new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Ideas, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 51 - 75 of 338
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: Ideas in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 2/21/2014
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
children's literature,
kidlit,
writing,
video,
waiting,
ideas,
revising,
picture book writing,
12x12,
Add a tag
Sometimes stories get stuck. Mom likes the rule of three, so if there are only two good obstacles in her story, she can be Stuck-and-Waiting for one more good idea. Her other choice is to use an obstacle that isn’t her favorite and worry about it later. Then she is Stuck-but-Moving.
If a character turns boring halfway through the story, Mom can be Stuck-and-Waiting. A story that is Stuck-and-Waiting can die a miserable death. Her other choice is to go back to her character sketch and add some flaws, quirks, oddities, and traits to bump that character up. Even if he or she isn’t perfect, Mom can go back to work and worry about it later. Then she is Stuck-but-Moving.
When I come inside, I need to get the rock salt (and snow and mud) cleaned off my feet with a baby wipe. Sometimes, I am Stuck-and-Waiting.
Wipe my feet, please….
When the snow is really deep (and touching my belly *shiver*) my legs can’t reach solid ground. Mom says, “I am not carrying you anymore.” So I get busy – Stuck-but-Moving.
Inside a snow bank, there could be something fun like a ball or something yummy like a piece of bread that the birds dropped. There’s one way to find out - drill my nose in as far as I can. Then I am Stuck-and-Searching. That’s my favorite way to be!
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 2/12/2014
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
editing,
writing,
children's literature,
ideas,
revising,
picture book writing,
action,
five words,
12x12,
Add a tag
Today’s five words are about being happy.
1. King of the Hill – I am happy when I am King of the Hill. Even though the hill is sometimes made of black plow-snow mixed with ice. And stones. And dirt.
2. Great Story Idea – Mom is happy when she gets a great story idea in her head. At first a new idea is all white and fluffy and has unlimited possibilities.
3. Beehive – I was happy when enough snow melted so I could see the broken piece of beehive that fell out of the tree a few months ago.
I TASTED it! Mom said the word, “Oh no you didn’t!” But oh yes, I did.
Is she watching me?
4. Brand New Story – Mom is happy when she sits down to start writing a brand new story about her brand new idea. Still white, still fluffy, and still filled with unlimited possibilities.
5. On top – I am happy walking on top of a foot of snow covered by a few inches of ice. As long as I stay on top, the snow can’t touch my belly. *shiver* But sometimes, I end up holding on for dear life with my tiny chicken-feet so I don’t slide into the street.
26. Holding On – After Mom works on her story for a while, she feels like she’s holding on for dear life with chicken-feet trying to get to the end and making sure the story isn’t a computer full of nonsense. She is happy when she finishes, though, and sometimes it’s nonsense and sometimes it’s not. But either way, it’s finished.
71. Cutting out nonsense - After the end of the story, Mom has to revise. That does not make her happy, but it has to be done. It helps cut out some of the nonsense and makes the story better. Just do it, Mom. Don’t look back.
I’m King of the …… *gulp*
By: yesisedit,
on 2/4/2014
Blog:
Yesisedit's Weblog
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Life,
Food,
story,
Fun,
forever,
religion,
Thoughts,
Art,
politics,
nature,
science,
humor,
me,
Ideas,
Poem,
Children's book,
world,
faith,
play,
fire,
Ecology,
time,
help,
society,
Stories and art,
Say it ain't so,
1,
bat,
soul,
you,
political comment,
Fair-e-tale,
eternity,
always,
My view,
never,
Add a tag
I would like to think that I could come up with some Geo-Terra-forming-hyper-thoughts but can only come up with the belief that I am correct to feel immortal and know that even after I go to the next eternity, that itself will end, and “I” become some horrific to these “Now ” eyes, some specimen of thing unknowable to this consciousness, yet another “thing” that feels correct to it’s nature and has no thought of being not correct, that after an eternity of these formations and resurrections and deaths I will sink into the opposite sludge of nonexistence but after a time, that is not time, will again float to the surface *POP* out and start all over again.
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 1/30/2014
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
contests,
editing,
writing,
magazines,
children's literature,
ideas,
critique group,
inspirational quote,
12x12,
Add a tag
Vision is not enough. It must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the stairs.
Vaclav Havel
Mom’s Highlights Contest story is finished resting, and thanks to her Contest Magic classmates giving her tons of help, she revised it – AGAIN – cutting and adding and switching and tightening and tweaking (not twerking – trust me – nobody wants to see that).
Yesterday, we went to the mailbox
and Mom unceremoniously dropped it in. She said, “I could work on this thing for the rest of my life.” and “It’s time to stop staring up the steps and step up the stairs.” and “Where do you think you’re going?”
Mom is hoping to win big, but she is also hoping for her cyberclassmates to win big right along with her. She said, “Their stories are amazing.” and “Can I even compete with these people?” and “There’s nothing up there for you.”
Is she talking to me??
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 1/25/2014
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
contest,
kidlit,
editing,
writing,
magazines,
ideas,
revising,
critique group,
submitting,
inspirational quote,
12x12,
Add a tag
When I first came here, I had to be fixed. I wasn’t broken, but getting fixed was about not getting any more puppies in my belly. That’s fine with me.
My puppies were adopted at the shelter where I “lived” (and by lived, I mean barely existed) before I was rescued. Nowadays, I feel that puppies would take away some of Mom’s attention – which belongs 100% on ME. Plus, I use my belly for other things, named treats.
Mom’s story for the Highlights Annual Fiction Contest wasn’t broken, either.
But, boy oh boy, did it need to be fixed. Mom’s cyberclassmates and her cyberteacher from the Contest Magic class gave suggestion after suggestion and asked important questions that made Mom think of important answers and make important changes. At the end of it all, the story was a LOT better than it started out. Like me!
Before
After
Some things Mom learned were:
1. She is a mental case when it comes to commas. (She, kind, of, already, knew, that,,,)
2. The story problem needs to be close to the beginning of the story.
Help!
3. Readers need to learn about characters by what they say and what they do.
4. A problem can’t solve itself. Characters need to work at it and make the solution happen. And it can’t be too easy.
5. Conflict and tension are important. (Mom stinks at both of them.)
6. Sometimes, even your favorite parts of a story need to be cut. It might be scary and hurt a little, but it has to be done.
It’s like getting my nails trimmed. Like it or not, it has to be done….
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 1/17/2014
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
picture book writing,
countdown,
kidlit,
literature,
pets,
editing,
writing,
children's literature,
dogs,
waiting,
ideas,
revising,
Add a tag
Today, Mom and I are counting down about rest.
What I Know About Rest
3. I nap in my bed.
2. I nap on the couch.
…a lot.
16. I nap in the street. (But only in the summer.)
1. I nap on Mom’s bed. I am allowed on her bed when she says the word, “OK” and then we sleep there all night long.
Who turned out the lights?
I am not allowed on there when she makes the bed, or when she is sorting out her folders and paperwork for her college job.
Who? Me?
What Mom Knows About Rest
3. Waking up super-early in the morning, lazing in bed, drinking tea is a perfect, restful start to the day.
2. After a story is finished it needs to rest. No working on it, no looking at it, no THINKING about it.
Sometimes, a story needs to rest for a week. Sometimes longer.
1. While a story is asleep, it’s difficult to wait for it to finish resting. It’s good to start mind-writing a new story right away. (And all new stories should be about me!)
26. When stories wake up from resting, they sometimes stink.
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 1/7/2014
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
reading,
poetry,
contests,
magazines,
children's literature,
video,
ideas,
revising,
picture book writing,
writing class,
PiBoIdMo,
12x12,
Add a tag
Sometimes, when I play with my monkey in a barrel, it puts me into a frenzy. There’s just too much going on! Too much to do. Too many possibilities. Bite the barrel? Tear off the lid? Growl at the talking? Rip the monkey’s face off? Chew his arm till he stops laughing? Shake the whole thing till I’m dizzy? I don’t know what to do first.
Since NewYears, Mom has also been in a frenzy. She’s not biting, tearing, growling, ripping, chewing, or shaking, like me. But she does have a lot going on, a lot to do, and a lot of possibilities. She may have bitten off more than she can chew. I’ve done that occasionally, too…. (And by “occasionally” I mean every day.)
Gah! Why is my mouth so tiny?!
Mom has entered a ton of challenges, and made a bunch of goals for herself this year. She will read 200 picture books in the Goodreads Challenge again,
she joined 12×12 for 2014, which means she needs to write a new first draft in the next few weeks,
she’ll get 30 new ideas when PiBoIdMo starts,
and she will write 30 poems this year.
In between all those jobs (and a bunch of others – if you can believe such a thing), Mom decided to enter the Highlights Annual Fiction Contest this month, AND take Susanna Hill’s Making Contest Magic class this week.
So Mom is learning, mind-writing, registering, paypal-ing, reading, commenting, revising, studying, listing, rhyming, critiquing, and ….do you see what’s missing here??
Snow pea?? Blech! I may have bitten off more than I can chew again.
Rocky, over at my friend Bacon’s blog told me that January 6 was National CuddleUp Day. So I made sure Mom took some time out to celebrate. Actually, I will make sure we celebrate that thing EVERY day!!
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 12/26/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
reading,
literature,
writing,
children's literature,
ideas,
picture book writing,
PiBoIdMo,
12x12,
Add a tag
Dinner is finished. I can tell by my empty dish.
The Nutcracker Ballet is finished. I can tell by the SugarPlum Fairy dancing…
…and Clara waking up.
You mean we can’t play King of the Hill??
The snow is finished. I can tell by this little pile of black mush which is called Get-Away-From-It-It’s-Filthy.
Mom is finished with her Goodreads Reading Challenge. She read 200 books this year, just like she planned.
She is finished with PiBoIdMo, too. She made a list of 30+ ideas, just like she planned.
Now, 2013 is about finished, but Mom isn’t ready. She has one more thing to finish. It’s her second year of The12x12 Challenge. That means she planned to write 12 picture book manuscripts in 12 months. But she’s only got eleven-and-a-half stories finished. She needs to buckle down and get to the end of her 12th story before the end of the year.
Mom says, “It doesn’t count if it’s inside my head.” and “This is a tough time of year to catch up.” and “Dinner is finished. Get over it. You will eat again tomorrow.”
There are lots and lots of breeds of dogs.
Nobody is really sure what combination I am. Part Jack Russell for sure, and maybe some Beagle or Dachshund or Dalmation or ….Monkey or Bobcat.
Whatever the mix, I’ve turned out to be perfectly me. Not perfectly perfect, but with a bunch of good parts put together (and a little naughty streak for good luck).
Is that…? Is he…? Am I…?
I’m an original.
Wait. What?
Mom keeps idea lists in her phone. One of the lists is called PiBoIdMo2012. It has 32 ideas.
One is called PiBoIdMo2013. It has 35 ideas.
And one is called Story Ideas. It has 42 ideas. Some of the ideas are already used up, so Mom marked them with a star. She says, “An author needs lots of ideas.” and “My phone is always nearby, in case I think of anything.” and “Do you have the hiccups?”
Hic….
When Mom starts a new story, she doesn’t always pick one of the ideas from her phone. Sometimes, she picks two ideas or even three and puts them together to make a combination. It’s not perfectly perfect, but it’s perfectly her. Idea mixing makes stories have some surprises and some unexpected events and unique characters in odd places doing unusual things.
And yes, sometimes I have the hiccups.
Sometimes, my food dish gets away from me.
It slides off my placemat and I slurp it across the kitchen.
Then it slips into the living room and tries to escape behind the rocking chair.
I keep my eye on it and chase it and keep eating without missing a beat.
Sometimes, Mom’s story ideas get away from her. She thinks she has an idea, and then she starts writing and suddenly the idea she thought she had escapes behind the rocking chair and a new idea takes over without missing a beat. A story about a funny looking creature sitting next to a regular little girl starts out silly and funny and light and crazy, and then the creature gets bullied! Wait! What?
That’s not silly or funny or light or crazy.
Mom wonders, “Do I keep writing this new story?” and “Do I backtrack and go back to my original idea?” and “Where are you going with that?”
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 12/1/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
poetry,
writing,
children's literature,
dogs,
ideas,
poem,
picture book writing,
quote,
PiBoIdMo,
inspirational quote,
Add a tag
All the effort in the world won’t matter if you’re not inspired.
Chuck Palahniuk
Experiences inspire ideas. Mom has completed her PiBoIdMo challenge with 35 inspired ideas for new stories.
Some of her ideas will become picture book manuscripts. Some will become poems. One of them might become the elusive Book #2 or eBook #2. Some of them stink so bad that they will stay in her phone and rot. But somewhere, somehow, all of them were inspired for a few minutes by an experience during the month of November.
At her author visits, students or teachers often ask Mom if she ever has writer’s block. She says, “Never.” That’s because as long as she has a list of ideas, even if one story gets stuck, there are a bunch of other stories just waiting to get started.
I was inspired last night, so I started playing the piano with my paws…
…and my face.
Mom came in to see what was inspiring me. Was I a genius and she was just finding out? No. Did I suddenly get skills that no dog in the world ever had? No. Would I play at Carnegie Hall and be famous? No. There was a fly in the house. And I wanted a closer look at it.
*Not actual fly
The fly disappeared after my concert, and later he met with an unfortunate end. Rest in peace, little fly. I think you would’ve been delicious.
*Not actual fly tombstone
This is how my toy box has looked for the past couple of months. This morning, Mom decided to switch out these toys for the bag of toys that was hidden in the closet.
She does that every now and then. So half of my toys are always out and ready for me and half are always hidden away. On Switcheroo Day, it feels like Mom went shopping and bought me a big bunch of new toys!
Yay! Hello, peppermint ball. I’ve missed you… Plus I forgot I ever even had you!
Mom plays Switcheroo Day with her stories, too. She is working on two stories and a poem at the same time. She switches back and forth and back and forth between them each day. She says, “This one is flying along.” and “GAH! I only wrote 6 words in a half hour.” and “Who’s going to clean up this mess?”
The stories (if she ever finishes them) will be her November and December 12×12 stories. Neither story is about me. One is about pajamas and one is about a cyclops. Maybe the poem will be about my peppermint ball. In fact, I can write that poem myself….
….I want it to say, “Peppermint ball, peppermint ball,
You make my breath smell sweet.
I’ll toss you, chew you, roll you around,
And hold you with my feet.”
On second thought, I’ll leave the poetry writing to Mom….
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 11/7/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
poetry,
pets,
writing,
children's literature,
character,
ideas,
poem,
picture book writing,
quote,
inspirational quote,
Add a tag
It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt~
Trying something is important. This Roosevelt guy knows what he’s talking about. What would life be like if we didn’t try? Mom tries all the time. She tries to write awesome stories.
She tries to write funny poems.
She tries to get unusual ideas and to dream up unique characters.
Even though Roosevelt says to – she doesn’t frankly admit failure, but she does keep on trying something.
I try all the time, too. I try to sit on my ParkIt Mat.
This is boring…
I try to reach things on the table.
I try to fetch the ball and to walk past things even if they’re scary.
Like Mom, I never admit failure. I only admit, “Oh well.” and “Maybe next time.” and “Is that pumpkin trying to kill me?”
*gulp*
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 11/3/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
pets,
acceptance,
writing,
children's literature,
dogs,
ideas,
revising,
rejection,
picture book writing,
submitting,
Add a tag
Mom and I went geocaching again last week. Geocaching is like treasure hunting. Mom holds the phone that shows the GPS and compass. Then we walk and walk and walk and walk.
Then she decides the phone is upside down, so she turns it around and we start over. We walk and walk and walk and walk some more – the other way.
The phone tells her when we’re getting close, and then we start searching and scanning till we find the treasure.
Sometimes, Mom says, “No acorns.”
and “Don’t eat the pine cone.”
and “Yikes! Hornets!”
Geocaching is fun!
Mom does treasure hunting when she wants to submit a story, too. She has too many stories to count inside her computer and some more inside her head (that’s what’s up in there…). She is sure that one of them is a treasure and will be Book #2. Whenever she reads about a publisher or an agent that seems to be looking for the type of story Mom writes, she starts treasure hunting. She opens up story after story, revises them a little, talks to herself about them, and decides whether she’s headed in the right direction, or needs to turn around and start over.
Mom says, “No garbage.” a lot. I’m not allowed to lick the floor or eat from the garbage pail (I can barely reach it, anyway).
When we walk around the neighborhood or go to the park, I’m not allowed to eat banana peels or sunflower seed shells or pick up empty pudding cups or coffee lids. I’m not allowed to have candy wrappers or eat goose poop or sniff around by the dumpster.
Apparently, garbage is a bad thing. Sometimes, Mom writes a word or a sentence or a story that’s garbage. She doesn’t mince words about it. She says, “This stinks!” and “What am I talking about?” and “Are you eating a napkin?”
Mom is not worried when she writes garbage. She thinks if she “gets the garbage out” the good stuff will come next.
Let’s get the garbage out!
I know this is true because after Mom and I took the garbage out once, we walked around the back of the dumpster, and I found the good stuff! Macaroni noodles!!
Before Mom could say the word, “Leave it,” I ate one!
Garbage. Mmmmm…
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 10/20/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
children's literature,
ideas,
school visits,
picture book writing,
dressing,
PiBoIdMo,
five words,
halloween,
pets,
school,
writing,
Add a tag
Today’s five words are about autumn.
1. Leaves – Leaves are falling everywhere. Some of them are dull and brown. Some are gorgeous and brightly colored. They remind Mom of ideas. Ideas come in all shades, too. Some are brilliant. Some crumble when you touch them.
2. Cool – Mornings and nights have been cool lately. Sweater weather for sure.
3. Ready – Fall reminds us that winter is coming. We need to be ready. Mom is getting ready for PiBoIdMo. It’s a whole month when she has to write down a new picture book idea every single day. She’ll type them into her phone, and then try to make each one into a story.
4. School – Kids go back to school in the fall. That means I go back to working at Read-To-A-Pet-Night at the library. Sometimes, Mom and I listen to 7 or 8 stories. Some are awesome. Some are …meh.
5. Halloween – Halloween is in the fall. Mom got me 2 costumes. One of them is a turtle costume. We used to have a turtle named Leave-the-Turtle-Alone. I hope Mom doesn’t change my name to Leave-the-Dog-Alone. That would be too lonely!
Does anybody want to play with me?
Starting on November 1, Mom will be a part of PiBoIdMo.
Yep. November is Picture Book Idea Month. That means she will have to get a picture book idea in her head every day for 30 days. Last year, she wrote 30 ideas, and 8 of them are now either stories or poems. And one of them will be Mom’s first ever eBook, called What If I Don’t.
Ideas are a way of life when you’re an author. They are also a way of life when you’re a dog. Here are some ideas I have for stories….
Cupcake, the Best Dog in the World.
Cupcake Gets Unlimited Treats
When Cupcake Went for a Ride
Cupcake Looks Pretty
Read to a Pet Night Starring Cupcake
Street Naps for Cupcake
Cupcake Turns Seven Years Old
That’s a week’s worth of ideas, right there! What’s the big deal? I wish November was named DogIdMo. I could totally do this!
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 10/6/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
halloween,
poetry,
pets,
photo,
writing,
children's literature,
characters,
ideas,
picture book writing,
writing class,
Add a tag
I have a lot of costumes. Costumes turn me into a character.
Mom has a ton of characters inside her head. She saves them up and puts them into her stories. She studied about developing her characters by writing character sketches of them. The character sketch helps Mom get to know her characters really well. Really, REALLY well.
Really??
She needs to know things like: their favorite color, their best talent, their favorite food, their secrets, their favorite words to say, and a million other things. Once Mom knows about her character, then she knows how that character would work best in a story. If I were one of Mom’s characters, this is what she’d know about me….
Favorite color – Pink, what else? I’m a little girl.
Talent – Bowling. Dog bowling…
Favorite food – Bacon treats. And dog food. And MilkBones. And yogurt. And chicken. And pizza. And apples. And peanut butter. And goose poop. And cigar butts. And paper. And dirt.
Secrets – I’m not as dumb as I look. Sssshhhh.
Favorite thing to say – “Wait! What??”
Wait! What??
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 9/29/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
poetry,
literature,
writing,
children's literature,
ideas,
poem,
picture book writing,
PiBoIdMo,
Add a tag
Every day when I am halfway through eating my dinner, I slide the bowl around the kitchen until I’m able to pick it up in my mouth. Then I carry it onto the little rug in the living room. Once I get it settled there (IF it doesn’t flip over and splash food everywhere), I finish eating my food and then try to eat the bowl. So far, I have been unsuccessful with that goal.
The other day, I decided to try a new strategy. It’s called eating-on-the-leather-chair.
Mom was happy and excited when she saw me. She said the things she always says when I impress her with how smart I am – like, “Oh no you didn’t!” and “What did those jackasses in your head tell you to do now?” and “You’re going to get a spankin’.” I love when she says that. It sounds so much like, “You’re going to get some bacon.” Bacon. Yum….
I’m ready for my bacon, Mom.
Mom is trying a new strategy with her writing this week. Each day, she works on a story for a half hour and then she works on a poem for a half hour. Her idea lists from PiBoIdMo and her other lists are getting too, too long. She thinks she can use them up faster if some of them become poems. Also, she wants to enter a poetry contest, so she needs some new poems to submit. She said, “Poems are fun.” and “This one is about you, Cupcake.” and “Some of these ideas are too stupid to live another day.”
We should put those bad ideas in the garbage. Let me check and maybe clear out some of the more delicious… I mean bulky trash to make room….
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 9/16/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
PiBoIdMo,
inspirational quote,
12x12,
kidlit,
writing,
children's literature,
ideas,
revising,
critique group,
picture book writing,
submitting,
quote,
Add a tag
But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance is there. The chance had to be there.”
― Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
I struck lucky when Mom found me a few Decembers ago. Purrs n Pups found me in Georgia in a kill-shelter, where my puppies had been adopted…
….and I was left behind.
They brought me to foster care and my foster-mom brought me to an adoption event where Mom found me.
She said some bad words like, “Too small.” and “Too old.” But then she said some good words like, “I’m taking her home!” and “This is my new dog!”
My first day at home, I said, “This is my new couch!”
Mom is always waiting to strike lucky. She works on stories, revises them and revises them, makes cover letters, signs them with her lucky pen, and submits story after story to magazines, book publishers, and agents. Whenever Book #2 gets accepted, that will be her lucky day.
PiBoIdMo is helpful. Mom gets a new idea every single day during that month.
Mom’s 12×12 Challenge is helpful. It keeps her writing new pieces every month.
The class she took named Making Picture Book Magic was helpful. It taught her about planning a story to make sure it has all the parts it needs.
Her writing group named DavidLaurieandOtherDavid is helpful. They help her stories get better and better.
Where’s the work? This looks like a party!
Her computer friends at RateYourStory help her by giving her a reality check about what she writes.
And of course, I help her by taking her to the park to clear her head,
staring at her while she’s working,
and sometimes, I fall asleep on the iPad and type LLLLLLLL with my ear.
by Deren Hansen
Animator Patrick Smith, writing at
Scribble Junkies, shared some of John Lasseter's advice in a post on the
7 Creative Principles of Pixar.
The first principle is, "
Never come up with just one idea."
Here's how John explains it:
“Regardless of whether you want to write a book, design a piece of furniture or make an animated movie: At the beginning, don’t start with just one idea – it should be three.
“The reason is simple. If a producer comes to me with a proposal for a new project, then usually he has mulled over this particular idea for a very long time. That limits him. My answer always reads: 'Come again when you have three ideas, and I don’t mean one good and two bad. I want three really good ideas, of which you cannot decide the best. You must be able to defend all three before me. Then we’ll decide which one you’ll realize.'
“The problem with creative people is that they often focus their whole attention on one idea. So, right at the beginning of a project, you unnecessarily limit your options. Every creative person should try that out. You will be surprised how this requirement suddenly forces you to think about things you hadn’t even considered before. Through this detachment, you suddenly gain new perspectives. And believe me, there are always three good ideas. At least.”
The first key here, and it bears repeating, is, "this requirement suddenly forces you to think about things your hadn't even considered before." There are a lot of people out there having good ideas. If you stop with your first good idea, chances are very good that someone has already thought of it. But with each additional good idea you bring to the table, the chance of someone else thinking of the exact same ideas drops dramatically.
The second key is the perspective you gain through detachment. That is, if you have more than one good idea then you've got a fall-back if one of the ideas proves less good than you thought. More importantly, you can compare and contrast the ideas and get a better sense of their relative merits than if you have only one, precious idea ... gollum.
Deren Hansen is the author of the Dunlith Hill Writers Guides. This article is from Sustainable Creativity: How to Enjoy a Committed, Long-term Relationship with your Muse. Learn more at dunlithhill.com.
By: Genevieve Petrillo,
on 9/8/2013
Blog:
Cupcake Speaks
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
pets,
editing,
writing,
children's literature,
ideas,
revising,
picture book writing,
five words,
12x12,
Add a tag
Today, I am listing 5 words from Mom’s August 12×12 story. She didn’t like this story very much, but she kept on writing it all the way to the end. (It’s not about me, so I’m not crazy about it either.)
When Mom finally wrote the last sentence, it made her laugh out loud. Mom said, “Well, that was worth the trip, I guess.” and “This story doesn’t sound like me at all!” and “Technically, that’s still a street nap, even though you’re sort of on the sidewalk…”
1. Dance – I dance for treats.
2. Head – My head is tiny. So is my brain. Ummmm…I’m not stuck under there. I’m fine. …Really.
3. Bounce – Mom is teaching me to sit on my mat, so that (in between dancing), I will not bounce around too much. Someday, I will learn that whole sitting still thing….
4. Dripping – I don’t like getting wet.
5. Peanut Butter – Peanut butter, yogurt, a smashed banana, and some honey make a yummy ice cream treat. Mmmm….
by Deren Hansen
I once heard that
Shannon Hale's approach to retelling fairy tales is motivated by the question, "What's bugging me about this story?"
I started thinking seriously about this question after reading several books that bugged me enough that I wanted to make a rebuttal (it's hard to set aside old debating instincts). It's not that I had problems with the books themselves as much as some of the ideas in the stories.
Two interesting things happened as I thought about the ideas that bugged me in each story and they ways in which I might handle them differently:
- I was drawn into the "normal science" process of thinking through each idea (that I described last week) and uncovered a host of interesting ideas.
- The different lines of inquiry came together as a fascinating story molecule.
Shannon's question, "What's bugging me about this story?" is a powerful idea generator if you follow it with a second question: "How would I do it differently?"
There's another important consequence: as you work through the ideas until you can clearly express what bothers you about the story and how you would handle it differently, you find you have something to
add to the conversation.
Deren Hansen is the author of the Dunlith Hill Writers Guides. This article is from Sustainable Creativity: How to Enjoy a Committed, Long-term Relationship with your Muse. Learn more at dunlithhill.com.
Last week, when Esther introduced her brand new baby board book, Txtng Mama Txtng Baby (which you can still enter our drawing to win!), she explained how the book was inspired by her yet-to-be born grandson. As a follow-up, the other TeachingAuthors are sharing our own examples of how real life has inspired our stories. On Monday, Mary Ann talked about how the ideas for several of her books came from things that happened to her, her daughter, or family friends.
I've blogged before about how my novel, Rosa, Sola, was based on personal experiences, experiences I'd never considered writing about until I was working on my MFA at Vermont College. I don't want to bore our long-time readers by repeating that story. (If don't know it, you can read this blog post from 2010.) Instead, I'd like to share a bit about the inspiration for the first children's short story I ever had published, which appeared in the August 1999 issue of Pockets magazine.
I've talked before
about why I think Pockets is a great market.
One of the reasons is that
their theme list is posted online, along with submission deadlines. That theme list inspired me to write a story specifically for them.
The theme I chose to address was
discrimination. On reading that word, the first ideas that came to mind had to do with discrimination based on race or some other physical trait. But the magazine's theme description encouraged writers to think beyond the obvious forms of discrimination. That's when I turned to real life for inspiration.
At that time, my husband helped out with a ministry at our church that picked up surplus items from a local Hostess Foods thrift store to share with the needy. My husband's assignment was to bring the extra bread, fruit pies, and Twinkies to a nearby youth home/correctional facility. One day, the box of surplus food he picked up consisted almost entirely of Twinkies. When he carried the Twinkies into the youth home, one of the kids said, "Hey, look. It's the Twinkie Man!" That soon became my husband's nickname at the facility.
The children there began to look forward to my husband's visits. One day, as he dropped off another box of goodies, one of the boys in the home asked my husband to pray for him. When my husband came home and told me that, my heart went out to the boy. Before that request, I hadn't thought much about what it was like for the children in the facility. Part of me assumed that the kids sent there had to be "bad kids." For the first time, I realized that they were simply kids that had made bad choices. They were no different from my own son, who was around 10 years old at the time.
My son occasionally went with my husband to the Hostess thrift store to help him load up the food. Because of the correctional facility's rules, my son wasn't allowed to go into the facility with my husband. But I began to wonder: What if he
was allowed inside? What if he looked down on (in other words, discriminated against) the kids there and thought he was "better than they were." And what if a boy incarcerated there had surprised my son by asking
him for prayers?
The answers to those questions became the inspiration for my short story, which I called "The Twinkie Man." It's about a boy who helps his father make deliveries to a youth home and learns that the kids there are really no different than he is. I was happy and honored to have
Pockets magazine accept the story for publication. However, I was a bit disappointed when they changed the title to "The Cupcake Man." That just doesn't have the same ring to it.
J
The first paragraph of the published story reads:
They call my dad the Cupcake Man. It's not because he likes cupcakes. I've never even seen him eat one. He got the name because of his volunteer work.
(See what I mean about the title change--the third sentence would be more believable--and entertaining--if it was referring to Twinkies and not cupcakes!)
I want to emphasize that, even though I based this story on real-life events, I never would have written it at all if not for the theme idea and deadline set by
Pockets magazine. So I'm as grateful to the magazine editors as I am to my husband, the original "Twinkie Man," for inspiring my story. And, like Mary Ann, I continue to take note of interesting and unusual dialogue, characters, and settings I encounter that may help shape and inspire my fiction.
Don't forget--time is running out to enter our giveaway for a chance to win one of
two copies of Esther's terrific new board book,
Txtng Mama Txtng Baby. See
her blog post for details.
Happy writing!
Carmela
View Next 25 Posts
xx
) I bet all of your mom’s ideas are great, Cupcake, even when some of them”stink” – that sometimes are the best! If you see a fly in your house in winter, you shold keep it as a pet, the superstition says, that’s the “money-fly” and brings good luck&wonga 
Giggles!!!! Trev does the exact same waiting pose!!!! Cracked me up seeing you stick your nose in the snow…Love and hugs to you and your mom Cupcake!!!!
I like the way you explain things, Cupcake. I’m mostly Stuck-and Waiting too :o)
You’re being very patient, waiting for your paws to be wiped, Cupcake.
We love our posts, Cupcake. Your jacket is quite lovely.
I hope your nose doesn’t get sore from Stuck-but-Searching! Jemma spends so much time doing that that one side of her nose gets raw. You are very brave to go out in snow that touches your belly *shiver indeed!*
I love your hooded coat wish I had one
*your* (goodness gracious)
Just don’t eat that thread Cupcake!! My daughter had a cat that ate a lot of thread and it got wrapped around the back of this tongue and he needed surgery. Poor kitty, he’s currently on his fourth life.
Oh Cupcake! Honey! you stuck but moving in the snow is too cute..
Such a good pupper in the stuck but waiting stage! I am a person and I spend quite a bit of time stuck and waiting but for me I think it is PROcrastination.. 
Stuck and waiting for a break through is the writer’s life. I’m feeling that way right now after a lengthy MS evaluation. Wonder if sticking my nose in the snow might wake me up!