Speed Up Your Writing

Do not Pass Go, Do not Collect $100

What is the fastest way from Point A to Point C? Generally speaking, a straight line through Point B does the job. Like pawns in a board game, characters move from one point to another around the story—but their writers should be warned. Mobilizing a main character from the breakfast table to school to a post-game pep rally should not, literally, take all day.

Is it part of the game? If not, skip it. I’m a wordy writer. My first drafts are complicated affairs with blow-by-blow action determining what each limb is up to (“with one hand, the protagonist did x but with the other, he did y!) and so on. Boring! It is not necessary (or desirable) to report every turn of the doorknob between Point A and Point C (unless, of course, the knob-turning is a vital part of the suspense you are creating). Learn easy techniques for speeding up your scenes at my publisher's blog today! 4RV Publishing newsletter for writers and artists

Thankful for . . . Writer Rejection

Now that we have come off our pie high by now (or shopper’s high, whichever is the closest to your Thanksgiving ritual)—and before we finish decorating for the holidays—let’s take a minute to reflect on our Thanksgiving thank-you list. Good health, check. Family and friends, check. No hurricane Irene or Sandy pounding the northeast in 2013? Check. 

Thankful TV commercials 

for Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over? 

Check.

I’ve got one more item to tick, but if you are the type of writer whose first drafts are snatched up by publishing houses you are excused from reading what comes next: I am thankful for writing rejections.

Writing is both a talent and a craft. Generally speaking, when one finds something easier to perform than others do without trying too terribly hard that thing becomes known as their talent. Singing, playing a sport, painting like Monet . . . skills can be developed, but some individuals have the basic knack from the get-go. 

On the other hand, activities such as following a recipe, folding origami, and crafting children’s hand- and footprints into angels or Rudolphs can be learned by anybody and done well after practicing with a good teacher. (By the way, if anyone wants tips on the angel or Rudolph, simply drop a comment!)

Truth is I’d be mortified if an editor or literary agent had actually taken me up on the earlier drafts of my work that I prematurely mailed with such eager beaver confidence. Most writers produce better work after several drafts, followed by suggestions from a critique partner or group, and then more editing for good measure until the writer would rather give up coffee than change a comma. Working hard to improve my craft has resulted in books that I will be proud to promote.

This year, I'm very thankful that a wonderful, growing Christian publisher in the UK, Sunpenny Publishing, is willing to take a chance on me. Look for The Lost Crown of Apollo to become a published novel for middle graders sometime within the next two years! Most thankful that Sunpenny is also taking on my twin sister's novel for kids, Bon Voyage, Sophie Topfeather, and our dream of promoting books together has a very good chance of coming true!

Digital Age: Friend or Enemy?

Shooting from the Hip

When the topic of digital publishing comes around, do you throw your hands in the air and run out the back door to let out a primal scream? Do you wax poetic about the feel-goodness of paper pages and the happy weight of a child on your lap, heads together in page-turning bliss?

Me too.  Recent events, however, illuminated the creative usefulness and the “it-isn’t-going-away-ness” of the digital age. I mean the word “Illuminated” literally. On vacation, my family stumbled upon a cave shrouded in darkness. The kids wanted to go in. A dialogue with my husband went like this:

“It would’ve been a good idea,” I mused aloud, “to bring a flashlight.”  

My husband whipped his hand to his hip faster than any cowboy managed a gun in the Wild West.  He said, "Hey! I can use the flashlight app I put on my smart phone!”

 

In seconds, we had a good look at the dirt in the cave. Not much there. Palpable excitement, however, came from everyone rushing to see the cool feature on the smartphone.

   On another occasion this summer, I watched my niece and nephew, both under 4, cuddle up with their dad --and an iPad.  Typical of their generation, these tots seamlessly moved between technologies as new as e-readers and as old as a box of crayons.

If you write with an audience of children in mind, like I do, it would behoove us to become as acquainted with technology as our growing population of readers.

To see what the hoopla is about I bought an e-reader. While not my favorite way to read, an e-reader has one HUGE advantage for writers: With a click, I've spent money on books. It's just too easy.  

Truth be told, people respond to nifty, new ways of doing the same, old things. With digital publishing comes vast potential for new ways to get our words into the minds of readers—because isn’t the connection with readers our ultimate goal?