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One of my Top Ten Super Secret (so this one's no longer a secret) Writing Tips that I share with students is

As in,

• Step Away from the Computer, 
• Unplug
• Shoot Some Hoops
• Take a Shower
• Go For a Run
• Get a Massage
• Strike a Yoga Pose
• Meditate
• Go For a Walk

And I mean it.

I've learned to build this kind of time into my day. It's been proven to me again and again that my best ideas come when I'm away from the page. I keep my story with me. Inside my head. Dangling there like the carabiner hooked to my backpack. I let it dangle, and inevitably, ideas surface. 

Two walks from the past two days yielded:

• Two universal truths
• Two endings
• Five funny lines
• One story arc
• One final scene
• A whole new character
• Three illustration ideas

Need more convincing?

Try it! For thirty minutes -

DO NOT WRITE.

Have a great weekend!

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<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]-->Ask and you shall receive.

When I asked fellow novelists for help understanding and writing novel epiphanies, one of the first to answer my call was middle grade historical fiction novelist, Jeannie Mobley. What a gal!

As a matter of fact, I was reading the ARC of her latest book SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS (September 2014 from Margaret K. McElderry Books) when she responded to my question. Jeannie crafted this crystal clear epiphany primer, complete with Disney examples - she obviously understood who she was dealing with.

So please welcome celebrated author Jeannie Mobley.
 
I was intrigued by your recent blog post in which you asked fellow authors about how the epiphany moment was set up in their books, because I never really thought about my books having an epiphany moment. When I first read it, I actually felt a little stupid, like, "oh, great, I've been writing MG books for years and haven't even heard of this part that I'm supposed to have." Then I realized, it isn't that I don't have that moment, I just think of it differently. I prefer to think of it as the climax of the character arc, and the key moment that ties the character arc to the plot arc. Thinking of that moment as the climax of the character arc makes the question of how to set it up a bit of a non-question. If it is part of an arc, then just like with the plot arc, that climax comes out of the natural progression, flow, development of the entire story 's action up to that moment. If your book is well plotted, then you wouldn't say, "I've got this whole story, but now I have to set up three chapters of action to make a climax happen." The plot builds and builds from page one until you've got a situation that's taken on a life of its own by half way through the book and the characters are propelled along to the climax.

Likewise, the character arc should chart out the same way. Whatever the character has to resolve in the character climax (find inner courage, realize they love the guy, see who the real enemy is, outsmart the bad guy, etc.) that should be building all the way through the book. Say the epiphany moment has to be the moment the character overcome her self-doubt. In that case, the reader should see self-doubt holding her back at the beginning of the book. Because it holds her back, it causes the next thing to happen, and the next, and by 1/2 way through the book, she's struggling against it but can't quite overcome it, or she tries to overcome it and fails. Then, at that pivotal moment, the darkest moment, the do or die moment, the bad guy taunts her and says she's too weak to win, and she realized (in one or two sentences) that it's nasty voices like his holding her back, not anything inside her, and from that she puts away her self doubt, finds her courage, and rushes off to save the day. But the reader should have seen her reaching and struggling, and falling back from her self doubt all the way through the book. She doesn't see she has self doubt, but we the readers do, and so when she faces it, we all nod sagely and don't need pages and pages to fill in the details.

I'm thinking about the movie Beauty and the Beast, just because when my daughter was little I had many, many opportunities to analyze the story. The "epiphany moment" would be when the Beast is stabbed and dying, and Belle, realizing she is going to lose him, says "I love you." That's an epiphany to Belle, forced out of her by the belief that she's losing him. But to the rest of us, it is totally believable without any set up in that moment, because the whole movie has set it up. We've seen her throwing snowballs and feeding little birdies, and eating oatmeal, and dressing up and dancing and reading books with him. We've seen her tell Gaston, "He's not the beast, you are!" and Gaston replies, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you have feelings for this beast." We've seen her gaze lovingly into the mirror that shows him and heard her voice go all tender when she says "He's my friend." She's the only one who can't see that she's in love. She also doesn't know that admitting the love will break the spell, so the viewer is kept in suspense--we don't have any suspense about whether or not she's in love, we just don't know whether or not she will realize it and utter the words before the last rose petal falls.

My upcoming book SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS (McElderry Books, Fall 2014) has a bit of a mystery element in it, in that they are (believe it or not) searching for the truth about Silverheels--a legendary dance-hall girl that lived in the area sixty years earlier. She is also dealing with people who are accusing her friend Josie and her family of sedition during the early months of World War I. She has an epiphany for both plot elements--she has to realize that the boy she likes is really unlikable and find the strength to tell him to shove off, even if he is considered the best catch in the county, and she also has an epiphany where she sees what she's been missing the whole time to figure out the truth about Silverheels. To avoid a BIG spoiler, I am not going to tell you about that second epiphany. But the first one, finding the strength to break up with George, is set up like this:

All the way through the book, both Josie and Pearl's mom have been telling her she has to stand up for what she believes in, and we've been seeing her wrestle with that issue. This is her main flaw. The epiphany comes when Pearl's friend Josie, a suffragist, gets arrested for standing up for her rights, and George belittles her sacrifice. This isn't a big spoiler, because the reader can see that George isn't right for Pearl, and increasingly, that George isn't a very nice guy. But Pearl can see it, she's blinded by love, or more accurately, by her unrealistic, dime-novel ideas about what love is supposed to look like. She's been confused by things like her first kiss to George, which doesn't feel all sweet and wonderful like she expected, and by him putting her in an awkward position, which she y. It's this last straw moment, when George is so awful to someone she cares about, specifically because that someone has done the one thing Pearl most needs to do, that makes Pearl see what we've seen all along--the guy isn't worth it! But in the scene itself, the epiphany unfolds across the scene with a few short sentences--when George tries to put his arm around Pearl's shoulder to calm her and she steps away. When she finds the strength to tell him to leave, and realizes being strong is a good feeling. No big set up or internal pondering, just a subtle shift, a straightening of her shoulders, a new determination that makes us cheer.

So to anyone wondering how to set up an epiphany, my advice would be, look at it as the climax of an arc rather than an epiphany. Plot out the emotional element that has to come together at the climax: make sure there are scenes from the beginning that point to that pivotal moment. Let them build, double back on themselves, change directions, keep building, just like you would plot elements. Then throw in a crisis that forces a decision without waffling--a decision the MC is ripe for making (stab the Beast in the back. Or get her best friend arrested).If you've done all that, then the "epiphany" will be just that--a quick flash of self-discovery that drives us into the climax of the book, needing no big awkward set up scenes added in.

Thank you, Jeannie.

Now, fellow novelists, go have some fun with your epiphanies. And don't forget to add SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS  to your "to read" list.

About SEARCHING FOR SILVERHEELS (from Goodreads)
In her small Colorado town of Silverheels, Pearl spends the summers helping her mother run the family café and entertaining tourists with the legend of Silverheels, a beautiful dancer who nursed miners through a smallpox epidemic in 1861 and then mysteriously disappeared. According to lore, the miners loved her so much they named their mountain after her.

Pearl believes the tale is true, but she is mocked by her neighbor, Josie, a suffragette campaigning for women’s right to vote. Josie says that Silverheels was a crook, not a savior, and she challenges Pearl to a bet: prove that Silverheels was the kindhearted angel of legend, or help Josie pass out the suffragist pamphlets that Pearl thinks drive away the tourists. Not to mention driving away handsome George Crawford.

As Pearl looks for the truth, darker forces are at work in her small town. The United States’s entry into World War I casts suspicion on German immigrants, and also on anyone who criticizes the president during wartime—including Josie. How do you choose what’s right when it could cost you everything you have?

Related Posts:
Novel Epiphanies Part 1: That part with all the dramatic music and amazing scenery ...
Novel Epiphanies Part 2

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Think about your favorite picture books. Lyrical text. Gorgeous or whimsical art. Endings that make you smile, sigh or shriek with delight. And something else – satisfaction. A satisfaction that makes you want to read them again and again and again. 
 
But a brilliant rhythm won't guarantee satisfaction. Nor will page after page of laugh-out-loud humor. And, as much as I revere illustrators, I doubt that even gallery-worthy, award-winning art alone would generate that "read it again, please" feeling ... without the story and its reader making an emotional connection.

As kidlit agent Ammi-Joan Paquette says:

"It’s not enough to have a wild and wacky premise. There also has to be some deeper core to the story that connects with readers on its most basic level. I’ve heard them described as the “universal child emotions” that need to be represented for the story to fully hit its mark.

Now, please note we’re not talking about morals or lessons or message here. What we are talking about is theme, subtly underlaid, weaving throughout the text and supplementing the story.

The list of universals is endless: love, friendship, overcoming fears, trying new things, getting along with others, sibling rivalry, leaving someone or something you love, sickness, loss. It’s as long as life itself, and honestly? The simpler the better."  -  (From Tara Lazar's "Writing for Kids While Raising Them" Blog at http://taralazar.com/tag/a-j-paquette/)

Simple and "subtly underlaid" – for writers, that's the hard part. Especially if your main characters are a little girl and a squash. Perhaps no one would understand the hard work better than my guest today, Pat Zeitlow Miller. 
 
Pat is the author of the highly acclaimed picture book – just released this week – Sophie's Squash.


This season-spanning turn with high-spirited Sophie offers endearing lessons about nurture and regeneration. – Kirkus

Miller’s easygoing storytelling taps into the familiar scenario of children making fierce attachments to favorite objects. – Publishers Weekly

Countless stories exist about girls’ exploits with their dolls or stuffed animals. Few, if any, feature healthy produce. But the tale of Sophie and Bernice is charming and even suspenseful as the title character reluctantly realizes that her squash will not last forever. – School Library Journal

This is a paean to love and friendship, which can come in all species, shapes, and sizes. -- Booklist
Today Pat stopped by to share with us her journey to creating the emotional connection – that made us love Sophie, love her squash and love their story. Welcome, Pat!

I have three things to say in response to Ammi-Joan Paquette's insightful quote:

1. I think she is absolutely, positively right. As she usually is.

2. The best picture books do have a universal truth. It’s that feeling or memory that tugs at your heart and doesn’t let go. The thing that makes you want to read them again and again and again.

3. And while the best universal truths are simple, incorporating them into your story can be tricky. It’s too easy to be sappy or corny or heavy-handed. Or to forget them altogether.

Here’s how things went down with Sophie’s Squash. I’d like to say that I was very thoughtful and, you know, literary, when I wrote the story. Or that I spent time wisely pondering how best to incorporate a universal childhood truth, but alas, I cannot.

Instead, things proceeded a little haphazardly. After all, it was early in my writing career. I don’t remember exactly, but the process went something like this:

My first draft was funny and sweet, but lacking a certain depth. Sophie met Bernice, became her best friend, and eventually, convinced her parents she needed even more squash as friends. It ended with a trip to the grocery store. Of course, I did not realize I was missing a universal truth at the time. I just knew I was getting rejections with the occasional “Cute, but not right for us” written in the margin.
 
Soon, I realized the story needed emotional weight. At least, that’s what I called it. So Sophie met Bernice and loved her and then was very sad when Bernice began to rot. It ended when Bernice expired and her seeds grew two new squash. The last line was something like, “Wait until the kids at story time see this!”
 
The breakthrough came when I focused more on the love that drove Sophie’s actions and less on the humor, although the story is still funny. I ended up with two universal truths. First, that everything is worthy of love – even something, like a squash, which others might not look at twice. (Think of the prince’s devotion to his rose in The Little Prince.) And, second, that the things we truly love often can return to us in unexpected ways. (Think of The Velveteen Rabbit or Charlotte’s Web.) The line in the book, which I used early on and then returned to again in the final ending, describes Bernice as “just the right size to love” which basically sums up the heart of the story.

My youngest daughter inspired the story by falling in love with a butternut squash of her own. She was also very devoted to a stuffed pig and a tattered blue blanket, and I used her dedication as a model for Sophie’s.

Even though I didn’t start out writing this story with my universal truths in mind, finding them helped the story be all it could be. Now that I’m smarter, I look at my stories in progress and ask:

· What feeling in this story could almost anyone relate to?
· What’s the main emotion this story is trying to convey?

Based on those answers, I sometimes create a list of words I refer to when I’m writing and stuck about where to go next. They help me remember my goal and make choices that support it. And I’m fairly certain they save me a lot of rewriting later on. 

I wouldn’t say I have many secret tactics as a writer, but those lists are probably one. If my list says “warmth, family, tradition, safety and love” I’m going to make different choices than if my list says “fear, anxiety, confusion and decisions.”

In the movie A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson is famous for snarling, “You can’t handle the truth!” But if you want your picture book to succeed you need to know your truth and be able state it clearly.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Jean!
 
You can find out more about Pat, Sophie's Squash and her other upcoming books on her website at http://patzietlowmiller.com/
 
Here's a preview: 

SHARING THE BREAD – A lyrical celebration of food and family and togetherness as seen during one down-home Thanksgiving dinner. Jill McElmurry illustrates. (Schwartz & Wade, Fall 2015).

WHEREVER YOU GO – A poem about all the different paths you can take in life. Eliza Wheeler will illustrate. (Little Brown, Spring 2015).

THE QUICKEST KID IN CLARKSVILLE – The story of a little girl in 1960s Clarksville, Tennessee, who dreams of being the fastest girl in the world – just like her hero, sprinter Wilma Rudolph, who made history as the first woman from the United States to win three gold medals at one Olympics. (Chronicle Books. Release date TBD).

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“Novels offer us not just a map of the human mind but a way to understand how the individual human mind interacts with the world outside.”

For your Friday enjoyment and thought.

How has technology changed plot and theme? How can we have "distance and delay" in a story when we are so connected.? Chime in here.

Have a wonderful weekend. 

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Today, I heard about a young, self-employed carpenter whose hands were incinerated in the blast at the Boston Marathon. So many lives were greatly touched by this tragedy. How can we not help?

I've already donated to One Fund Boston. But now I'm challenging you to do the same. And as an added incentive, I'm giving away a picture book manuscript critique to the highest donor.

So please, read about One Fund Boston below. Then enter your donation bids and your camouflaged e-mail address in the comment section of this post from now until 4/30/13. The highest bidder on 4/30/13 (midnight Mountain Time) will win a picture book critique. The winning donation will be  verified by your One Fund Boston Paypal receipt.

And even if you're not the critique winner, I hope you'll still consider donating. Because after all, we are Americans. We may be bruised, but we're never broken.

Peace,
Jean

One Fund Boston: 2013
 Our hearts continue to go out to those affected by the tragedy in Boston. In the immediate aftermath of the devastation and days since, we've witnessed incredible acts of humanity from a community that we are so proud to serve.

In light of this event, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino recently announced the formation of The One Fund Boston. This fund has been established to help the individuals and families most affected.

Please join us and our partners in support of the victims of this tragedy.

To learn more about how you can help, please visit: http://onefundboston.org/

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Here's an easy way to pay it forward to your favorite teacher or librarian.

Simply enter his/her name in the comment section below anytime from midnight to midnight (Mountain Time) on Friday March 8th and he/she will be entered to win an autographed copy of
for a classroom or library.

Names entered before or after March 8th will not be considered.

Then check back on Saturday March 9th to see if your favorite teacher or librarian is the lucky winner!

Let's spread that teacher/librarian love!

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A while back, you may remember my participation in the Bridget Zinn auction. It actually took the place of my Thanksgiving Picture Book Peek in 2010. Now I'm asking your help in an opportunity to contribute to Bridget's beautiful legacy through her upcoming book release.

Today, Bridget's dear friend, writer and editor,  Holly Westlund,  is my guest, explaining how you can help.

Hello, friends.

Some of you (maybe even many of you) may have known Bridget Zinn. She was very active in the kid lit world, and especially well-known in Madison and Portland. She was a very dear part of the children's book community, and sadly died of cancer not too long after she sold her book, Poison, to Disney/Hyperion. She was only 33, but she lived a vibrant life full of laughter and love (for books, cats, friends, and so many other things). Those of us who knew her even a little bit still miss her. And we'd really like to help Poison be a success.

Poison releases on March 12, just a short month from now. If you would like to help Bridget's family and friends promote Poison, take a look at her website, here: http://www.bridgetzinn.com/help/index.php. We are also accepting any and all ideas you might have for getting the word out there.

There will be a book release party in Portland, OR, on March 16 at A Children's Place Bookstore, 6pm, with several local authors signing special copies of Poison in Bridget's honor. (If you will be in town and would like to sign, please RSVP to event(at)bridgetzinn.com by February 17, so we can be sure to have a few copies of your books on the shelf, as well.) If you'll be in town, we'd love to have you come. If you're interested in ordering signed copies, please contact A Children's Place before or after the event. (http://www.achildrensplacebookstore.com/) If you'd like to host a similar signing in your town, we'd be very honored. I know there's one in the planning works in Texas, at the moment.

I've read the ARC, and I can guarantee that it's a ton of fun. It sounds just like Bridget, and is a clever mix of subterfuge, romance, and action that might happen if you crossed The Thief with The Princess Bride. It'll have a pretty broad readership appeal, with the action/adventure/cleverness that middle school readers love, and the sweet/clever romance that teens enjoy. I can't wait until I get to start handing this book to kids.

Thank you so much for your help!

Holly

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WRADvocate with Us! World Read Aloud Day is March 6, 2013. Celebrate with us to advocate for every child's right to read. LitWorld is Going on Tour We're taking World Read Aloud Day on the road and LitWorld's first ever WRAD bus tour could be coming to your school! If you want a magical visit from the LitWorld team on March 6, get started on your contest entry today. Click here to apply. Spread the Movement Register at litworld.org and tell us how you plan to celebrate on March 6, and don't forget to join our Facebook event!

Download Free Activities and Resources Are you an educator organizing an author chat for your class? A teen hosting a book swap? A kid throwing a pajama party? A business leader ready to motivate your team? A parent who wants to take action? Download our Event Kit and WRAD Activity Packet and start planning your celebration today!

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I just Skyped with 1st and 3rd graders at Verne W. Critz Elementary in New York state. We read TIME OUT FOR MONSTERS! and I shared with them some picture book secrets. But the highlight came when they each showed me their "Window Into Our Imaginations" and read me their stories about their windows, based on the book. It turned out, we all had at least one thing in common - CUPCAKES!

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We've all been there. Maybe you're new to writing. Or maybe you've been writing for a while but location has made it difficult to find a critique group. Maybe you're in between writing groups or writing buddies because of a move or because the fit just didn't feel right. Writing in a vacuum can be not only ineffective but lonely as well.

Finally, maybe you've been told you're story is "almost there," but lacking the little bit it takes to push it over the top to being "there" instead. A fresh read from someone who is THERE might be just the spark it takes.

With heavy competition and increased selectivity in the industry, a critique group or critique buddy is practically essential to publication these days. And now, with the help of the internet, online critique groups are available too. One of my manuscripts, currently on submission, went through 2 critiques groups (one online and one face-to-face) and one critique buddy, before my agent accepted it. Believe me, you need fresh reads.

So while you're searching for your perfect critique buddies, or if you're trying to push that manuscript over the top, I've got a deal for you.

Manuscript critiques and group critique packages for all genres of children's writers are currently going for bargain prices at my LIGHT UP THE LIBRARY ONLINE AUCTION. Check these out:

For Picture Book Writers: 

Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Editor Tamson Weston http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/picture-book-manuscript-critique-from_1990.html
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Rob Sanders! http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/picture-book-manuscript-critique-from_05.html
Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Award-winning author Nancy Coffelt! http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/picture-book-manuscript-critique-from.html
Picture Book Critique PLUS Crescent Moon Earrings from PB Star Tara Lazar! http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/picture-book-critique-plus-crescent.html
THIS TREE COUNTS! Book and Picture Book Critique http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-tree-counts-book-and-picture-book.html

Or how about 5 PB critiques over the course of a few months? It's like having a built-in critique group of award-winning PB writers for 5 months. Check this out!

Pick a Peck ‘o Picture Book Critiques! http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/pick-peck-o-picture-book-critiques.html

For MG or YA Writers:

A signed copy of BAD TASTE IN BOYS plus a MG or YA critique from Carrie Harris http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/signed-copy-of-bad-taste-in-boys-plus.html
Middle Grade Critique Plus Signed Copy of Scones and Sensibility http://lightupthelibrary.blogspot.com/2011/11/middle-grade-critique-plus-signed-copy.html
Manuscript Consideration from Bloomsbury USA! ht

0 Comments on Do You Need a Critique Group, Writing Buddy or Someone to Help Push Your Story Over the Top? YES! as of 1/1/1900

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Received this in my e-mail inbox today:

Library People—Friends of Colorado Libraries, is having a fundraiser with Barnes & Noble. This is being held on International Literacy Day, September 8, at two main stores:

• The Loveland Centerra Barnes & Noble, 5835 Sky Pond Drive
• And the South Colorado Barnes & Noble, 960 S Colorado Blvd, Denver, noon to 8 p.m. Special appearance by author Dick Kreck (The Smaldones)at this store at 5 p.m.

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