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Wednesday morning was difficult for many, including me and the other three writers staying at the Wellstone Center in the Redwoods this week. Just after 9 am that day, to help clear our minds, we embarked on a one-hour hike through the trail just behind the center...
As we wound through the old, towering trees, climbing up and down the small inclines along the trail, we tried to steer our conversation away from politics. We also stopped to enjoy the scenery when it inspired us, especially taking notice of scattered rays of light streaming through the trees. It was exactly what we needed that morning, and exactly why I think we all came to the writing center -- to disconnect from our everyday lives, reconnect with our inner selves, and re-ignite our creativity and dare I say faith -- faith not only in the creative process but, as it turns out, in humanity as well.
The trees along the trails and the accompanying inspiration reminded me of the picture book Deer Dancer by Mary Lyn Ray and Lauren Stringer, which I brought with me to the writing center in hopes that I would find a good place and time to blog about it. There couldn't be a better place and time than here and now.
There's a place I go that's
green and grass,
a place I thought that no one knew --
As you can see from the very poetic, opening lines of the book, the main character has a special place she likes to go for solitude -- a place not unlike the trail we hiked on Wednesday. And, as we found inspiration in the light shining through the trees on the trail, the little girl finds inspiration from a chance encounter with a deer...
I stayed still
as he came nearer, nearer
until he was so close
I could almost have touched him.
He looked at me. I looked at him.
As the book continues, we follow the girl to her ballet class and then back out to the special place where she first saw the deer. The deer returns, and the girl watches the way it lowers its antlers, grazes, and leaps and turns around her. Remembering how her dance teacher had told her to "hold your head as if you're wearing antlers," "listen with your cheekbones," and "look with the eyes in your shoulders," the girl responds to the deer's movements over and over. When the deer finally leaves, the girl realizes she had gotten lost in the inspiration the deer provided and found her own dance. The creative process had prevailed!
I hope that this week and in the coming weeks and months we can all find inspiration, and that we can re-ignite our faith -- faith not only in the creative process but, as it turns out, in humanity as well.
0 Comments on Deer Dancer Offers Inspiration as of 1/1/1900
Throughout 2016 we’ve featured oral history #OriginStories – tales of how people from all walks of life found their way into the world of oral history and what keeps them going. Most recently, Steven Sielaff explained how oral history has enabled him to connect his love of technology and his desire to create history.
Hi folks, time for a new series! It's April. Time for water. Time for spring. Time for new beginnings. I will write about the water we need to burst with new life.
This week the post is really short but I hope helpful. What is water to my creative soul? Here is a simple list of stuff that makes me bloom.
1. A stroll on a sunny day.
2. A heartfelt conversation with a friend.
3. Kissing my sweetheart.
4. Hugging my purring cat.
5. Listening to an upbeat song.
6. Picking a bouquet of flowers.
7. Forgiving someone.
8. Seeing a need and meeting it.
9. Napping.
10. Stretching with breathing.
Ah, the best things in life are free. Something to remember when seeking water. I will be back next week with more water.
Here is a doodle.
Here is a quote for your pocket: Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!Sitting Bull
0 Comments on April Showers: Water for my creative soul as of 4/3/2016 2:08:00 AM
We’re a little over a week into National Novel Writing Month, and it seems an excellent time to let a few terrible secrets out of the box. For those curious outsiders, NaNoWriMo is a thirty-day writing challenge to produce a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 pm on November 30th. But when you’re writing, as those who are already knee-deep in their word counts can attest, NaNoWriMo feels more akin to a delicate balancing act undertaken while riding a rollercoaster during an earthquake. Which brings us to the secrets about this wonderfully ludicrous tradition:
1.November is maybe the worst month for this.
Hey! You know that month when you spend weeks preparing to make, to help make, or to coordinate and eat a huge family dinner with several relatives you don’t see any other time of year (and with good reason)? That month when, if you’re in school, your life is reduced to weeks of studying, class reading, and paper-writing, punctuated by moments of sheer panic that you have no idea what you’re doing? That month when the midwinter holidays leer at you from the other side of a calendar-flip as if they know just how unready you are? What do they call that month?
That’s right: NaNoWriMo!
November is packed with end-of-year obligations, distractions, and, frankly, totally legitimate excuses for giving up on trying to writing a whole novel in thirty days. And that, oddly enough, is something like the point. Any month in any year in any stage of your life will be full of distractions and excuses, and waiting for the perfect downtime to start writing will only make you extremely good at waiting. Writing when it is inconvenient, disruptive, and downright impossible is something all writers must do, and November is as good a time as any to learn how.
2. Be prepared to hate everything.
And I mean everything.
The friends, loved ones, strangers, and Google searches that informed you of NaNoWriMo’s existence.
The friends, loved ones, strangers, and Google searches that keep distracting you as you try to hit your daily word count.
The word count! (a.k.a. “your new measure of self-worth”)
The English language, which utterly abandons you by Day 10.
Your computer and its terrifying game of “Do you want to save those changes you don’t remember making?”
The need to eat or to sleep.
And of course, almost every word of your NaNo novel. (Except for those one or two perfect sentences — you know the ones I mean.)
Just bear in mind that NaNoWriMo is thirty days of the creative writing process hurtling towards the ground at terminal velocity while on fire — feelings (negative and positive) are inevitable. Happily, with NaNoWriMo, you have a supportive, national community of other writers going through the same process. The other good news? A little (or a lot) of emotional turmoil is a sign that you’re invested in your narrative. And investment is the difference between writing it and giving it up.
3.You may not hit 50K words.
But…then what was the point?
You can take it from me, a reasonably together human being who has battled this beast on four different occasions and never won — sometimes you don’t make it to 50,000 words. And that is a beautiful thing.
NaNoWriMo is like sprinting through a marathon — a marathon where your goal is not just to reach a finish line, but to shape something interesting with your footprints as you run. It is a thirty-day challenge to put words and narrative events in some semblance of order, to turn off (or to at least dial down) the internal editor that wants you to keep looking backwards, and perhaps most importantly, to shove past the paralyzing fear of the blank page in front of you. The finish line — that 50,000 word count — is a lovely thing, but you’ll find that reaching it or not reaching it has very little effect on the story that you’ll have actually created.
Remember, remember that in the month of November, NaNoWriMo is exhausting, thrilling, terrifying, entertaining, ridiculous, and amazing. If you’re thinking about participating, try taking a test run during Camp NaNoWriMo in April and July before officially participating in November. And if you’re already participating this year, remember that you’re writing because you want to, which is one of the coolest things you can do with any thirty days.
Now, stop procrastinating, and good luck!
For more NaNoWriMo, look for write-ins and workshops on our events calendar, then check out our silly series of #DinoWriMo puns.
I can’t stop thinking about the line Emily left us with yesterday, this one:
They are stories coming from a place of trying to understand, rather than a place where it is understood.
Right?
Welcome back, Emily! Hope you enjoy the rest of our conversation. (And a reminder, click to enlarge any images.)
Can you tell us about the design of the art and the text? I love that your pictures don’t have text on them anywhere, and the page turn with the flower is the only time there’s text away from the bottom. What went into those decisions?
There wasn’t much decision making- that was the problem! Often times I like to work with only a bit of text because type is a whole other ball-park in terms of aesthetics. I have a hard time compromising my space for words- text and fonts and size, all that jazz has to mesh in with the artwork, and it’s hard finding the right voice to match the looks.
My work gets pretty dense, so I find it a lot more difficult to find something that is legible, but still yields to the art. In university I preferred to keep my lines simple and punchy and give a whole page of text to one image- it makes you read everything slower, more thoughtfully. However in the world of big print-run publishing, it is a luxury to use up so much paper! I work on the pacing, but the designers at Flying Eye made a lot of the technical decisions and all the book designing- I think they’ve done beautifully.
What is your favorite piece of art hanging in your home or studio?
I work at home, and my favourite art piece is this ceramic self-portrait bust my Dad made when he was a kid in school. It’s got hair that looks like it was squeezed through a garlic presser- he forgot a bit of hair on the back though, and he made his nostrils with a pencil eraser. It’s a bit creepy, bit primitive cool. Very seventies. Still trying to find the best place to display it.
What are some of your favorite picture books? Both for writing and text and whatever inspires? What is your favorite picture book from childhood?
My favourite old school book is Munro Leaf’s Ferdinand. It is a beauty in text and image- what a fantastic story about the happily peaceful bull. Didn’t want to fight, didn’t want the fame, just wanted the simple pleasures of everyday life. You come across the message of being unique quite a bit in children’s books. Oftentimes it’s a feeling of ‘you’re different’ therefore special, therefore better. I don’t get that passive aggression or hypocrisy with Ferdinand.
For modern, I love Michael Rosen/Quentin Blake’s Sad Book. It isn’t sappy or over the top, it is perfect. No melodrama or silver-linings, just honest. The book feels like it is quietly listening to it’s readers own blues. It brought me real comfort. It is really a gem.
In terms of illustration, I love everything that is Blair Lent. Dreamy.
What’s next for you?
Lots of good things in store at the moment! I have finished a bunch of projects recently, and am still catching my breath.
I just finished A Brave Bear with Walker Books, and Brilliant with Abrams, and I’m now moving on to a book series with Chronicle for easy readers called Charlie and Mouse which is written by Laurel Snyder.
Oh, and did I mention the ever lovely Everything you Need for a Treehouse by THE Carter Higgins? I am excited about it all, and slowly getting better at juggling everything- at the moment I am trying to doodle personal work (if you don’t maintain this, everything goes bad, you don’t evolve!), little brothers, and treehouses. For boys, I’ve been creeping around my high street and local parks to get inspiration, for tree houses I fondly think of the ones my neighbours and I repeatedly built unsuccessfully. Now I can build one without the necessary requirements of having lumber readily available, knowing how to saw wood, and basic physics!
Exciting, busy, new!
—
Thanks, Emily! It was such an honor to have you here, and I am so, so excited about our future!
Huge thanks to both Emily and Tucker Stone at Flying Eye Books for the images in this post!
Friends, I am beyond awe with this conversation with Emily Hughes. If you aren’t familiar with her work yet, I guarantee you will fall in love with it, with her, with a storytelling brilliance that is out of this world. Here, she lets us know both where stories come from and why they do.
And a note, you’ll definitely want to click on all of these images to enjoy them at their full resolution.
Enjoy!
Can you talk about where this book came from? And what the process was like for its creation?
Lots of things were swimming around in my head when The Little Gardener was being made. I was back home rereading a book I love, The Growth of the Soil, about a simple self-sufficient man dealing with societal pressures that seem unnecessary. He was the symbol of The Little Gardener, he’s not the personality powerhouse Wild is, he is really just a symbol for the everyman, the underdog, you, me, (my brother thinks the 3rd world) our place as a human. It’s not about him, it’s about his vision, his hopes.
There are a lot more nuances to that, but that is what it is in a very small nutshell. The process for Gardener was an outpouring, I drew and drew and drew. Because the images are so dense it was a meditative book to make- almost like making a mandala. The story process took a while, but with the images I worked on steadily through, and luckily they worked out with little drafting. That isn’t the usual, but this one felt natural to make, intuitive.
Why do you think your stories are best suited to the form of the picture book? What can you do in this form that you might not be able to in another?
If you look at my bedroom, my backpack, my email inbox, my general manner, you would be able to figure out a good deal about me. Totally scatter-brained.
It is an affliction that makes it tricky to get work done in general. What makes children’s books an appealing medium for me is that there is text to dance with. There is the written skeleton to adhere to- oftentimes my stories have layers that I have built up depending on where I am or what I’ve been thinking of while I work. There is not just one story being told in The Little Gardener. Having text keeps my brain focused when there are other ideas floating about. Because I also draw, I am able to tell the other story lines as well- they are quieter, but are still present for others to interpret if they have patience. It is a good compromise for me.
Narrative has always been an interest, I think telling stories is what I like to do- so the things I’d compare it to would be film, theater, animation, etc. I like doing illustrations for picture books because it’s 2D and doesn’t move. However, if you are really invested you can move them within your head and expand it’s boundaries to a world you truly are interacting with.
One of my favorite things is the cola can that says MADE IN HILO, HI on it. I know that’s where your roots are, and I wonder how that home has shown up in the work that you do? Or if there are other easter-egg-y things that you stick in your work?
Good spotting! Hawaii is always present in my work. I left home for university in England when I was 17, and at that time I was eager for new experiences. Nevertheless, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I miss the Big Island always. Drawing things from home is indulgent for me- it is time spent reminiscing, it is a means for me to keep connected, grounded.
The cola can was initially modelled after a local company- Hawaiian Sun. The label looks nothing like the original (and I used the non-existent ‘cola’ because I thought it would be easier to translate), but the sun made a symbolic appearance. Those cans are always around- refreshments after soccer games, trips to the beach, the park with cousins. It reminds me of happy outings. I’ll add this bit to my advertising resume…
The house that the humans live in is based on my family home. It’s a plantation-style house that my Grandmother grew up in, as my siblings and I have also done. It’s a special place.
In the scene where the gardener is chasing away the snails, there’s a ‘rubber slipper’ (you guys would call it ‘flip flop’- Hawaii’s preferred footwear of choice) strewn about. It even has the ‘Locals’ tag on it which is the same kind you get at the grocery store. There’s lots of little things from home hidden. I like having the sentimentality there, even if it’s for my own benefit.
It seems like the girl in Wild and this little gardener have some sensibilities in common, like the hope and comfort in this un-tapped-into nature. Are there big-picture-stories you are drawn to creating, both in text and in art?
There are a lot of stories I’d like to tell. I think I start off with a general character and theme and it evolves- the writing is the last part, I think the feeling needs to be understood first. In my journal these are a few themes I’d written that I want to explore:
Does ‘evil’ exist? Really?
You can, will, should feel every horrible emotion and that’s fine
Kindness trumps all
Looks vs Expectations
It’s all chance for me I think- I might read something, or watch something, or sit blankly staring at the wall even, and most times it is nothing but a murmur. But once in a good while something speaks up.
As for Wild and Gardener, nature serves as a backdrop because it is an ideal to be in sync within our most natural of habitats. Something we all still strive for- a place where we’re needed. Wild is about acceptance and tolerance, issues I was trying to practice myself. Gardener was about keeping hope alive when I was faltering with my own.
They are stories coming from a place of trying to understand, rather than a place where it is understood.
—
Carter, here.
You guys. I keep reading these answers over and over and feel like it’s such a gift to get this glimpse into a storyteller’s heart. Because Emily is fascinating and brilliant and our conversation gave me so much to wrestle with and enjoy, there’s more! Come back tomorrow for the second part. More pictures, more process, more book love.
Whatever you do, get your hands on this book as soon as you can, for hope and home and heart.
Huge thanks to both Emily and Tucker Stone at Flying Eye Books for the images in this post!
Hi folks, last post in the BLOOM series. Flooding has inundated Texas this month. I drove by the Navasota River yesterday, and it was at least a mile out of its banks. I mean when it rains here it makes Seattle look like the sunshine city. My youngest nephew is spending the week with me because his house was flooded in Houston. I have been a busy bee.
It's a feast or famine situation in Texas. I have lived here for five years. Four of those years have been drought years. And finally we hit this year. Yes, everything is blooming that isn't drowning. My red daylily is just popping velvety bloom after velvety bloom, the first year that has happened since I planted them. I want that for my writing life.
Wait for your flood year. Life has a way of not clopping along at an even pace. This drives me crazy because I like a nice even pace. I have had some dry years in a row. I have big expectations of myself. I want to rattle the cages and shake the foundations worldwide. This is tough to do in the middle of a California drought. I am working toward good climate change.
What can I do to bring water to my work? I plan to teach students how publishing works with my upcoming summer in my program at the local RINGER Library. TeensPUBLISH for 7th through 12th graders. Wednesdays in June and July except July 1.Time: 2:30 to 5:00. For more info about this event and registration info, please follow this link. A creative experience like this will bring in some rain.
What else will I do? I'll convince you to check out my awesome book PLUMB CRAZY too! Here is a link to purchase it. There is a lot of my heart on these pages. You might find a bit of your heart there too. I am always finding myself within the pages of a book. You need that!
So what to do while I wait for the flood. I keep working. I hope you do too! You are not alone, and the creative journey is worth it. I will be back next week with a summer series that is all about the journey to publishable works. I hope you hang out for that. :) Enjoy the sunshine when you can find it. Seize the day!
Here is a doodle for your life. "Fire Sky"
Here is a quote for pocket.
Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. Epicurus
0 Comments on Bloom: Flood! as of 5/30/2015 12:06:00 PM
It is always so inspiring when I get to step out of the studio and work in the field with sketchbook in hand. My most recent painting trip was in France.
My goal was to gather ideas for a book I am just starting that is set in France, but even more importantly, to take some time away from the intense studio work and create an atmosphere of creative play and exploration. I want to see and record as much as I can when I am working in a sketchbook. But I also want to stretch myself as an artist, try new methods, experiment with new surfaces, tackle paintings I would never do in the studio, basically just climb out on a limb and PAINT. On this trip I painted in gardens and on street corners, I painted rooftops and sculptures, I even painted self portraits of myself because I wanted to record how happy I was while exploring. I worked in ink and watercolor, fountain pen and pencil. I had fun collecting bags from Paris shops and experimented with watercolor on toned surfaces. The warm brown paper bags made a wonderful surface to bounce the blue skies and dazzling light of Paris. Sketch trips are always a wonderful time to really push yourself to see new things and play with ideas on how to capture them in paint. I always feel thankful after painting trips and even a little reluctant to give up the freedom I find in the field as apposed to the studio. But journeys with sketchbooks always recharge me and fuel my ideas for stories. They make the work I create in the studio all the more meaningful because the work was started during such joyful adventures.
Here are a few of the sketches from this last trip.
Creating is such a leap of faith for me. Today I'm channeling all the art totems and spirits I hold close as I forge deeper into a project that is scary, thrilling and exquisitely exciting. Not ready to post sketches of it.... but soon.
Pat Zietlow Miller is the author of the award-winning (and adorable!) picture book Sophie's Squash, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf. Sophie's Squash is story that celebrates the special love between a child and her favorite toy--only in this case it's a butternut squash. On a trip to the farmers' market with her parents, Sophie chooses a squash, but instead of letting her mom cook it, she names it Bernice.Sophie's Squash has earned many accolades and honors, including four starred reviews, the Golden Kite Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book Award, and the Ezra Jack Keats Honor Book Award. And fortunately for the children's book world, Pat has more books coming out in the world--SEVEN to be exact (at last count). Coming in April is Wherever You Go, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler. In Wherever You Go, join an adventurous rabbit and his animal friends as they journey over steep mountain peaks, through bustling cityscapes, and down long, winding roads to discover the magical worlds that await them just outside their doors. This book celebrates the possibilities that lie beyond the next bend in the road – the same road that will always lead you home again.Kirkus Reviews gave Wherever You Go a starred review with the praise: "Miller's verse, infused with musical momentum, communicates the emotional arch of a journey with beautiful brevity." To learn more about Pat Zietlow Miller, visit her website.
Describe your workspace.
I write in one of two spots. At my kitchen table surrounded by the detritus of life in a family of four – books, papers, pens, calendars, mail, dishes – or at a desk upstairs that looks much more writerly. I’m probably in the kitchen more often just because that’s the way things seem to work out.
Describe a typical workday.
Most days, I’m at my regular job in corporate communications at an insurance company editing copy and writing about auto, home, and life insurance. (Hint: Having umbrella coverage is a good idea.)
When I get home, I start dinner, talk to my husband and kids, and help with homework where I can. English and language arts are fine. Calculus and physics are not. Then, when the kids are studying and my husband is watching basketball, I flip open my laptop and get going. Of course if the kids have evening activities, I’m probably driving them there instead of writing.
So when I do write, I tend to be pretty focused. I don’t have a lot of time to mess around.
List three of your most favorite things in your workspace and why they are meaningful.
These are all from my upstairs formal writing space.
A dictionary and bookmark I got from my high school English teacher Gladys Veidemanis after I was voted “Most Likely to Be Published” by my classmates. It took more than 20 years after I graduated, but it did happen.
A nameplate that belonged to my aunt, Faye Clow, who was director of the Bettendorf Public Library for many years. She was a huge proponent of books and literacy, and I always loved her and admired that. My upcoming book, Sophie's Seeds (Schwartz & Wade, 2016), is dedicated to Faye.
The F&G [publishing term that means folded and gathered--they are fancy colored proofs] of whatever my next book is. Right now, I have Wherever You Go, which is coming from Little, Brown on April 21 and Sharing the Bread, which is coming from Schwartz & Wade on Aug. 25. Getting the F&Gs always makes the book finally seem real.
Do you have any rituals in your work habits? If so, describe them.
Open lap top. Sit down. Start typing.
Ignore any tears, arguments, or requests for help finding lost items until the young person involved either goes away or asks my husband. While some writers follow very organized processes when writing, I’m a little more haphazard. I wrote a post about this for Tara Lazar’s Picture Book Idea Month.
What do you listen to while you work?
Everything listed in my answer to the previous question. I really prefer not to have music playing while I write. It impedes my ability to focus on the story. (When you read my answer to the next-to-last question, you’ll see that this can be a problem.)
What is your drink and/or snack of choice while you’re working?
I normally don’t eat or drink while I’m writing. I tend to eat and drink when I get up and walk around because I’m temporarily stuck. Then, dark chocolate is always good. But I have standards. It’s got to be top-of-the-line stuff.
What keeps you focused while you’re working?
Getting the story done and making it the best it can possibly be. Finding the perfect combination of words is really important to me. And I love critique partners and editors who really challenge me if they think I haven’t quite done it.
Do you write longhand, on a computer, or another way?
Nearly always on a computer. Very rarely, I’ll write longhand if I’m on a plane or a bus and a pad of paper is all I’ve got to work with. But I do jot down notes longhand, usually phrases that I think sound intriguing.
How do you develop your story ideas? Do you use an outline, let the muse lead you, or another technique?
It sounds terribly boring, but I’m afraid I just sit down, open my laptop and start writing. Sometimes, I stare at my manuscript for a while before starting. While I certainly have been inspired, I don’t really believe in waiting for inspiration, because I could be waiting a long time. I find that the mere act of beginning to write usually kick-starts my inspiration.
If you were forced to share your workspace but could share it with anyone of your choosing, who would it be?
My husband. He’s a sportswriter and works out of our house. On days that I’m not at my day job, we often work in adjoining rooms. He’s fun to have around, although he sometimes plays really, really bad music while he works – like “My Girl Bill.” If we ever worked next to each other long term, this could become problematic.
What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve heard or received?
It’s what I learned in a high school journalism class taught by Ron Harrell. The end of your story has to have some element of the beginning in it to provide satisfying closure. He said it was like wrapping a ribbon around a present and tying a big bow. I wrote a blog post about this concept on Picture Book Builders.
0 Comments on A Peek at the Creative Space of Pat Zietlow Miller as of 3/3/2015 9:46:00 AM
Thought I'd share some thoughts about submission - of the literary type. As is the case with most playwrights, I'm continually searching the web for possible good fits for my literary babies. They really are like babies given the attention, work and copious amounts of love that go into their creation. As is the case with offspring who reach maturity, there is a point where one has to part with them for their own good - and mine.
Progress has been achieved in the submission process including a rejection letter accompanied by a wonderful critique and evaluation of the submitted play. Theatres that are open to unsolicited submissions must be the recipients of thousands of plays and understandably, responding to playwrights individually isn't practical. It's commendable, therefore, when a theatre takes the time to not only respond to a play submission but actually take the time in writing to point out the plays strengths and weaknesses and make suggestions as to changes that would strengthen the overall story line. Let's say that it was one of the nicest rejections received to date.
Some of my other plays were sent packing to try their luck and as yet there has been no response. As if the playwriting process isn't difficult enough, the waiting period to hear back one way or the other is equally if not more stressful. Frequently, there is no response, which in itself is an indication of their fate.
I'm now taking precautions to e-mail my plays to myself before sending them out to ensure that it is in a readable format for the recipients. This move came about after encountering a problem submitting a play electronically when converting one of the older files to the latest version. Checking to ensure the play was successfully sent, somehow the text ended up in the wrong visual format. After a period of ranting and raving and some hair pulling, literally and figuratively, I decided to re-send in spite of a nagging, internal voice telling me to hold off for a bit. Re-sent it, anyway, accompanied by a two-sentence explanation only to discover the next day upon re-examination that the text somehow had adjusted itself and was visually perfect. Also re-confirmed my belief to always heed that inner voice.
While waiting for news, I'm continuing working on "Dead Writes", a fantasy with some comedic tones combined with interesting moral messages and dilemmas for the characters. Definitely a challenge but one worth meeting. Then again, the act of writing plays is always a challenge, no matter what.
When asked the question of the time it takes to complete a play, I quote the line expressed by Edward Albee: "People often ask me how long it takes me to write a play, and I tell them 'all my life." And then some.
0 Comments on Notes: in submission as of 2/12/2015 11:37:00 PM
Joining us today for Creative Spaces is Dan Gemeinhart. Dan's debut middle grade novel, The Honest Truth, publishes today from Scholastic Press. The Honest Truth is a moving, fast-paced story about a boy, his dog, and the adventure of a lifetime:
In all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal kid. He’s got a dog named Beau and a best friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and write haiku poems in his notebook. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day.
But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick that means hospitals. And treatments. The kind of sick some people never get better from.
So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan. A plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier. Even if it’s the last thing he ever does.
My workspace is a big, brown couch. It's a ratty couch, scuffed and threadbare in places, but it's soft and and comfortable and it reclines with a footrest and it never complains when I spill things on it (which is often). It's in our living room, facing a big picture window that looks out on the street. There's an end table within reach and our computer (which serves as our stereo) within remote range, so I can turn the music on, off, up or down as my feverish brain requires. There are no overhead lights but there are numerous lamps around the room's perimeter, so I can adjust the lighting anywhere from sunlit meadow to burial cave, depending on mood (I write almost exclusively at night).
Describe a typical workday.
A typical writing workday (I also have a day job) begins at about 9:30 pm. The kids are in bed, as is my wife. I've made a hot cup of tea which sits on the end table beside me. There's a decent chance I've also got a glass of red wine and a chunk of really dark chocolate. I'm sitting on the couch, my laptop sitting on a pillow that's sitting on my lap. When I've got everything situated just right and everything I need within reach (an up-and-down, oops-I-forgot-something process that can take 15 minutes), I start writing. Depending on how the story is flowing and how early I have to get up the next day, my end time can vary from 10:30 to 2:00 am.
List three of your most favorite things in your workspace and why they are meaningful.
Since I don't have a dedicated “office workspace” and have to use a shared family space, I don't really have personal, meaningful objects around me when I write. My objects are functional, but they're important:
1.The couch. I've got to be comfortable to write. I can't do it sitting upright in some stiffchair. I sink into that couch with my feet up and get everything set just right and I can just go.
2.The desktop computer over in the corner, which gives me the exact music I need (see below).
3.The end table. Sounds silly, but it's like a little workstation. I keep my drink and snacks there, right within reach, and sometimes also notes, books, notebooks, outlines, etc. I'm always reaching over there for something and would be lost without it.
Do you have any rituals in your work habits? If so, describe them.
For me it's just the tea and the couch arrangement. I put one pillow behind my head to stave off a sore neck, put another under my laptop to bring it closer to eye level, prop my feet up to the perfect elevation, and cover my legs with a blanket if it's chilly. My little nest has to be just right – it's kind of pathetic, I suppose. I'm like a little old lady watching her shows, with my warm tea and blanket thrown over my legs. But, hey, it works. My brain is very easily distracted and looks for any excuse to get off-task, so getting that environment just right matters. I'm a cozy worker.
What do you listen to while you work?
It depends. Sometimes I need silence, sometimes I need just the right mood music. I've got several different playlists for different vibes . . . a pensive, gloomy list, a fast-paced tension list, etc. Sometimes the right music absolutely helps me get into a scene and capture the right kind of energy and mood. It has to be instrumental, though. . . music with words will definitely not work for me. So it's mostly classical or kind of dark, acoustic instrumental Americana. For the last book I wrote I found one song that completely embodied the tone, mood, and identity of the story I was writing; it was “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, and many a night I sat there writing with that song on repeat.
What is your drink and/or snack of choice while you’re working?
Tea! Green tea mostly, black tea occasionally in the morning, herbal tea later at night. I use it as a motivator, too . . . as I finish off one cup of tea I'll set a word count mark, and I don't get to make another cup of tea until I hit it. I don't snack too much, but if I do it's probably gonna be dark chocolate.
What keeps you focused while you’re working?
I totally struggle with focus, so it's really just a matter of self-discipline. I've got to stay on myself and be mindful of when I'm just sitting there, daydreaming.Keeping an eye on measurable productivity really helps, too (“how many words have I written so far this hour?”). This is one reason I cannot--really, truly cannot--write in coffee shops. Way too many distractions. If I spend an hour in a coffee shop I'll be lucky to get five minutes of writing in.
Do you write longhand, on a computer, or another way?
Computer. I like the romantic image of scratching away at a paper notepad with a trusty pen, but rough draft writing for me has to be a computer. The story comes in quick, urgent bursts, and when I get on a tear there's no way I could keep up with a pen. Editing and revising I always do on a hardcopy, though, with a pen. I've got to be able to physically circle, cross out, underline.
How do you develop your story ideas? Do you use an outline, let the muse lead you, or another technique?
A bit of both! When I start writing a book I tend to know most of the first third of the story, and most of the last third. There are holes here and there, and the entire middle is kind of a mystery, but as I write through that first third it starts to kind of gel and develop some gravity and momentum and then it fills in as I go. There are surprises every time, though. As much as I'd like to and as hard as I try, I just really struggle to do much pre-outlining. I just stare at the paper and my brain says, “How the hell should I know what happens next? I haven't started writing the story yet!”I wish I could outline, because I think it's better practice; I think I'd have to do less revising if I could do more planning ahead on the rough draft.
If you were forced to share your workspace but could share it with anyone of your choosing, who would it be?
Someone incredibly dull and quiet. Not my wife or my friends, because I'd always want to talk to them. As hard as I would find it to work with someone else in the room, though, there's no doubt that break time would be fun if I was sharing my space with another writer. It would be awesome to commiserate, bounce ideas off each other, feed off each other's energy. Writing is such a solitary pursuit, it'd be nice to have someone there in the trenches with you.
What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve heard or received?
It's the simplest, the most often repeated, the most basic, and the most important: write. That's it. You've got to get your butt in that chair (or ratty old couch) and write. Write, write, write. Then revise, revise, revise (I learned much more about writing from revising my first book than I did from writing it). You should read tons, yes; and you should elicit (and listen to) honest feedback, yes; I'm a big believer in attending writing conferences, absolutely; but at the end of the day the single most important thing is to sit down and do it. Write.
0 Comments on A Peek at the Creative Space of Dan Gemeinhart as of 1/27/2015 9:27:00 AM
Joining us today for Creative Spaces is YA author Maggie Hall. Her debut novel The Conspiracy of Uswas published this month from Putnam/Penguin:
To fight her destiny as the missing heir to a powerful and dangerous secret society, sixteen-year-old Avery West must solve an ancient puzzle in a deadly race across Europe. Forbidden love and code-breaking, masked balls and explosions, destiny and dark secrets collide in this romantic thriller, in the vein of a YA DaVinci Code.
Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada at the Champs-Elysees when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. They are part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle of Twelve, and Avery is their missing heir. If they discover who she is, some of them will want to use her as a pawn. Some will want her dead.
To thwart their plans, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the landmarks of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul and through a web of ancient legends and lies. And unless she can stay one step ahead of beautiful, volatile Stellan, who knows she’s more than she seems, and can decide whether to trust mysterious, magnetic Jack, she may be doomed after all.
Maggie is a world traveler and has worked as a bookstore events coordinator and marketing manager. You can learn more about her at her website, follow her on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, or join her at YA Misfits where she blogs about young adult literature.
Describe your workspace.
I literally work in a closet! I love really small spaces—I feel like I can block the world out more easily. When I was traveling and didn’t have my office, I would sometimes throw a blanket over my head to get that same enclosed feeling.
I occasionally do want a little light and space, though, and then I’ll settle in my living room, in this big comfy chair with a big comfy blanket . . . though it kind of makes me want to take a nap just thinking about it . . .
Describe a typical workday.
I like to write really early, before I can get distracted. I usually drag myself out of bed at 5:30 or 6am, grab a cup of coffee, and write as much as I can before the day officially starts. And then I kind of try to write the rest of the day, but usually don’t end up getting anything more done on actual writing until the evening.
List three of your most favorite things in your workspace and why they are meaningful.
I got the Eiffel Tower picture at a thrift store, and Paris is important in CONSPIRACY (plus, it’s pretty)!
You can’t see it very well, but on the right are bookmarks and postcards from some of my friends’ books—I love having them nearby!
And, of course, my cover. This is the first dust jacket I saw, and the first time I saw how the whole thing was really going to look! I freaked out a little.
Do you have any rituals in your work habits? If so, describe them.
I’ve traveled so much and learned to write so many weird places that I don’t have much of a ritual—when you’re writing on your phone on the floor of the Shanghai airport or on a train through Thailand, it’s hard to follow writing rituals too closely. I do like to listen to music while I work—that always gets me in the mood!
What is your drink and/or snack of choice while you’re working?
Sour gummy worms. I have no idea why, but they taste like this book to me.
What keeps you focused while you’re working?
Deadlines! I swear, otherwise I would never be able to focus! Is there something that works for other people, because I’d like to know about it!
Do you write longhand, on a computer, or another way?
On the computer, always. I take a lot of notes in lots of notebook (and lots of random post-its, as you can see on the desk photo!), but I never actually write longhand.
How do you develop your story ideas? Do you use an outline, let the muse lead you, or another technique?
I’m working on CONSPIRACY book 2 right now, and I’m definitely outlining. My favorite outlining tool is actually the Save the Cat Beat Sheet—it lets me put my ideas in a logical framework without having to be too precise about it. And of course, once I actually start writing, the story tends to take on a life of its own, but I do find that having an idea of where I’m going with it is really helpful.
If you were forced to share your workspace but could share it with anyone of your choosing, who would it be?
Anyone I was sharing with would literally have to sit on my lap, so . . . hm. Can I say Chris Hemsworth, and I’ll sit on his lap? I think that would give me some good writing inspiration. ;)
Really, though, I’d say my writing friends. I would love having the smart, awesome people I’m lucky enough to call critique partners around to bounce ideas off of and to make me get back to work when I’m checking twitter for the millionth time. . .
What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve heard or received?
Writing is rewriting. I have to remind myself over and over that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, and that the magic comes from editing. Otherwise, I’d worry too much and never get anything done!
0 Comments on A Peek at the Creative Space of Maggie Hall as of 1/20/2015 9:19:00 AM
Joining us today for Creative Spaces is YA author Shallee McArthur. Shallee's debut novel, The Unhappening of Genesis Lee, was published last fall by Sky Pony Press:
Seventeen-year-old Genesis Lee has never forgotten anything. As one of the Mementi—a small group of genetically-enhanced humans—Gena remembers everything with the help of her Link bracelets, which preserve memories perfectly. But Links can be stolen, and six people have already lost their lives to a memory thief, including Gena’s best friend.
Anyone could be next.
Which is why Gena is less than pleased to meet a strange but charming boy named Kalan who claims that they’ve not only met, but that Gena knows who the thief is.
The problem is, Gena doesn’t remember Kalan, she doesn’t remember seeing the thief, and she doesn’t know why she’s forgetting things—or how much else she might forget. As growing tensions between Mementi and ordinary humans drive the city of Havendale into chaos, Gena and Kalan team up to search for the thief. And as Gena loses more memories, they realize they have to solve the mystery fast.
Because Gena’s life is unhappening around her.
Kirkus Reviews said, "It’s the sensitive handling of emotional details and the trauma of too much connection that make this a story of interest. . . . For anyone fascinated with thoughts of omniscience and total social connection—and who isn’t?—McArthur’s debut suggests fascinating and chilling possibilities."
I have a whole office to myself, which is a recent development I'm VERY grateful for. I've got my desk, bookshelf, and rocking chair for reading and relaxing. I have pictures and knick-knacks that inspire me, including things I've brought back from traveling and all my "nerd cred," like a Tardis and an R2D2 on my desk. I also have a pair of zebra finch birds who keep me happy!
DESCRIBE A TYPICAL WORKDAY.
I've got two young kids, so it varies! Some days, I can get work done in the morning while they play, and sometimes I play with them or (gasp!) do housework. One thing that stays consistent, though, is that when the toddler naps and the preschooler goes to school, I write. That time is SACRED. After that, I may or may not haul my laptop into the kitchen in the evenings to write near my husband.
LIST THREE OF YOUR MOST FAVORITE THINGS IN YOUR WORKSPACE AND WHY THEY ARE MEANINGFUL.
1. My birds! Fred and George are zebra finches, and I LOVE those little guys. They actually are doctor-recommended therapy birds. I struggle with anxiety, but I also have multiple sclerosis, and side effects from anxiety meds don't work well for me with my MS. So my birds are there to help me through panic attacks and keep my general anxiety low. They actually help a lot more than I expected-- they are low-maintenance so they don't add to my anxiety, and their cheerful chirps and energy help reset my brain when it's anxious.
2. A painting of a cabin on a lake done by my great-grandmother. It used to hang in my grandpa's cabin, where my entire extended family would gather every Fourth of July. It keeps me near to beauty and to my wonderful and supportive family-- it hangs right next to my desk.
3. My "praying woman" carving. I bought it from a craftsman in Ghana, West Africa, so it means a lot for that reason alone (part of my heart still lives in Ghana!). I'm also a very religious person, and it reminds me to pray-- not just to ask for help, but to offer thanks to the God I feel has given me so much!
DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS IN YOUR WORK HABITS?
Um...no, actually, now that I think about it! I just open my laptop and get to work. :)
WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?
I don't like to listen while I work, but sometimes I listen to specific songs that fit the book I'm working on before I work.
WHAT IS YOUR DRINK AND/OR SNACK OF CHOICE WHILE YOU'RE WORKING?
None! It distracts me too much.
WHAT KEEPS YOU FOCUSED WHILE YOU'RE WORKING?
I have to get in "the zone." If I force myself to not jump around on tasks and just focus on one at a time, I get so zoned in on what I'm doing that hours pass before I even realize it!
DO YOU WRITE LONGHAND, ON A COMPUTER, OR ANOTHER WAY?
Computer. I have TERRIBLE handwriting, so writing long-hand isn't a good idea for me!
HOW DO YOU DEVELOP YOUR STORY IDEAS? DO YOU USE AN OUTLINE, LET THE MUSE LEAD YOU, OR ANOTHER TECHNIQUE?
Usually I get an idea, play around with it and toss a bunch of ideas in a document, and then start a plot outline.
IF YOU WERE FORCED TO SHARE YOUR WORKSPACE BUT COULD SHARE IT WITH ANYONE OF YOUR CHOOSING, WHO WOULD IT BE?
My friend Chersti, who's one of my crit partners. We tend to work really well together, and when we distract each other, it's fun and often even productive!
WHAT IT THE BEST PIECE OF WRITING ADVICE YOU'VE HEARD OR RECEIVED? My freshman creative writing teacher in college told us there are only two things that matter in writing-- have a take, and don't suck. It reminds me that as long as I'm writing a story that's got my unique take on the world, and as long as I'm writing something that doesn't suck (which takes practice and a crit group!), that's all that matters. The millions of other "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" about writing don't matter as long as I have a take and don't suck!
0 Comments on A Peek at the Creative Space of Shallee McArthur as of 1/12/2015 8:32:00 AM
I’ve been reading a book called Fearless Creating: a step-by-stepguide to starting and completing your work of art, by Eric Maisel. Like Dorothea Brande’s classic book Becoming a Writer, this is less a ‘craft’ guidebook, and more a ‘process’ guidebook. It’s the sort of book that describes the creative mind set and shows you how to develop it. One of the exercises that Maisel says is the most important in the whole book is the ability to ‘hush’ your mind. ‘Hushing’ says Maisel, ‘is what we do when we go into a museum and sit in front of one painting for fifteen minutes.’ Hushing is a ‘quieting and an opening’ – and there is no creative life without this ability to hush.
Hushing sounds a lot like the open, receptive state of mind that is associated with ‘right-brain’ awareness, and is also the state of ‘choiceless awareness’ that meditation aspires to. When the mind is quiet and receptive – and not busy with mental chatter – ideas can rise to the surface.
Some writers achieve this state of mind by walking, swimming, doing yoga or washing the dishes. Others know it when they wake up in the middle of the night to write something in the notepad beside their bed. Maisel suggests that it’s only when the conscious, busy, ‘thinking’ mind has grown quiet that insights and ideas can surface.
Maisel also explains that ‘hushing’ needs to be practiced in conjunction with ‘holding’, if any real work is to be done. 'Holding' is the ability to carry an idea for a book or a painting (or any other project )loosely in the back of your mind as you go about your day. By holding the project in the periphery of your vision you allow the ideas and stimuli that you encounter during the day (or during your working practice) to enter it and inform it. I’ve also heard this process called ‘being in the grist’, when almost everything you experience seems to somehow relate to, or feed into, the container of your novel.
Have you experienced the processes of ‘hushing’ and ‘holding’? If so, how do you achieve them?
I came across this Ira Glass quote (direct YouTube link for my iPad readers) and was struck by how accurately it describes my relationship to my drawing efforts.
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
Such a good point. It’s because you can recognize what good art (writing, music, etc) is that you know yours isn’t good…yet. And so the daily habit becomes almost an imperative, if you want to improve. My writing is best when I’m writing every day. If I keep up the sketchbook habit for eight or nine years, I just might be able to draw the way I want to.
Hi folks, I've been pressured this week. I have a deadline looming. It's a few months off, but it mocks me from the distance. A ton of work is between me and that deadline. My creative self is just not happy being forced to perform. The writing is feeling very mechanical, and I've been feeling edgy. I can do the ton of work ahead, but I have to have an infusion of fun or this is going to be a dismal project.
As a professional writer, I don't have the luxury of waiting for a muse or finding the right mood. That said, without the muse or the mood, I struggle to get anything on the page that is infused with awesomeness. Without finding my groove, my work is painful and generally worthless and uninspired. To find my groove, I have to give myself time to play, a lot of time to play, This week I started up a project that is really for the fun of it. It's a silly project that is self-indulgent, silly, and sarcastic. No one wants this project. It's just for me. I delight in it.
Allowing myself to do something that lights me up, whether anyone else cares or not, fuels me with energy. The project has one targeted audience and that is myself. I am always working on projects like this. I doodle. I bake, I crochet, I knit, I sew, I sing, I play my flute, pluck on my dulcimer, weed my flowerbeds, chase with the cats or let them chase me, joke with my kids, write silly bits. I play. There are reasons for this creative play. One, I must be able to finish things because it makes me feel jazzed. Two, I must be free to complete something for my own self, something that sends a sense of accomplishment into my soul. Three, I get to call the flaws in my work character.
Play is like taking a tub of olive oil and tumping it on my head. It a lubricant that cuts down resistance. I jump into my work and slide forward with a rush of speed. I'm ungummed from the commercialization and commodifying of imagination. I find that sweet place of the song bird, croaking frog, or shimmering cicadas. I find what heart tells me to do. The dreaded deadline no longer looms. It's just a date on a calendar that happen to coincide with the marvelous creative journey I'm on. This dear readers, is the GROOVE.
I hope you have some fun and find your groove this week! I will be back with more musing next week.
Here is a doodle.
Here is a quote for your pocket.
Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been. ~Mark Twain, Following the Equator
0 Comments on How Play Helps Me Find My Groove as of 9/27/2014 5:10:00 PM
Hi folks, it is getting crazy hot here. Over a 100. Whew! Welcome to my little corner of the interwebs.
Did you know that PLUMB CRAZY is coming out in paperback? I'm celebrating! Enter to win the Plumb Crazy Book and Boots Giveaway. Book and $100 Gift Card to Cavenders:.tinyurl.com/mv2ku8y.
This week I offer a gem to help you with the creative process. I can't do all my work on the computer, Handwriting plays an important part in my creative process. I have to write the things by hand and don't expect something linear and neat. Expect bubbles with ideas, doodles of flowers and geometric shapes, half finished lists, freewrites, graphs, charts, me grousing about how hard it is to write books, pages of lame ideas, and lists of marketing ideas too.
I can't think any of this stuff on the computer, but I can think it on paper. I believe all this stuff happens in handwriting because I am bringing my style and individuality to the shape of the words. This added dimension opens wellsprings within. If you are struggling with moving forward with a creative project, grab a sheet of paper and a pen you really like and pour out your thoughts! You might be surprised.
I will continue this month with gems of creative wisdom. My doodle and quote are at the end. First a recap of the book tour!
Mitch's Profile! -- Book Club Sisters - http://ow.ly/zSf99 Mitch wins Book Boyfriend of the Week! - Book Boyfriend Reviews - http://ow.ly/zShqN Wherein I Interview my character Mitch! - The Written Adventure - http://ow.ly/zSfS2
Author Interview! -- Kelly P's Blog - http://ow.ly/zSeo9 Wherein I share a true writer's journey - Writers' Connection - http://ow.ly/zSg7q My Five Favorite Movies - My Love for Reading Keeps Growing - http://ow.ly/A8VxH
It hit me the other day when I felt the urge to make a little film for my social media client. The hunger to make one made itself known with familiar pangs and growls. It had been over a year since I gathered images and wrote a story and this confused me. Why did I stop?
Why do we stop doing what we love? “We lose permission” is the thought that came into my head when I asked this. When I was going to Grad School, I had permission and a structure which included definite expectations and assignments for the reward of a certificate. Most of these assignments involved making little videos to teach our message. I dove into the task with such lust that I knew this was my passion. I experimented with light animation, silly web shows, and personal stories in color pencil. I was always a storyteller, but now I had a vehicle that really matched me.
When school ended, I was left without permission. I needed to dive back into the work world and make money, and the films now seemed impractical. They needed to make a lot of money right away for them to be “worthwhile” and I didn’t know how. So I shut down that part of me.
A few months ago, I told a new friend what I did for a living. I hesitantly included creating little movies. “Oh, that’s a hobby then?” she said. I cringed down into the deep hollow of my stomach. “No,” I replied. “That’s my passion.” The words bursted out on their own before I could stuff them back in.
We stop painting, woodworking, writing songs. We stop crafting, jewelry-making, ceramics painting, doodling and drawing for fun. We become the “grown-ups” who are responsible, accountable, and serious, and if we have a teeny bit of time leftover, we let ourselves indulge. Many folks wait until they retire to have permission. All this withholding creates bitter, depressed, dried up people that take away the joy from the world.
Part of the creative process, whether by career or choice, is the PLAY stage. When scientists discover cures, they are first experimenting, which is their idea of playing. We experiment with tools, play, try out materials and techniques, and what comes out of that process can be very fruitful and helpful to others. When I made my FAIRY GUIDE I was playing in the garden. I wanted to learn about nature and healing. And what came out of those notes was a school that is over eight years old and international, and hopefully, helping many. Engaging in your creative passion is necessary. Nurturing your loves and where your creative impulses are taking you is following your intuition/gut, which is leading you to your greatest success (financially and/or emotionally) and where you need to be. It’s responsible.
I’m self-nurturing now by diving back into movie making. It feeds me like nothing else does. I feel filled up, joyful and 100% me. And it could lead to huge financial success in ways I haven’t even discovered yet, and/or it could just make me happy, and I deserve to be happy.
I give you permission to play, experiment, and dive down into your creative passion.
I spent Easter Sunday looking through old sketchbooks, dreaming about new ideas from old thoughts. I love sketchbooks – they have the ability to keep ideas and memories alive. I also find when creating them, I'm much braver while on an adventure than in my studio, to try different things. My journal is a place where I explore, and do a little re-inventing. Sometimes things just sit between the pages of a sketchbook forever, but occasionally they leap out a decade later and prompt a new story or direction in my work.
Here's an example of a painting I probably would never create in the studio, but it was just a moment of joy captured within the pages of my Paris journal. I passed this little dog each morning on my walk into the city. I thought he had both panache and whimsy so I played with a brightly colored sketch on the back of a little blue paper bag that held a scarf I had just purchased. It's fun to try new things.
As the title of the blog indicates, another day...another play almost finished. In playwriting 'almost' is a tricky term since endings are usually hard to come by.
"So give us an update on your playwriting efforts in general these days, Eleanor."
As mentioned ad nauseum here, finished "Old Soldiers" and entered it in this year's edition of the BBC International Playwriting Competition. Now comes the really hard part in waiting to hear back one way or the other. Being in this mental and physical state of being means a slight case of nausea when opening my e-mail in anticipation of receiving "the" word. Suffice it to say that waiting is not half the fun.
I'm "that" close to finishing my latest project, "Neighbors", which is turning into a great two-act play. As my mom used to say, "close" is only good when playing horse shoes. It had its origins as a short play and over the years as is my habit, it has been tweaked to death and sort-of atrophied in my filing (or none-filing) system. Recently, after reading it over for the zillionth time, I decided that it has the meat and bones (can a play have meat and bones one wonders...) for expansion. The story line, which is loosely based on facts, focuses on a row of shrubs that separate the back gardens of two neighbors, one of which believes that their placement encroaches on to his property. The end result is that it has caused a feud that has lingered and grown over the years. The dialogue is entertaining and the story is moving along to a natural conclusion, following which it will be put to bed for a while and re-read at a later date for changes. There are always changes in my world.
Interesting how the creative process works. As an artist in addition to being a writer, it seems that my best work is done at the cost of the other. To be more precise, when I'm in the midst of creating a new writing piece, my artistic output tapers off and vice-versa.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking about but not yet in the writing mode of my next play focusing on a young girl's experiences growing up after moving into a new neighborhood.. Not sure whether it will be a one act or full play but then I never know how it will work until consulting with the characters. Meanwhile, my blank canvases are calling me.
0 Comments on Another day, another play as of 3/13/2014 1:27:00 PM
What: A photography day-trip. When: Saturday, October 13 Where: Glory Hole waterfall, Dismal Creek, Ozark Mountains of Arkansas
My husband, Dwight, is a photographer and he wanted to take a trip to the Ozarks this weekend to do some photography. This photo essay is about the creative process and how we can apply it to our writing process.
Plan for Creativity
Dwight planned this trip carefully. He had long wanted to see the Glory Hole waterfall. It’s a place where water has carved out an overhanging ledge, creating what is commonly called a rockhouse. But in the ceiling of this rockhouse was a five-foot hole. Normally the creek bed above fell through this Glory Hole into the cave created by the overhang. To get the right photo, we needed lots of rain to create a strong waterfall, and then, lots of sunlight to send a stream of light through that Glory Hole. It had rained Friday in the Ozarks and we hoped the trip would result in great photos.
Dwight planned for a waterfall shot; but he also brought along all his lenses and a tripod.
On the drive up Saturday morning, though, fog banks drifted over the Ozarks, at times limiting visibility to 100 feet. When we reached the parking for the Glory Hole hike, it was just a light fog. The guide book said that when we crossed a tributary to Dismal Creek, the water level here was a prediction of how well the waterfall would be running. And in spite of rain the day before and the current fog, there was only a trickle in the tiny creek.
Indeed, when we got to the Glory Hole, it was disappointing because the waterfall was a trickle and there was no sunlight to illuminate the water flowing into the cave below.
Glory Hole, Dismal Creek, Ozarks, as seen from below. Photo by Dwight Pattison, c. 2012 All Rights Reserved.
Turn Around
So, there we were a couple hours drive from home, an hour’s walk into the depths of the Ozarks–and conditions weren’t right. Fog obscured everything and the waterfall hadn’t cooperated.
But Dwight turned around and took this picture.
Looking down Dismal Creek from the Glory Hole. c. 2012 Dwight Pattison, All Rights Reserved. Click to see full size.
All it took was turning 180 degrees from where we stood. Sometimes, in the creative process, you just need to try the opposite of what you had intended.
Look Closely
Because Dwight had come prepared with all his lenses, we also stopped to look closely at what was around us. First, on the side of a tree was this snail. Dwight took out his close-up macro lens and the tripod to capture this snail in a larger than life-size photo. Likewise, we need to look deeply at our fictional subjects.
Snail on a mossy tree. c. 2012 Dwight Pattison, all rights reserved. Click to see full size.
Then, I turned around and saw this tiny garter snake at my feet. You can guage his size from the leaves around him. This photo is about life-size.
Garter snake, Dismal Creek. c. 2012 Dwight Pattison, all rights reserved. Click to see full size.
Revise as Many Times as it Takes
Finally, walking back out, we stopped to photography some golden lichens. As I sat and watched Dwight make his photos, I noticed a funnel spider web. These webs are ground level, often around a lot of foliage. While the spider waits for a meal, it sits at the base of its funnel-shaped web. It’s a common sight in the Ozarks, but I had never actually seen a spider at the base of the web. This time, even with the naked eye, the spider was visible. Would the macro lens be able to capture it with any detail?
Dwight spent the next 15 minutes taking photos of the funnel spider. He took a shot, looked at it on the digital display, then made an adjustment: f-stop, exposure time, with a tripod, without a tripod, manual focusing, auto focusing. He bracketed shots, choosing a -1, 0 and +1 setting to get it right. Finally, after 15 minutes, he was moving the tripod and the camera slipped and frightened the spider and it disappeared.
In some of the shots, the water droplets were blurred to a foggy white web; in some, the spider wasn’t in focus. But in the end, he got this shot with each water drop (from the fog) clear and the spider as clear and in focus as he could make it. The spider’s hole was less than the size of a dime.
As writers, we also need to remember that it takes time to get it right and we need to be willing to experiment with our fiction–until we get it right!
Funnel spider, Dismal Creek. c. 2012 Dwight Pattison, all rights reserved. Click to see it full size.
Final Edits can’t Correct Major Flaws
And finally, there were some minor edits when we got home on a photo-processing program. If the photos were already good, the final editing–minor corrections of color–would not have helped. Likewise, if the structure of our novels and stories isn’t right, an editor can’t help with minor edits. Take the time in the field–before you send in a story–to make it the best possible. Notice that there are only a few photos here, out of the dozens taken, that were deemed worthy of showing others. Here is the edited photo of Dismal Creek. The differences may be subtle to you, but to Dwight they are profound.
Dismal Creek, edited photo. c. 2012 Dwight Pattison, all rights reserved. Click to see full size.
Photography–like writing–is a creative process. You may not get the shots you planned, but if you look around and take advantage of the situation, you’ll end up with something worth sharing.
Time and again, writers, editors and other folks in the industry say that if you want to be published, you should "Write what you know." So, in between Elena's first and second brain surgeries last year, I managed to sit butt in chair long enough to write a short story for an upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul book. The beginning drafts were painful. I'd been away from the process for so long that slogging through my prose felt like an exercise in futility. But in the end, the hard work paid off. The Chicken Soup folks bought my story! Getting the news in the midst of our family drama was a highlight of my Year That Went to the Dogs, and a reminder to Trust the Process, wherever it takes you. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Family Caregivers hits bookshelves nationwide on March 13th. Check out this link for a look inside and to pre-order.
0 Comments on The Year That Went to the Dogs, Part Deux as of 1/1/1900
Generating ideas comes easily for me. I am participating in my own private PiBoIdMo every day of the year. I jot down ideas on napkins; I write them on my hand; I email them to myself; I leave myself idea voice mails. I’ve got no problem with ideas.
It’s getting those ideas out of my head and onto paper I struggle with.
You’ve probably met people who get an idea on Monday and by Wednesday, have a polished, publishable, picture book manuscript ready to send, right? I’m in a critique group with those people.
I am not one of them.
My process looks something like this.
Get brilliant idea.
Decide that I am a genius.
Jot down a few notes.
Let idea brew.
Critique way too early in process.
Decide that I am not a genius.
Decide, in fact, that I suck.
Stuff notes in deepest, darkest corner of drawer.
Get sudden inspiration while washing dishes.
Pull notes out of drawer.
Reread notes.
Decide that I am genius after all.
Jot down new inspiration.
Let brew.
Make storyboard.
Revise storyboard 42 times.
Write first draft.
Send to critique group.
Wait for them to confirm genius.
Get feedback from critique group.
Decide that critique group doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Stew.
Decide that critique group is genius after all.
Revise.
Send to agent.
Wait for her to confirm genius.
I could probably trim a lot of self bashing and praising from my process, but the other parts, the brewing, story boarding, and revising are really important for me. I get an idea and actively brainstorm it for a bit, but then I need to put it away and let my subconscious work on it.
It gives my idea time to grow. It allows me to make connections I might not have otherwise made.
I used to think of this as a bad thing. I compared myself to the idea-on-Monday-polished-draft-on-Wednesday people and felt lesser, but then realized it’s just the way I work. The time I spend brewing my idea, they often spend looking for one.
The other part of my process that I’d be loath to lose is the storyboarding phase. I get a lot of the kinks worked out here before it ever goes to draft form. I number a piece of paper 1 through 15 to represent picture book spreads. I tentatively write the exposition on the first line and the resolution on line 14. I pace out the major plot points on lines 2 through 13 and the wrap up on line 15.
As I’m playing with the storyboard, I know I’ve got the half-title spread to steal if I really need an extra spread to complete my arc.
I find it so much easier to revise the storyboard than a draft, that I will try things here that I might not try if I went straight from notes to writing. There’s a lot less risk to trying something at this stage.
I congratulate you all for participating in PiBoIdMo, and whether it’s ready next Wednesday or three years from now, I look forward to adding your picture books to my collection!
Janee Trasler has illustrated 19 books and written/illustrated four of her own. Her latest book,
10 Comments on Post-PiBoIdMo Day 7: Janee Trasler’s [Illustrated] Creative Process, last added: 12/7/2011
Love this! And Caveman looks too funny. Off to hunt for it!
Jennifer DuBose said, on 12/7/2011 7:14:00 AM
Haha, this is a brilliant post. I LOVE these suggestions, will totally try them, and also love the affirmation of all of us brewers out there! I’ve always called it ‘percolating.’
Patrick Guindon (@123patrickg) said, on 12/7/2011 7:23:00 AM
It is so refreshing to hear that this kind of a process is OK! It seems more natural and appropriate than so many I’ve heard about. I thought I was alone in this! Maybe we need an online critique group for folks like us – since there aren’t any in my area at all, and if there was one, I’m sure I’d be standing on an island in my process!!!!! Thank you
Linda Lodding said, on 12/7/2011 7:24:00 AM
No doubt about it. You ARE a genius!
Andi Butler said, on 12/7/2011 7:35:00 AM
Janee!! Loved your post, and your genius process! : )
a : )
Lynn said, on 12/7/2011 7:51:00 AM
It is very interesting that there are so many ways to get to the same place in writing picture books. Love it. I just thought I am slow, but I am a brewer!
Thank you for affirming me.
Cathy C. Hall said, on 12/7/2011 7:52:00 AM
Oh, I love your process, Janee–it’s suspiciously like my own. Except that I’m more of a “This is BRILLIANT!/ This totally STINKS” girl.
And that you are, in fact, genius!
angelapenadahle said, on 12/7/2011 7:58:00 AM
Lovely process you have there! Love that book trailer! It looks like a super fun read! I myself have a few ABC stories I am working on. I’m going to have to read Caveman A.B.C. Story now!
Sue Heavenrich said, on 12/7/2011 8:27:00 AM
I love it. Thanks!
Dana Carey said, on 12/7/2011 8:34:00 AM
Love seeing your comic strip of your process. Very funny. I think we all recognize ourselves in that numbered list– it’s a bumpy ride.
Thanks for a great post. Fun trailer too.
Last weekend, Grace suggested that I write a non-fiction book about _________________,* a topic that's long been dear to my heart. I was really excited and when I got home, instead of taking my usual time to re-adjust after having been away, I got started. I finished a rough draft in one day.
Why hadn't *I* thought of writing this book? I don't know....maybe some of us don't know ourselves that well, or maybe some things are so obvious we don't think of them. I don't know and it doesn't matter.
The point is, sometimes other people do know best. These books were ALL suggested by editors: Grace has told the story of how she sent some illustrations to a publisher, and he wrote book asking if she had a story to go with them -- the result was THE UGLY VEGETABLES.
A publisher suggested that Louisa May Alcott, who up to that point had been writing trashy melodramas for adults, write a story for girls. She did -- the bachelor publisher to whom she sent it (maybe not the same one?) found it incredibly boring, and was going to reject it....until he came downstairs to find his ten-year old niece sobbing over the ms. (LITTLE WOMEN).
One of my childhood favorites, THE TREASURE SEEKERS came into being when an editor asked E.Nesbit to write a story about her schooldays....she did, and that led to THE TREASURE SEEKERS, which was first published in PUNCH. People weren't sure if it was for adults or children, but they finally decided -- kids, and it came out in book form around 1900. It hasn't been out of print since. HARRIET THE SPY was suggested by the great Ursula Nordstrom.
I'm not saying my book is at this level -- I should be so lucky! But it IS interesting, how sometimes other people (especially good editors) know us and our talents better than we know ourselves.
Of course, not all editorial suggestions are good ones. When I'm the editor, I tell my clients that if (after I've explained what I mean as clearly and forcefully as I can), they think about it and decide I'm wrong -- I AM wrong. Whether I'm the author or someone else is: we, the authors, always know the truth, even if it's bured under the excuse that we're just being too hard on ourselves (or whatever). We really do know. But sometimes we can't see it until someone else says it.
If someone makes a suggestion and I instantly agree with it and get excited about it, SHE'S RIGHT.
0 Comments on Editorial Suggestions as of 3/2/2011 4:02:00 AM
We’re a little over a week into 
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Generating ideas comes easily for me. I am participating in my own private PiBoIdMo every day of the year. I jot down ideas on napkins; I write them on my hand; I email them to myself; I leave myself idea voice mails. I’ve got no problem with ideas.
Janee Trasler has illustrated 19 books and written/illustrated four of her own. Her latest book, 
Hi, Lita, all sketches are wonderful and shining!! Best wishes, Sadami