Adventures With Dragon

Last night, I finished typing Michelle's re-write manuscript of her book, Blackboard. I've been working on it on and off for the past couple of weeks, and it's a favor I was glad to do for Michelle.
She has fibromyalgia, which is a chronic illness characterized by nearly-constant pain and fatigue, so she's unable to sit at her computer and write for an extended length of time. Despite this physical challenge, she is still one of the most creative people I know. She's even more inspired and productive than she was when she was healthier.
She not only has many books and stories in various stages of completion (like me) but she's finished her first re-write of Blackboard, and she's done a great job shaping it into a unique and appealing book for middle-grade kids. She's a very prolific poet, too, of dozens and dozens of poems. Some are featured on the website, Deviant Art (www.deviantart.com/saintslove) She also co-edits an online/print childrens' magazine, Whimsy, with Kathy, who she had worked with in the childrens' department at the b.s. Their years of experience working with children and childrens' books is reflected in a fun and informative publication for kids and parents - it features reviews, articles, games and artwork by Michelle and Kathy, as well as stories and illustrations from many talented contributors (adults and kids) from all over. (www.writewhimsy.com)
Michelle's multi-talented as well - she does illustrative drawing, and she's an ardent cross-stitcher. She's created many unique and thoughtful gifts of artwork, and I'm lucky to have several of them.
Her newest creative outlet is a blog, (www.catholicgirl36.blogspot.com) "Fibro, Faith and Creativity." I'm looking forward to reading about her thoughts, ideas and inspirations.
So I guess it's pretty clear that I'm a fan as well as a friend. But I think her book is worthy, so I was happy to help her work on it.
And, it gave me more experience writing with the Dragon Naturally Speaking program. It was quite an adventure, to say the least!
In a previous post, (Back on Track) I wrote about my frustrations with trying to "train" the program to recognize and interpret my voice. Because of my nasally voice and less-than-perfect diction, what I was reading and what the program was "hearing" turned out to be completely different, in many instances. But it got to the point where it was beyond frustrating and was just simply funny!
Sometimes I got laughing so hard I had to turn off the mic and call to Ian, "You've got to come in and read this!" And I called Michelle and read her passages, and we were in fits of laughter.
For example, her main character is a kind-hearted little boy named "Damon." It's not a typical name, like "John," so I tried to be very careful in pronouncing it. Of course, the name is written over and over throughout the book, but most of the times I read it, the program heard something else instead of "Damon." Like "payment." What? I figured Dragon is used frequently for business writing, so maybe it's programmed to understand and interpret mostly business language. OK, I guess that makes some sense. But then, it wrote, "game on." That's not a very common phrase, but somehow, Dragon kept writing it again and again. It was really becoming a challenge to get the program to understand me, but I was determined to make it work. Game on!
But there were two interpretations of "Damon" that were so funny that I'm still cracking up. One was "Demon" - that's just so wrong, considering that this character is a good little Catholic boy! It's not like Michelle wrote The Exorcist, so why "demon," "demon," demon," over and over? Maybe it's the program that's possessed! And the other interpretation of "Damon" was "gay man!" When I told Michelle, she said, "Maybe that's Damon when he grows up!" She gave Damon the last name "Whitberry," which was a problem, too. The program wrote, "gay men and Barry!" So, an innocent childrens' scene, where Damon grabs his best friend Pinky's arm on the playground and she says, "Let me go, Damon Whitberry!" sounds like something very different when it reads instead, "Let me go, gay men and Barry!" What kind of book does this program think it is?! It got to the point where I just had to laugh. Then I turned off the mic and typed the rest of the pages!
I imagine this demented little Dragon creature inside the computer, gleefully mangling my words and confounding me, as I try to figure out how it "hears" and "thinks" the way it does. It looks like I'll have to do battle with it, before I can tame it, and train it to work with me and for me. As long as it doesn't breathe fire and cause the computer to melt down! But I'll just have to keep rising to the challenge, until I have it under my power, at last!

The Gift of Time

Finally, I have a chance to write about last Saturday's SCBWI conference. And I'm so annoyed that I haven't been able to find the time to write a post sooner.
Vacation has been over for a week and I'm back in the daily grind of work and other obligations. And the daily frustration of having each day slip away before I had a chance to sit down and do some serious writing.
I need to keep in mind the messages of Laurie Halse Anderson's inspiring keynote address at the conference. One thing she advised us writers in the audience to do is give ourselves "the gift of time" - at least fifteen minutes a day (an hour a day is even better) - for writing. It creates a sense of commitment, and will eventually become a habit.
Finding enough time for writing has always been a problem for me. Life tends to get in the way of writing. And time goes by too fast. And too many writing projects have languished, unfinished.
I need to work on this, and try to figure out a way to carve out enough time, in each busy day, for some productive writing. I don't have the luxury of unlimited free time, like I had during my vacation. And I know this life isn't going to change anytime soon. I will still need to work, sleep, and deal with the issues of everyday life. Time isn't going to stop so I can finish my book. So I have to will some blocks of time to open up for me and I need to do as much writing as I can during those spaces of time.
I have a new incentive to finish my book - at the conference, I got favorable and encouraging critiques on both my manuscript sample and my sample query letter. So now I'm really motivated to work on What Luck until it's done, and it's good enough to submit.
Right now, it's 10:45pm, and I have to work at 7am tomorrow. But I can take fifteen minutes to write before I go to sleep. And the fifteen minutes of writing time starts - now.

The Perks of Being on Vacation

This week I'm on vacation from work. I couldn't afford to go away, but it's great to be at home and write whenever I want, instead of writing around my work schedule. I've been able to work on my writing every day so far, and I have 3 days of vacation left.
On Sunday night, I wrote until 2:30 am, and slept in on Monday, until around 10:30. That's a perk of being on vacation - I could never do that during a regular work week!
I re-wrote (yet again) all the pages of What Luck that I've written so far. I gave my manuscript to my sister to read on Sunday, and she said the prologue seemed too long and drawn out for a pre-teen's attention span. She might be right. So that night, I re-read the prologue, and I noticed it did seem longer than I thought. I also noticed places where I could cut out words, phrases and sentences and tighten it up. I cut it from 15 pages down to 13 1/2 pages, and I think it's better. I re-wrote the first chapter, too.
I know I'll want to re-write the prologue again, after I have it critiqued at the SCBWI conference on Saturday. I'll see how that goes, and after I follow the advice from the critique, I'm going to put it aside and let it be!
I have been working on new scenes, but right now they're very rough, and I'm not too satisfied with them yet. I didn't bring anything to read to our WWG meeting tonight - I didn't feel that anything was ready to read. I usually re-write something at least once or twice before I feel that it's ready. I need to get over my re-writing compulsion and keep moving on.
I want to make the most of my last 3 days of writing freedom before going back to work, so tomorrow I plan to write several pages of new stuff.
It's getting late, and I'm getting tired, so I'll stop now, to sleep and dream of the perks of being a full-time writer someday...

SCBWI meeting

Yesterday, Michelle and I went to the SCBWI meeting at the b.s. They meet on the last Saturday of each month, in the morning. This is the 3rd meeting we've attended, so I thought it's time to write a post about it.

SCBWI has a substantial regional chapter, with many local members. At the first meeting we attended, and yesterday, there were about a dozen writers. And last month, there were about 20 writers and illustrators - the store had to bring up extra folding chairs so everyone could have a seat. There are several levels of experience - some are beginners; some have been writing for years but are yet unpublished (like me); some have articles and stories published; some have their work pending at publishers; and some are authors of successful books, stories and articles. It's great to see so many writers who are committed to writing for children and teens. And I'm glad Michelle and I have a chance to be a part of it.

Some people pass on industry news, from SCBWI and about publishers, agents, and conferences they've attended. We discussed the upcoming June conference - it's expected to be the biggest one yet - 106 people are signed up, and there's a notable faculty roster of authors, illustrators, publishers, and agents. This is the 11th regional conference, (the fourth for Michelle and I) and everyone's looking forward to it.

Everyone has a chance to talk about their experience and the project(s) they're currently working on. People are also encouraged to share their work for critique. In the past few months, we've heard a novel-in-progress for middle-grade/young adult readers; several picture book stories and poems; and we've seen some story illustrations. Neither Michelle nor I feel comfortable reading any of our work yet (I don't feel too comfortable reading my work to my long-time friends at our WWG meetings yet) but maybe we will after we've been to more meetings, and after we've rewritten more advanced drafts of our work. At our first time there, we both just listened and took everything in - we didn't feel comfortable making any comments, since we were both new to the group. But we did join in the critique discussions yesterday. Although I think I would tend to give positive or encouraging comments - I don't feel that I have the experience or background in critiquing to say much right now. But it's been great to hear the different ideas, styles and levels of writing.

I'm glad that Michelle and I have been able to attend these meetings. I think it's great to be able to be a part of this community. And for me, it's another way to strengthen my commitment to my writing.

Slacker No More

I know I've been a slacker lately - it's been weeks since I've written a post. And I haven't done a lot of work on my book either. But I'm making a promise to myself to stop slacking off & start writing more.
I have been working on a sample query letter for "What Luck," to be critiqued at the SCBWI conference. I don't have a lot of experience with writing queries, although one of my journalism classes at NYU covered queries briefly. So, of course, I've been a perfectionist again, and have written & re-written the same query letter 6 times. But yesterday, I finally decided that it's OK. And I'm sending it out today.
The conference is less than 3 weeks away now. I'm a little anxious about the query & manuscript critiques, but I'm looking forward to them. Hopefully, I'll get some good professional feedback, that will help me build the momentum I need to finish this book.
But I know I need to have my own momentum, too. I need to write more of my book, and post more on this blog. That was my goal at the beginning of this year, and I want to keep it. So, as of now, I'm a slacker no more!

Worry Stone, Worry Story

Today I finally decided my 15-page prologue for What Luck is good enough to send in for the manuscript critique at June's SCBWI conference. I rewrote it for the last time, and read the changes to Ian. He said it's good, but he warned me that if I keep rewriting it, I might kill it.
He's got a point. I'm such a perfectionist, and it can be a problem sometimes. I tend to write something and then keep working at it, over and over, polishing it like a worry stone. Except it's more like a worry story.
I've put aside writing projects in the past, because they weren't turning out as great as I wanted them to be. So I have a lot of great 40 - 60 page beginnings of novels, but nothing really finished, as of yet. But I promised myself that this book will be different - I've got to prove to myself that I actually can finish a book.
I need to keep in mind Anne Lamott's advice in Bird by Bird, her book on writing. She says it's OK to write a "shitty first draft," as long as you keep on writing, page by page. Because you will always revise it later. So I've got to resist the temptation to keep rewriting, and focus more on writing something new that moves the story forward, each time I sit down to write.
Besides, I know that at the conference critique session, I'll get advice and feedback that will give me direction for a productive rewrite - all books go through several drafts before they're ready for publication. But it would be better if I had more of the book finished, so I can apply the feedback to the whole story, rather than just this small, 15-page part of it.
The prologue is done now, and is in the mail, on its way to the conference. No looking back at it - not for awhile. I've got the rest of the story to think about.
So far, I've also written two drafts of half of the first chapter. So now the challenge is to keep on writing, until I've finished chapter one, and then the next chapter, and then the next, page by page, until it's done.
And stop worrying about being perfect.

Learning at the Library

Today Michelle and I went to the Arlington Library for a program on publishing, "From Manuscript to Published Book." The speaker was Nichole Argyres, an editor at St. Martin's Press. Her talk was informative - she clarified some things I already knew, and I learned some new things, too.
She started by asking all of us to introduce ourselves and mention the book we've just finished reading or are reading now. There were about 25 people, and it was interesting to hear the varied tastes in reading. Some were reading fiction; many were reading health or psychology/self-improvement books; others were reading history or memoirs. She said a large part of her job is to think about what people are reading, and how the books she acquires will fit in with the reading tastes and trends.
She said her biggest challenge is marketing, and determining how to get the book to sell. There are many factors - the cover design, placement of the book in stores, publicity - but she admitted "it's a crapshoot" as to what actually sells. People will read what they want.
She talked about agents, and said that in general, big publishers don't buy unagented manuscripts. She said agents work out the business - especially the financial - side of book deals, so the writers can concentrate on what they do best: writing, and working on a book to get it ready for publication. She talked about advances and royalties, and the publisher's decision whether to release a book in hardcover or paperback original.
She backed up each point she made with anecdotes and examples of published books and their authors. She said that writing and editing are two completely separate talents - she respects writers for their creativity, and admitted that she could never write a book, even with a gun to her head!
Many people had questions, and she gave knowledgeable answers and helpful advice. Afterwards, Michelle and I (and others) talked to her for a bit. I said it was great to see and learn more about the publishing side of the business - as a writer and a bookseller, it helps me to clearly see the all the sides of publishing and how they link up in the life of a book. She said it's good to get feedback from the book retailers. She seemed very comfortable with speaking and it was easy to relate to her - she helped give a human face to publishers. So now they're not so intimidating! She said she might return next year - if she does, Michelle and I would definitely attend again.
This was a free program at the library, and the first one Michelle and I have attended. My parents actually told me about it - they read about it in the library's newsletter they got in the mail. I got a newsletter too, but I just glanced at it and put it aside, thinking that I don't have much time to spend at the library, because I spend so much time working at the b.s. I'm really glad they told me about it (thanks for your support, Mom & Dad) and next time, I'll pay more attention to the library and its events. I've always thought of libraries as important, valuable resources of literacy and community. School and public libraries helped my growth and development as a reader and a writer. I'm sure many other readers and writers would agree. I can't imagine the world of books without libraries in it.