Finding Peace and Joy with Writing

By Deb Dudley

I realized last week that I haven’t written a blog post in months.  Sometimes, when our lives take an unexpected turn, it’s difficult to balance everything.  This past year has been very challenging for me.  My dad is very sick, and as much as I hoped and prayed he’d get better, he hasn’t.  In the midst of my struggle to cope with what is happening, I accidentally stopped writing.  At first I just skipped a day or two.  But as the year progressed, and my dad’s condition worsened, a few skipped days eventually turned into a few skipped weeks. 

It took several months for me to realize I was gradually moving further and further away from writing.  Thankfully, the month of October would be my turning point.  I attended the James River Writing Conference with my good friend Lisa (Elle) Blair.  A few times leading up to the event I thought about skipping it.  I wasn’t sure my heart was in it, but something told me I needed to be there.  And if I could share one piece of wisdom with you, it would be this – when something deep inside tells you to do something, DO IT.  Because by following my instinct and going to the JRW conference, I had a front row seat to glory.  I watched my dear friend Lisa pitch to an agent, submit her manuscript and eventually receive the CALL.  For any new writer who may not be familiar with the CALL, there are two earth-rocking types.  The CALL is either (1) An agent – wanting to discuss representation OR (2) An editor – wanting to discuss the option of publishing your book.  At this point in my career, I have not had the pleasure of receiving either type of CALL yet, but thanks to my writing buddy Lisa, I experienced the next best thing: the joy and bliss of watching her receive her CALL.  I’m delighted to report that Lisa (Elle) Blair is now represented by Beth Phelan of The Bent Agency.  

Coming out of October, my excitement for Lisa lifted my spirits and helped me dive back into writing.  And as luck would have it, November is THE MONTH for picture book creativity.  One of my favorite picture book writers on Twitter, Tara Lazar, dubbed November PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month).  So I dropped by Tara’s website and joined over a thousand other writers in a fabulous month filled with inspiring blog posts and fun giveaways.  By November 30^th, I had over sixty new picture book ideas and a few new complete manuscripts ready to submit to my critique partners at Richmond Children’s Writers. 

Now that the holiday season is in full swing, I am swamped with additional responsibilities and commitments, but I am happy to say I am still committed to making writing a top priority.  In the chaos of everything, I know writing brings me peace and joy.

For more information on the two talented ladies I mentioned above, you can visit their websites:

Lisa Blair (pen name Elle Blair):  www.elleblair.com

Tara Lazar:  www.taralazar.com

Have a wonderful holiday season filled with peace, joy, love and writing!

Rejection as a Growing Experience

By Chris Sorensen

About two months ago I did something that I have never done before as a writer – I sent out query letters to literary agents (yikes!). I have taken advantage of several opportunities to meet with and pitch my project to agents at writing conferences, but never before have I had to hit ‘send’ on the keyboard with my query attached. It has been a learning experience.

 Having other writer friends who have been through the process, I knew enough to be optimistic, without being unrealistic. Following the advice of some agents who are active bloggers online, I came up with a list of 20 agents to start with. From there, I divided them into groups of 5, starting with the 5 I wanted to work with the most. Of those first 5 agents, these are results I have from my queries:

-          3 flat out rejections – 2 were form rejections and 1 gave honest, encouraging feedback of why that agent wasn’t the one for me, but gave me hope by saying that I was “doing everything right.”

-          1 request for first 50 pages – from the initial query, the agent was interested in reading part of the manuscript; still don’t have final word yet

-          1 still waiting to respond

It would be easy to get down and discouraged…”if nobody has picked it up yet, nobody will”, “why does it have to take so long”, etc. And those feelings are certainly present, especially after you have put all your blood, sweat, and tears into your story, your baby. But there is silver lining in all the rejection, if, as a writer, you are open to looking for it. For myself, I learned that my query was good enough for a couple of requests, but something must be missing. The 1 agent who told me I was “doing everything right” was very sincere and really helped me keep a positive attitude. So before my next round of submissions, I am going to get some critiques on my query, synopsis, and first 10 pages (usually what agents request). Then after I send the next round with my submissions tweaked, hopefully, I’ll get a more positive response.  If not, well then it’s back to the drawing board.

When it’s all said and done, be thankful for rejection, because it means two things: 1) you are willing to submit your work and as long as you keep doing that it means you are not giving up and 2) even with rejection, you are still getting feedback on what directions to take next.

Happy writing!

 

Writing Conferences Redux

By Hazel Buys

Last time I wrote about my delight at attending two writing conferences in October: the James River Writers conference in Richmond, VA, and the MidAtlantic Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference, at the Dulles Holiday Inn, in northern VA.

Did I mention there was homework?

The antecedent to this idea was actually visited upon me at the MidAtlantic SCBWI novel revision retreat held in Richmond, VA, last June. One of the editors at the retreat invited us all to submit queries BUT we were instructed to wait a specified number of weeks after the retreat before submitting. Why? To make use of the information/advice we’d received over the three days in order to improve/revise/complete our novels before submitting.

In other words, make the three days count. It was a revision retreat, after all. And the teaching staff gave us extensive advice on how to do just that.

This rubric, I realized, applies to any conference I attend. There is bound to be lots of advice given out at any conference, no matter how many revisions you have already done on any given piece, on how to improve your writing. You can imagine the list of advice/improvements/ideas for rewriting I had coming off two conferences in one month!

But I did not shrink from the challenge. I have spent the last month rewriting/revising and otherwise improving, checking and polishing the submission I thought I was ready to send off promptly, when the conferences closed. Good thing, too.

My submission is so much better than I thought it could be!

So, how do you continue to profit from writing conferences you attend, long after they are over? Be sure to include new ideas for revision and polishing your work in what you take-away.

It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

Conferences Galore!

by Hazel Buys

October was a whirlwind month! I gave my writing self a BIG gift this year: attendance at both the James River Writers and the SCBWI conferences. My money was well spent. Participation is key, of course. With that in mind, I signed up for pre-conference intensives at both gatherings, as well as a pitch session and a consultation.

The JRW conference offered a track strategy for choosing sessions, offering ‘Exploring Genre,’ ‘Improving Your Craft,’ ‘Getting Published,’ ‘The Life of a Story’ and ‘Promoting Your Book.’ I chose from several different tracks and found the categories useful for prioritizing my interests. At the Library of Virginia Literary luncheon, I was surprised and delighted to find myself sitting at the table with Kevin O’Malley. This funny and immensely talented man spent the time not eating, but drawing an illustration for each person at the table. I saw him bestow more in several sessions I attended. Unexpected blessings!

Cynthia Lord, keynote speaker (Rules) at the SCBWI conference (“The Plusses and Perils of Writing What You Know”), was impressive and inspirational. Her personal experiences on her way to publication of an award-winning debut novel resonated with everyone and gave us much to think about. It was my first experience at the conference’s new location at the Holiday Inn – Dulles. The meeting rooms were comfortable, spacious and all on one floor, with accommodations for those staying overnight just down the hall.

Did you attend either conference? Which one? Leave a comment with your thoughts and take-away moments to share. We’d love to hear from you.

Archon is here!

Our very own Lana Krumwiede hosted a book launch party for her newest title, Archon, last night at The Library of Virginia! Lana read an exciting passage from the book (the second title in the Freakling series) that included a wild jaguar, attacking soldiers and a mysterious telekinetic woman. The book promises to be every bit as exciting as Freakling. After signing a few copies and reading from the title, Lana answered questions from the audience. She talked about the inspiration for the Freakling trilogy coming to her as a reversal of the superhero type story. Instead of one hero having super power in a normal world, she wondered what would happen if one person were normal in a world of people with super powers. She also explained why there were no animals in her first book, what she learned as a writer from book one to book two, and why not to label your chapter titles until the book is finished. Among the crowd who turned out to see Lana were fellow Richmond authors, Meg Medina, Stephanie Sammartino McPherson, Anne Westrick, and Brian Rock as well as our own RCW members Deb Dudley and Chris Sorenson. The book launch was great fun for all who attended, now I can't wait to launch into the book myself!

Giveaway!!! Go to the James River Writers Conference for FREE!

We are pleased to announce a giveaway for one lucky RCW reader to win

a free conference registration for both days of the James River Writers Conference in Richmond, VA.

The James River Writer's Conference is in its 11th year and continues to set the standard for providing information, feedback, and networking to writers in the Richmond area.  Publishers, editors, and agents from all over the country come to help writers hone their craft.  For more information about this year's conference, please visit: www.jamesriverwriters.org.

Many of the Richmond Children's Writers members will be at the JRW conference, and we hope to see you there.

To enter, you MUST leave a comment of 100 words or less explaining why you want to attend the conference this year (and then make sure you login to Rafflecopter below and check that item off the list). You may obtain additional entries into the contest by completing other tasks listed on the Rafflecopter tool: spread the word on FaceBook, Twitter, and other formats. The more items you complete, the better your chance of winning!

The giveaway will run from Friday September 13th until Friday, September 27th. Spread the word!

We're excited to read all the responses!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Fly on the Wall

Highlights from the Richmond Children's Writers September Meeting

Our September meeting was fantastic! Everyone is back from vacation and ready to rock and roll. Here are a few of the more interesting things we discussed:

We all like wacky picture books, but how wacky is too wacky? Can a picture book be too far out? Take this book for example: Dinosaurs Love Underpants. Dinosaurs are a perennial kid favorite, true. And underpants, as discussed in our August meeting, can work for a kids' book. Having said that, Dinosaurs Love Underpants, for me, was just too wacky. But . . . it is a published book, which is nothing to sneeze at. Just goes to show that one person's too-wacky-for-me is another person's book deal. We had some wacky submissions this month, and predictably, those stories drew a variety of reactions from the group.

After reading a chapter from a young adult novel, we discussed this concept:

"The wind howled" is stronger rather than "She heard the wind howling." This is due to fact that in the second sentence, the main character is inserted between the reader and the action. The first sentence makes the reader feel he is the one who is hearing the wind howl. That translates into a more engaging text, which is another way of saying the writing is stronger. Fiction writers would do well to take a good look at sentences phrased with "She saw" or "He felt" or "I heard" or any verb that tells what the main character is perceiving, and rewrite it in a way that allows the reader to experience the sensation as directly as possible.

A submission from a different young adult novel led us into a discussion about novel writing technique. Writing fiction is a complex task, and requires finding the right balance of a lot of moving pieces. Each scene has to move the story forward. It has to do at least one or two other things too, like develop character, set the scene, infuse a mood, build tension, and such. But the primary job of a scene is to move the plot forward. All those other things can be worked in. Each chapter, each scene, has to accomplish several different things at once.

If there were a goddess of multitasking, I imagine she would look something like this.

We will conclude with the September writing prompt:

Write a wacky action scence that weaves in two other elements (choose from character develoment, setting description, mood, or tension). Bonus points for including either dinosaurs or underpants.

Now, write away!