Two Chances to Win Books + Three Writing Classes

To thank Rebecca Petruck for her support and writing instruction, I'm offering a copy of her debut novel, Steering Toward Normal as a giveaway on this blog. You'll find my review of this middle grade book for boys and girls here and directions for entering the giveaway below.

In addition, Joyce Hostetter and I are giving away another copy of Steering Toward Normal in Talking Story, as well as an ARC of Linda Phillips' debut novel-in-verse, CRAZY. You will find my review of this young adult book for girls here. By the way, Linda's book received a Junior Library Guild Selection award--pre-release!

If you live in Charlotte and you want to learn some of the tricks of plotting your novel that I learned from Rebecca, she is giving a workshop in Charlotte on October 13 entitled, "Plot Your Novel and Other acts of Joy and Heartbreak." Click here for more information.

Rebecca is joining Kami Kinard to teach an online class on writing a middle grade or young adult novel. Their class, "Crafting the Kidlit Novel" is sure to be jam-packed with information. As a participant in Kami's popular Kidlit Summer School (co-directed by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen I can vouch that these instructors know their stuff!

And finally, I'm starting my Intermediate Fiction Writing class at Central Piedmont Community College next week. There are still a few spaces left if you are interested in developing your children's or adult novel. 

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If you want to win Steering Toward Normal, leave me a comment by Monday, September 22 at 9 AM. Please leave me your email address if I don't already have it.

All You Need is Pain

    With all respect to the Beatles, I have found that more than love, writers really need PAIN in their lives.

     As an instructor in the continuing education department at Central Piedmont Community College, this week I participated in their annual Sensoria event. I was joined by two other writing instructors, Jodi Helmer and Edward McKeown, and together we quickly overviewed the writing and publishing industry.

Ed, Jodi, and I greeted students after the Author's Panel

     Besides sharing the author who has influenced me the most (CynthiaVoigt) and my writing mentors (Joyce Hostetter and Rebecca Petruck) I also told the student audience they needed to consider the P.A.I.N necessary to get published. 
     Let me explain.

     P is for the passion a writer must have in order to bring a piece to publication. Writers must love translating their ideas into words, sentences, and paragraphs. More than seeing their name in print or getting paid gobs of money (which may or may not happen!) writers write because it’s something they can’t NOT do.  They enjoy the process of discovering a new and creative way of telling a story. But passion isn't enough. Writers need skills. Which brings me to,

     A stands for the ability writers need to use all the rules learned in elementary school in order to create a coherent piece of writing.  All those boring things like correct grammar, appropriate punctuation, when to indent a paragraph, how to distinguish homonyms, choosing active vs. passive verbs, avoiding adverbs---all of these must be in a writer's toolbox. And if they're not, would-be writers can read books, take a class, or go on-line to gain instruction and acquire writing skills. 
      Although the writer's craft encompasses more than just stringing words together to form complete sentences; writers can also learn how to choose the best words, and how to use the imagery of poetic language to communicate their ideas. Which leads me to,

     I is for idea. Every article, story, poem, or play began with a seed of an idea. Half-Truths began because I observed many Caucasians and African Americans with the same surname in Charlotte, NC. The many articles I wrote about glass came out of my fascination with a material that is incredibly strong, yet fragile; as old as dirt and as modern as fiber optics. And although my book on glass was rejected by more publishers than I can count, I learned that,

     N is for never giving up. Writers must persevere in spite of critiquers recommending that a piece be re-written for the 15th time; family members mocking their work; editors or agents rejecting the manuscript; and even their own desire to-do-anything-else-in-the-world-besides-sit-in-this-chair-and-write. 

    Take an inventory of yourself:

• Are you passionate about the creative writing process?
• Do you have the ability to write or are you committed to learning and practicing?
• Do you have ideas that grab you and demand to be written about?
• Are you willing to put in the time, effort, and energy that is necessary to bring a piece to completion?

     In a recent webinar, Emma Dryden said, "Pay attention to the journey, not just your goals."
     And realize that PAIN is part of that process. 

When the Teacher Becomes the Student PLUS a Great Giveaway!

My most recent book is Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8. Although intended as a teacher's guide for upper elementary and middle school students, I draw upon it when I teach writing classes at Central Piedmont Community College. 

I was looking over this week's class on Creating a Character and found my instructions for students to write "fast" by revealing their characters through their

    F-  Feelings

 A-  Action

 S-  Speech 

     T- Thoughts

Besides teaching, I am also deep into the second draft of my historical young adult novel, Half-Truths. I am fortunate to have Rebecca Petruck as a writing coach; she consistently pushes me to reveal who my characters are. 

Rebecca & I recently talked shop
at the Whole Foods in Wilmington, NC

In my opening chapter I had written a scene where Lillie, my protagonist, overhears her grandmother's employers arguing with one another. I had written:  

“What’s going on?” Lillie asked. 

“Missus Dinsmore is fussing at Mr. Dinsmore like usual,” Big Momma said, fanning herself with her apron. “Telling him that while his grandchildren are visiting he’s got to get his nose out of his books and stop playing around with his glass thingamajigs.”  

Rebecca commented, "We don't have much from her other than to be present and watch what's happening. I want her reaction to things, her interpretation of the world around her. This is her chapter, so we need to get to know her more. [I want to see more] of Lillie's internal experience."

I could have slapped myself "upside the head" (as a character in my book might say). I had forgotten the "T" in FAST. In fact, there wasn't much "F" (feelings/emotion) in this snippet either!

Several rewrites later, this passage now reads:

 In between claps of thunder, Lillie heard bickering coming from the other side of the kitchen wall. “Mr. and Missus Dinsmore fussing again?” Lillie asked. Missus Dinsmore was always acting better than everyone else.  But Lillie had overhead enough arguments to know that she could be as nasty as a barnyard dog.

 Big Momma fanned herself with her apron. “Missus Dinsmore be reminding him to get his nose out of his books and stop playing around with his glass thingamajigs while his grandchildren are visiting.”  Lillie knew exactly what Big Momma was talking about. A few times Mr. Dinsmore had invited her into the library to look at the different colored glass pieces displayed on his shelf. Cullet, he called it. Leftover glass from factories he’d worked at as a boy. Missus Dinsmore didn’t appreciate her husband’s glassmaking stories the way Lillie did. 

I thanked Rebecca for helping me to instill more internalization in my story and she wrote back: 

"I think calling it internalization isn't really correct because it is a very active connection with the protagonist--we are in her mind, trying to process the world, understand the why of things. That's where the story is for us, much less so than the actual stuff that happens." 

Along with providing helpful insights into my manuscript, Rebecca encouraged me to read Wired for Story by Lisa Cron, retyping sections of other books in a similar genre, and reading when the Show, Don't Tell rule may be broken. 

I have learned a great deal working with Rebecca from her critiques as I write, revise, and write again. (Here is a helpful handout from Teaching the Story that demonstrates the revision process.) Her suggestions reminded me of to Lorin Oberweger's handout on Deep Point of View that was part of the Your Best Book packet. And a recent post on Janice Hardy's blog, also offered excellent advice on how to include internalization in your story.

Since Rebecca is such a wonderful writing advocate and coach, she is providing this week's giveaway! She is donating either a ten-page critique of a middle grade or young adult manuscript, or a copy of Wired for Story-winner chooses. I am so pumped about Rebecca's giveaway offer, that I'm giving you TWO chances to win.

• Post this blog on your social media site of choice OR become a new follower of this blog and I'll enter your name once. 
• Post this blog on two different social media sites, OR on one site on two different days, OR become a new follower of this blog AND post it on a social media site and I'll enter your name twice.
• Either way, leave a comment with your email address (if you are new to my blog) with what you did. 
• Winner will be drawn on Saturday evening, February 16th- so get those entries in!

Good luck to all of you and if the winner chooses a critique from Rebecca, get ready to grow your writing and revising skills!

This & That

• Congratulations to Linda Andersen for winning a copy of Stake Out by Bonnie Doerr. 

• This week I am honored to be a guest blogger on Kathleen Fox's Funbrarian blog. Please mosey on over to her blog, read how librarians can encourage students' writing, and download some free handouts from my book, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8. While you're there, check out Kathleen's workshops, books and games for librarians.

• In February I'll be teaching Writing for Children at Central Piedmont Community College. If you live in the Charlotte area and are looking to learn more about writing picture books, novels, or short stories for children--then I'd love to have you join us!

Insights into Editing: A Conversation with Carin Siegfried Part I

Carin Siegfried, an independent editor in Charlotte, recently spoke to my CPCC fiction writing class on the editorial process. Over the next few weeks I will share  answers to questions the class and I had posed. 

Carol: What are the different types of editing?

Carin: A developmental edit primarily looks at pacing, organization, point of view, and plot, while line editing looks at dialogue, clarity, and word choice.

Copyediting focuses on grammar, spelling, punctuation, accuracy, and consistency. Proofreading is done after the text has been formatted and is for picking up any last missed errors, mistakes, or typos, and any formatting issues such as hyphenation and word ladders.

Carol: Can you tell us a little about the editing process?

Carin: An author trumps an editor. Writers need to stop worrying that “they’ll ruin my book." If you accept no editing however, your book won’t get published.

·      
    Some suggestions are there to force the author to think through an issue, not to make a change. Sometimes the solution to an issue is not what the editor suggests, but a third option. Here is an example. You can’t hotwire most 2012 cars. A writer who I was working with hadn’t done her research. The solution was not to find what 2012 cars CAN be hotwired, but to switch to a classic car. Issues with authenticity and accuracy will call the author's authority into question.

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    The editorial process should be back-and-forth and always keeps the reader in mind as primary. 

·      

·        No one is good at editing for all potential issues so it’s good to have a variety of eyes look at your work (writer’s group, agent, editor).

Writers need to remember: Writing is hard work. If it wasn’t 
everyone would be doing it. 


Coming up next: Carin talks about common editing problems.