I am active member of an online middle grade writing critique group called the magnificent narwhals, which is one of over thirty groups under the middle grade hub (mghub) umbrella. I remember when the groups were formed--- probably about two years ago, maybe three. It was an exciting time to be placed into a group of serious writers. Since then, I've made lasting friends who have given me valuable feedback on my writing. I love looking at my group members' writing because they're so creative and talented! Periodically, the whole hub will come together (on zoom, of course since we're scattered across the globe!), usually for an author reading or agent Q and A. This spring, however, they did something a little new... There was a pitch event in May! Basically, we could submit our book pitches to private google form created by the hub. They then shared our pitches to participating agents who could then request more materials (eg. query, synopsis) from us. In preparation for the pitch, we had several workshops, which you can see outlined in the image above. Each was taught by members from the hub, most agented or with books coming out in the next year. After each workshop, we had the opportunity to sign up for swaps with members outside our regular mghub groups. So, for the first workshop, I got to swap pitches, for the second, synopses... etc. It's a week or so since the official pitch event, and I've received a few agent requests (eg. query, first five pages). I don't know what will become of these requests, but I'm so glad I participated, especially in the workshops and swaps because I feel that much more confident querying my project!
0 Comments
Receiving feedback on my writing from authors Amanda Hill Rawson and Karina Evans via WriteOnCon!7/18/2022 In a previous post, I introduced what WriteOnCon is and my (general) level of participation. If you don't know anything about WriteOnCon, check out their website or check out my post! WriteOnCon Feedback You can get feedback on your pitches, first-pages, and queries in a few different ways at WriteOnCon. There's the critique boutique (which is where you pay extra money for a specific professional to give you feedback) and there's the Peer Feedback Forums, which is where participants swap feedback with each other. You can also submit writing for a feedback session, which takes place live during the conference. There's no guarantee they'll get to your writing because they do "as many as they can get to" for the time they're allotted. (Note: You have to have full admission, the second payment tier, to access live events). I've watched people getting feedback from professionals at WriteOnCon as I've attended in the past, but I never felt "ready" or confident to submit any of my work... until this year!
I was nervous, though, to hear what she had to say about my writing because I watched her rip into (in a good way!) the picture book submissions (which I did not participate in) from the day before. Whenever I ask for feedback, I think there's always a part of me that hopes I won't need to make any changes, mostly because I tend to put a lot of my heart into anything I put on paper. But I never expect them to say it's "good to go"! There's always something to improve, right? Well, it happened. Amanda didn't have anything to critique. Okay, one tiny suggestion, and that was to hint at who the main character is in my first poem, but that's it! I nailed the poetry and conveyed the setting expertly. Yay!
I was floored when Karina got to my query and told me she wished she had something to suggest for improvement, but she couldn't find anything. I trust she would if she could because I heard her give important revision ideas to others who submitted. Floating on Cloud Nine
I recognize that I was able to get such encouraging praise for my writing because I've had beta readers and critique partners give ideas for improvement before submitting to the conference. Nevertheless, these feedback sessions have put me on cloud nine. I'm even more in love with my manuscript and that much more excited to finish another round of revisions and start querying because... I nailed it! I'm that much closer to publishing. Yay!
Anyway, I belong to an exclusive group of middle grade writers, the MGnarwhals. Our fearless team captain read an interesting blog post by Ann and reached out to her with questions. He somehow managed to book a chat for all us narwhals. I probably shouldn't go into too much detail on the meeting as it was informal in structure (mostly a Q&A) and some bits of advice about writing and publishing was meant just for us narwhals, but I'll share a couple nuggets or takeaways from the Q&A. But first, can I just say how much I loved her energy? So much energy for writing and reading and doing the best you can! Nugget #1 When talking about her writing process, she talked about all the false starts, the messy drafts, and manuscript flops. (They happen to all of us!) What I won't forget, though, is her optimism. "You keep getting better!" she said, meaning that the secret to writing (and maybe even publishing traditionally) is to keep writing. It's such a simple recipe for success. Keep writing. Get better! I know this to be true. I think about the writer I was even last year, and I'm completely different. I'm better... I can't wait to see how my writing skills improve next year and the next... Nugget #2 You can read her publishing story on her blog (link above), but she had a few setbacks when her book was released. Instead of hanging her head and moaning about her challenges, though, she got to work. "When it comes to promoting," she said. "Don't shy away." She talked about how retweeting something positive about her book was easy because it wasn't about her. It was about Zoe (her main character) and her story. Why wouldn't she support her friend? "It's like your baby!" she said. "Advocate! No regrets!' Her method worked because it was through word of mouth that I heard about the book. It was the same for many of us, I think. Conclusion
I'm thinking about the meeting and I can't remember all the questions or even all the answers, just the excitement and energy! You know how some people say they can see themselves in others? You know, I think I can see myself in Ann. Years from now. After publishing my first book and having a second soon to be released. I'll be as excited as her. ha ha! I hope so anyway. I know some people get worn down by the politics and sloooow process of publishing, but if there's anything I've learned it's that writing is writing. Whether you're starting in on your first book, in the query trenches, or published... you've got to love telling stories to get your through. This post is based on my personal notes while taking the InkVoices course. All videos, power points, and other material from the class are purposefully left out to preserve course privacy. A couple months ago, I was scrolling through the social media and I found a post about about a verse novel intensive course. I stopped in my tracks. (eeeerrrr!) Verse novel? That's what I'm writing right now. Taught by Rajani LaRocca and Chris Baron? I've read their books. Great! I signed up right away... Who is Rajani LaRocca? She is a talented MG (Middle Grade) and PB (Picture Book) author. Most notably, she wrote the award winning Red, White, and Whole, a verse novel about balancing life as an Indian American and finding solace in a family member's illness. I liked her book because of the running metaphor (blood) throughout the book, but also because of the simple and beautiful poetry throughout. Who is Chris Baron? He is also a talented MG (Middle Grade) author and poet. He wrote All of me, a verse novel about teen weight and learning to accept yourself. He also wrote, The Magical Imperfect, which is another verse novel about a boy who is selectively mute and a girl who won't leave her house because of a skin condition. I enjoyed both of his books and recommend you read them, too! What was the intensive course? The intensive course was online. There were two live-online workshops, weekly activities, and included two or more bonus "office hours" where participants could ask questions either before or during times the two authors were available. There were also opportunities to post your own poetry, based on the activities within the course, and ways to critique and meet with other poets and writes of verse novels. Totally worth it! Workshop 1: Writing a Verse Novel by Rajani LaRocca The first live (and recorded) workshop was about verse novels in general and how to write them. For the record--- because I asked--- you can say in "Novels in Verse (NIV)" or "verse novels." Both are acceptable in the community, although I've noticed verse novel more often. That might just be me, though! We reviewed some "basic" poetry terms, such as
We also talked about how poetry is like music! We have:
How do you write a verse novel? This is something we talked a lot about in Rajani's workshop, in the course, and during the office hours. A verse novel, a story told in a collection of poems, can be drafted in a lot of different ways. In general, though, writing a verse novel is like writing any other genre. You need a character. You need a conflict. So, brainstorming and developing setting, background, etc. are important to the process. For Rajani, she said she had a metaphor (blood), and wasn't sure how to make it into a story, so she wrote a bunch of poems until she found her voice. I loved when she talked about having a "key defining poem," or a keystone poem that helps you see the heart of your story. This can be especially useful if you end up drafting poems "out of order." Workshop 2: Revising a Verse Novel by Chris Baron The second live session was taught by Chris. He talked about revising, and one of the things I liked that he talked about was--- in response to the question about how to begin revising--- he said that most of us have already begun. We know we're supposed to revise after drafting, but he says, "how do you not?" revise as you go? So, yes, we need to write without revising, but there may be a bit of revising along the way. Finding our "Why" He also talked about finding our purpose for why we wrote our stories that we're revising. Understanding our why can help us home in on our themes or messages we were hoping to share but didn't know we were saying them while we were drafting. Common Revision Techniques Chris also gave a list of techniques we can try as we revise our verse novels, things like:
Looking at the "big picture" and "ask big questions" I think the advice he gave in this section is useful no matter what you're writing. Looking at the big picture and asking big questions means deciding if
Making hard decisions Chris says he's often asked about how to cut or how to make the hard decisions about what can stay, what needs to go, and what needs to be added. He says for All of Me, he had drafted 70,000 words, which is ridiculously long for this genre! He had to make hard cuts. Of course, talking to critique partners, his agent, and other trusting people helped him make a lot of those hard decisions, but ultimately, he had to do them himself. He had to make the cuts. For his second book, The Magical Imperfect, he said he had (almost) the opposite problem. He had to add in. Basically, every manuscript is different. You need to ask the big questions and make the tough calls. It's the only way your story will get to where it needs to be. Final thoughts on the course
I'm glad I registered and took this course! Yes, there was a bit of time involved, not only watching the workshops and doing the activities, but I feel like my confidence in finishing my verse novel is growing. In fact, I feel like I'm on fire! I wonder if I really can finish before the end of the year. I've talked about the writer in residence program at my library. They've been on a break since September/October, and I'm really excited to have it back in full swing. The writer in residence for this month and next is Betty Webb, and I just went to her first workshop today. It was entitled "Five Plots a day: turning newspaper articles into stories."
Betty Webb began by showing us eight or more of her published books. She said that for all of these books, the idea came from the same place. The newspaper.
How to read the newspaper for ideas The article must have content that resonates with your emotions and personal beliefs. Look at the "nut graph," the framework of ethics and human behavior. This can usually be found in the second paragraph of the article. It's where the reporter tells you what the article is about. Think about:
Avoid the "big" stories. Why? Publishing houses will have already contracted well-known authors to write those books. Stick with "small stories." In fact, in our workshop, we talked about how "Dear Abby" articles can be used. (Don't look at the answers!) Don't look for facts When finding story ideas in the newspaper, you aren't looking for facts. You're looking for characters in trouble, people in conflict. A plot is what happens. A novel is about how people respond to what happens. Point of View (POV) Betty Webb showed us that you could get more than one story idea from the same newspaper article because you can look at it from different angles. Who is telling the story? Why? For example, Betty Webb read about a Jaguar-driving parking violator who was arrested after accumulating more than $10,000 in parking fines. You could tell it from the violators POV, Meter maid's POV, wife's POV, cell mate's POV, Judge's POV...etc. Caution Don't use the same name(s) from the newspapers. If you're saying good things about a hotel (for example) you could say their name. Otherwise, don't. Move locations. Change genders. Mix and match. It's been a while since I've been able to attend a writer's in residence workshop at the library. Last time I attended one was almost a year ago with Marylee MacDonald! I've been doing a lot of teaching and grading so I haven't been able to attend any. But last Saturday, I made it a priority to attend Sharon Skinner's workshop about Point of View (POV) and perspective.
Getting acquainted There were three of us attending the workshop (a fourth came in late). Maybe because it was a Saturday? Maybe because it was a two-hour workshop? I'm not sure. But it was nice and personal! Sharon asked me what "I write." Like I'm an author already. ha ha! I was flattered and told her that I'm currently working on a MG Fantasy book. (I suppose I could have been cheeky and said that I write lesson plans or I write blogs.) One of the other attendees was writing a YA Fantasy. I like it when a presenter takes the time to get to know us and what we're working on! Once we got acquainted, Sharon talked a bit about the writing process. She said that writing processes vary like shirts. They come in all sizes, colors and styles. You may find a shirt that you really love, but it doesn't fit (or work) later in life, so writing processes can even vary from project to project. She then told us that she was going to talk about her processes and things that she's learned. "If it fits, keep it. But it doesn't, put it back." I loved this analogy! Write from the heart She encouraged us to "Know your Why," referring to Simon Sinek's Ted Talk, "How great leaders inspire action." Why do you write?, she asked us. What's your motivation? She told us that she has a friend who doesn't write anything unless his agent tells him that it will sell. This ensures that he will be a success, he says. But Sharon Skinner says she writes what's in her heart. She writes because she has characters inside her that have stories they want to tell, and she wants them to be heard. When asked about exceptions to the rules, particularly in POV and perspectives, Sharon Skinner said, "Look. There's always room in the market for awesome!" As long as you do it well--- and with purpose--- the market will make room for it. Hook 'em and book 'em! As we dived into the topic of the workshop, Sharon told us that she's the kind of writer that wants to "hook 'em and book 'em!" A reader of hers told her that she read a chapter of her book before work. Before she knew it, she was sitting on the couch, still reading, and late for work. Parents blame her for their kids reading under the covers with a flashlight. (Wouldn't that be the dream?!) One of the best ways, Sharon Skinner says, to hook 'em and book 'em is by having a consistent and well written POV. We need to consider:
Point of View (POV) versus Perspective Sharon Skinner says these two terms are often interchanged or seen as the same thing, but she likes to define point of view as third person, second person, or first person, and perspective as the eyes we see the story. You could, for example, have third-person limited from different perspectives, even though they're the same POV. This was nothing, necessarily, new for me, but I liked how she shared real examples from a pile of books she brought with her. Then, she put us to work. The 'work' in workshop After going through the various types of POV and perspectives, looking at examples (some classics, some just off the shelf of the library), Sharon Skinner put us to work. She had us write a scene with conflict between two characters. We wrote it in first person from one of the characters. We wrote for five minutes. Then we wrote the same scene in first person from the other character. Great, I thought. That was really cool. That was good work. I learned some stuff about my two characters that I didn't know, just by being in their head for the same scene. We weren't done. Sharon Skinner had us write the same scene in the third-person omniscient and limited (for both characters), from the perspective of an onlooker (or someone outside the conflict) and in second-person (that was the weirdest!). We wrote that same scene over and over and over...
I defiantly got a good writer's workout! I can't wait for more writing workshops and learning from Sharon Skinner!
Within those two types, there are categories. For example, in traditional publishing, there's the Big Five, Mid-size and Large, and Small Presses. In Self-Publishing, there's Hybrid, Assisted, and DIY. Marylee gave us an awesome grid that shows the pros and cons for each type of "delivery" or publishing. (If I get a PDF of it, I'll put it at the bottom of this blog.)
This was a lot of help to me as I try to decide what my goals are as a writer. Don't be surprised by the request to build an author's platform This means you need to have ready to go:
Marylee admits that this can be discouraging to many writers, especially those not computer savvy. However, it's easier than you may think. There are lots of resources to help you get started. Personally, as an extrovert, this sounds like a lot of fun. Nevertheless, it is a hard truth, and it's even harder if you're self-publishing because you're basically managing everything. Just get started, Marylee says, and take baby-steps. Timing is everything Marylee gave us a list of keys to success. She said that you need to:
She gave us a list of things to do prior to book launch. It's defiantly a list I'll keep and use when I'm ready. Write and memorize your pitch Even if you self-publish, you'll be asked to talk about your book. You need to be ready to tell people what your book is about. The pitch, the synopsis and query are just as important as the manuscript. TRUTH FROM YOURS TRUELY Like I said in part 1 of this blog post, I learned a lot from Marylee MacDonald. It isn't over, yet. I'm actually meeting with her one-on-one on Friday and, hopefully, in August as well. I'm sure she'll have more workshops in August as well. I remember her inviting me to go to her first publishing-themed workshops. I told her "I'm not there, yet," but she told me I should come anyway. I'm glad I did. I've learned a lot. Of course, it's probably one of those things that you learn best on-the-job, like riding a bike. People can tell you all about riding a bike, but until you do it yourself, you won't know what it's like to to do it. I've taken notes. I've mused about them in a two-part blog. I'll learn more after I "finish" my manuscript and start working towards publication. But it's exciting! I hope you've enjoyed skimming through what I've learned (so far!) this summer from Marylee MacDonald. Hubby and I hold hands and quickly walk through the quiet mall. More than half the shops are closed. The halls are practically empty, and there's no music. I see a noteworthy used bookstore, but we're on our way to a small library in the outskirts of our city boundaries, to which I've never been to, so he doesn't let me browse. We turn a corner and hubby pulls me toward a wide opening. I take two steps and realize I'm in a library. There's what looks like a desk with a librarian, a few shelves with books, and some computers in the far corner. Before I can ask about the workshop we're there for, I see three women on couches, each with a pen and pad of paper, and Shonna Slayton. I recognize her instantly from the library website. She smiles like we're old friends. Like reunited friends, she teases me for being a few minutes late and Hubby for being the only male. After introductions--- we each take a turns saying our names and what kind of writing we do--- she poses the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" After we talk about inspirations for our writing, Shonna sums, "We essentially get them everywhere!" She says that she jots ideas on slips of paper and puts them in a box. They're oftentimes clips of words from magazines. Then she "mooshes" ideas together. The important thing, she stresses, is that you write them down, even if think your idea is so perfect that you can't possibly forget it! The Power of Retelling Plot can be particularly troublesome for writers. (Don't I know it!) One trick (or "hack" as Shonna calls it), is to do a retelling. A lot of stories, believe it or not, are retellings. She uses the example of The Little Princess, which is the story of a girl who goes to boarding school. When her father is presumably killed, she falls from grace (so to speak) and must work as a servant. Is this not a Cinderella of sorts? Retellings are great because they provide an initial plot, so if you're stuck on plot, the retelling gives you a framework. Also, retellings are insanely popular. Shonna confesses that they're easy to sell. "People like the familiar," she explains. How to do a Retelling Retellings are fairly straightforward. You think of a story that you love and then change aspects of it. "Moosh" other bits and viola! a new and interesting story! In our small group, we made a list of elements you can change in a retelling:
After that, we wrote individual "Ugly Duckling" tales, choosing our own genre and twists. Hubby and I wrote about a boy "ugly duckling," living in a futuristic world where everyone claims to be perfect and the same.
All the stories written in the group, though all based on the premise of the ugly duckling, were different from each other. That's the magic of retellings! They can be individualized with a unique, personal flair. Take-aways There are a few things I plan to take-away from this workshop. First, when stuck, "moosh." It's okay to mix and remix anything and everything when the storm in your brainstorming sessions are dry or barely a sprinkle. Second, have fun! Too often, I'm in too serious of a mood when I sit down at the computer to write. Third, when in doubt, just ask. There were a lot of great questions throughout the workshop about editing, publishing and the like. Shonna was honest and approachable. She offered helpful resources, like Storyfix.com and Society of Children's Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Being part of the writer's community, where ever you live is enriching! After asking directions from the librarian, I turned the corner and saw a large wooden door to the left. I opened it and walked into a conference-looking room, which surprised me because I didn't realize the library had such rooms. A woman in the far corner fussed with a standing camera, and several people sat scattered throughout the rectangular room, some on their phones, others sitting quietly with pads of paper on their desks in front of them. No one talked. I had to make a decision. Would I sit where the camera could see me or sit in the back? I decided to get the most out of the workshop and chose a seat near the front. That is, until I recognize a retired ESL teaching colleague of mine a couple rows back. I hadn't seen her for over a year! I quickly moved to sit by her and chatted quietly. I told her about my drumming, writing and everything else. In conjunction with the Writer in Residence program I told you about, my local library is offering free writing workshops to the community. The first one this month was called, "More than 5 senses: How to write Great Description," taught by Tom Leveen. Smelling Darth Vader My friend and I stopped our conversation mid-sentence because a man in a baseball cap, t-shirt and jeans in the front of the room announced loudly and rapidly that it was time to start the workshop. He paced in front of the room, holding a water bottle and introduced himself as Tom Leveen. He said he was going to go through some guidelines (not rules!) for writing captivating description and encouraged us to take notes. Tom started by asking us what Darth Vader smelled like. People shouted out things like "oil, metal, burned toast," and other things. He told us that he asked a similar question to some middle schoolers not long ago. He asked them what the joker (from Batman) smelled like. Kids said, "blood, fire," and other such things. Then, he said, he saw one girl in the middle of the room thinking very hard about the question. She said confidently, "vanilla and lavender." Tom said he was taken back and thought, she really doesn't understand what I'm asking here! Instead of calling her stupid, which is what he wanted to do, he said something like, "Oh! That's an interesting perspective. Why do you say that?" "Because," the girl said, "that's the last thing you'd expect." Tom was floored. Bam. She got it. As writers, we naturally go for sight when describing a scene. It's the simplest in a lot of ways. How often do I write about smell, touch, taste, and sound? Tom encouraged us to add at least one non-visual description per page, which I plan to take to heart. Smell, I believe, is particularly powerful. My creative writing teacher Josh says that smell links us to our memories. When I smell pine sol, for example, I remember my mom growing up. She likes having a very clean kitchen. We have more than 5 senses Tom Leveen says there's more than just 5 senses. Think about these: 1. Temperature (This is not touch!) 2. Pain (Not the feeling you get when you touch your hot car, but feeling pain in your appendix.) 3. Equolibrio (Sense of balance) 4. Pro-peroseption (relation of body to itself) He went through these super fast, as with everything else, but I managed to jot them down so I can reflect and test them out. As promised, he gave us 8 guidelines (not rules!) for writing fiction successfully. I'm not going to include them here because my notes are kind of a mess and it would take me forever to type it all out, but I will tell you that it felt like a crash-course for writing fiction, and it was awesome! Q and A After our crash-course in description writing, he opened the floor for questions. A couple people asked about publishing, finding an agent, that kind of thing. One person asked about how to write the Point of View (POV) of a teen or young adult to which he talked about syntax and paragraph sizes. One woman sitting on the back row asked about scoring interviews for research. Tom gave his go-to answer which is social media. He told her to ask on Facebook. If that doesn't work, there's always absoluewrite.com, or poisonpen.com. Out of curiosity, he asked who she was hoping to talk to. She said a coroner. A man on the far left near the camera raised his hand. He was holding a business card. "I'm retired," he said. "But I used to work as a coroner." Everyone cheered as the woman stood and took the business card. I asked Tom about the writing process. As you may already know, I'm super interested in it right now. I'm desperately searching for my style to writing longer prose. He told me that I don't have writer's block. No one gets writer's block. It's not a thing. He said, "you have project-block." I told him what Bill Konigsberg told me about writing chapter 1 the first day, revising chapter 1 and writing chapter 2 the next day... etc. "It's not working for me," I said. "It sounds awful," he said. "I don't write linear like that." Then he said, "Don't be afraid to waste words. That's what they're there for." I think Josh said something like that before. Or maybe it was Anne Lemott. I can't remember. "Jump in anywhere!" he told me. "Maybe you want to write a fight scene today, which isn't going to show up until later in the book. Go for it! Put two characters from different stories in one room and see what happens. Trust your style!" He encouraged me to make an outline. Once the book is finished, I can go through the hero's journey and add in elements that might be missing. So, that was the workshop. I encourage you to look to your community and see what's going on. Maybe our library is just awesome, but I bet there's things going on near you. Even though writing "is like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bathtub," (to quote Stephen King) there are opportunities for writers to get together and talk about the craft. Who knows? You might meet a retired coroner. My local library has a Writer in Residence program, which means that they periodically invite published authors to hold office hours to help aspiring authors. Right now, it's Bill Kongisberg. Last week, on my way to find poetry on the second floor, I saw him sitting in a large conference room alone. I remembered reading that he was the Writer in Residence on the library website, so I popped my head in and said hi!
Just saying "hi!"
Sweaty from riding my bike to the library, I didn't want to stay long. I literally planned on poking my head in and saying hi, but Bill was super nice and invited me to sit and chat with him. I told him that I attended his reading back in November. He asked me what I do, and I told him that I'm a creative writing student and ESL teacher, and that I have written "some stuff." He asked me what kind of stuff, so I admitted that I mostly had poems (due to the fact that recently finished a poetry class), but I wanted to write more fiction. That's when he invited me to come back. We made an appointment for the following Wednesday. The day of the appointment, I prepared a short list of questions and decided on 3 poems I wanted him to read, and then headed to the library. My loud flip-flops and I entered the conference room at approximately 2:00pm. It's a good thing I was right on time because he said he had someone else coming in at 2:30pm, so we got right to work... Q and A I started with my list of questions. Right now, I'm super interested in the writing process, so most of my questions revolved around that. Steven King writes about how it's a lonely journey, "like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a bath tub," but my creative writing teacher says it's mostly collaborative, so I asked Bill what he thought. He said he agreed with both perspectives and said that at times it can feel lonely, but other times there's a lot of in-put from other people, mostly from an agent and close friends. How long did it take you to write/publish your first book? Bill says he finished his first draft of Out of Pocket in 2003, and it took him about 6 months to write the first draft; it sold in 2006 and was published in 2009. "So, yeah, it took a while!" Do you outline your story? Tell me more about that process. Bill says that there's "plotting" and "pants-ing" (aka "writing on the seat of your pants.") The first is quite structured, where you outline the major events of the story, and the other is open and a sort of discover-as-you-go kind of thing. He says it's good to do a bit of both, but advises letting the characters lead you through the story whenever possible. "Be excited about what you're doing!" What revision strategies do you use to write your books? "It's always different," he said, but he usually does it like this: Day 1- Write Chapter 1 Day 2- Revise Chapter 1; Write Chapter 2 Day 3- Revise Chapter 2; Write Chapter 3.... etc. Even though there's a bit of revision happening all along, he doesn't consider the first draft done until the book is done. Who do you ask 1st to read your book? Bill says he shares the book with his agent first. Before he had an agent, however, he shared with his critique group. "Be very careful who is in your group," Bill cautions. "... if you're sensitive like me, I take criticism seriously and what they say could stop me from finishing the book..." He says he looks for friends who are openminded. Even if they don't like what he's writing, he appreciates it when his test-readers can respect his ideas and ask good questions about the book. For example, "where they get confused," etc. I asked a follow up question: Do you share one chapter at a time or the whole thing? He says it's usually just the whole book. Bill confides, "I just want to share things my characters say!" But admits that most people just don't really care about that. They want the whole thing. Discussing my poem Even though I prepared 3 poems for Bill to look at, we only had time for one. I think, however, many of his suggestions for the one poem will spill over into the other three. Right now I'm working on a packet of poems to submit for publication, and I showed him one that I workshopped in my Intro to Poetry class and am hoping to include in my submissions. The power of specificity We talked extensively about the power of being specific. He pointed out some moments in my poem where I was specific. These were the moments where he became interested in my ideas. He referred me to his recent blog post about using specificity in our writing. I agree that there is power in using the good, descriptive nouns. Show verses Tell On a related topic, we talked a bit about the struggle we face as writers when deciding on the best words. As writers, we both know that it's better to show, than tell. I wouldn't say, for example, "my dad is humble." Rather, I'd show him being humble, right? We get that. Humility is the feeling Bill got with one of my specific images in my poem, and that's what I was intending. So success, right? Sure! But it gets complicated unpacking feelings in images. Complicating Matters For example, Bill asked me what I meant when I wrote that the dad in the poem "drinks a 44 oz coke." It's a good specific moment, but he wondered what that image is supposed to tell readers about the character in my poem. I didn't have an answer right away, mostly because it was so long ago when I wrote that specific image. I couldn't remember what abstract feeling (love, humility, hate, jealousy...) I was attempting to show. This led us into a discussion about whether or not every image in a piece of work should have an abstract feeling associated with it and whether or not as a writer I'm responsible for the feelings readers interpret from the images I write. Bill says that we can't control the emotions of our readers (and we wouldn't want to anyway!). It's better to "allow the imagination" to do it's thing, and not force-feed abstracts to our readers (aka: telling). I ended up asking him, in general, what his reaction was to reading particular images in my poem, and that proved to be helpful. His reaction was mostly in-sync with my purpose in writing. We pin-pointed a couple spots where I could improve the writing further, and wrapped up our session together. I had an excellent meeting with Bill Kongisberg, and I want to publicly thank him for taking the time to inspire me and discuss the craft of writing on a hot Wednesday afternoon. |