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It’s the last Wednesday of January 2012 and a lot of New Year’s Resolutions are starting to loose their glitter and shine.

You still want to write a book this year or finish your current novel project. It is a writer’s dream to complete this task.

But it can be frustrating at times.

This is when you must step back and remember that dreams can be fulfilled by maybe not in the instant gratification way our society says it should.

Here are some reminders to hold fast to your dream:

You are the only writer who can tell this story

Every one has a unique voice. You are the only one in the Universe who has this certain voice. And although there are no new stories under the sun, only your voice can tell this story you want to write. Only you.

Remember why you wanted to write

Writing can be hard but you came to this story for a reason. You were compelled to get it into words and out in the world. That reason, however small you may think it is, is enough. Remember this reason while you write. It brought you here. So keep writing.

Everyone starts from the bottom

It can be hard seeing all the other novels that have been written when you’re first starting out. But remember all of these novels started with a blank page and an idea. Everyone starts at the bottom — and makes their way to the goal. It’s a journey all writers must take.

Consistency in small steps make big progress
Although January is coming to a close, there are still 11 months left in 2012. So much can be completed. But you must be realistic. There is family, work, and life. Duties and responsibilities. Writing can still be in the mix but in a manageable way. Set small goals and be consistent with them. You will be surprised how much writing can get done with this practice.

So a writer’s dream does not have to end when difficulties arise. Remember that anything worth accomplishing will be challenging but if you want it, you can make it happen.

My hope for you is that you never give up on the dream of your novel.

I’ve been honing my Story Radar, and have found the holiday season to be more abundant than ever with respect to prompting ideas.  The problem is, most of them come to me when I’m on the fly… and if I don’t document them immediately, by the time I get home they’ve gone. So I’ve been experimenting with ways to keep track of ideas on the go, and have come up with a short list of what works for me.

1)   Write them down the old fashioned way – This requires carrying a notebook with me at all times, which is sometimes challenging to remember to do, let alone find room for in my purse.  I love Moleskins, since they feel so writerly, but I’ve also used Miquelrius notebooks, which I like because they have spiral binding and stay open easily. And of course, we have spiral-bound notebooks with the Childrens Book Hub logo on the cover that are very nice, too.

Peter H. Reynolds mentioned in our interview this month that he always carries index cards in his pocket, to jot down ideas or make quick sketches on, and also to flesh out his ideas, because they allow for shuffling.

2)   Write them down digitally – I love my iPad, but again, it’s not always convenient to carry around with me. What is convenient is my iPhone – and the ‘Notes’ app works well for capturing ideas on the fly. However, it’s not easy to type anything that requires detail on the tiny iPhone screen.

3)   Record them – This is my latest favorite method. I have the free app “Dragon Dictation” installed on my iPhone (I have it on my iPad as well). All I have to do is tap the app to open it, and tap the red button to begin recording. I say as much as I need to, and hit save. This miraculous app instantly transcribes my words to text, and it’s accurate about 90% of the time. One more tap and I’ve emailed the document to myself. When I get home and open my computer, the emailed idea is there, ready for me to edit, embellish or simply drag-and-drop it into the ideas folder on my desktop.

How do you capture your ideas?

This week I had the joy of interviewing my friend and picture book hero, Peter H. Reynolds, for the Children’s Book Hub. As usual, Peter said a million inspiring things and shared a number of jewels about writing.  Among them was a reference to his own writing process that set off lightbulbs in my head.  For those of you who have been participating in PiBoIdMo, or 12X12, or just find it hard sometimes to move from idea to story (as I do), this may be useful.

Once an idea comes to him (as they do all the time, because he has such highly developed Story Radar!), Peter asks himself, “Who could help me tell that story? What character and what situation can help demonstrate that idea?”

My ideas often start with theme  – with the take-away, so to speak. But good storytelling is all about character, after all. If the characters aren’t compelling, believable, interesting, then the reader doesn’t care… and if the reader doesn’t care, the take-away usually ends up being didactic or lost altogether.

Who can help me tell this story? What character, in what situation, solving what problem, can illuminate this idea?

Many of you have already read the fabulous guest post by Sara Zarr in the What Inspires You series. It’s hosted on Nova Ren Suma’s blog, who is the author of Imaginary Girls.

I had the pleasure of being in one of Sara Zarr’s critique groups last December at the Big Sur Children’s Writing Workshop so I already know first-hand how inspiring she can be.

So why would Sara be inspired by failure? If anything, failure is the major thing that keeps us as writers feeling like losers, alone in our mind with the images of what we *want* our writing to be and struggling to get it down on the page.

Most of the time, the images and the words never match. The words usually are a poor representation of the idea in our head. For me personally, this massive failure can be too much. It’s hard to keep pushing against a wall that seems never to budge.

But this is what I love about Sara Zarr’s post:

“Today, I’m looking at my draft and its large and small failures, and I know: if everyone I admire and respect, everyone whose work has endured for more than five minutes, everyone who has come out with something beautiful, has struggled in this same, frightening gap, I must be on the right track.”

It’s never easy to create in the midst of failure, but if we can remember that all art starts from this place — the gap between the idea and the finished work — we will realize that we’re not losers and it’s just a part of our journey.

We can forget that sometimes. So thanks Sara Zarr for reminding me.

Michael Chekhov – nephew of playwright Anton Chekhov - was an esteemed Russian-American actor, director and acting teacher. Among those who studied with him were Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck, Clint Eastwood, Anthony Quinn, Ingrid Bergman, Jack Palance, Lloyd Bridges, and Yul Brynner. Constantin Stanislavski, with whom Chekhov collaborated at the Moscow Art Theatre, referred to him as his ‘most brilliant student.’

I had the good fortune to listen to Joanna Merlin, president of the Michael Chekhov Association – speak about her mentor last week. (MICHA will be one of the theatre companies in residence at our Writers Conferences next summer.)

I have long been aware of the overlap between the dramatic and writing arts, but something Joanna said struck me as particularly relevant.

One of Chekhov’s valued concepts was that of the ‘four brothers’: ease, beauty, form and wholeness. As I listened to Joanna describe these elements with respect to art, I realized they were directly transferable to children’s literature.

Ease – Who hasn’t marveled at the ease of Dr. Seuss’s verse, or Jules Feiffer’s line? When a book really sings, doesn’t it seem effortless? Like it just rolled off the author’s pen? Doesn’t it make us think: That looks so easy! I could do that!

Beauty – From Kenneth Grahame to Gennady Spirin to Jon J Muth, there’s no denying the beauty in children’s book art. But there’s beauty in text, too… Whether it’s an exquisitely crafted message, mastery of language or authenticity of voice, there are times when the stellar narrative of a children’s book can make one weep.

Form – Thirty two pages, one thousand words or less. There’s no denying that picture books have form. The challenge is how to tell that story with a richness of character and plot that compels the reader to turn the page… within the confines of that form. Martha Grahame said “The aim of technique is to free the spirit.” I would amend that to say, “Within the confines of form, anything is possible.”

Wholeness – Beginning, middle, end. Problem, crisis, resolution.  Picture books travel a great distance in a thousand words or less… and the good ones provide a complete story, and a wholly satisfying journey.

Michael Chekhov wrote and published a few great books on acting, but never any children’s books. I suspect that, had he chosen to, he could have penned one with ease, beauty, form and wholeness.

The summer before last, I became a student in the Southampton MFA in Creative Writing and Literature program where I am also a faculty member. (I know, it’s a little crazy, but it’s actually great.) Since then I’ve had the good fortune to take courses with such gifted writers and teachers and Billy Collins, Jules Feiffer, Julie Sheehan, and Roger Rosenblatt, among others. I have also been challenged by weekly writing assignments, something that I am often hard-pressed to find the time (or the space in my brain) to do.

Another one of our faculty members, the biographer Neil Gabler, refers to what he calls “Gabler’s Law”:  First, you just sit there.

I love this, since I can come up with a thousand excuses as to why I can’t yet sit down to write – my favorites being, “I’m not ready,” “I don’t have an idea yet,” and “I’m still stewing.”

Recently I’ve been experimenting with a law of my own:  Just start.

Since I’ve incorporated this law, an amazing pattern has begun to emerge with respect to these writing assignments. It generally goes like this:

Day 1 – “OK, I’ve got the assignment for this week. It seems do-able.”

Day 2 – “What was I thinking? This assignment is the hardest yet! Ack. I’ll think about it tomorrow.”

Day 3: “I might have an idea. I’ll let it stew a bit.”

Day 4: “It’s a terrible idea. Never mind. Help!”

Day 4: “This is impossible. It’s actually out of the question. I don’t have a single idea!”

Day 5: “This may be the week where I have to call in sick. Is there any valid excuse I can come up with for not doing the assignment this week?

Day 6: “God, class is tomorrow. Just sit there and begin – something, anything!”

Day 7: “What time is class?”

What this has taught me is that I can afford to be patient while all those little gremlins in my head cycle through their strange but apparently necessary routine. But then, if I just sit there and START – just put my fingers to the keyboard and begin, something, anything – stuff begins to happen.  It doesn’t matter where I start, just that I do. And of course it’s all about editing – but the miracle is, once I start, I have something to edit, and once I edit, I (usually) have something to present.

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you already know that I attended the O You! Conference, sponsored by Oprah Magazine.

It was here in Atlanta and I was excited to attend. Some of my favorite speakers were there including Suze Orman, Dr. Oz, and Nate Berkus. Journalist Lisa Ling was there as well as everyone’s best friend Gayle King.

Oh yeah…Oprah was there too.

Although I had to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday after working almost 60 hours at the day job, I was so glad that I made the effort. The day was filled with inspiration and the positive energy of over 5,000 people wanting to learn new things and live a better life.

I’ve always wanted to attend an Oprah Show but never got a chance to so I was very excited to have the opportunity to see her in person and hear her speak. Let me tell you, Oprah did not disappoint.

So I just wanted to share with you some of her gems that spoke to me and hopefully they can be helpful to you in your life — and even your writing.

“Stand in the truth of who you are.”

“Once you are strong enough to receive what you are meant to have, it will come to you.”

“Life is about growth.”

“All clarity comes from stillness.”

“If you have to ask outside of yourself for the answer, you are looking for confirmation from others when instead you should look within.”

“Everything in your life is there to teach you a lesson.”

“The greatest power is the true knowing of yourself.”

Oprah also took some questions from the audience and an 18-year old girl stood up and said that she wanted to be a successful talk show host who reached millions of people to make an impact on the world. She wanted Oprah to give her advice and how to start towards that goal. I loved how Oprah answered her.

Basically Oprah told the young girl that she shouldn’t be focusing so much on the millions of people but rather her intention. It’s the work that should matter. Even if the talk show only reaches 5 or 10 people. It’s the impact of the work. Oprah said that best way to start is affecting the people closest to you — your family, your circle of friends, your community. And to redefine what success truly means. And it may not be a talk show that reaches millions of people. That’s okay. It’s still an impact.

This resonated with me especially because I think so much as artists and writers that we really want to make a difference with our words — we want to reach millions of people — but sometimes we need to get back to the focus of the work. Back to the true intention of why we’re writing in the first place. Even if that means our novel only reaches 5 or 10 people. The impact of our words is still powerful.

One more gift from Peter H. Reynold’s workshop last summer:

I.O.P, or “Illusions of Progress.”  Now, for some this may have a negative connotation.  An illusion of progress, as opposed to the real thing… could sound like busywork.  But it’s Peter’s view (and I agree) that I.O.P. can be a great motivator.

Look! I already have a…

- Chapter done
- Page written
- Outline drafted
- Book jacket idea

… I’m halfway there!

Well, maybe not halfway – but far enough along to make it worthwhile continuing.

Here are a few of my I.O.P’s…

- A rough draft
- A title
- Notes compiled on a subject
- Research on other books on the subject
- A few lines that establish “voice”
- A related list of any kind

What I.O.P.’s keep you going?

Here’s another jewel I picked up from Peter H. Reynolds’ workshop last summer:  “Story Radar.”  This is a term Peter uses for the technique of always being on the alert for ideas and inspiration.   An expression, a character, an event, a question, an image – anything can ‘wave’ to you on any given day as an idea for a story, one that can then be filed away in your “Books Not Yet in Print” folder.  Peter has incredible story radar. I can’t tell you how many times in class he said, “…And that’s a great idea for a story!”   He also said that when the idea comes from someone else, he says (good-naturedly, of course), “I’ll give you one year to run with that idea, and after that it’s mine!”

Here’s a question: can we fine tune, or improve the frequency of, our Story Radar?  I think the answer is yes, but it has to do with whether we’ve got ours pointed in the right direction, first of all, as well as how regularly we tune into it, and the degree to which we are able to tune out other, non-useful input.  Like any fine instrument, the more one uses it, and the better one cares for it, the more likely it is to hold its tune.  Let it sit there and collect dust, or be subject to interference, and it’s unlikely to work as well.

Any other ideas out there about ways to fine-tune our Story Radar?

… what would the title be?

This was a question Peter H. Reynold posed to his workshop participants during last summer’s Southampton Children’s Literature Conference. Then he did something extraordinary.

Each of us came up with our title, and Peter then designed a Peter H. Reynolds book jacket around that title, and listing our name as the author.  He then made each one the cover of a blank book, which he gave to each of us, and invited us to fill in the pages.  What a gift – and a challenge!

Mine is standing on my writing desk, staring at me every day and inviting me to write. It’s a tremendous source of inspiration.  You can do something similar (OK, maybe not with a Peter H. Reynolds jacket – I know how lucky I am!).  Just buy a white book with blank pages (you can get them for about $3 each, here’s a link to one source: blank white books) and put your title idea for a Book-Not-Yet-in-Print on the cover, even if only in a nice font.  You don’t have to write on the book itself, you can print something out and paste it on. Then stand it up on your desk and let it stare at you for a while. You may be surprised by what it invites.

Sometimes I wonder how things would be for us as writers if we were not so connected…

Don’t get me wrong, I love the community of writers. Some of you I have never met in person but I feel like I know you anyway. *waves* But sometimes, maybe all this networking and communicating — and yes — even supporting can have adverse side effects.

• Like when other writers frown upon the subject matter of your writing because it does not talk about the “struggles of your — insert your choice here — race, gender, sexual orientation, family origin, or class.”
• Or when you read advice on how to build an author platform or blog and realize you are “doing it all wrong.”
• Maybe even when you’re told that you shouldn’t work on your current novel because it’s too similar to what’s already out there and it’ll be “too late” when you’re done.
• Worse, when you feel that compared to others you should be so much farther in your writing — and wonder if you should try what they’re doing to see if it’ll help you move “faster.”

These are just are few of mine. Yours may be different or similar.

But at the end of the day, there is a pressing need to always ask this very important question:

“What do I want to do?”

Sit still long enough and you’ll know the answer.

Usually for me, when I get that icky feeling in my stomach, like after eating a really big burrito, I know I’m probably doing something that is *not* from a place of authenticity. Because when you’re doing what you want, it feels good all the way to your core. When you’re doing what you think you *should* want, that’s when salsa hits the fan.

So ask that question when you feel pressure or uncertainty — in writing and in life. Is this something I want to do? If the answer is no, then don’t do it.

Life is much too short.


Do what you want to do.

Hi folks, I hope that you are taking time to write. I know it's hard work to put words on the page, and you may get discouraged sometimes. Here's a little secret I've learned. Some days I feel like my work is brilliant. Other days it's more like "at least I did something." Still others I actually feel like a two-bit hack who on her best day can write a grocery list. The secret is this: none of my feelings have any significance. The only thing important is that I show up.

I've met so many writers that feel desperation to create something good, something that will reach readers. Heck, I'm one of them. This morning the light of dawn nudged me out of my dreams. I was still sleepy, and I certainly was not about to pop out of bed. I was in the lazy place half-way between sleeping and waking. The whole sky was bathed in a rosy hue, softening the rough edges. Ah, then I understood what the universe was trying to say to me. I'm just like the birds singing at dawn. The sun has shown up. We have a new day to live, a new day to explore, it will all turn out in the end.

Wake up and let go of all the noise. While you have today, keep trying. Let hope speak to in rosy sunrises or three little birds singing out your door. In all bleakness that is the world, the evil sprung from Pandora's box, hope is here. Show up and spin out your stories. Your gift will make a place for you. No worries. See you next week.

This week's doodle is called "Three little birds."
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Here is today's quote is also the inspiration for this post:

"Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', "This is my message to you-ou-ou:"

Singin': "Don't worry about a thing, worry about a thing, oh!
Every little thing gonna be all right. Don't worry!"
Bob Marley

Right now, I’m struggling not to freak out because of all the things that I have to do in these last 3 months of the year. As some of you already know, I work in software development and sometimes we tend to have “shades of crazy” schedules.

This may be one of the primary reasons that my current novel project has had its stalls but I try to put things in perspective. It is all about balance and reality — because I have to earn an living first.

Last night after finishing a 12-hour stint I felt a little resentful because once again my “day job” was taking valuable time away from my manuscript. But then I had to remember to put things in perspective. I may not be able to work on my writing as much as I would like but I shouldn’t throw in the towel.

I should keep writing. Even if it’s only for a few minutes in small packets of time. Or only on the weekends.

Usually when I start feeling like this, I listen to one of my favorite songs “Keep Looking” by Sade. Many times, this song has given me the “umph” to not give up.

I love this particular lyric:

It’s no use sitting down
Don’t walk ’round with a frown
Oh no, keep looking
It’s no use sitting around
With your head in your hands
Oh no, keep looking

So no matter what your struggle is — whether it be something in your novel project or in your life — always remember to keep looking and the solution and/or answer always makes itself known.

Keep looking.

And keep writing! :)