By: Heidi Pitlor,
on 5/11/2015
Describe your latest book. My novel, The Daylight Marriage, is about a wife and mother who goes missing one day. The narrative alternates between her husband and children's story, as they try to figure out what's happened to her and the story of what is, in fact, happening to her. The husband is a climate [...]
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 5/16/2014
.
Howdy, Campers!
Note the four exciting announcements at the bottom of this post (including this: today's the last day to enter our current book giveaway.)
.JPG)
 |
| from morguefile.com |
 |
| from morguefile.com |
 |
| from FaceBook |
 |
| This isn't Robyn's granola. Hers had yummy bits of coconut in it. But...um...I didn't have time to take a picture of hers. So this is from morguefile.com |
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 2/10/2013
Asking me about my favorite writing books is like asking me about my favorite movie. I mean really, how can one have a favorite movie? I probably see as many movies as Roger Ebert. I have to categorize my favs: war/adventure: The Great Escape; comedy: Annie Hall, Airplane, Blazing Saddles; musical: Cabaret, All That Jazz: too bloody to fit in a category: Godfathers I & II, Donnie Brasco, Good Fellas, Pulp Fiction. Also anything with Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep or Johnny Depp. (Yes, I paid money to see Joe and the Volcano in a theater.)
When it comes to my favorite writing books, I pare it down to three categories of one or two books. (Aren't you relieved?)
Inspirational books. Marcia Golub is a woman I would love to have as a next-door neighbor. Anyone who can write a book called I'd Rather Be Writing about how those of us without nannies, housekeepers and writing retreats in the Caribbean manage to write anyway, is someone who has my number. Lesson taken away from Marcia' book: if you have a family and a writing career, you're always going to feel conflicted. Get over it. Oh and don't bother also trying to live the Martha Stewart life (even Martha Stewart doesn't live the Martha life without a platoon of assistants.) Alas, Marcia's book is out of print. I'd loan you mine...but then I don't loan books. (I never get them back.)
If you have been following this blog for awhile, you probably know that my favorite book after Charlotte's Web is Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. I re-read Bird by Bird on a continual basis. (All right...I keep it in the bathroom for moment of "unavoidable delay.") Anne is funny and profane (for those of you who object to the occasional profanity in your how-to books, this might not be for you.) Anne taught me two important lessons: 1) first drafts are always crappy. That's why there are second, fourth and seventy-fourth drafts. You aren't going to get it right the first time. 2) You don't sit down to write with an entire story arc in place, any more than you would sit down to eat one of those 64-ounce-steak joints (finish it and it's free....and you have probably just had a coronary so the point is moot). The title Bird by Bird is Anne's shorthand for writing only what you see before you right this minute. Don't worry about that elusive center section, or that fuzzy ending. Write what you see clearly now.
Craft books. Darcy Pattison's Paper Lightening: Pre-Writing Activities That Spark Creativity and Help Students Write Effectively was written with the middle school writer in mind. Therefore, it is perfect for me, when I find myself with big story problems I can't solve myself. There are exercises here for developing characters, settings, plots, dull language....you name it, Darcy and Paper Lightening can solve it. I have always wanted to teach a full-year class just to have the pleasure of sharing all of Darcy's common-sense suggestions and solutions. However, since I am currently relegated to teaching six session workshops, Paper Lightening is my atlas to writing sanity.
Craft books for kids: The classic book I hand a student who wants a book "that tells me how to write a book" is Marion Dane Bauer's What's Your Story: A Young Person's Guide to Writing Fiction.
Although this is geared to a slightly younger crowd than Paper Lightening, it was my fiction writing bible in the Vermont College MFA program (and not just because Marion Dane Bauer was one of my four mentors.) Unlike Paper Lightening, which is designed to be a textbook, Bauer's book can be read and understood without teacher assistance.
My six-session workshops can be problematic. It is not reasonable to expect any student, adult or child (and I teach both) to complete more than a rough draft in such a short time. I focus on writing exercises that are fun and have the possibility of "growing" into a larger work. Ralph Fletcher has written more books on writing with kids than I can count, but my favorite is the one he has written for teachers, Craft Lessons. Fletcher takes students Pre-K through middle school through the components of fiction writing. The exercises and lessons can be used as stand-alone lessons. Each exercise is tailored to the skills and understanding of that particular age. My kids' workshops are for grades 4-8, so this is perfect for me. And if you like this book, check out the rest of the Ralph Fletcher bookshelf; you won't be sorry.
Tune in Wednesday when I share my favorite writing exercise that I did not learn from any of my favorite writing books!
Posted by Mary Ann Rodman
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 11/29/2012
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 11/12/2012
A few years ago, I fell into one of those "right time, right place" opportunities – a picture book manuscript my agent submitted to National Geographic Kids miraculously brought an offer to author a series of softcover nonfiction books for 4-6 year olds. I had great fun writing five Picture the Seasons books before the series was discontinued.
Luckily, my editor thought of me again this past April, asking if I'd be interested in a project that required a steep learning curve and called for somebody who a) was comfortable writing both fiction and nonfiction, b) could devote a month or two to this project (during which there'd likely be no time for a personal life), and c) could write quickly.
I replied, "Sure, I can do that!"
(Note: "Sure, I can do that!" is my standard answer to most any editorial request. Whether or not I'm actually confident that I'm able to do what they're asking is irrelevant. A willing attitude and an internet connection make it possible to teach yourself just about anything, right?)
A week later I learned project details. The book would be a *takes a deep breath* 128-page hardcover fiction/nonfiction mashup featuring the Angry Birds on an around-the-world adventure, during which they'd meet and learn about dozens of real animals as they searched five distinct habitats for their eggs, which their pig enemies had stolen, with back matter the likes of which I'd never tackled before. I'd be choosing the habitat locations and about 40 animals, writing nonfiction info about each, funny dialogue for the Angry Birds - each with their own personalities, chapter intros, and the general storyline launching the birds on their adventure, recapping their trip at the end, then wrapping up their story.
I was in over my head, and I knew it. Sheesh, just reading the above paragraph again now makes my heart rate rise. This was a massive project, and I had no idea where on earth (literally) to begin.
But then I remembered the anecdote Anne Lamott tells of her childhood, the one in which her father gave writing advice to her brother, who was struggling to write a school report: "Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird." Couldn't be much more appropriate in this case!
By one week into the six it took to research and write the book, I was having the time of my life. This book stretched me as a writer, taught me how much work (from so many people!) goes into a project like this, and pushed me into places I hadn't imagined I could go. And what writer wouldn't love knowing the project she's working on in May and June is scheduled for release six months later?! (I waited five years for my last picture book, Tom's Tweet. Totally worth it, but still.)
By: Maryann Yin,
on 3/23/2012
Author Anne Lamott and her son Sam Lamott kicked off the book tour for Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son’s First Son at Barnes & Noble Union Square this week.
The mother and son co-wrote the memoir, chronicling Sam’s first year as a father. It is a sequel to Anne’s 1993 memoir, Operating Instructions: A Journal Of My Son’s First Year. The mother-son duo performed a “duet”–Anne read two sections she wrote and Sam did the same.
During the event, Anne confessed that she does not always enjoy the writing process. Regardless of her feelings, she maintains a steady work schedule of writing five days a week. When Q&A time came, she shared the following tips:
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Add a Comment
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 10/3/2011
One of my big "Ah ha" moments in my never-ending quest of "learning to write," was reading Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird. I know I have invoked Bird by Bird many times in this blog, but I can't help it. When I am discouraged, bogged-down, or, as I mentioned in my last post, just plain "done" (as opposed to "finished") I call on Anne to get me out of whatever funk I am in. Whatever it is, she's been there and done that a zillion times. Anne is a right-to-the-point kind of writer who isn't afraid to use four letter words and a little political rhetoric to get her ideas across. I know this bothers some people, so I mention it in recommending her book. If you skip past those occasional references, Anne is my right-hand-in-print-writing-guru.
Anne was the one who gave me "permission" to write lousy first drafts (Anne uses a somewhat different word than lousy.) First drafts are for getting down the story, getting to know your characters and setting. When I sit down to a first draft, I don't agonize over word choices, character names or other details that don't come to mind immediately. Whatever doesn't come to mind immediately, I leave out by typing in XXXX. When I am revising, it alerts me that I know something is missing here, and hopefully, I now know what it is. If I still don't know, I leave it in until I do know. If that XXX is still around in the
final draft it's usually a sign that I didn't need whatever it was in the first place.
Unlike Jo Ann, I hate writing first drafts. Sometimes I feel like Moses wandering in the wilderness. Very often there are huge holes in my plot (like Jeanne Marie, plotting is my weakness). Right now I am going to break Esther's very sensible rule about not talking about what you are writing (the more time you spend time talking about it, the less energy you have to write it.) However, I am pushing my fiction envelope and writing a verse novel. For the record, I am not writing a verse novel because I am a poet ( I most definitely am not) or because verse novels are hot stuff right now. I just think it is the best and possibly the only way I can write this particular story, which is in three voices and so intense and occasionally gruesome, that it is too heavy to write as straight prose.
The best thing about writing this first draft is that the verse format works really well with my particular way of writing. I don't write in sequence. I don't start with chapter one and then proceed to chapters two, three, etc. When I sit down to write, I write whatever is clearest in my mind that day. When I go back to write again, maybe I will continue with that scene, character, episode (pick one) or it sparks a chapter that I know will come before or after what I have already written. I don't worry where it will come. I just write. Backward, forwards, occasionally upside down (kidding). The only consistent thing is that whatever I think is going to be the last chapter, never is.
When I go back for revision (the part of writing I love) I put my work into a preliminary order, sometimes shuffling chapter positions, but always discovering where there is a hole, or where I need a transition. Sometimes I find characters hanging around the edges of the story, not pulling their load. (They are fired.)
This might not work for anyone but me. (I am ADD, and not the most organized person...at least not by organized person standards.) The point is to do what it takes to get out that first draft. This morning I've been writing a poem that I have no idea where it is going to fit in the book's trajectory. Maybe it will get the old heave ho in the final draft. But for right now, I feel pretty good about it. (I actually got the idea sitting in the skating rink parking lot last week, and wrote the notes for it on the deposit slips of my checkbook..I didn't have any paper.) I have also written on McDonald's napkins, air
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 9/25/2009
Hooray--it’s Poetry Friday! Today’s poem and lesson plan are at the end of this post.
I’ve always felt that that if nothing else, I’m good at being a portal. A conduit between what someone wants and how they can get it. That's what has given me the to courage to teach Writing Picture Books for Children through UCLA Extension’s Writer’s Program for over a decade. This class is for newbie children’s book writers--not for those who have read a lot, taken classes, submitted stories, or joined organizations.
To these toe-in-the-water beginners I assign two books. The first is
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books—3rd Edition by Harold Underdown.
This is a comprehensive, down-to-earth guide—worth reading cover-to-cover and easy to dip into as a reference. It presents a broad overview of the field but also gives specifics. As with all Idiot Guides, it's easy to browse and packed with extras like "Vocabulary Lists," which explain terms in the children's publishing industry; "Class Rules," which detail warnings and cautions; "Can You Keep a Secret?" which include tips and resources to help a children's writer or illustrator present him or herself as a pro; and my favorite, "Playground Stories," which are anecdotes from and profiles of children's authors and publishers, giving an insiders view of the children's publishing world.
The other required book is Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott.
Teaching Authors Jeanne Marie and Mary Ann have both talked about Bird by Bird...and I’m going to talk about again. Because yes, it’s that good.
My favorite chapter is the one on jealousy, which changed my life. I read it at least once a year to quell my burning heart.
Though I happily celebrate most friends' successes, some colleagues' successes cause me great agony and confusion. Several years ago, someone gently suggested that perhaps I shouldn't read the book review section right before I went to sleep. She was right. When I'd see certain names, I'd toss and turn all night, feeling like I'd lost a race I didn't even know I was in.
This is really embarrassing to admit.
I've been more loving to myself about this in the last few years, and Anne Lamott's BIrd by Bird is a big reason why. She writes:
“But if you continue to write, you are probably going to have to deal with [jealousy], because some wonderful dazzling successes are going to happen for some of the most awful, angry undeserving writers you know—people who are, in other words, not you."
and later,
"It can wreak just the tiniest bit of havoc with your self-esteem to find that you are hoping for small bad things to happen to this friend--for, say, her head to blow up."
Who, me?
She writes about seeing a documentary on AIDS:
"You could see the amazing fortitude of people going through horror with grace...seeing that this is what you've got, this disease, or maybe even this jealousy. So you do as well as you can with it. And this ravaged body or wounded psyche...should...be cared for as softly and tenderly as possble."
Lamott has shown me that yes, I have this tendency to be jealous, yes, I have this green spot on my heart…and though I try each year to make it smaller, I may have to live with that little green spot, be amused by that part of me and love myself anyway.
I’m human. What a surprise.
Writing Workout / Lesson Plan—
Metaphor—Getting a Handle on a Really Uncomfortable Feeling
For ages 7 through adult (or younger, with individual help.)
Objective: This lesson reminds us how writing can help us when we feel awful. (And if the feeling doesn’t go away, at least we’ve got a poem out of it!)
Instructions:
1. Think of someone or something that fills you with envy (or another awful feeling).
2. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath.
3. Feel this feeling in your stomach, in your bloodstream, filling every bone in your body.
4. Or instead, think about what helps drive this emotion from your body. Feel the relief as it leaves through the top of your head, through your finger tips, through the bottoms of your feet.
5. Brainstorm at least five metaphors for jealousy or for what makes jealousy go away. Are you a leaf and is your jealousy a worm chewing on you? Is your jealousy a ring in the bathtub being scrubbed clean with Ajax cleanser?
6. Write a poem using one of your metaphors.
7. Write honestly—even if it embarrasses you.
ANYTHING I CAN DO YOU CAN DO BETTER
or
CAN OF WORMS
by April Halprin Wayland
Varda once told us
that we were all cans on a shelf.
Cans of chili, kidney beans, split pea soup.
I decided that I was a can of apricot halves.
She said that the shelf was only one can deep
but that it stretched out forever
so there’s always room
for one more.
“You don’t have to be afraid that adding another can
means there isn’t enough room for you,”
“You can even help a new can
onto the shelf next to you.”
And she never talked
about jealousy again.
© April Halprin Wayland
Out and About
I’m giving a short program and book signing at the fabulous
Children’s Book World in
If you can’t come, call 310-559-2665 (310-559-book) and they’ll send you your very own autographed copy of New Year at the Pier!
All drawings by April Halprin Wayland
By: Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 9/21/2009
For the past week or so, you, Our Faithful Followers, have sent us your favorite books on writing for children and young adults. Now it's out turn (the Teaching Authors) to join the conversation with OUR favorite books.
I'm going to cheat an eensy bit here, because my absolute favorite book on writing is not about teaching OR writing for children. It is more of inspirational book, and geared for all writers, not just those of us who write for the 18-and-under crowd. I also have a favorite teaching book, so you are really getting a two-for-one-deal here.
My all-time-favorite-don't-leave-home-without-it book is Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Now I realize that Bird is not everyone's cup of tea. Anne Lamott is one highly opinionated writer, and her opinions in this book include hers on American politics, women's reproductive rights and religion, in addition to writing. If you pick past her mini-rants, you will find a lot of common sense on writing. Or, more specifically, in dealing with all the "garbage" your mind generates in the way of negative self-talk as you wrestle with your own prose. (Naturally, Lamott uses a shorter and less polite term for "garbage").
Negative self-talk is one of my big time problems that can stall me on a project for months at a time. "Who do you think you are? Karen Hesse?" (or my idol of the moment) "What makes you think you are a good enough writer to take on this story?" "So what if I've sold a book (or two or four or eight?) I got lucky. I'll never do it again." These are only some of the gems my mental radio station broadcasts to me in an "all-talk, all-negative, all the time" format. Lamott tells you how to pull the plug on this station, and other ways to kill your Inner Negative Writer.
Bird by Bird introduced me to the single most earth-shattering notion of my entire writing life; "permission" to write crummy first drafts. (Again, Lamott uses a far more colorful word than "crummy" to describe a first draft.) Perhaps this is just common sense to most of you, but the news that I did not have to hunt for just the right word or character name, or blitz through a transition scene, already knowing that it wouldn't work....just to get to the END of a first draft..why this was the best news ever! If given "permission," I will meander through a first draft, picking over my word choices like Forrest Gump with a box of chocolates. I will hunt through my "name books" for days, choosing and rejecting character names. All of which are good things to do...but not in a first draft. First drafts are for banging it out, getting it done, reaching the other side of the river.
Lovers of Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird book about her writing life, rush to the DVD store tomorrow. Docurama Films is bringing out Bird By Bird With Annie, a documentary (”portrait” according to the box cover) about the writer, whose Bird By Bird is often listed as one of the favorite books on writing. Look at how many times it pops up in answer to literary agent Nathan Bransford’s question, What are your favorite books on writing?
Lamott is very open and candid in the documentary, by Freida Lee Mock. Mock filmed Lamott in interviews, at book events, at church, during speeches and during personal, quiet moments, such as driving in her convertible.
Lamott talks about her childhood, her former alcoholism and her Christian faith with sincerity. It’s a touching, inspirational story.
She also talks about writing and being published.
“Publication is not any kind of solution. When you get your first book published, you’ll be so much more mentally ill than you are right now.”
Lamott gives advice to laughing audiences, but the advice is good. Like this prayer she says:
“Please God help me get out of my way so I can write what wants to be written.”
One of the things that’s so comforting in Lamott’s book and in this film is that Lamott is just as insecure as the rest of us. Here’s a quote from right at the beginning of the documentary:
“You’re always on borrowed time. None of your favorite writers, let alone your personal selfs, sit down in the morning and just feel great about the work ahead of them. No one sits down and feels like a million dollars.”
At the end of the documentary, Mock has treated her viewers to an entire talk by Lamott, one that’s exerpted in the film, but it’s great to be able to see it all the way through.
Bird By Bird With Annie is a funny, touching and interesting film that any fan of Lamott and her books, especially her writing book, will love.
If your video store doesn’t carry it, tell them it’s from Docurama Films and to order it. Or get it online. Amazon has it, as I’m sure others do.
And if you haven’t read the book Bird By Bird, do. It’s a good one. Again, Amazon has it, as I’m sure others do.
Write On!
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 10/3/2008
I posted earlier this week about the gifts of friendship yielded by the mostly private writing life; I wrote, particularly, about Jayne Anne Phillips.
My story was about the time I'd spent with Jayne Anne in Prague; Jay Kirk, that enormously gifted writer whom I've praised in other blog entries (most recently that gorgeous Rwanda piece in GQ) and whom I've benefited so hugely from knowing since 2005, wrote to tell me about the quality of a critique Jayne Anne had given him at Bread Loaf. The email dialogue went (paraphrasically) thusly:
Me: Wait. What year were you at Bread Loaf?
Jay: I was there in '96.
Me: As was I. Grace Paley. Anne Lamott. The gorgeous Olena Kaltyiak Davis. Jane Satterfield. Brooks Hansen.
Jay: Wait. You were in our class? Or were you teaching...
Well, indeed. You get that point. Apparently, I've known Jay since 1996. Apparently, we sat in the same small classroom. Surely, I read pages from his then novel-in-progress; I remember the beating pulse of the guy's talent. And beyond this being one of those ain't-life-strange conjunctions, it raises for me this question:
How do I keep managing to trip up against blazing talents who are also (don't ever take this for granted) hugely good souls? The sort of people I need to know, because without them I wouldn't think nearly as hard. I had the chance to know Jay a long time ago, it seems. I was given (fluke that it was) a second chance. Thank goodness I was finally paying attention in '05. It would have been lousy if I hadn't.
By: Julie Fortenberry,
on 4/4/2008
By: Charlesbridge,
on 11/5/2007
Anne Lamott is my favorite writer who writes about writing.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is my favorite book about writing.
Word by Word by Anne Lamott is my favorite audio tape about writing.
By: Garden Painter Art,
on 7/14/2007
Good Morning:
Well...here I am cruising through another Saturday, no closer to creating than I was last Saturday. My week was filled with Dr. appointments for my mom and other "not so fun" logistical messes. Planning and time management have never been an area of strength for me, and as I've gotten older, I think I'm actually less inclined to be logical!! But...I have no real plans today other than piddling around in my garden and watching a ridiculously horrible movie on Sci-Fi tonight with Gary. The Saturday night movie on Sci-Fi has become almost legendary around my house. Tonight, we're watching "SuperGator"!!!! Now, doesn't that sound compelling and intense? Seriously, the movie is simply an excuse for my husband and me to have a glass of wine and share a bowl of popcorn together. After a week of dealing with "Gastrointerologists", I could use a nice, do nothing week-end.
I've strolled through my garden this morning and discovered the always dreaded cut-worm feasting on my Geraniums:
They are hideously masterful at camouflage...
and even after all these years, they still give me the creeps. I must admit, I do take a bit of sick pleasure out of squishing them beneath my purple garden Crocs. They are devastating little buggers and I really have no way to control them other than physically picking them off and destroying them. I don't use any chemicals in my garden that could harm my dogs or harm the naturally occuring lizards and birds, therefore, hand-picking it is.
On a brighter note, I have a flower box full of gorgeous "Angelonia"...
I love these flowers because they look like they have two huge teeth in their big wide open mouths...
After taking in the wild array of colorful growing things in my yard, I'm feeling a little creative spark now. Will it catch fire? Will I sit down in my studio chair and feel exhilirated and worthwhile? It is yet to be seen ~~
******************************************
Although I haven't "created" a new collage in weeks, I have a huge inventory to make prints from. Considering my darkish mood lately, I've listed 10 of my crow collage prints in My Etsy Shop. Here's an example:
Thanks so much for dropping by today. My loyal readers mean so much to me, especially during these dry spells when my art and writing are intensly lacking.
Until Tomorrow:
Kim
Garden Painter Art
allaroundthemall.blogspot.com
Late, but wanted to say thanks for all your ideas. I love Fletcher's books, just wonderful support for me and for teachers. I just purchased a new book by Judith Ortiz Cofer, Lessons From A Writer's Life at a recent literacy conference. It looks as if it will be a good one to share parts of with adolescents.
Thanks to Mary Ann and Carmela and all of our readers who've added to my Writer's Bookshelf, not to mention my credit card bill this month! :)
I'm STILL swooning after meeting, in person (!), the one-and-only Ralph Fletcher last week at the Denver, CO Colorado Chapter IRA Conference. Attending his luncheon too and hearing him talk about The WRiter's Notebook still has me smiling.
And, since it's almost Valentine's Day,I want to pass on the link to The Word Needs More Love Letters project at http://www.moreloveletters.com/welcome/intro-love-letter/
I'll be using this project with writers and their families next week.
Mary Ann--I have only one question: (picture this in tiny little letters)...may I take your writing class?
Ah, a gal can dream...