look at Leslie and how much she did for everyone, how she was going all the time, doing for others while fighting her own battle inside, and quite frankly, it makes me think, what the hell am I doing? How is spending hours a day writing a book helping anyone? How is sitting at a computer creating fictitious characters and fictitious worlds doing anything constructive for the rest of the world?

I know that a happy mom makes happy children. And, writing isn't something I am doing to make money anyway - it is a part of me, like breathing, and when I am not writing, I get depressed and stir-crazy. But how do I justify writing instead of say, cleaning house? How do I justify shutting that door to the world outside to immerse myself in a fictitious world when there are real chores and real problems to be dealt with?

This is what has been stopping me from being productive lately, so I thought I'd share. Maybe if I still have a few readers out there who haven't given up on reading my consistently non-existent blog, you'd care to share how you justify the time you spend on writing?

Newberry According to My 10 year old

My 10 year old son was reading The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin in his Lit Circle at school. As it is one of those books that I hear about all the time, have been meaning to read, but have never actually read (yes, I know, even after getting my MA in Children's Lit I am not fully literate in the 'classics' of children's books!), I was interested to hear what he had to say about it.

After the first few pages, he complained that it was boring. I thought, okay, he's reading it and the fifth Percy Jackson book at the same time. Hard to compete with Rick Riordan, Newberry medal or not. But as he continued reading it, his dislike grew. I have never had to force my son to read anything (well, okay, that's not true. In first grade he wouldn't read any of the fiction stories his teacher gave him - he only read non-fiction - so I did force him to read a Magic Tree House book to get him into some fiction that had non-fiction elements, and I boast, it worked!) but I had to make him sit down and read The Westing Game, even threatened to (gasp!) take away Percy Jackson if he didn't.

When he'd finally finished, I asked him "So, what was it about?"
His answer: "I don't even know. It was so boring, Mom. You would fall asleep. I bet everyone fell asleep reading it. They probably said 'hey this book is boring. It put me to sleep. Let's give it a Newberry. ' They give all the boring books Newberrys."

I quickly pointed out that Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book won it this year, which my son enjoyed. But, I had to laugh at his comment because I'd heard it before. My oldest daughter had said basically the same thing when she was in fifth grade. She was assigned Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins and hated it. In fact, after that book, she wouldn't touch another that had that pretty gold seal on it. To her, Newberry award = boring.

Before I continue, let me say that I am not putting down any Newberry book. I am not saying The Westing Game, Island of the Blue Dolphins, or any other Newberry winner is boring. That being said, I bet if we had children doing the choosing, the winners would be vastly different.

It sort of comes down to that age-old argument of literary versus commercial, reading for education versus reading for pleasure, writing to enlighten versus writing to appease the masses. Children's books, although written for children, are not published, purchased, or awarded prizes by children. As parents, we try to oversee everything that our children put into their bodies and minds, and literature is no exception. Let them have that cookie (Goosebumps), but make sure they balance it out with some vegis (Old Yeller), right?

As an author that tends to write more on the cookie-side than the vegi-side of the spectrum, I would be a hypocrit if I fed my children only vegis. Too many kids HATE reading because they aren't allowed the cookies. Where is the fun in reading if you don't read what you enjoy?

But, the teacher-mom in me also sees the value in reading the vegis. I have a great many vegis I love - my BA is in English after all, which would have been torturous if I hadn't enjoyed reading all those classics. And for that reason, we have well-meaning adults rather than children choosing the Newberry and other literary prizes. Recently, those choices have come to reflect more of what kids are enjoying than what adults think they should be enjoying - which is how it should be - so I truly commend those who sit on the committees and make the tough choices.

I tried to tell my son all this, even launching into a history of the penny-press and the whole bad rep novels had when they first were introduced to the masses. I was met with glazed over eyes. I think that must be how The Westing Game felt when he was holding it in his hands. So I ended my lecture with a simple, "Everyone has different tastes. Your sister loves fairy books and you can't stand them, right?"

This was met with a grin and a nod and then he asked, "How many fairy books have won a Newberry? (groan) I hope we don't have to read them next." :)

Deciding What To Write -- Revisited

Okay, so after my last post I was all gung-ho. I was going to stay with what I was writing, see it through to the end, stick with what I was passionate about, what I was hearing in my heart. And I did - I wrote two more chapters and was really getting back into it.

Then . . . I received the March 2009 issue of HipLit, HarperTeen's e-newsletter featuring new books, series, etc. I read about a new series they are releasing that sounds WAY too similar to my book. UGH! In an already saturated market, I am afraid I don't stand a chance with my plot as is.

Thus, I have decided to shelve my manuscript - at least until I can come up with a way to make my plot drastically different than anything out there right now. In the mean time, I think I will focus on my MG ghost story that has been sitting patiently awaiting revision for about five years!

So, I bid farewell (for now) to Simon and Kat in Wendigo Blood, and say hello to Julia in Nana's Ghost. Please, no tears or dirges, they will return again - I can never leave my stories shelved for too long!

Deciding what to write

Over the past few weeks I have been a bit stuck. It isn't writer's block exactly because I have several things I could be writing. My problem is which one I should be writing.

I had been revising a novel that I am passionate about - in love with the plot, the characters, the new twists I've built in to the old plot, etc. Problem?

I went to Barnes and Noble and saw how many paranormal/urban fantasy books are out there right now. I think my story is unique, but is it unique enough to stand out from an already saturated market?

I don't know, so . . . now I am stuck. Should I continue writing it and not worry about the market that may not be there when I complete the novel? Or should I instead work on the MG ghost story I also could be revising? Or, how about the two plots I have outlined using the characters of the novel I just finished? But, there again, do I even want to delve into the whole series thing when I don't know if that book will even get published? Nothing like spending time writing a series of books about characters no one cares about.

When I sit down to write everyday, I start asking these questions, and I end up in the same argument with myself:

Inner Me: Write what is calling to you right now; what you are passionate about right now; don't worry about the market.

Me: But with limited writing time, I'd hate to be spending hours and days and months on something that potentially will go nowhere.

Inner Me: So, you're in this just to get published?

Me: Heck no, but that is a goal, nonetheless, and I'd like to be working on something I am passionate about AND is marketable, you know?

Inner Me: Yeah, I see your point.

Me: ??? !!!

Any suggestions to resolving this uncertainty? Advice? Words of wisdom? Anyone? Anyone?

Writers and Imaginations

As a writer, I find possible plot ideas in everything from crazy dreams to news articles to childhood memories to things that occur in my own children's lives. It may be a a really cool setting I stumble upon while traveling or some oddball character I run into, even a song on the radio - anything and everything can trigger an idea for me. Something really tragic can have occurred, and my writer's voice is busy weaving it into a plot. I know this is true for most writers, but I thought I was the only one in my immediate family who thought this way until last week:

As I do every day, I met my two youngest kids at the bus stop after school. As soon as my son got off the bus, he launches into a story about the creepy substitute bus driver. My son tells me how this guy kept staring at him and his friends; how, once the driver realized he'd been caught staring, he donned a baseball cap and pulled it down, but the kids still knew he was staring, etc.

Now, the mom in me starts thinking : Should I be concerned? Is this guy a pervert? Does he have a criminal record?

While the writer in me is thinking: Maybe he's an alien come to earth to study humankind? Maybe he's an operative trying to get some govt. secret from one of the kids' parents? Maybe he is an escaped convict planning on taking kids hostage to clear his name . . .

These two different lines of thought are streaming through my mind all while my son is telling me his story. My daughter, who has also been listening to my son's story (and who, BTW, was also on the bus but must have been oblivious to the incident) suddenly stops walking and cries: "That's it! That's how the Bettys' can be murdered! On the bus!" and with that, she takes off flying down the sidewalk, backpack slamming against her little legs, rushing to get in the house to write down her new plot idea in her notebook.

What can I say? She is so like me . . .