Month: January 2009

Posted in The Writing Path, Writing Fears

Writing Fears…How I REALLY Feel

Posted on by beckylevine

I think I’ve talked here before about how, in The Critiquer’s Survival Guide, I’m making up excerpts from “not-so-good” books, to use as examples. (I also have excerpts from real books, but those are for the better examples!) Anyway, today I was playing with a bit of text for a pretend self-help book called Overcoming Your Writing Fears. I didn’t have to come up with a lot of words, just a few paragraphs. I sat for a few minutes, thinking & imagining, and the muse answered my call.

The wicked, evil muse who sounded an awful lot like some vicious, boot-camping, pep-talking villain, the kind with a get-over-it attitude and butt-kicking motivation technique.

This is NOT me. Okay, it was kind of  fun to write, and I think it’ll stay in the book, but it also started me thinking about how (and why) I really deal with my writing fears. To be honest, this is a relatively new question for me. Call me cocky, but for years I pretty much wrote along, thinking I was a decent-to-good writer, learning my craft and putting words on the page. Then, as I started getting “closer” to the real thing, to submitting to agents, to getting contracts, to sending some of those pages off to an editor–the fear started to show up.

It’s not a fear of whether I can write. It’s, not much, anyway, a fear that I can’t write well. It’s pretty much a fear/worry that I will keep writing and writing and never “make it.”

Which is pretty silly, when you think about it, considering The Critiquer’s Survival Guide is scheduled to come out this fall. 🙂

Silly, or not, the fear is real. As are all our anxieties about our skill and “success.” So how do I deal with it?

Well, mostly I try to be kind to myself, but not too kind. I don’t beat myself up for the days I make less progress, and I don’t try to press-fit myself into the computer chair with a big shoe horn, when it’s clear the shoving will only be painful. But when I take a break, especially if that break is from fear, I try to make that time useful. I get up and exercise or I tidy up some of the mess in the house that’s been driving me crazy. (This is different from procrastinating by cleaning–if I’d been doing that, the mess wouldn’t be there in the first place!)

And I bring myself back. I try very hard not to spend more than one day, other than the weekend, away from SOME kind of writing. I know that the best way to make progress on a manuscript is to keep it at the front of your mind, and every 24-hours that you are not working on it is another layer down in your brain that you have to go down to dig it up. And because I know that staying away from the writing never feels good; it just feels frustrating and tense and makes me angry at myself. Even the fear is better than that.

That’s pretty much the how. The why–the reason I try and work through (or with) my writing fears–is perhaps even more important. When I look at the problem, when I face the fact that I am afraid and worried and too full of doubt, I have to ask my question. And that question is: With all this, will you, can you stop writing?

There is only one answer to that question for me: No.

So, if I’m going to write–and I am going to write–then I have to come back, fears or not, to the novel or the picture book or the nonfiction project. Because that’s the only way I’m going to get the flip side of that fear–the delight, the magic, the power.

I’m not alone in this fear, and neither are you. Here are a few more posts on the subject, some words from a few more writers.

And another post popped up today (Thursday)–must be that time of the year!

What are your writing fears? How do you handle them, to make sure you keep moving forward on whatever your writing path may be?

Posted in Contest

And the Winner Is…

Posted on by beckylevine

Tonight, my son drew a name from the hat tupperware to see who would get a copy of Donald Maass’ Writing the Breakout Novel or Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook.

raffledm

And the name he pulled out is….LISA SCHROEDER!

Lisa, would you like Maass’ book or his workbook? Send me the answer and your snail mail address at

     beckylevine at ymail dot com

I’ll get the book out to you ASAP.

Congratulations! And, to everybody else, thanks for playing!

Posted in Contest

This Time, a WRITING Contest

Posted on by beckylevine

Just a quick note to point you to a writing contest Writer’s Digest is holding for Valentine’s Day. The prize is a $250.00 shopping spree in their bookstore–you could go CRAZY! And they don’t care about your mood–mushy or gloomy, they’ll take the entry. 🙂

Thanks to Jane Friedman for the info.

And don’t forget to come by on Tuesday and see if you’re the winner in my contest. I’ll draw the name Monday evening and post the info by noon (California time!).

Good luck!

Posted in B.I.C., The Writing Path

B.I.C. in All Its Meanings

Posted on by beckylevine

Before I forget, if you haven’t entered my contest for a copy of Donald Maass’ Writing the Breakout Novel, there’s still time. Just leave a comment for that post, and I’ll add your name to the pot.

For the past week, I’ve been running around like the proverbial decapitated chicken.  Today was the first time in too long that I had several hours to sit in my office and get a large chunk of work done. I set myself a goal for the day (made it!!) and got to work.

In other words, I did Butt In Chair (B.I.C.).

We’ve all heard the phrase. On a good day, we love the acronym and feel proud of how disciplined and productive we are. We even add F.O.K.T. (Fingers on Keyboard Typing) to our commitment.

On a bad day, we pretty much want to send the chair and the keyboard through the window.

This may be because we’re stuck on a too-narrow definition–the one that says B.I.C means typing away, putting words on the page, and sending those pages to the printer.

Today, I MAYBE typed 100 words.

My B.I.C. time was spent thinking. I was working on the next stage of The Critiquer’s Survival Guide. I have an interesting task to do while I write this book, and that is to create a very small  sample of each genre for which I discuss critiquing.  I’m using excerpts from real books, too, but those are for the good example. I couldn’t very well pick up a novel I thought was “not-so-good” and then write, publicly, about why I thought it didn’t work. So I’m making up those not-so-good examples.

Today was my day to pick topics. Even though I only have to write a page or two for each, I knew that–if I didn’t have a plan ahead of time–I’d hit a major stumbling block each time I started writing a new chapter. And stumbling blocks can pretty much triple that B.I.C. time!

How did I spend my B.I.C. hours? I thought. I scribbled ideas in a notebook, thought about my life and experiences, any things I might be a semi-expert on (to write something purposefully bad, you pretty much have to write it decently first). I closed my eyes and visualized, dipped into my memories and my opinions.

And then I typed a word or six.

There are days I don’t even come to my desk for B.I.C. Opening a chapter file—new or existing–can be deadly for brainstorming plot events or developing characters. You look at the empty page, or at the words you’ve already written, and you get stuck. You have no idea where to start the scene, or you’re frozen at the idea of changing any of the words you’ve already written.

For big thinking, I do B.I.C. in my rocking chair. Usually, it’s tucked away in a corner of my office. My husband and son drop into it occasionally for a chat. But when I don’t know where I’m going, when I have to explore concept stuff, I pull the chair out. I put a blank notepad next to me, with a pen, and get a cup of hot tea to sip on. And I rock.

The ideas come. Without a CPU, monitor, or keyboard anywhere nearby.

I’ll admit. As soon as I’ve got the thoughts, I’m back at the desk chair. I don’t trust my notepads or my brain to keep things straight. Everything goes into a computer file and gets printed out to the appropriate binder–my one-stop containment center. But it all starts in that rocking chair.

Be careful what chair you pick on any given day. Use B.I.C., but don’t let it use (or abuse) you. Writing is so many more things than just writing. You wear multiple hats as an author, and you need just as many places to wear them.

What’s your favorite chair, and how do you use it for writing?

Posted in Blog Contest, Writing Books

Book Review AND Contest: Writing the Breakout Novel

Posted on by beckylevine

This week, I’ve been reading Donald Maass’ book Writing the Breakout Novel.  I just finished skimming through the last few chapters, which provide a sort of overview about some specific plot styles, theme, and a bit about publishing.  Since I’m getting ready to dig into plotting a first draft of my WIP, I was more interested in the material about crafting and writing that draft.

And I got plenty of that in the last few days.  True confession time: I tried to read Maass’ book a couple of years ago, and it just didn’t get me. I was actually annoyed by what I thought he was saying, and frustrated with his perspective that his was the absolutely right way to do things.

When I picked up the book last week, to try again, I felt like someone had substitutedcompletely new, different pages. This time around, I was slapping myself on the forehead, shouting “Duh!” and agreeing with everything Maass says.

I’m pretty sure that, last time, it was me, not the book–where I was with my writing and the project I was working on.

This next book that I’m starting has the potential for all the things Maasstalks about: plausibility, inherent conflict, originality, and gut emotional appeal. It’s the potential part, though, that I’m welcoming Maass’ help with. Because, in the book, he talks not only about how important all these element are, but HOW you can get them into your story. He hands out questions to ask about our books, what to do when we don’t find the answers we want (or any answers at all!), and techniques for basically deepening every piece of your story.

Maass talks about characters and tension and subplots–all the things that, when done well enough, give your story the layers it needs to catch the reader and keep them hooked–to the very end. He shows you why NOT pushing yourself doesn’t work, not for this particular story or for your writing skills.

When I first dipped into this book, I thought Maass’ angle was all on the selling success of the book. Again–what was I reading? He emphasizes over and over again how his advice and information are about the craft, and he’s right. Yes, he thinks following this advice will give a writer more chance of “breaking out,” whether that means selling more copies of a book than ever before, hitting the NY Times bestseller list, or simply succeeding in making an agent love your project. He doesn’t make any guarantees, though, and he wants us to try his techniques because we love writing and because we want to be better at it.

He’s got me pegged.

How about you? I haven’t run a contest yet at this blog, and today seems the place to start.  It’s Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, a time for giving and support. And tomorrow the whole country starts off in a new direction, on a strong, hopeful path. I want to celebrate.

So…leave me a comment about this post, between now and end-of-day Monday, January 26th. I’ll draw a name on Tuesday, and the winner will get their choice–a copy of Writing the Breakout Novel OR Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, also by Maass. I’ll be buying my own copy this week! 🙂

Posted in SCBWI

SCBWI Conference Scholarship

Posted on by beckylevine

One more pointer–this one for kids’ writers–to another blog, and then I’ll be back next week with a writing book review.

This announcement of incredible generosity comes from the Shrinking Violet Promotions blog:

fAiRy gOdSisTeRs, iNk announces its 2nd Annual SCBWI Summer Conference Scholarship!

FGI is offering a $1500 scholarship for a SCBWI member to attend the August 2009 conference in Los Angeles. The 2008 scholarship to Linda Lodding of the Netherlands.

To apply for the 2009 scholarship, submit a 250-word, double-spaced essay describing what you hope to accomplish by attending this year’s summer conference. Send your essay to: fairygodsistersink@yahoo.com

The application deadline is April 15th, 2009. The winner will be notified May 15th, 2009.

fAiRy gOdSiStErS, iNk. is a small, benevolent squadron of Santa Barbara children’s book authors who believe in the magic of passing forward lucky breaks, bounty, and beneficence, as so many have done for us. We are: Thalia Chaltas, Mary Hershey, Valerie Hobbs, Robin LaFevers and Lee Wardlaw.

If you would like to share some fairy dust of your own to help send a writer to the 2009 Summer Conference, FGI welcomes your donations!

For more information about the grant and/or making a donation, please visit the FGI website (which will be up and running any day now! We promise!) at http://www.fairygodsistersink.com.

And I checked, www.fairygodsistersink.com is up and running!

Posted in Marketing, Promotion, Publishing, The Writing Path, Webinars

Webinars…Maybe I’m Catching up with the Millenium

Posted on by beckylevine

Can you see me? Feebly waving an arm at you all, while I prop myself up against the wall? No, it’s not that bad! 🙂

I’m just being silly. I feel pretty great, actually, because I just sent the first (of two) chunks of The Critiquer’s Survival Guide off to my editor at Writer’s Digest. Happy Dance! But, yes, it’s a bit of a wimpy Happy Dance, because I am feeling just a tad brain fried. I was on deadline without any problem, but I did hit that adrenaline high that comes along with any “Do it NOW!” kind of focus. And I did stay up just a tiny bit late a night or two along the way.

So you’re not getting much of a blog today, but I did want to point you over to Jane Friedman’s post from last Tuesday. She’s talking about the series of “Webinars” that Writer’s Digest is starting this year. She lists the ones that are coming soon and gives a brief description of what you can do if you sign up for one.

This is the one I liked:

  • “Ask the presenter questions in real time”

Why am I interested, you ask? Besides the fact that these sound very cool? Well, because the current plan is for ME to do one of these webinars for the critique book. I’LL be the presenter that people can talk to. VERY exciting. Me, who has only been out of the morass of dial-up connectivity for a few months!

Anyway, check them out. I’ll be thinking and planning about all this, after I finish writing.

Posted in Critique Groups, Critiquing, Revising

Receiving a Critique: What Can YOU Do?

Posted on by beckylevine
There are two sides to every coin and, almost always, to every situation. This rule applies very well to critique groups.  I’ve always known this, but it’s hitting home again as I work on The Critiquer’s Survival Guide. (Half the book is heading to the editor this week–three cheers!)
I hear a lot of stories about writers worried about how they’ll feel when they get critiqued. Either they’ve had a bad experience in a critique group, or they’re worried about heading into one.  I discuss these situations in my book, and I’m sure I’ll blog about them here.
Today, though, it’s another post. And this one is going to talk about our responsibilities when we arebeing critiqued. Everybody in a critique group trades roles back and forth, and each role–even that of critiquee–has a few tasks that go with it.
When you are being critiqued, you need to:
  • Listen
    You’ve all heard the duct-tape threat; it will be used on any writer who interrupts, defends, or argues in response to a critique. I don’t go QUITE that far. It is important, though, to give the critiquer the same respect (by listening & taking notes) that they have given to reading your work and writing out their feedback.
  • Ask questions.
    I know. I just said not to interrupt, and I’m sticking to that. Write the question down and wait until the critiquers are done talking. You might hear the answer you need, without having to ask. And if you’re truly confused, raise your hand. Ask and be answered, then go back to step 1–listening.
  • Think
    Spend time with the feedback you get and consider each point. Yes, you know your project very well, but you don’t know it perfectly. Fresh eyes, from a strong reader, can provide a solution to the problem you’ve been wrestling with or send your project in a new, brilliant direction. Just because an idea doesn’t resonate with you the first time you hear it, take note and give that idea full consideration when you go over the critique.
  • Revise.
    I know. Of course, revise. But with the critique pages at your side. Look at each comment your critiquers have made and mentally lay that comment aside your project. Does it have validity? Will it improve the writing or the overall book? Is it possible, even if the critiquer’s feedback seems off, that the passage they pointed to is having a problem? And really, really analyze the big critique elements–plot, character, structure, voice. This is what you’ve asked your critique partners to do: dig deep into your project and help you see the best vision for it. You asked, they gave. Now use it.

Yes, of course, my list assumes that you are working with supportive, encouraging, and skilled critiquers. That’s my wish for you, and that’s a big goal you should be shooting for.  You should also, though, be remembering your part of the whole, and making sure you’re shouldering that commitment.

Posted in Nonfiction, Voice

Voice in Nonfiction

Posted on by beckylevine

As I was thinking about this post today, I realized I haven’t written that much specifically about nonfiction. Which is odd, since that’s the genre that’s taking up the bulk of my writing hours these days. Maybe I’m buried so deeply in it that I’m not thinking so much about it from the outside.

One thing that’s become extremely apparent to me as I write, though, is that voice is as critical (if not more) in nonfiction as in fiction.  You may not be shooting for the latest in “edginess” or a laugh-out-loud funniness, but you do have to make sure you’re capturing the reader and keeping them hooked.

Think about it this way. A writer of nonfiction, especially of a how-to or self-help book, is setting themselves up as a teacher. Now go back a bit in your memory to your school days–high school, college, grade school.

Think about the teachers with the boring voices. The monotone as they read from a text or recited a lecture from their notes. The voice that said they were up in the front of the room, yes, facing their students, but they could just as happily been talking to rows of empty desks. Got it? Visualizing it?

Okay–where did you want to be?

In a coffeehouse inhaling a big mug of caffeine. At home in bed, sleeping with your teddy bear. In Hawaii. Anywhere but in that classroom.

How much easier was it to stay awake and present for the teachers who were energetic, enthusiastic about their subject, and excited about sharing their take on it with you?

When you’re working on nonfiction, though, how do you achieve this goal? You’re not talking, you’re writing. You don’t have an audience to interact with; they’re all in your imagination. How do you translate your emotions and personality into printed pages?

I think you do it the same way you do it in fiction. Loosen up. Be more free with yourself, with your opinions, your values, and the perspective with which you approach your topic. No, don’t shove your way of doing things down your readers’ throats, as the onlyway, but make sure they know you believe in it. If you’re writing a book about caring for a pet, let your love of animals through. If your focus is accounting, put some energy into “speaking” as a knowledgeable and understanding expert, rather than as a pushy know-it-all.

Be yourself. No, don’t let all the grammar errors which we speak slide through, and don’t let yourself cross the line into gushing or scolding. But relax a bit, remember why you were excited about this project in the first place, and share that feeling with the reader.

They may still take off for Hawaii, but they’re a lot more likely to take the book along!

Posted in Character, First Drafts, Plot, Scenes

Scenes: Writing in Sequence or…Not

Posted on by beckylevine

I’m getting started on another WIP (work in progress). It’s a historical YA, set in Chicago in 1913, just before the suffragette march on Washington, D.C. I’ve been reading and researchng and mulling for a while now, and I’ve even done a bit of basic plot and character work. And I’m thinking about writing.

The question is: Do I plot in more detail, at the scene-by-scene level, so I can write in sequence and develop the connections and transitions as I go? Or do I go at it a bit more randomly, picking a scene that’s calling to me and putting words on pages, a bit more isolated from what may come before or after?

Confession: I already did the second one. I’m developing a critique workshop for the Redwood Writers branch of the California Writers Club, and I needed a writing sample for the participants to critique. I played with just making something up out of the ozone, but a scene from the WIP kept pushing at me. It’s one of the first scenes in the book that I visualized, and it’s one of those crux moments (I think!). So, being as I had eaten too much chocolate that night, I got up out of bed and wrote it.

Whee!

Yes, it felt great. And it started me thinking about the friends I have who write–well, randomly isn’t the right word, but they certainly don’t worry about writing scenes in sequence. Should I? Could I? (Have I mentioned here yet that I’m a bit of a control freak?)

So I’m thinking about the pluses and minuses of both methods. MY pluses and minuses. I really want to hear from all of you–about how you write, WHY you write that way, and what you think are the benefits and problems. Susan Taylor Brown has a post up today about why she chooses to write out of order.

Keep in mind, I believe that you need to have some kind of basic plot developed before you start with either of these methods. I’m also talking about a first draft here, although–if I thought about it–I could probably find applications for revision, also. (Another post, folks!)

Writing Scenes in Sequence

Pluses

  • When you finish a scene, you already know what’s coming next. Given that you’re writing as close to every day as you can, this means you’ve got a roll going and can move on to the next scene without that gaping void of what now? staring at you.
  • You can get a feel for the rising  tension of the story as you write. Yes, you’ll have to go back and tweak it, but you’ll be watching for it and have a sense of where each scene needs to fall in the pattern.
  • You feel the balance, as you write, of when and why various characters are appearing in your story.

Minuses

  • You may (will!) find yourself writing scenes you aren’t interested in at the moment, ignoring another scene that’s really calling to you.
  • You can get yourself pointed too strictly in one direction, a direction that may or may not be the best one for the story.
  • You may focus too tightly on the plot and not see the character that you really need to develop.

Writing Scenes out of Order

Pluses

  • You get the freedom to write whichever scene you’re excited about, which probably increases the joy of your writing.
  • You get more surprises, because you’re writing in less of a constricted “space.” Having less plan means there’s room for more spontaneity. (Okay, just WRITING this bullet makes me anxious!)
  • You will see connections as they appear, rather than trying to assign connections you’ve already decided on.

Minuses

  • When you run out of scenes that you really want to write, you’re still looking at a whole lot of scenes that still need to be written. 
  • You may end up with a bunch of scenes that have no connection, that are episodes, not part of an actual story.
  • You may struggle for ideas about what a scene needs to be doing.

Okay, Confession #2. I honestly thought when I started this post that I’d come down hard on the side of writing in sequence. Um…NOT. I was struggling to think of pluses for that method. Whereas when I got to writing scenes out of order, all of a sudden I was thinking…oh, yeah!

Now, this may be because, honestly, I don’t have 100% of my writing time to dedicate to this WIP right now. I’m over halfway through The Critiquer’s Survival Guide, but still have some serious work to do in the next few months. I’m trying to give as much evening time as I can to the story, but…family time, housework, all the life thingies need their minutes, too. As usual. So it’s very possible that the idea of picking scattered scenes to write just sounds more doable.

I’m also, though, looking back at the revision passes I made on my last book, the one I’m sending around to some agents. I can’t truly say that writing things in sequence gave me anything but the appearance of control (not that that’s a BAD thing!). And I’m seeing that, possibly, writing scenes out of order may actually let the story develop as it needs to, not just in the pattern I’ve decided it should follow.

CONCLUSION: I’m going to try it. I’m going to do a bit more plotting, focused on the most important scenes I can think of right now, and then I’m going to write them.

Until, at least, I go crazy trying. 🙂

What about you?