This lovely setting is where I meet with my live critique group. It's a coffee/sandwich shop called Fiddleheads, located right on the Milwaukee River. A good place to talk about writing!
- Mood:
cheerful
What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.
My first drafts always seem to be weeds. I can only hope that I'll work it into something that blossoms.
- Mood: hopeful
There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
Every time I sit down to write, I'm taking a risk. I risk feeling uncertain, insecure, and incompetent. And when I submit my work, I risk rejection. I have to be willing to open myself up to these things. I have to leave the safety of my bud in hopes of blossoming.
- Mood:
contemplative
Sometimes a bit of wisdom comes my way and I immediately recognize it as an inspired truth and hold onto it forever.
A few years ago I heard Phyllis Root speak at a conference. She said, "A picture book is performance art."
How true! A picture book needs to be read out loud, and in writing a picture book, the writer needs to read that manuscript out loud, to not only see how the words look on the page, but how they sound in the air.
A few years ago I heard Phyllis Root speak at a conference. She said, "A picture book is performance art."
How true! A picture book needs to be read out loud, and in writing a picture book, the writer needs to read that manuscript out loud, to not only see how the words look on the page, but how they sound in the air.
- Mood:
mellow
I think I've found a path that might lead to a good revision.
Those maniac buzzard bees in my brain settled down at bedtime, so I put the story fragments firmly in my head before falling asleep, to let my subconscious work on them throughout the night. Whoever said that 'things seem clearer in the morning,' knew what he was talking about. It amazes me that the brain can continue to work and solve problems while you sleep.
So, this morning I found a path. It's a very small path. It's a bit overgrown in places, and on occasion disappears. I don't know if it's the right path. I don't know if it will take me to where I want to go with this story, or if it'll lead me to some swampy, impossible place where I'll get hopelessly stuck.
But it's a path.
And for that, I'm grateful.
Those maniac buzzard bees in my brain settled down at bedtime, so I put the story fragments firmly in my head before falling asleep, to let my subconscious work on them throughout the night. Whoever said that 'things seem clearer in the morning,' knew what he was talking about. It amazes me that the brain can continue to work and solve problems while you sleep.
So, this morning I found a path. It's a very small path. It's a bit overgrown in places, and on occasion disappears. I don't know if it's the right path. I don't know if it will take me to where I want to go with this story, or if it'll lead me to some swampy, impossible place where I'll get hopelessly stuck.
But it's a path.
And for that, I'm grateful.
- Mood: grateful
Okay, I've talked with my editor and I can't say that my list making for revision has been of any great help. I'd hoped to come away from our conversation with a clear idea on how to proceed, but nope. That hasn't happened. Now I have snits and snatches of thoughts swarming in my brain like trapped bees. All that buzzing makes my head hurt, and makes it hard to think!
But that's what I need to do.
Think, think, think...
But that's what I need to do.
Think, think, think...
- Mood:
confused
In facing a revision, I feel like Cork, hanging in a precarious place without a safety net.
My editor is calling tomorrow to talk about revisions for a picture book story I recently sent her. As usual, in fleshing out the story I made it too complex with too much going on. Now the story has to be cut and simplified without losing any of its merits.
So I have a plan to try something new. I'm going to make a list of all the story components - the characters, the plot, the scenes, etc., and then go through them with her one by one to see which are the strongest and most essential to the story, and which can be cut. Hopefully, when I have that map of what's left, I'll have a clearer picture of how to put each piece back together in a sensible way.
Either that, or I'll fall and break my tail.
- Mood: hopeful
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