On Saturday, Michelle and I went to the SCBWI "Shop Talk" meeting at the bookstore. The group meets on the last Saturday of each month. I took the day off from work, because I wanted to be able to just focus on writing. Previously, I had requested to work the closing shift at work, so I could have the morning free for the SCBWI meeting. But it was hard to have to switch from writer mode to bookstore employee mode, especially when I wanted to just have time to think about writing and to work on my project. So, since I've decided to make writing a priority this year (more than I ever have before), I also decided to request to have the entire day off on the days of the SCBWI meetings. It's one Saturday every month, but it's that important to me. I can still be available to work all other weekend days/nights.
It was the first meeting of the new year, and also the first since the meetings went on hiatus for the holiday season. It was good to be back. It was a large group this time - 17 of us. A mix of regulars, newcomers, and writers and illustrators who attend as often as they can.
Everyone introduced themselves, and talked a bit about what they've been working on during the break. Several writers are working on mid-grade books; some have short stories and/or articles for magazines; and a few have picture books in the works. There were also a few artists - a couple of them have done paintings that were in local art galleries; and an artist, Diane, shared some charming and skillful illustrations that an art director had critiqued at a recent conference. Seeing them made me wish I'd kept up with my artwork. I always loved drawing and painting when I was younger, but as work and other responsibilities began to take up more and more of my time, I narrowed my creative pursuit to the one that I loved best and felt I was best at - writing. Michelle was very interested in Diane's artwork, too - I think she was inspired by it. She is as talented in art as she is in writing, and she does illustrations for Whimsy, the children's magazine that she and Kathy H. self-publish. Afterward, I told her that I think her artwork could lend itself very well to children's picture books, and maybe she could try to get an art critique at this year's conference. And she said that looking at Diane's pictures inspired her to think of her own artwork.
We heard some great writing, too. Sylvia, who's new to the group, read a story about a young girl's lesson in self-esteem. It was a great story as is, but I think it could also be expanded into a mid-grade book. It also fits in with the multi-cultural trend that's been growing in children's publishing. The story led to a lively conversation between the men and the women about the differences between boys and girls regarding self-esteem. Roxanne, who's been working on a mid-grade fantasy book, brought an imaginative science fiction story about a girl who's the first person born in space. She wrote it for a magazine contest, and I think it's good enough to win. Good luck, Roxanne! Sal shared with us the first chapter of a mid-grade, humorous/suspense novel about a boy's run-in with the Irish mob in 1940s Boston. He's in the process of trying to find an agent for it, and I think it has a lot of potential. I lived in Boston for three years while I was in college, so I especially liked the setting, and I thought he did a great job of describing what the city must have been like in the past. And Kim read a sweet, song-like, picture-book story about how different animals say good-night. It works well as a bedtime story, but I also think it would be a great read-aloud storytime tale. I overhear much of the bookstore's storytimes, and I think little kids would respond very well to the repetition, rhyme, and all the animals in the story. Kim has also been working on her teen metaphysical fantasy novel, and she gave me her latest draft to read. I really enjoyed reading her earlier draft, and I promised I would e-mail her my feedback.
It's interesting to find out that I have a similar writing habit as Kim, and Roxanne. We've all talked about it, and it seems like we all re-write - a lot. Kim and I made a pact to encourage each other and do our best to finish a draft to bring to this year's conference. It's in June, so there is enough time for us to reach our goals.
Val, the group leader, gave information about the upcoming regional conferences. The major New York City one is in February, and there's also a sizable one in the Poconos, in April. I'm not yet at the level where I can afford (time or money-wise) to attend these conferences. But hopefully, in the next year or two, I'll be able to make it to one or more of them. For now, the local conference in June is perfectly fine. Michelle and I are really looking forward to it - according to the early information, it looks like it's shaping up to be another great event. I'll write more about it as I find out more about it.
Afterward, Michelle and I had lunch in the cafe, and we read each other's recent writing. Michelle liked how I ended the chapter of What Luck that I've been working on (in bits and pieces - unfortunately, during the retail holiday season, that's about all I've had time to write) - she said my character development is coming along well. And I really enjoyed reading her latest pages of Just Will, her new mid-grade novel. She writes boy protagonists so well, and I told her she's lucky she has a brother, because I think it has given her an understanding that she can use to portray her boy/male characters. They all seem very real. She also does a great job of depicting historical settings - this book is set in the rural 1930s. She also showed me her latest poem, Timelessness, that she plans to send in to a contest. I think it's one of her best poems I've read - it has a spiritual tone, and lyrical language, with a gentle (not forced) rhyme. I wish I could write poetry like that.
Unfortunately, Rich couldn't make it down for our Wildwood group this weekend, and we both missed him a lot. But we're looking forward to the end of next month, when we'll all be together again. And I plan to have a lot of new writing to share. Maybe a whole new chapter? That's a goal I think I can reach. So I better get working on it!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Monday, January 14, 2008
Some Progress
So far, I've made some progress with my writing since the new year began. So it's gotten off to a pretty good start.
I've written in my "morning pages" journal nearly every day. (OK, I admit I skipped 3 out of 14 days, but considering my inconsistency with journal writing, that's good for me!) Morning pages are a tool of "The Artist's Way" program, created by writer/artist/creativity expert Julia Cameron. I wrote a description of morning pages in a post for my old blog, Write to the Finish Line, so I won't repeat it here. But Julia Cameron is like a writing guru to me. I've tried to follow the instruction and advice in her books as closely as I can, and I think it's one of the things that's made me a better writer. I was excited to see a new hardcover collection, The Complete Artist's Way, at the bookstore, so I bought it as a Christmas presents for myself last month. It contains The Artist's Way, Walking in This World, and Finding Water. So what if I already have them in paperback (and I have 2 copies of The Artist's Way - one of them she signed for me when I took a day-long workshop in NYC a few years ago) - when I really love a writer's work I have to have all that I can get: hardcovers, paperbacks, even first-editions and signed copies, if I'm able to get them. I'm like that with bands and musicians too - some of my favorites I have on CD, cassette, and even some older recordings on vinyl, and singles and imports if I can get them. I just like to support people whose work means a lot to me.
I've also worked on new scenes for my current book, What Luck, on the days that I've been off from work. So I wrote on Thursday (the 3rd), Tuesday (the 8th), Thursday (the 10th), and even on Saturday (the 12th) before I went in to work the closing shift at the bookstore. I want to try to stick to a schedule of writing on each day off, and also on the mornings of days that I have to work at night. (Like today.) That would be 3 or 4 out of 7 days each week. I should be able to do that. I'm glad I was able to get right back into the story, since it had been over a month since I'd last written anything new. And I feel pretty good about how the new scenes turned out.
The Wildwood Writers Group has met at Michelle's twice since the year began. Our meeting on the 3rd was our last weekly meeting with Rich. He moved last week, so he could start a new job in Albany. But, instead of being sad about it, we focused on having fun instead - we celebrated his birthday (which was the next day) with sinfully good chocolate birthday cake. And though I already miss Rich terribly, we are all still committed to our friendship and supporting each other's writing. We are going to try to meet in person once a month, and Rich plans to set up an online Wildwood Writers Group for us. I know we'll make it work.
Last Thursday, Michelle and I read our work to each other - we'll be the "Wildwood Two" for now. Michelle gave me good feedback on my new scenes, and I worked on re-writing them on Saturday. I still have to e-mail my pages to Rich, but since I'm somewhat computer illiterate, I need to get Ian to help me with it. Maybe we can work on that tomorrow.
And now I'm finishing my 2nd blog post for the year. I plan to post as often as I can, but I'm making it a priority to write and finish What Luck. As long as I can keep consistently working on my book, writing my morning pages, and writing blog posts, I'll be satisfied with my writing progress during this year.
I've written in my "morning pages" journal nearly every day. (OK, I admit I skipped 3 out of 14 days, but considering my inconsistency with journal writing, that's good for me!) Morning pages are a tool of "The Artist's Way" program, created by writer/artist/creativity expert Julia Cameron. I wrote a description of morning pages in a post for my old blog, Write to the Finish Line, so I won't repeat it here. But Julia Cameron is like a writing guru to me. I've tried to follow the instruction and advice in her books as closely as I can, and I think it's one of the things that's made me a better writer. I was excited to see a new hardcover collection, The Complete Artist's Way, at the bookstore, so I bought it as a Christmas presents for myself last month. It contains The Artist's Way, Walking in This World, and Finding Water. So what if I already have them in paperback (and I have 2 copies of The Artist's Way - one of them she signed for me when I took a day-long workshop in NYC a few years ago) - when I really love a writer's work I have to have all that I can get: hardcovers, paperbacks, even first-editions and signed copies, if I'm able to get them. I'm like that with bands and musicians too - some of my favorites I have on CD, cassette, and even some older recordings on vinyl, and singles and imports if I can get them. I just like to support people whose work means a lot to me.
I've also worked on new scenes for my current book, What Luck, on the days that I've been off from work. So I wrote on Thursday (the 3rd), Tuesday (the 8th), Thursday (the 10th), and even on Saturday (the 12th) before I went in to work the closing shift at the bookstore. I want to try to stick to a schedule of writing on each day off, and also on the mornings of days that I have to work at night. (Like today.) That would be 3 or 4 out of 7 days each week. I should be able to do that. I'm glad I was able to get right back into the story, since it had been over a month since I'd last written anything new. And I feel pretty good about how the new scenes turned out.
The Wildwood Writers Group has met at Michelle's twice since the year began. Our meeting on the 3rd was our last weekly meeting with Rich. He moved last week, so he could start a new job in Albany. But, instead of being sad about it, we focused on having fun instead - we celebrated his birthday (which was the next day) with sinfully good chocolate birthday cake. And though I already miss Rich terribly, we are all still committed to our friendship and supporting each other's writing. We are going to try to meet in person once a month, and Rich plans to set up an online Wildwood Writers Group for us. I know we'll make it work.
Last Thursday, Michelle and I read our work to each other - we'll be the "Wildwood Two" for now. Michelle gave me good feedback on my new scenes, and I worked on re-writing them on Saturday. I still have to e-mail my pages to Rich, but since I'm somewhat computer illiterate, I need to get Ian to help me with it. Maybe we can work on that tomorrow.
And now I'm finishing my 2nd blog post for the year. I plan to post as often as I can, but I'm making it a priority to write and finish What Luck. As long as I can keep consistently working on my book, writing my morning pages, and writing blog posts, I'll be satisfied with my writing progress during this year.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
New Year, New Blog
It's a new year, so I'm starting a new blog. I've always liked the fresh-start feel of New Year's Day - the chance to have a do-over is also one of the reasons I believe in reincarnation.
So I've reincarnated my writing blog. In its old life, it was called "Write to the Finish Line," (and can still be found at www.writetothefinishline.blogspot.com) and it existed from January to August of 2007. Its purpose was to help me keep track of my writing progress, and to help me keep my New Year's resolution to keep working on my writing projects until one of my books was finished, and in good enough shape to send out for publication.
I started out pretty strong - I posted 9 blogs in January, and committed to writing a teen novel, What Luck, that I had started in the fall of 2006. I wrote on my days off from work, and brought the newly-written pages to the bi-weekly meetings of the "Wildwood Writers Group" (WWG) - a critique/inspiration/support group that I'm in with several close writing friends. After reading and hearing helpful critiques from the group, I would re-write the pages, and then continue with new scenes, to bring to the group's next meeting.
I've always had a perfectionist attitude towards my writing, and I know it's one of the reasons I have so many unfinished projects. Years ago, I wouldn't even write something until I felt that it was perfect in my mind first. But when I studied journalism, first at Northeastern University in Boston, and then at New York University, I learned to write more freely and then edit the piece quickly, to produce a clean draft in a short amount of time. So I've developed a three-steps-forward, two-steps-back, and then forward-again writing habit. Somehow, it seems to work for me.
My closest friend, Michelle (who hosts the writing group at her place), and I also started going to the local Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) monthly meetings at the bookstore where I work. And in June, we attended our fourth SCBWI conference, which was held at a local hotel/conference center. I had submitted 15 pages of my book for critique, and met with an editor who gave it a favorable critique, so I felt like I was making some good progress.
So what happened? There were a few roadblocks on my way to trying to finish my book, and also in the way of blogging.
In August, my boyfriend Ian's computer (that I also use, for writing and editing) somehow got a virus, and became nearly impossible to use. It was really slow, and would sometimes shut down for no reason. Some pages that I'd written got lost before I could save or print them. And it was hard to go online without having problems. Ian tried to resurrect the computer a couple of times, and got it running again, but it kept breaking down. The printer broke, too, and we got a new one, but couldn't use it much with the old computer.
I tried writing on my computer, but it's a relic, and my printer broke, too. So I went back to writing by hand in a notebook, just so I could have something to bring to the WWG meetings. But it's hard to write for a long time by hand, because I sometimes feel pain and numbness in my neck, shoulder and arm, from an injury I had at work in August '06. So I started writing less and less.
Finally, in November, Ian got some birthday money to use for a new computer. It's really great, and just what we need for my writing, and his photography work. But by that time, the busy and strenuous holiday season had started at the bookstore, and I had even less time to write.
So that's basically why I didn't "write to the finish line" in 2007.
But it's a new year now. And a new chance to keep my new/old New Year's resolution to finish writing my book. And, hopefully, this new blog will help me to "write to the end."
Happy 2008, everyone!
So I've reincarnated my writing blog. In its old life, it was called "Write to the Finish Line," (and can still be found at www.writetothefinishline.blogspot.com) and it existed from January to August of 2007. Its purpose was to help me keep track of my writing progress, and to help me keep my New Year's resolution to keep working on my writing projects until one of my books was finished, and in good enough shape to send out for publication.
I started out pretty strong - I posted 9 blogs in January, and committed to writing a teen novel, What Luck, that I had started in the fall of 2006. I wrote on my days off from work, and brought the newly-written pages to the bi-weekly meetings of the "Wildwood Writers Group" (WWG) - a critique/inspiration/support group that I'm in with several close writing friends. After reading and hearing helpful critiques from the group, I would re-write the pages, and then continue with new scenes, to bring to the group's next meeting.
I've always had a perfectionist attitude towards my writing, and I know it's one of the reasons I have so many unfinished projects. Years ago, I wouldn't even write something until I felt that it was perfect in my mind first. But when I studied journalism, first at Northeastern University in Boston, and then at New York University, I learned to write more freely and then edit the piece quickly, to produce a clean draft in a short amount of time. So I've developed a three-steps-forward, two-steps-back, and then forward-again writing habit. Somehow, it seems to work for me.
My closest friend, Michelle (who hosts the writing group at her place), and I also started going to the local Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) monthly meetings at the bookstore where I work. And in June, we attended our fourth SCBWI conference, which was held at a local hotel/conference center. I had submitted 15 pages of my book for critique, and met with an editor who gave it a favorable critique, so I felt like I was making some good progress.
So what happened? There were a few roadblocks on my way to trying to finish my book, and also in the way of blogging.
In August, my boyfriend Ian's computer (that I also use, for writing and editing) somehow got a virus, and became nearly impossible to use. It was really slow, and would sometimes shut down for no reason. Some pages that I'd written got lost before I could save or print them. And it was hard to go online without having problems. Ian tried to resurrect the computer a couple of times, and got it running again, but it kept breaking down. The printer broke, too, and we got a new one, but couldn't use it much with the old computer.
I tried writing on my computer, but it's a relic, and my printer broke, too. So I went back to writing by hand in a notebook, just so I could have something to bring to the WWG meetings. But it's hard to write for a long time by hand, because I sometimes feel pain and numbness in my neck, shoulder and arm, from an injury I had at work in August '06. So I started writing less and less.
Finally, in November, Ian got some birthday money to use for a new computer. It's really great, and just what we need for my writing, and his photography work. But by that time, the busy and strenuous holiday season had started at the bookstore, and I had even less time to write.
So that's basically why I didn't "write to the finish line" in 2007.
But it's a new year now. And a new chance to keep my new/old New Year's resolution to finish writing my book. And, hopefully, this new blog will help me to "write to the end."
Happy 2008, everyone!
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