My Magical Musings

Yeah, I know, the song says, “breaking up is hard to do,” but I think giving up is even harder. At least for me. I’ve heard that there comes a time when a manuscript has to be put aside and we have to move on. While I don’t disagree with this, I think putting it aside and giving up on it are two different things. I’ve set manuscripts aside, but I’ve never given up on them–well, except for the romance I wrote back in high school. *grin* While I had no problem letting go of THAT one, there are others I just can’t walk away from. I believe in them. Sure, they’ve been through revisions and rewrites and restructurings and revisions and rewrites and restructurings and . . . well you get the picture.

I’m in the process of rewriting my first MG–again! I love the story and characters too much to let them sit in a file and never come out to play. Granted, the rewrite isn’t the only thing I’m working on, I also have a YA idea I’m writing and another MG I’m writing, and several rhyming picture books I’m trying to convert to prose (just to see if I can). And this morning I got an awesome idea for a new YA (which I added to my LONG list of ideas for YAs).

Now, this isn’t usually the way I work, I promise. One idea takes off and I work on it exclusively, but that’s been frustrating in the past. At times I hated a story and felt forced into working on it when my heart wasn’t in it (and it shows in the scenes I wrote during that time). Or, I haven’t done any writing that day because I was stuck on a scene and couldn’t move forward. I’ve found it much easier to leave the project(s) alone for a day or so and work on something else until I’m ready to move back in. This helps me avoid writer’s block because I always have something else to go to when I’m stuck, and by the time I’m ready to go back to the project I left, my brain has worked through the block and I can  move forward. Everyone has their own writing method(s), and right now, this works for me.

This whole idea of moving on to something new and leaving old work behind as a learning experience may work for other people–and, in my case, it worked for that high school days novel–but for certain projects, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with coming back to them once you’ve learned more about writing and can improve them.
That being said, I’m not a proponent of working to revive a dead manuscript at the exclusion of all other writing endeavors either. No one should spend all their time redoing the same novel over and over and over. We do have to write other things because it’s only through the new that we learn the mistakes we made in the old. If we wallow in the old, we miss the experience of the new.

I’m sure there are exceptions to this (there always are), but most of us aren’t the exception. I’m not saying there’s nothing new to be learned from continuing to work on the same manuscript for years at a time (that’s how I started out), but I do think more new knowledge comes from exploring other characters and their voices.
Anyway, this little post is just my way of saying we shouldn’t always give up on our manuscripts. Set them aside, write something new, but don’t be afraid to come back to that set aside story. If we believe in something that much, chances are, we believe in it for a reason. Keep coming back to that story until there’s nothing left to believe in.

May you all have a great weekend. =)

Write on!

When I woke up, it was raining. When we left the house to take the ten minute drive to school, it was raining. A couple of minutes into the drive, it started pouring down snow! Big fluffy white flakes of the stuff! Thankfully I wasn’t the only one caught off guard by the weather. The line to drop off the kids at school was HUGE!! The kind people in charge of the school decided not to take attendance until 8:00 so the kids weren’t counted as being tardy. Whew! The snow has slowed down and we probably won’t get much, but here’s a picture of some on the tree out front (I took it from the porch because I didn’t want to go too far outside).

Yeah, it sure is pretty, but along with the pretty comes the cold. Brrrr!!!

Despite the hectic morning, and despite the knowledge that I have to do more revisions on my Moby Dick paper for American Literature class tonight, so far this week is starting off with a bang . . . or some really good emails and a phone conversation anyway. I’ll share details when I can.

So, I’m off to revise and hopefully also do some new writing to catch up with the NaNo count (or at least give it a shot).

Hope everyone has a great day!

Write on!

I’m so glad this week is over (well, after today)! Things have been extremely stressful and I think I have at least five new gray hairs (time to make a trip to the hair color aisle).

On Monday, I had a rough draft of my Moby Dick paper due. I’ve been trying for weeks to focus my thoughts and decide what analysis I was going to do. On Monday, I sat at the computer with no firm decision and started writing. I ended up going with the prolific use of the color white in the novel. I typed up the seven pages required (and a little over) and turned it in that night. Whew! But I couldn’t rest yet. On Wednesday night I had another massive project due. Granted, I’ve been researching and organizing thoughts for this one, but hadn’t actually started working on it (other than getting the pictures I needed). The project was a three page essay (it ended up being 3 1/2) and PowerPoint biography presentation on Nathaniel Hawthorne.

It was fascinating to learn more about him, and I especially loved learning how he was friends with Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Henry David Thoreau. Writers were friends and supported each other even back then. Hawthorne was an inspiration to Melville and, had it not been for him, we probably wouldn’t have Moby Dick on the shelves today. Also, Edgar Allan Poe did a review of Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales, as did Longfellow. Cool! I’ll refrain from giving you the complete biography (though it’s hard to resist *grin*). Anyway, I typed up the biography and put the presentation together Wednesday morning and was finished in time for class (yeah, what is it with waiting until the last minute with me . . . though technically, I didn’t as I was researching and highlighting info and organizing thoughts WAY before then).

AND, I got it done in spite of the issues of the afternoon! K accidentally hit JR in the eye with a baseball bat. *sigh* A few weeks ago, a neighbor kid hit JR in the mouth with a baseball bat and we stressed to JR that if someone had a bat in their hands, he was to stay far away from them. Apparently the lesson didn’t sink in. He didn’t lose any teeth or chip any, but the inside of his lip was cut by his teeth, not enough to require medical intervention or anything. Needless to say, we were baffled as to why he wouldn’t have heeded the advice to stay away from people holding bats. He was hit on his eyebrow, and everything was fine, though he had a headache and his eye got swollen. He’s black and blue now.

Did he learn his lesson? NO, he did NOT!! Yesterday he comes running in with blood running down his face. Another neighbor kid had hit him in the head with a baseball bat!! WHY JR? WHY??? He had a trip to Urgent Care where they used that wonderful glue to close the cut on top of his head. I walked down to the kid’s house and let him know we weren’t mad at him and that it wasn’t his fault JR walked into his swing. Poor kid was a bit upset. After JR got back from getting glued back together, the kid came bearing a gift of homemade muffins to apologize. He’s a sweet kid and I hope this doesn’t throw him off playing baseball because he’s REALLY good at it. =)

However, we have banned our children from playing baseball for a while (but I let the neighbor kid and my girls know that they can still play baseball  together when JR isn’t around . . . shhh).

So, this weekend, I’ll be revising my rough draft of my Moby Dick paper (it’s due on Monday . . . hmm . . . maybe I’ll wait until then to do it . . . hee hee hee), and trying to catch up on my word count for NaNoWriMo. I’m WAY behind on that.

We were supposed to get snow last night, but it didn’t happen (though we had a brilliant rain storm). It’s cold and cloudy out there today though so we’ll see what happens. I’m kind of hoping for the snow which is weird since I usually don’t like it at all. I think I just want to see the pretty whiteness . . . OOOHHH whiteness!! Maybe it’s because of that stupid Moby Dick paper and all the focus on white that I’ve been doing.

Have a great weekend!!

Write on.

Yeah, things have been crazy since I went back to school. Homework, homework, and more homework. And that’s on top of my already busy family life.

I’m supposed to be working on an assignment for American Literature class right now. It’s an outline that’s due tonight (thank goodness it’s the outline and not the paper). I spent the last three days trying to finish reading Moby Dick so I could do the outline. I began reading it several weeks ago just after I downloaded it onto my Kindle.

Normally it doesn’t take me nearly that long to finish a book, but have you read Moby Dick? My first mistake was reading an unabridged version. Yeah, if you’ve done it, you know my pain.

I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, but it’s not one of those books you can read while the TV is going and the kids are being noisy (and if you could I don’t want to hear about it). This tome takes some serious concentration (again, if you breezed through it, don’t tell me . . . let me pretend it’s hard for everyone to get through cause it will make me feel better . . . you want me to feel better, RIGHT?)!

In addition to the chapters on cetology, whaling practices, and other wanderings, the language of the story itself is . . . um . . . old. Yeah. We’ll go with that. If someone tried to publish a novel like this today, it wouldn’t happen . . . or it would, if it were self published.

That’s not to say it never should have been published, it’s just that there’s a HUGE difference between books being published in America during it’s fledgling years and ones being published now. HUGE difference.

Okay, see what I did there? I’m so used to reading Melville that I just went off on a tangent myself! I’m so going to have to read a modern novel before I go back to writing my own. *sigh*

Really, I just popped in here to let you know about a contest the most awesome Shannon Messinger is having. You can win a wish!! No, really, you can!! Go check it out by clicking on the beautifully Photo Shopped Shannon:

Now, I’ll get back to writing my outline after which I’ll get started on the Hawthorn biography and PowerPoint presentation I have to have done by either Wednesday or next Monday (whenever we finish up Poe). Yeah, I thought going back to school part time was going to be easy.

Write on.

Actually, it’s a lot of secrets! Last week the post office was good to me and delivered my four copies of SPRINKLES AND SECRETS by Lisa Schroeder (my three youngest kids and I are reading it aloud in our “Book Club”) and also my two hard cover copies of CIRCLE OF SECRETS by Kimberley Griffiths Little. Over the weekend, I finished Circle of Secrets (LOVE it and there will be a review coming) and hope to start Sprinkles and Secrets today . . . I might have to read ahead of the kids though cause it’s slow going in the book club sometimes *grin*).

I wasn’t sure things could get any better until J told me there was a book fair at her school this week (middle school). Of course, I had to go this morning  . . . I mean, we’re talking books (and the librarian is a close friend of mine)!!

And what did I find there? Paperback copies of CIRCLE OF SECRETS that included charm bracelets! Yeah, I had to buy the only four copies the book fair had (for my two daughters and two of my nieces)!!

Here’s the beauty of them all laid out on my bed (yes, I have pink sheets and my hubby is okay with it *grin*):

And a closer picture to show the charm bracelet (probably should have removed the price sticker to show it better . . . oh well):

You probably noticed I have an extra copy of Circle of Secrets (hard cover) . . . I bought an extra because I’m hoping to have a contest on my blog in the near future in which I will be giving away the extra copy . . . as well as some other goodies. Stay tuned!

In writing news, I’m working on a new project and revising an old one (a MG).

Write on!

I’ve enjoyed attending WriteOnCon this week (it ends tonight). I’ve learned and grown and have been inspired. Tomorrow I will be busy catching up on housework that I’ve neglected for the last three days (the Con started on Tuesday). Because of this, I’ve decided to do a blog post today instead of my Friday five (or four) tomorrow.

My desktop icons blink to life. Amid the shortcuts for games and programs, one stands out. It’s the Firefox link. Its blue globe wrapped with the orange fox is more intimidating than one would think. Why is this icon so sinister? Because Firefox connects me to the internet and the internet connects me to my gmail.

I place a trembling finger on my laptop version of a mouse. The arrow inches across the screen, making its way to the Firefox shortcut. Once in position, I pause. Do I want to click? I only use my gmail account for submissions and the occasional entry in a contest. If I have mail, it’s most likely a reply from an agent.

The brave part of me wants to click. It’s so easy to do. One little movement with my thumb or a simple lift and tap of my finger will do it. But I’m afraid. What’s out there in the darkness of the internet? Will I find rejection? A request? What?

I have to know, and so I click.

And there it is.

Nothing.

*sigh*

I’m not sure which is worse, an empty email inbox or an inbox with a rejection or two (or more).

Yeah.

I’m once again in the submission stage in my search for an agent (after not submitting for over a year while I did a complete revision and started a few more projects). I’d forgotten how time consuming and gut wrenching the process is.

First, there’s the time consuming research. Making sure the agent is one who accepts the genre. Reading interviews, tweets, and anything else I can find (sometimes I’ve taken notes so I look through my notebook and update as needed). If I were to add it all up, I bet I’ve spent more time researching agents than I did researching info for my books! Alright, probably not, but it seems like it.

After the research, comes the query letter. It’s not something as simple as copy and paste (other than the novel info). The personalization comes into play. Putting the research to good use, I craft a beginning (or ending depending on agent’s preference) into the query so the agent knows I didn’t just pull their name out of a hat.

When all is finally ready, I have to let the query sit for at least 1/2 an hour. Then I come back to it and look it over to make sure it’s error free (though sometimes I still manage to miss things). Once I’m satisfied, I steer my arrow cursor to the send button.

Usually at this point, I pause because I’m overcome with doubt. When I work up the nerve, I hit send. It flies across the internet and lands in the agent’s inbox (or that of an intern). This is terrifying!!!

It’s out of my hands. I’ve done everything I can and put my query and/or pages out there for consideration.

Now I wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. There’s always a moment of panic when I click on my email and wait for the page to load.

Earlier, I said I wasn’t sure which was worse, an empty inbox or a rejection. After thinking about it while I wrote this post, I think the empty inbox is worse.

With the empty inbox, I don’t know. The hope is alive, it’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I try so hard not to get my hopes up, but I can’t help thinking that maybe this time I’ll get a request for a partial or full. It could happen. Hope; a dangerous plant to cultivate.

At least with a rejection, I KNOW. The hope is dashed. I can go to QueryTracker.com (a great way to track submissions)and change the query icon from an envelope with lightning bolt (for equeries) to a red frowny face rejection icon. I can move on to the next agent on my to query list and start the process all over again.

The Inbox is a terrifying tale of horror that retells itself each and every day.

Since it’s doubtful that I’ll have time to log in tomorrow, I’ll be early and say I hope you all have a great weekend!

Write Submit on.

Jon Gibbs has some amazing links on his Interesting Posts About Writing this week. One of them is Confessions Of A Writer With A Book Deal by Natalie Whipple. Her post is a great reminder not to get into the “grass is always greener” mode of thinking.

Will it be nice when I land an agent and get a book deal? You bet it will. Will I celebrate? Absolutely. However, Natalie’s post reminded me that there is opposition in all things. Along with the wonderful things an agent/book deal will bring, there will be not so wonderful things. New pressures, new deadlines (self-imposed deadlines are nothing to the real beast from what I understand), and new worries.

The grass may be a bit greener on the other side of the fence when I first get there because it’s new and wonderful and beautiful to me. But after a while, I’ll start to notice that the green grass on the agented/published side has just as many dandelions (maybe more) as I had on the un-agented/unpublished side.

And dandelions love to multiply (no matter which side of the fence they grow on)! But they have their good uses too. In real life dandelions can be used for gall bladder, kidney, and urinary disorders; the juice from roots is used for diabetes; the greens are more nutrient rich than spinach . . . among other things. In our writing lives, dandelions are obstacles we have to overcome. These will make us (and our writing) stronger . . . IF WE LET THEM.

That’s the key. If we let the dandelions take over the grass, we’ll lose control. We have to choose how we react to them. Let them win and ruin the grass, or take charge and pull them out, use weed killer, whatever.

My personal choice will always be to fight back and rid my grass of as many as I can. That’s not to say I won’t have bad days when the dandelions multiply by five (or more), but I know those days are my choice (though I can make all the excuses in the world). If the pesky yellow flowers grow and spread, it won’t be the fault of the market, or the publishing houses, or the agents who reject me. No. It will be because I made a choice to let things get to me. I allowed the dandelions to grow instead of digging them out (much more satisfying—though time consuming—than the weed killer IMO).

So even though the grass seems to be greener on the other side, there will always be dandelions. Even if we can’t see them on the surface, they lurk beneath just waiting to come into the light. And it’s good to know we’re not alone. Other authors (such as Natalie) have noticed and are sharing their dandelion experiences with us.

Have a great weekend!

Write on.

1. We’re starting to get into a school routine. It’s hard after the freedom of summer (for all of us). We’re trying to get back into the habit of doing homework, chores, and dinner at the scheduled times. Some days are easier than others (right now, Monday and Thursday are tough because the older two have after school activities). Also, our youngest, JR, just turned eight so he’s starting cub scouts. He’s thrilled, but Thursday he brought home a model boat kit. I guess they have boat races or something (E wasn’t very involved in scouts . . . except for the Pinewood Derby car races) so boats are a new adventure. He says he’s supposed to build and paint it so that’s what he’ll be doing after school today. Anyway, a schedule is much easier to type up and print out than it is to follow. And I don’t go back to school until the 22nd (only taking two classes; American Literature and U.S. History) so I’m sure there’ll be a shakeup in the routine then.

2. Writing is going well. I was able to finish the critique and have moved on to taking notes for the next project. I decided to try a different method and am actually plotting and planning before diving into writing. I’m also trying a new thing: Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple by Martha Alderson, M.A. I only got my scene tracker kit in the mail yesterday and haven’t had much time to play around with it so I’m not sure how it will work (or not work) for me. I’ll be sure to come back and report when I’ve experienced it a bit more.

3. We’ve had some pretty good thunder storms rolling through the last few days. We need the rain, so I’m not complaining at all. I love when it clouds over and the thunder starts rumbling . . . but it’s the humidity I can do without. I haven’t weighed myself lately, but I’m sure I’ve lost at least five pounds from all the sweating I’ve been doing. I’m showering two times a day (at least)! Yeah, I could never live in the South.

4. I ended up rewriting my first chapter of the old WIP yesterday. I know, I know I’m supposed to be working on the NEW WIP . . . and I am . . . except for yesterday. I had an idea to enhance the first chapter and was only going to make a note for it, but that note ended up being a revision. Oh well. It’s a better chapter now. I decided I’m going to give in to the occasional urge to tinker with the old WIP . . . BUT only when I’ve been working on the new WIP and need a little break or get stuck, or whatever. Yeah, that’s my plan.

5. Have you ever gotten to the point that you hate your MS? I know we should love our work, and I usually do, but yesterday’s foray into the first chapter of the old WIP made me realize how sick I am of that novel!! Granted, I first wrote the blasted thing in November of 2007 (or maybe it was 2008) and it’s been my constant companion through revisions, revisions, revisions, a complete rewrite, and more revisions for the last almost four (or three) years. Change is good, even when it comes in the form of revisions, but changing to a whole new WIP is definitely called for right now.

So, have you ever hated a MS and dreaded working on it?

I’m off to get the kids from school now (there’s still 25 minutes before the bell rings, but it takes a while to get through the line if I don’t get there early).

Have a wonderful weekend!

Write on.

1. Maybe by doing a Friday four (cause I’m not sure I can come up with five) I can find something to blog about every week.

2. I got a return email from the teacher (see previous post if you’re confused). She was very kind, but said she hadn’t ever had a parent complain about The Hunger Games before. She read it to her classes last year and is disappointed she won’t be able to read HG with J’s class. She also said she’ll have to think about whether or not to read it with her other classes (6th grade is middle school here so they have it set up like a Jr. high). This surprised me (and gave me a teensy twinge of guilt). I honestly didn’t expect her to pull the book. I thought she’d give J something else to read. The writer in my feels horrible for having her pull the book from her curriculum, but the mother in me is relieved . . . and mother trumps writer every time! I downloaded some of the books on the teacher’s reading list to my Kindle and ordered print versions of the rest of them.

3. The kids have been enjoying school, but in my excitement for them to go back, I forgot about all the $$$ I’d have to spend. The lists of school supplies needed just keep on coming! In addition to the school clothes and supplies, I’ve got a birthday party to pay for this weekend (J’s b-day is today, JR’s was the 14th, E’s was June 22, and K’s is Aug. 8 so we have one huge party for all of them) . . . yeah, our money tree shriveled up and is almost dead!!

4. I hope next week will allow me to get some writing done. I’m working on a crit for my ever patient crit partner, Joni, and hope to get it finished over the weekend (yes, in spite of the party and everything). Come Monday I hope to dive into my new WIP. We’ll see if it happens that way . . . and it probably won’t. My life is just as messed up as LJ right now . . . well, okay, more like LJ a few days ago (because at least now I can post on LJ and my life is still a crazy mess).

Have a great weekend all!

Write on.

Maybe I’m an overprotective parent and should just crawl back under my rock and let this go, but the mama bear in me wants to fight tooth and nail to protect my daughter.

J will be twelve-years-old tomorrow and started sixth grade this year (they started school yesterday . . . YAY!). Last night, she brought home a letter from her Reading teacher that welcomed students and parents and included a list of some of the novels they will be reading as part of the curriculum this year. And the problem begins.

While I’m not a fan of banning books or restricting others from reading whatever they want, I’m rather picky in what I allow my children to read. I tend to screen novels before I allow my children to read them . . . sometimes in my screening, I decide a novel isn’t appropriate for them to read (depending on their age and maturity level). Maybe I’m the only parent out there who does this, but it’s just how I am. I know my children. I know their fears, concerns, phobias, etc. and have a pretty good idea about what they can handle and what they can’t.

So, the list (which included only a few of the novels the class will read) included The Hunger Games. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book! Katniss is a strong character and the world Collins created is both fascinating and frightening. However, I don’t feel it’s appropriate for my twelve-year-old who was freaked out after reading Paris Pan Takes The Dare (which I also LOVE and so did she even though it freaked her out a bit). My oldest son (now 18) read The Hunger Games, and I’d have no problem with J reading it if she were fourteen (or maybe even next year depending on how she mentally matures this year). But at her present mental maturity, I don’t think she’s ready for the violence and intensity of the novel.

There are so many middle grade novels out there to choose from, and I don’t understand why a sixth grade teacher would want to include a young adult novel in the curriculum for such a young age group. Wouldn’t middle grade novels be more appropriate?

Am I way off base? Am I too overprotective? I’ve composed and saved a draft of an email to the teacher outlining my concerns, but wanted to send out feelers to you all before I sent it. Have you read The Hunger Games? If so, do you think it’s appropriate for sixth graders?

Do any of you have kids around twelve-years-old? Would you (or have you) let them read The Hunger Games? If so, how did they handle it?

I briefly outlined the plot for J by telling her it’s a novel about a future world where the people are divided into districts and a boy and girl from each district are chosen, taken away from their families, and forced to kill each other  for TV entertainment until only one of them is left. Yeah . . . she doesn’t want to read it.

I looked up the other books included in the brief list on Amazon, but haven’t read any of them (though I plan to):

Schooled (MG), Esperanza Rising (MG), Maniac Magee (MG), Stargirl (another YA), and Tracker (MG).

Have any of you read them? If so, should I be concerned about any of them (the YA in particular)?

Write Read on.