Medical Notes

All that creative writing actually did a lot for me in getting my degree. So today, I'm feeling the need to shout out my gratitude to, you know, writing. Weird but true. 

First: Making medical notes for insurance companies, lawyers, doctors, hospitals, and the like. It turned out to be my strong point, and we honestly were taught next to nothing about it. I credit picture book writing: write what you need your audience to know, write it succinctly, use strong verbs. 

Second: Writing up an article for a scientific journal. Same lessons. Say what you need to say. Say it well. Make kind critiques to the team on their writing. Let go what you need to. Insist on what you must. 

Also, typing. Because who wants to waste time hunting for the "A" key every time? My typing speed is my best friend. 

But mostly, the medical notes. Thank you, Carmen's Sticky Scab for being my first experience there. 

So. It's Been a Minute

 May of 2014 was the last time I posted. It's been a minute. In the meantime I've had the pleasure of:

• Navigating a faith transition
• Changing my marital status to divorced
• Moving to a new state where scorpions are a thing (whimper)
• Attending graduate school, in person and everything, and obtaining a master's degree
• Getting a job to support myself
• Single momming, then momming with the ex and his new wife involved--still in two separate states
• Traveling some
• Etc. 

And why is today the day to post? 

Because today is the day I start writing again. 

All along I've only wanted life to calm down enough that I could write again. But as you either suspect or know, life doesn't calm down. And I'm a liar, because having time to write isn't the ONLY thing I've wanted. But it truly has been a desire all along. 

Life has not calmed down, but it's now stilled enough I can just see myself again in its reflection: 

This morning, I tried to sign up for a gig to help people edit their writing, for money. As I listed my qualifications, I felt ridiculously overqualified, like no one would believe me. My amazing writing friends, and groups, and publications, and classes taught, and awards, and blah, blah, blah. And then, on top of it all, my picture was rejected as being a suspected stock photo! 

No! It's me! It's a freaking selfie from my phone! Too many filters? Do I need to make myself look uglier? What? I don't get it! 

At any rate, that photo rejection along with the rest gave me the final insight to realize that while I'd like more income from helping other people write, what I truly want is to write myself. To BE myself. I remembered that in the beginning, I wanted a steady income so I could support myself, my kids, and write. And travel. But mostly write. (And travel.)

So here we are. Today, August 25, 2020 is the day I write again. And if life gets rough, I will write my way through. I've missed it far too much. 

Here's the photo. I plan on using it liberally.

Critique Groups and Pixar's Braintrust

Yes, I wish I were affiliated with Pixar, but alas--not today.

Anyway, a kindly neighbor with a great Kentucky drawl brought this magazine article to our house the other day featuring Pixar's braintrust. This is a group of storytellers, filmmakers, smart people, etc., who get together, watch Pixar's movies in development, and give honest feedback. Sometimes this takes movies  in a completely new direction, sometimes the movies are scrapped altogether, and sometimes they spark an idea that makes a great movie a Pixar wonder.

Writers, I hear your collective thoughts right now. Yes indeed, it IS just like a great critique group. So with this in mind and a great many critique groups having come my way through the years, I want to underline the fabulous points the article made about how great critique groups work--call it a braintrust if you will, it's still a critique group.

1. The author is the boss. Oh my goodness, there are some critiquers who are adamant that their suggestions must be taken or your manuscript will burst into flames. Nope. It won't. And even though you may have ultra-bossy critiquers, you are the author and you must feel free to be so.

2. Storytellers are your best bet for critique buddies...at least that's how the article slants. I know many who are happy with good readers who've never thought to write on their own...but they have to be readers and not just people who like you enough to wade through your manuscript. Basically what you want is honesty from someone with perspective on the craft.

3. I liked that the article said what you want are people who can give you a great many ideas in a short amount of time. I can vouch for this being liberating. Instead of one thing you can do to improve your story, it's nice to have many things to choose from. When you're making something up from scratch, it helps to remember that there isn't one correct path. There really isn't. And it helps you remain in control, too. Let idea lead to idea. Then you can choose the best from a bunch, not just the one you thought of first or the one the bossy critiquer is pushing.

4. Finally, you need to do your part when you're critiquing. Express what's going right with a manuscript, SOMETHING is going right. And offer honest feedback. I know it's hard--if they don't want your  honesty, they'll quit coming to you. But any writer worth print must learn to love the honesty. So be that honest, affirming, idea-offering critiquer. Don't be the bossy one. Offer suggestions, offer ideas, and realize that your idea sitting there in a room full of people is just one of many and you are not the author, nor (probably) the best critiquer on the planet, so keep it in perspective.

5. Take your critiques with a smile and a thank you. You can write mean things about your critique group in your journal at home afterward, if need be, but they are trying and they gave you their time, even if you didn't like what they had to say.

So there you go. Everyone can be a little Pixar, even if you're currently, well, not part of Pixar.

Tagged: My Writing "Process"

"Process"
I was tagged by the wonderful Suzanne Warr to blog about my writing "process." Yes, that's process with quotes because I use the term loosely. Scheduling writing into my life is something I'm pretty formulaic about; the actual writing is something else again.

Picture Book Class
I can hear little gasps all around cyber space from the young students who take my picture book classes. We do go over a tried and true picture book writing process--but it's only one of many ways to write a picture book. Here's what I teach the kids to get us to our deadlines:

1. Decide on a character--species, gender, name--the good stuff.
2. What is your character's problem?
3. What other problems might the main problem cause?
4. What will your character do to solve their problem? (We usually try three things--there are three bears, three musketeers, three billy goats Gruff, three...you get the picture. Stories love threes.)
5. What will finally solve the problem?

We throw in some discussion of tension (internal, external, and time--for those interested). We talk about about exaggeration, word choice, proper picture book length, and using illustrations to tell more story than your words do. We don't talk about rhyme because I'm no good at rhyme...

Anyway, this is all well and good for a picture book class on a schedule. In fact, it's not so bad for a professional picture book writer as long as they remember that not all great stories fit into the mold--still, it's uncanny how many of them do.

Novels--The Adventure
But I find when I write novels it's a whole different thing--not so much a process as an adventure from beginning to end. I've outlined, written cold, used 3x5 cards, interviewed my characters in type and out loud, used the plot point methods, and for me it comes down to this: whatever gets that story out of my head and onto the page is what I have to do. For me, it's never been the same thing twice, but there are some vague similarities between all my projects:

I always start with a character and their problem. Okay, almost always. Sometimes I start with just a concept, but the story never gets moving until I have my particular character and their specific problem.

The second thing I need to know is where my character ends up at the end. I can't just write and get somewhere good in the end by rambling. I just can't. Some people can. I can't even write the next chapter unless I know where I'm going with it. I need a map: beginning point, end point. Then I experiment with all the ways there are to get to where I want to go, and hopefully choose the best one.

No matter how well I outline (and I have outlined superbly at times, trust me) I feel lost in the middle of a novel. I can't hold it all in my head like a picture book and frankly, I don't like that feeling, still, I keep moving forward. Once I've written the entire thing--only then--does it begin to come together as I rewrite (and rewrite and rewrite). Only then can I plant the clues in the beginning, bring out the running gags, play with character descriptions, depth, and finally (my favorite) add VOICE. I think that's because, finally, it does start to all have a place in my brain. But boy, that first draft, no matter what, really stinks. The  3x5s help in their way, the plot points in theirs, and I have a current thing I like that I'll explain below. But my book never really sings until I've gone over it so much that I can forget methods and mechanics and give it life--making it real once my framework is built all around it. It's sort of like a house becoming a home, or (to be more literary) like Dr. Frankenstein building a monster.

The Thing That Happens To Work For Me Now
Now, this is the current thing I like (stolen from the bestselling Jonathan Stroud). I prefer it hugely to 3x5s because I spend an untold amount of time fiddling with those things, not to mention color coding them, and dropping them in parking lots. So, I finally made a list of every one of my current book's scenes (a list of chapters would work just as well).

Because my POV shifts, I write the POV character, too. Then I make precise little notes about what to add and where as needed during my many rewrites. You can tape a blank page to the left and right of your list if you need to (for notes). That's it.

I can see my whole book at once. When I panic about a character being at breakfast when they're supposed to be saving the day, I don't have to sift through the manuscript to figure out how to fix it. I just pull out my handy dandy list which helps me figure out exactly where to add things and how.

I'm telling you with this current book, it's all about this list. Next book, it will probably be about scribbling on the tablecloth or taking lots of baths.

Whatever gets it on the page, that's what I'll do.

The Sweetest Review

This week, an acquaintance approached and said his wife coerced him into talking to me...always a good start to a great conversation--but the thing is, it really WAS a great conversation.

"I don't think you know that I'm Navajo," he said. (I didn't.) And he went on to say that the book I'd given his wife for a baby gift, Wild Rose's Weaving, had captured his childhood memories perfectly. He said Wild Rose was now his little boy's favorite book, that it sits on the shelf by his bed, and he picks it out to read first, every night. He said the symbolism, the words, everything just hit the culture right on.

I hugged him. That ups our acquaintanceship to official friends, right?

At any rate, I think it's the sweetest review I've ever received.

Wild Rose was originally written in response to a week I'd spent in the Navajo Nation. My publisher and I didn't want to assume we knew all about a culture we don't belong to, so I made the text a bit more general than it was originally, and the illustrator went for a multicultural feel as well. Still, it's nice to know that I got it right. Nicer to know that I could spark real memories, and foster a connection between father and son (and grandma).

Just really touched--and thankful for wives who make their husband's talk to people!

Monthly Reading

I DID read those books I said I would get to and some of them were fantastic! I have just been out of town and away from blogger so I haven't been able to report. Here's there's the rundown:

The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater

Oh my goodness. The language is strong, but I couldn't have enjoyed the writing and the story more. I read the sequel Dream Thieves as well, not knowing it wasn't a completed series. Now I have to wait for the third installment. Boo! Quirky, fascinating characters including psychics, poor boys, rich boys, ghosts, and hit men. You'll get to know them all well. Like really well. Like why don't they live in my neighborhood well...okay, maybe not the hit man.

I. Love. These. Books. But really. I'm warning you kiddos up front about the language. Ask your mom first.

I read the Louis Sachar as well. Cardturner. I liked it although it went a bit fantastical in a place where I was quite comfortable with it being an ordinary everyday kind of book. It's a good book for sure, I think I just prefer regular fantasy to magical realism (which incidentally works brilliantly in his book, Holes. So maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about. Highly likely.)

And I've read a huge amount of picture books to the little ones including:

Penguins, Liz Pichon
Cute. The kids enjoyed it.

The Belly Book, Fran Manushkin, Dan Yaccario
Adorable. We all enjoyed this.

Barnyard Dance! Sandra Boynton
I defy you to find a Boynton book I don't love. It can't be done. I was a huge fan of her greeting cards in the eighties before she ever wrote a book. I still remember some of them!

Tikki Tikki Tembo, Arlene Mosel, Blair Lent
One of our family favorites. At least I really like reading it. I've got that name down, I tell you.

The Crocodile and the Scorpion, Emberly and Emberly
The pictures really make this great, and the kids liked the story, too.

Outside Your Window: A first book of Nature, Davies and Hearld
Gorgeous, gorgeous illustrations and beautiful to read. We take it a little at a time, more poetry than story (which I love for children) and we ooh and aah over the creative art. My image up top doesn't really do it justice.

This was waiting for me at my writing desk today. Not a good sign: