Just Like Me, by Nancy J. Cavanaugh, is a funny, uplifting summer camp story about unlikely friendships and finding your place in the world from the award-winning author of This Journal Belongs to Ratchet.
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/4/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Nancy J. Cavanaugh, outlining, Writing Workout, Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford, Book Giveaway Winner, Alicia Rasley, Wednesday Writing Workout, Add a tag
Returning to my recent obsession with outlining, I would like to offer a cool exercise from author Alicia Rasley that allows you to lay out the key points of your novel in a mere thirty minutes. It covers many basics that I typically consider for months and collects disparate pieces of information in one place. [I suspect that this would be a great exercise to complete in preparation for NaNoWriMo.] The timer aspect is also compelling in that it requires you to figure out all of the broad strokes in short order before you are tempted to sit down and try to fill in the details.
I particularly appreciate the fact that this exercise focuses on making the main character likeable and helps you figure out where to begin telling your story. While I have not yet tried this particular approach to the outline, it also seems that it would be extremely helpful in determining how external and internal conflict intersect (a particular difficulty of mine).
If you try this technique, please let me know how it works out for you. Look for me to do the same. Happy outlining! --Jeanne Marie
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/3/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Book Giveaway, outlining, JK Rowling, summer vacation, Add a tag
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/22/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: revision, Esther Hershenhorn, Wednesday Writing Workout, Student Success Story Interview, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Add a tag
Martha Alderson’s Blockbuster Plots and The Plot Whisperer provide me a lot of direction when I am taking apart
a manuscript. In her books and DVDs,
Martha uses a plot planner and a scene tracker.
Very simply put, it’s a method of taking apart your story by listing
each scene. Putting your story into this
format allows you to get your head around the whole thing at one time. Listing your scenes this way enables you to
determine whether each scene works within itself and to determine whether each
scene works within the overall plot. Taking
apart your manuscript his way also helps you clarify which parts of the overall
plot are not working or what parts are missing altogether. (Martha’s books and DVDs give detailed
instructions on how to create the scene tracker and plot planner. Check out Martha’s website to learn more.
At first, Martha’s method seemed much too tedious
and time consuming. I didn’t want to take
apart my manuscript piece by piece after I had worked so hard to write it, but
when I finally got tired of my story not working, I decided to give it a
try. I did my own version of Martha’s
scene tracker and plot planner, but I used her basic format to find what was
missing in my plot and make my story stronger.
It took a lot of work, a lot of time, and made a big mess of my
manuscript; but if I hadn’t taken things apart in this way, I never would’ve
been able to see what was really wrong with my story and why it wasn’t
working.
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By: Bianca Schulze,
on 4/6/2016
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Katherine Paterson, Ages 9-12, Summer, Chapter Books, Cynthia Rylant, Author Interviews, Adoption, featured, Summer reading, Books for Girls, Kate DiCamillo, Friendships, Middle Grade Books, Peter Catalanotto, Summer Camp Stories, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Ages 4-8, Katherine Paterson, Ages 9-12, Summer, Chapter Books, Cynthia Rylant, Author Interviews, Adoption, featured, Summer reading, Books for Girls, Kate DiCamillo, Friendships, Middle Grade Books, Peter Catalanotto, Summer Camp Stories, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, Add a tag
By: Guest Posts,
on 8/11/2014
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading, Friendship, Ages 9-12, Chapter Books, Reading Aloud, Books for Girls, Quest for Literacy, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Reading, Friendship, Ages 9-12, Chapter Books, Reading Aloud, Books for Girls, Quest for Literacy, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Add a tag
You don’t have to be a kid in elementary school to listen to a book read aloud. You don’t have to be the parent of a preschooler to read aloud.
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/4/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Nancy J. Cavanaugh, outlining, Writing Workout, Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford, Book Giveaway Winner, Alicia Rasley, Wednesday Writing Workout, Add a tag
Returning to my recent obsession with outlining, I would like to offer a cool exercise from author Alicia Rasley that allows you to lay out the key points of your novel in a mere thirty minutes. It covers many basics that I typically consider for months and collects disparate pieces of information in one place. [I suspect that this would be a great exercise to complete in preparation for NaNoWriMo.] The timer aspect is also compelling in that it requires you to figure out all of the broad strokes in short order before you are tempted to sit down and try to fill in the details.
I particularly appreciate the fact that this exercise focuses on making the main character likeable and helps you figure out where to begin telling your story. While I have not yet tried this particular approach to the outline, it also seems that it would be extremely helpful in determining how external and internal conflict intersect (a particular difficulty of mine).
If you try this technique, please let me know how it works out for you. Look for me to do the same. Happy outlining! --Jeanne Marie
4 Comments on Wednesday Writing Workout: Your 30-Minute Novel, last added: 6/10/2013
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 6/3/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Jeanne Marie Grunwell Ford, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Book Giveaway, outlining, JK Rowling, summer vacation, Add a tag
Happy summer vacation to those of you who have already begun! My college students have finished their semester, but my husband and kids have two weeks to slog through. We are currently in major countdown mode, and my little bookworm has piles of library books all over the house in earnest preparation for lots of reading time.
I tried to sucker Kate into writing a "guest post" today to give some insight into the mind of an 8-year-old who loves to read (and write), but she was not so inclined. She did tell me, after much consideration, that she reads to "find out what happens next." While she talks to us primarily about snippets of scenes or dialogue or characters (Allie Finkle's BFF has come up often recently in real-life analogy), it's the plot that gets her to turn the pages. She added that the chapter titles often entice her to keep reading. I was somewhat surprised to hear this tidbit, but then I remembered her methodology for writing stories of her own. She scrawls out chapter titles and then writes content to bear them out in fulfillment of a nebulous plan that she somehow manages to bring to fruition. I suppose this is her personal method of outlining. [Kate also says that she likes to write stories because "you can write whatever you want instead of having to write what your teacher tells you."]
The topic of outlining reminds me of a graphic I've seen floating around on facebook recently, showing handwritten outlines of famous authors' works:
http://imgur.com/a/cqWsJ
(I'm sure many of you have seen this, yes?)
I outline in narrative form (akin to a screenplay treatment), so I was intrigued by the depth and complexity of this spreadsheet format. I was particularly interested in JK Rowling's outline, and google helped me find this analysis:
http://www.slashfilm.com/potd-jk-rowlings-plot-spreadsheet-for-harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix/
Wow! She not only relates each main even to each subplot, but she knows the day on the week that it happened. As well she should. As well I should! It seems I have a lot of work cut out for me and, thank goodness, finally some time to do it.
Wishing a happy, relaxing, and productive summer to all! I am about to dive into a friend's WIP and give myself a major dose of inspiration. And, in the spirit of "reading is writing," don't forget to enter our latest giveaway contest to win a copy of This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy J. Cavanaugh. I can't wait to read this one, myself. :) -- Jeanne Marie
2 Comments on Plotting My Summer, last added: 6/7/2013
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By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/22/2013
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: revision, Esther Hershenhorn, Wednesday Writing Workout, Student Success Story Interview, Nancy J. Cavanaugh, Add a tag
Now you –
and/or - your students - can write a Success
Story, thanks to the Revision Tips our Monday Student Success Story
Interviewee, children’s book author Nancy J. Cavanaugh, shares in today’s
Wednesday Writing Workout!
Thanks, Nancy, for introducing our readers to ThePlot Whisperer, Martha Alderson.
And, Readers: if you haven't already done so, go to Monday's post to enter our TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway to win an autographedcopy of Nancy’s debut novel Ratchet (Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky).
Let’s hear it for that prefix “re”!
Esther Hershenhorn
* * * * * * *
My main character Ratchet knows a lot about engines,
and I know just a little bit too. The
way I learned about engines was by taking them apart. Taking something apart is a really great way
to learn how it works. It’s also a great
way to figure out what’s wrong with something when it doesn’t work. When you bring your car to a mechanic, you
don’t expect him to open the hood and just stare at the engine. You expect him to get out his tools and start
taking things apart. It’s really the
same way with writing. It’s called
revision, and it gets messy. When you
finish a draft, your first inclination is to love it and to think it’s
perfect. It feels so rewarding to have
that clean copy in your hands, and it looks so good! But, the reality is, if you want to make it
better and take it to the next level, it’s got to get messy all over
again. Martha Alderson’s Blockbuster Plots and The Plot Whisperer provide me a lot of direction when I am taking apart
a manuscript. In her books and DVDs,
Martha uses a plot planner and a scene tracker.
Very simply put, it’s a method of taking apart your story by listing
each scene. Putting your story into this
format allows you to get your head around the whole thing at one time. Listing your scenes this way enables you to
determine whether each scene works within itself and to determine whether each
scene works within the overall plot. Taking
apart your manuscript his way also helps you clarify which parts of the overall
plot are not working or what parts are missing altogether. (Martha’s books and DVDs give detailed
instructions on how to create the scene tracker and plot planner. Check out Martha’s website to learn more.
My advice? Find
a revision method that works for you, and take the time to do it because when
it comes to revision there really are no shortcuts. Taking apart your story is necessary, and
that takes time and gets messy, but when you put in the time and clean up the
mess, your story will run like a race car.
# # #
6 Comments on Wednesday Writing Workout: Ratchet Up Your Writing with Revision, last added: 5/24/2013
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I love this idea. This might help writers who don't normally use an outline and who tend to get bogged down in the details while trying to get a sense of the big picture. I'll be trying this in the next few days. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing! I'm going to try this.
WOW!
Thank you AGAIN, Jeanne Marie, for this brilliant exercise.
I'm not only sending this on too to my writers, I'm doing the exercise myself for my W-I-P.
Your Fan Esther
Dawn, Andrea, and Esther, thanks for the feedback. Please let me know how it works out for you. I hope it's as helpful as it sounds.