Ok, I’m just going to get to the giveaway first, because I know you’re all interested.
Up for grabs is this book:
SIGNED!
More on that in a bit after this.
First, A dramatic look at a Day in the Writing life.
I’m back in my hometown, Plattsburgh, NY for the summer,
and doing a lot of writing.
So my friends and family ask me what I’m doing and I say,
“Writing time.”
And then they ask:
And:
That’s where I remind them that if they LOOKED on my computer,
they’d find many a finished “book.”
Well, draft, who am I kidding.
(although I do have many a PB manuscript that’s polished and ready to be out there!)
In an attempt to clear up the air, here’s what I did in my “Writing Time” Today:
First, I prepared:
I’m serious about this.
I don’t check facebook or twitter or even my email
until my work is done.
And I’m pretty good about that too.
YES I cheat maybe…once?
But hey, that’s not THAT BAD!
So, I start working.
As writers, we all wear tons of hats.
Or have inanimate objects aid us in our writing.
My first inanimate object helper is
this guy:
I wrote about 1500 words in a chapter book manuscript.
At times, I thought, “Ugh, I just need to stop.”
But little Toot-Toot here reminded me:
“Just keep on chuggin’ along and that draft’ll be done in no time!”
Thanks to little Toot-Toot’s help, I was able to move on to part two,
and put on my research hat.
In reality, I wear this hat quite often.
There’s a lot of research that goes into writing.
YES, even into FICTION writing.
Why, just today I researched:
- American Alligators and the habitats that they live in
- MG books about mice, their titles, and word lengths.
- Cockroaches: facts, as pets, in movies, etc…words that rhyme with roach…
- workbooks that get kids to read
- junk mail (I actually took a look at some for a character I’m developing)
So I got to wear that hat for a while.
Next up, revision time.
I had to be ruthless.
I had to cut words LEFT and RIGHT with speed and accuracy.
Luckily, I had just the thing:
Today I edited FOUR picture book manuscripts for my agent.
- Book 1: Deleted one word and moved an illo note. This one just had a MAJOR revision of the ending a week or so ago, so hopefully this is the final touch and last revision before we sent it out into the world!
- Book 2: Added a tiny illo note. This one has been revised very little and we’re excited to see this one out in the world very soon!
- Book 3: Reworked the ending by adding a few lines. Again this one has been revised very little but we knew it needed something extra at the end. I anticipate a few more revisions on this guy before we’re ready to sent him out.
- Book 4: needed something special.
See, Book 4 was a great premise, but the ending/delivery fell flat.
I knew I was going to have to take a step back,
breathe, and let go of my idea for the story.
I needed a whole new view.
Luckily,
Thanks to his help, I deleted about half the manuscript and re-wrote the ending.
Of course, you re-write the ending and then you have to go back and re-write the WHOLE THING.
So there you have it.
About 4 hours of writing time.
I know it doesn’t seem like a lot,
but remember, picture books COUNT ON every word to do its part.
So even changing one word is a big deal.
And takes a ridiculous amount of time.
What’s your writing time look like?
Any special hats you wear?
OK, now more for the giveaway.
I know you’re wondering about it!
I met Laurie Halse Anderson at SCBWI LA last weekend.
I knew she was going to be awesome after reading all her epic books.
I’ve read Speak of course, but also Prom, Chains, and Forge.
Let me tell you, her awesomeness EXCEEDED my expectations.
She had been signing for at least an hour and a half before I showed up with my books,
and she was still friendly as can be.
We chatted about Chains and Forge (I recommend them to 5th grade teachers when I’m in classrooms doing my program for work)
and when the next one will come out.
I joked that I’d seen people online growing impatient about the last book in that series not coming out, and that I knew writing took a long time.
So, I publicly defend Laurie Halse Anderson right here right now and say:
People, just be patient. Good writing takes time. She’s working on it.
She wants it to be a book just as bad as you do.
ANYWAY I had two copies of Speak,
because it’s a book I CANNOT pass up when I see it at a used bookstore.
And I thought I’d give one away!
You’ll see a nifty raffle copter thing below and ways to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!
Until next time,
KE and SS
I don’t write as frequently as I should, but if I dedicate a day to writing, I tend to write for a straight 15 minutes, then I’ll get distracted by the internet for an hour, then I’ll write for another 15-30 minutes, then I’ll go grab something to eat, and so on until I get distracted again by the internet and just give up on writing more. xD
Hi Jessica:
I’m usually like that, but I’m REALLY trying to focus in the summer. The internet is so distracting! But you’re at least writing, so that’s good š Thanks for sharing!
A day in my reader life consists 50% of staring at the stack of books next to my bed (that I have yet to read) and deciding which one to read, and 50% of reading it. The next day starts a whole other decision-making process. My reading list just never ends, but I’m pretty okay with that.
Katie:
I love this!
I may have to quote you:
“My reading list just never ends, but I’m pretty ok with that.”
Thanks for sharing!
What’s an illo note?
If I had to guess, I’d say it was directions for the illustrator.
But I really have no idea. š
Hey Jackie:
An illo note is indeed a note to the illustrator.
You have to be careful with them;
the illustrators don’t like being told what to do.
And they are REALLY amazing at their job,
so not a lot of illo notes are needed.
ONLY if there’s something that’s essential to the story, that, for some reason,
NEEDS to be in the illustrations.
I tend to write a lot of stories like that š
I just REALLY love the play in picture books between pictures and words.
I hope that answered your question š
I don’t write every day like I should, but when I do, I write until I hit a wall and then I try and write something else, just to keep the creative juices flowing.
As for reading, I have to read daily and I read every spare minute I can get. A majority of my reading is done right before bed though.
Hi Heather,
I love reading before bed. Until I get a book that I CANNOT put down.
And then the next work day is kind of shot š
Good idea to write to the wall and then move on to something else. I’m happy I write picture books for this reason; I an always jump to another story. Thanks for sharing!
My writing days are a bit chaotic! I’m more of a short stories type of person, mostly because of my short attention span and the ridiculous amount of ideas floating around in my head. But I like to plan out the stories first, sort of like a rough, rough draft, I guess? This is the chaotic part. And then I just kind of…crank it out. If I let the story sit for too long, I won’t finish it, because I’ll have moved on to the next idea and character in my head, so I need to do it all in a relatively small amount of time. Hooray for the attention span of a goldfish!
Wow Rebecca I like your writing style!
I admire your ability to crank it out; I’m much more of a “let that character sit in there and mull for a while” type of writer.
Thanks for sharing!
I try to wake up early, so that I don’t spend TOO much time checking through Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and YouTube. I like to be writing by 7:00 o’clock, and don’t usually stop until I have at least 1,000 words written. (This is my summer vacation schedule…it’s much harder during the school year, when I teach high school English. When I reach 1,000 words or run out of story–whichever comes LAST, I look at whatever else I have to get done for the day. On a really good day, I get a chance to come back to it in the afternoon, when I work without any set word goal. This is also when I spend some serious time looking over what I have so far for first revision needs. As of today, I’m at 60,762 words.
Steve, it sounds like your system is REALLY working for you.
Congrats on having 60 thousand PLUS words š
Do you find it helps to look over your draft often?
That’s the hardest part for me;
if I keep looking over it,
I just keep fixing stuff I’ve already written and don’t finish!
High school English teacher?
Sounds like fun.
Thanks for sharing!
It’s embarrassing to admit but the only sure way I’m able to write continuously is if I’m just hours away from a deadline. It’s a terrible habit – dangerous even – but I can’t seem to grow out of it.
Anyway! This is a really great blog š
Thanks Kryzia!
I’m kind of the same way…deadlines do that to people!
It’s good that you know how you operate though:)
Thanks for sharing š
Three years ago I joined this online writing community for young writers doing NaNoWriMo. Since then I will generally write at the same time my friends (whom I met on the website) and we’ll check back in on each other at certain intervals so we can discuss what we’re working on and cheer each other on. They have really become my muse! When I need inspiration someone is always available to bounce ideas off of. Combine this with a warm blanket, a heating pad on my toes, and a tall cup of honey tea and you have a pretty good illustration of what my writing life is like š
Aiden,
That’s awesome!
I wish I had a writing community like that!
My problem is I’m writing at all weird times…oh well.
I want some honey tea…sounds great š
NaNoWriMo is pretty awesome.
I had fun with it last year and hope to do it again this year.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
LHA is one of my faves! Also seriously considering using this post as inspiration in my classroom. “Bring Your Own Thinking Cap” Day, anyone?
Nicole: I would love to see what “Bring your own thinking cap” day looks like in a classroom! What grade do you teach? And yes, LHA rocks!
I set aside at least an hour before bed every night to read. Now I need to figure out how to get my writing habit concreted!
Rebekah:
I’m the same kind of reader.
It took reading this comment to realize that I do the same thing.
I always set aside time to read but have to REALLY work at setting aside time to write.
I think it’s just easier to escape into someone else’s world,
and not feel self conscious about creating your own.
I hope you get that writing habit concreted soon š
Thanks for sharing!
As middle school librarian a day in my reading life is reading as many different YA & children’s genres as possible. š
Paige, I love your description of a day in your reading life! Keep passing on great books to kids!
I write and read, but a day in the life of me as a reader really varies. Sometimes I’ll just grab a book and read until I finish the book (unless I have to go eat or shower or something like that). Other days, I’ll be so busy with school work that I’ll only read when I’m eating dinner. So it really depends!
I like that you try to make time for reading everyday, Jess! And good for you about schoolwork coming first, that’s important!
I’m pretty much constantly reading in every scrap of downtime I get, and lately I’ve been setting aside the time from 9 AM to noon to write. Wi-Fi connection disabled for those three hours, or I hole up in my makeshift writing shed where there isn’t any reception. I’m not sure what I’ll do when school starts up again…I think I might take to writing last thing before I go to bed, or perhaps waking up earlier to squeeze some time in before the morning rush hour.
McKenzie, I like the idea of going to a place with no reception! And I love that you spend a lot of time reading too! Best of luck figuring out a schedule with work!