Coffee Shop Hop

I am in Nash-Vegas this week (that's Nashville, Tennessee).  My girls are all in Spanish immersion day camp having a blast playing games in Spanish and cooking Mexican food.  

This means that, yes, I have all day to myself--all day to work on my middle grade that has been simmering on the back burner for several months now . . .

Before I came to Nashville, I did some asking around and discovered that the coolest coffee shop around was Fido--a coffee shop that used to be a pet store.  There are doggie prints in the concrete and other cute leftovers from the building's pet store days.   I love this place--great coffee, great local organic food, great atmosphere (a little loud, but fun) . . . but there is one tiny problem.  There are no plugs.  And, my laptop battery lasts about two-three hours.  Tops.

So, I did some more sleuthing and figured out that there was another really cool coffee shop owned by the same people (so no guilt about switching loyalty or infidelity or anything) called Bongo Java. I set my GPS and found my new digs.  Again, a problem.  The only parking spaces that I could find were for two hour parking.  Bug!!

Anyway, today I went back to Fido and turned off my airport, dimmed my screen light, and worked furiously on my middle grade.  I didn't get to stay all day and work as long as I liked, but I'm getting a ton of stuff done.  And, I took some good breaks and read some other middle grade books for help with voice.

Plus, I got to spend a little time at Anthropologie (after my battery died, of course).

sf

Critical Eyes

First of all, I want to say that the picture to your left has absolutely NOTHING to do with this post.  I'm just a little jealous of all of Katie's cool pictures . . . except maybe I'm trying to look "critical".

I've been reading manuscripts over the last week for some of my writer friends.  First, I read a very cool YA thriller by Shelli Johannes Wells which is full of amazing, page-turning suspense.  Great characters . . . great book.  I can't wait to see it on the shelves.

Right now, I'm in the middle of Katie's very sexy, very intriguing YA novel.  I don't want to give anything away, but she's right--it's wicked cool.

Critiquing manuscripts is tricky business.  I tend to be overly heavy-handed with my comments, and I always try to remind my writer friends how subjective critiques are.  My new favorite website is Shannon Hale's.  In the section of her site called "Mincemeat",  she gives some really juicy advice for writers.  She also addresses how to take (and dish out) critique suggestions. She says, ". . .remember--others can identify the things that aren't working, but no one can tell you how to fix them.  Unfortunately, that's the sole burden of the author."  She also talks about the importance of recognizing when someone understands what it is you are trying to do as a writer.  If you feel like someone doesn't "get" you, you should not give a whole lot of weight to that person's comments.

So . . . I'm trying hard to write notes suggesting problems without suggesting how to fix them.  And, I completely expect my writer friends to ignore any comments that they think are completely off-base.  That said, I'm loving doing this, and I'm learning so much about the craft and structure of writing novels.   I've had a bit of a break from my own WIP, and I'm ready to get back to it with fresh, critical eyes.

The Sick House

I've just returned from a weekend trip to Birmingham with my oldest daughter.  It was her birthday, and she wanted to forego the birthday party and go shopping for something "cool" for her room.  As you can imagine, I was ecstatic.  No slumber party with insomniac, crying, emotionally hysterical ten-year-old girls?  Woo Hoo!!!  (although I probably missed out on some great research for my middle-grade)

While in Birmingham, I had a fantastic lunch with Lindsey Leavitt and Irene Latham, both authors with books coming out in 2010.  I had met them at our regional SCBWI conference last year and couldn't wait to catch up.  We talked about all kinds of wonderful writer things--at least as much as we could without boring my daughter and Irene's son into a stupor--and Irene asked me when I wrote my first novel.  Hmmm.  When?

I wrote it after I had my last baby--when I had a newborn.  It hit me what a gift it was for me as a writer to have that little, helpless baby in my life.  The thing about newborns is that they don't do much, and they can't get into trouble.  They just lie around looking adorable, and they sleep a LOT (okay, there are body functions that have to be taken care of from time to time, too).  But, having a baby who took morning and afternoon naps did something for me . . . she forced me to stay at home with nothing else to do.  I couldn't run out to the gym or grocery store.  I could say "no" to field trips and other mom obligations.  That little baby actually enabled me to get my novel written!!

Before and after my trip this weekend, my family has been plagued by a wicked stomach bug. Once again, I've been forced to stay here at home.  I couldn't leave right now to go to Kroger if I wanted to because I've got an eight-year-old napping upstairs.  And what has happened these last few days???  I have been camped out on my living room couch surrounded by writing books, conference notes, and my computer--and I've been cooking on my latest novel.  Cooking, I tell you!

So, what have I learned from this little lesson?  I think it is to treat my novel as I would a sick child--I won't leave the house while it needs my attention.  And, the bonus is that there will be no body functions to clean up!

And, Happy Birthday Katie!!!!!

Dream Big

"I wanted so badly to study ballet, but it was really all about wearing the tutu."  Elle Macpherson

When I first started writing for children, it was all about the tutu.  Sure, I did the work and wrote the books.  I even had several people read my work and give me great advice and encouragement. The problem was that everyone was SO encouraging and positive about my impending publication and success, I kind of got caught up in the "tutu"--the Newbury Awards, the Oprah interviews, the adoring fans . . . 

When success didn't happen as quickly or surely as I thought it would, I realized that I had some work to do.  I started going to conferences and started seeking out readers who wouldn't simply cheerlead my work as genius--they would point out flaws and weaknesses (an actual critique).  

So, here I am a few years later.  I do still dream of the tutu--who doesn't?  That's the most fun part, and I think we can all agree that Elle Macpherson's dreams of wearing the tutu came true in a big way.   I love the thought of hanging onto that big ole dream out there in the sky while I do the grunt work that I have to do to prop it up someday.  I think this quote sums it up:

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost;  that is where they should be.  Now put the foundations under them."  Henry David Thoreau

So, enjoy your dreams.  And then--get to work.

Scrivener--where have you been all my life??

I just downloaded a free thirty-day trial of Scrivener on www.literatureandlatte.com  (sorry all you PC users--it only works on a Mac), and I am in LOVE!  What a great writing program!

I was a little skeptical when I began to use this program--I often find things like Scrivener to be more trouble than they are worth.  For example, I have tried using a palm pilot for scheduling, but I prefer carrying around a small dayplanner in my purse, and I (gasp!) write things on it with an actual pen.  I love the pen-to-paper exercise and the ability to circle things and to physically mark them off.  So, I approached Scrivener with the expectation that it would be a procrastination tool, at best.  Boy was I wrong!

I watched the video introduction that is offered on the website, and then I went through the guided tutorial a couple of times.  It took me an afternoon to really get comfortable with the program and to figure out what all it would do for me.  It really is an easy program to use--and I really mean it.

Scrivener allows you to put an entire manuscript into a virtual binder which you can divide up into chunks of text.  You can easily manipulate these chunks of texts around, view them together, and merge or separate them.  You can write synopses of these chunks of texts which Scrivener will put onto color coded index cards for you--and you can view them on a virtual corkboard.  The program will also put these synopses into an outline form for you. Manipulating and experimenting with text is simple (and, the program allows you to take a "photograph" of your text before you switch things around--so if you change your mind, you can restore it to its original layout).  

I have exported my middle grade novel into Scrivener, and I am going through each chapter and writing a synopsis for each one.  I am color coding my chapters based upon which plot line is developed.  I am about halfway through, and it is unbelievable how many plot holes were revealed to me through this exercise.  When I read the notecards in order, there were some very noticeable gaps that I needed to fill.  Plus, I noticed four green cards in a row--four straight chapters that dealt with one certain character, so I quickly realized that I needed to break up these chapters with some different storylines.  I finally feel like I am making some real progress!

Scrivener also has a place for you to write plot notes and research notes or files.  You can view these pages in a split screen form which is incredibly helpful.  For example, one of my characters is bipolar, and I had several research files bookmarked and downloaded in my computer.  I was able to drag all of those files into my binder, and I could look at that information while I was typing away on my manuscript without opening another file.

I do miss the physical pen-to-paper revision process a little, and I have run into a few problems because I'm working with the rigidness of a computer program (some chapters deal with two plot lines, for example, and I'm not sure what color to make the card).  Overall, though, it is an incredibly efficient way to plot and revise, and when my thirty day trial is over, I'll be forking out $39.99 to own this gem of a program forever.

Sarah Frances

The "Unwavering Band of Light"

I love Kurt Vonnegut's book Breakfast of Champions.   In this book, a modern artist is one of the main characters, and he paints minimalist paintings featuring an "unwavering band of light" which represents all that is "alive and maybe sacred" in all of us.  The artist's paintings are simple straight lines painted on canvas.  

In my first novel Paper Tiger (okay, it's my only completed novel), the main character connects with a wacky and passionate art teacher who pushes her to explore her creative voice. Toward the end of the book, the teacher has her student create a sloppy, expressive collage.  Then she cuts a small window out of cardboard and has the young girl "frame" small, essential areas of her collage (using the cardboard window as you would the viewfinder of a camera). The girl moves the frame over different areas of her artwork until she finds one perfect curve of red sliced by a sliver of yellow.  Then, she creates a giant painting of this one small area--the essence of everything that she has learned over the course of a year.  The painting itself is rich and painterly--not a simple minimalist rendering--but it's structure remains that one curving arc.

I just read a great post by the Disco Mermaids in which Robin talks about the theme of her book which magically presented itself to her--kind of like Vonnegut's "unwavering band of light."  It's a tricky and often elusive thing to find--that essential thing that makes our artwork or book exist and breathe.  

I do believe that once you find that fundamental core in your writing, you can and should exploit it.    This makes the cutting and revising process so much easier, almost sublime--everything that supports the soul of your story should stay and be made stronger, while those extraneous plotlines and characters should be eliminated . . .but, you can always leave some Jackson Pollock splatters in there--as long as they give support to the story at its heart.  

(photo:  Onement 1 by Barnett Newman 1948)

School Visits by a Pre-Published Author

Last week, I attended a PTA meeting at my daughter's school.  Her teacher pulled me aside saying, "The kids have been working on a writing project this week, and I would love it if you would come in and talk to the class about getting published as an author."  Because six years ago, my daughter told her preschool teacher that I had won a bronze medal for my floor exercise routine in the 1984 Olympics, I figured my proud little girl had told her teacher that I was a published author.  I sidled up to Mrs. Edwards and whispered, "Uh, you know, I'm not actually published, right? . . . and, the imaginary sister named Horsehair, she's not real . . ." (my creative child has a rich fantasy life--go figure). Mrs. Edwards replied that she knew that I wasn't published--yet (sweet of her to add the "yet"), but that she thought the kids would enjoy hearing about the whole process.  Cool!

I brought in lots of props: reference books, stacks of query and rejection letters, manuscripts and one of my book dummies.  The kids in the class were wonderful and attentive.  I don't think they had ever thought about the whole process of sending out manuscripts and figuring which editors might be interested in your books.  We talked about how it felt to receive a rejection letter and how it felt to send your work back out there again and again.  We talked about how if you never tried to send anything out, you would never know if it could have made it as a published book.  One child told me that her mother had sent one of her poems to Highlights magazine . . . but that it was turned down.  I loved that she felt okay about telling me that in front of the whole class!

I also read my book dummy to the class and talked to them about my novel.  They gave me a great little ego massage by telling me how much they loved all of my work.  Now I know why people are tempted in their queries to say "I read my book to a class of fourth graders and they LOVED it!"--but don't worry, I won't be adding that line to my submission letter.   These kids probably would have enjoyed my reading the instruction booklet that came with a microwave if I had read it with enough animation and drama.

I left school thinking that this was a great concept for a school visit--the pre-published author!  Then, you have the bonus of getting to go back in and talk to the class again if (when) you actually are published.  

(photo credit:  Anne Hardy)

Notes from Lisa Yee's "Revision, rEvision, reVISion . . ." Breakout Session at SCBWI LA

Okay, if you have never heard Lisa Yee speak, do yourself a favor and get yourself to one of the many conferences she attends.  She is smart, funny and down to earth--and she has wonderful practical advice about writing and the work it takes to write well.

Lisa began her discussion by introducing her friend "Peepy" (the picture to the right is an approximation of Peepy--the real Peepy is much more handsome and a sharp dresser to boot).  She asked someone from the class to change Peepy into a different outfit.  "This is revision,"

Lisa announced.  Looks easy, huh?  Hmmm. . . 

Lisa then talked about her book Millicent Min, Girl Genius which started out as an episodic novel.  She discussed the revisions of that book in which she pretty much threw the whole book away--only the character and her voice remained constant throughout the entire revision process.

 Lisa asked the class to do a writing project.  First, we were asked to list four things we might find in a child's room.  Next, she asked us to write a descriptive paragraph in third person.  She described this paragraph as a first draft which is essentially "barf on the page" that must be "hosed down and cleaned up."  Then, we wrote the same descriptive paragraph in first person from the child's point of view.  Finally, we were asked to write the paragraph in first person from the point of view of a mother whose child has died (the mother is describing her child's room after his death).  Whew . . .this was a tough one, and many people in the room became emotional while writing this paragraph.  At the end of this exercise, she had us go back and revise our last paragraph.  Try this, if you have a chance.  Emotions kicked up a notch with every exercise.

After our writing exercise, Lisa had tons of great tips for doing revisions:

*When revising, cut chunks from your manuscript and paste them into another document.  That way, you aren't deleting them, and those chunks still exist if you ever want to use them.  Remember though, if you don't miss the text you deleted, you didn't need it to begin with.

*Challenge yourself to cut your story by 20%.  What could go?  What would make the story tighter?  Lisa mentioned that she can pretty much always throw away her first three chapters.

*Retain the emotional touch every time you revise.

*Change the font and margins to make your manuscript look like something someone else has written.  This will force you to look at your manuscript in a different way.

*Read your book out loud!!

*Circle a section of your text that you really like, and that should be your standard.  Everything in your manuscript should be as good as that section.

*Follow the advice of Anne Lamott and write that "shitty first draft."

*Set your book aside for a while so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.  You really need to be able to turn it upside down and re-examine it 

*First time you read a draft, it is for the impression.  Revision is about detail.  It is like watching a movie twice--you notice so many more details the second time.

*Try to write to a schedule and set deadlines so that you don't overwork a story.  If you write a sentence five times--the best writing is rarely the first or the last sentence.

*Go to www.kcrw.com and listen to Tobias Wolfe's talk about writing--he keeps cutting down and is constantly asking himself "would the reader understand the story without this word?"

*Don't overexplain things--constantly move the story forward.

*Instead of saying "what am I going to cut?", say "what am I going to keep?"--look for the best and throw the rest away.

*You can revise as you go.  Revision doesn't always happen at the completion of a draft.

*Drafting is play.  Revision is the real work of writing.

*Lisa writes the ending of her novel first and works from an outline.

*Read plays to study how dialogue moves things forward.  Stephen King says that dialogue should be like gossip--something you want to overhear.

*Never overwrite for the sake of a higher word count.

*Go physically to a different place to revise.

Notes from Sara Pennypacker's Breakout Session . . .

In the Beginning:  How to Make Your First Pages Shine:

It is more important than ever to get your beginnings completely right.  Remember, the first word must make the reader want to read the second word (and the first sentence must make the reader want to read the next sentence, and so on with paragraph and chapter).  The good news is that the reader will be forgiving of a bad beginning (but the acquiring editor probably won't!)

Must appeal to the reader using psychology: (writer must appeal to these four human traits)

1.  Curious:  Humans are curious about things that are appealing even though they have nothing to do with our welfare.  It is the writer's job to use intrigue and suspense. Raise questions but don't answer all of them.

2.  Hedonistic:  Humans have pleasure receptacles.  Humor, thrill, beauty, voice--writer needs to elicit pleasure (be able to describe the pleasure of eating a piece of cake)

3.  Social:  Humans are pack animals looking for connection.  Writer must make the reader say "I do that, too" or "I feel that, too".  You are not trying to show how different you are, but how you are the same.

4.  Wired for Story:  Humans love the basic structure of story.  Writer's job is to be a confidant storyteller from the beginning.  Use bravado and go over-the-top ("have I got a story for you . . . ")

When Sara goes back and edits, she makes sure her opening appeals to all of these human traits.

Read the first paragraph of Sara Pennypacker's Clementine and you will see all of these elements illustrated.  Lots of "me too" moments for the child reader, and she is subtle in her descriptions so that the reader fills in the blanks and makes the joke--this makes the reader own the book.

Sara recommended reading the annotated version of Charlotte's Web to learn everything there is to learn about writing for children.

The opening has to do a lot of jobs--it must introduce:

1.  Character:  

*Think of the three most defining characteristics of your character and show one of them at the beginning.  

*The flaw is the most important part of your character and you need to show it early on.  Sara's Clementine character honestly exposes all her flaws.

*Why do we care about the character?

1) empathize with them

2) connect with them--"me too"

3) have a need to understand why they act the way they do--especially if they are different from you

*Methods for showing character:

1)  dialogue

2)  internal dialogue

3) action

4)  reaction

5)  other's reaction to

6)  habits

7)  appearance

8)  lies

9)  body language

10) choices

11)  summary

12)  bias

13) VOICE

*Character exercise to try:  think of a scenario where a child and an adult both fail each other and have to lie (example--dad says that child can go to baseball game if he finishes school project.  Dad has a meeting come up and can't go.  Child doesn't finish project)  What do they say to each other to evade the truth?  The adult will be more adept at lying and the child will be more transparent.

*Try using many different approaches when creating your main character.  When Sara creates a character, and she'd take a bullet for him or her--she knows she's ready to begin writing.

*Try showing how the character behaves when he knows he's being watched and when he does not.

*Try showing the character when she's stressed (an eight-year-old can sometimes act like a two-year-old)

2.  Conflict / problem:  Must be introduced early.  What does the main character want most--is this thing symbolic of something kids really want.  This want should stand for a universal need--for example, a child really wants a tree house but what they need is an escape or to be alone or a need for control.

*Vogler's book The Writer's Journey outlines the basic structure of story (often all five of these happen at the beginning of a children's story).  Sara usually goes back and makes sure to include these elements after she's written a draft.

1) ordinary world

2) call to adventure

3) refusal of call

4) meeting with mentor

5) accepting of call

3.  Setting

*two types of setting--physical (actual surroundings--physical description of Harry Potter's home) and emotional (Harry Potter begins in a hostile home)

*Setting is not just background--can be a crucible (characters are ground together and can't get out), a catalyst, or a metaphor for your story

*Setting must be written on a child's scale--try writing from different people's eyes.   A child thinks about what he can see or touch right here and now.  It is a smaller world that's much more detailed.

*Setting includes all of your senses--glow of lamp, washed blanket, taste of toothpaste.  You don't have to say what state you are in--the scale is much smaller!

*To relate to the reader, make sure that a child can relate to your setting.  If you're writing about a different country use familiar things that all children can relate to (sleeping with a stuffed animal).

*Setting can be the entire story--emphasize the emotional feel of the place.   Remember that sometimes emotional reaction is based on past or present experiences.  A child who has never seen the beach before will respond differently from one who has--it depends on where your character is at that moment. 

4.  Foreshadowing:  Sara does this after she's written a draft.  She goes back and slides hints back into the story.  Sara loves it when the end of the book shakes hands with the beginning.  The beginning of the book is a promise, and the rest of the book delivers.

5.  Powerful Voice:  Dialogue is the most important skill to learn.

1)  What they don't say is much more important than what they do

2)  When they tell lies, something huge must be at stake (child is usually not good at lying)

3)  Get smooth with dialogue and summary (don't give play by play dialogue--say something like "then we talked for hours about cats")

4)  "said" is almost all that you need for a tag in a children's book (no "chortled")

5)  consider a silent scene before a heavy action scene or a dialogue-packed scene

6)  have a character observe a conversation between two other characters (can give great information about what other characters think of main character)

Theme of a book is what does your character want and why (emotional "why")--Sara needs and unfair situation which she writes symbolically.  She lets go of the "theme" as soon as she starts writing.

Sara constantly writes and revises--going back to the beginning of her book all the time.

Pacing: To get the story going faster--

*Have another character say "look how you've changed" to show growth

Stephen King says "the story is the boss" and this is more important than any rule.

Sara loves a BIG POW ending:

*try to end with a remarkable or satisfying visual because that is how a child will walk away from the book

*punchy scene

*Sara overwrites her ending and then cuts it down

Sara never worries about the language level in a picture book because the child will be sitting on the lap of his dictionary.

Sara writes in the zone and then acts as her own editor at the end of the process.

I Am the Girl You Wanted to Get to Know in Chemistry Class . . .

Why?? Because I am an obsessive note-taker. And, I frantically covered every moment of the recent SCBWI Conference with court reporter accuracy. But, alas, I have discovered that I am not the only one. So . . . I'm going to hit some of my favorite sessions here, and for a more complete rundown of the entire conference, check out Alice Pope's CWIM blog and Paula Yoo's blog.

Here goes . . . .

Bruce Coville

Plotting: The Architecture of Story

When plot and character are done right, they are inextricably intertwined--so there's no either/or-- and neither is more important. A good story is well-told and expresses the basic desire of the human heart.

What is scary? When a character you love and with whom you identify gets into trouble.

Plot imposes discipline on the disorder of life, and good plot brings closure. The perfect ending is both a surprise and inevitable. The very best endings turn on a moral choice--this choice can be between two mutually exclusive goods or between two bad things (choosing the lesser of two evils). The choice is the crux of emotional plot.

What is a good story?

1) Ha! It makes you laugh--not a joke, but a down deep belly laugh rising from the story itself

2) Wah! It makes you cry--these can be tears of joy or relief, can be when things are so right that you cry anyway

3) Yikes! Surprise the reader

"EW" Catastrophe: this is an explosion of good writing. Things like a giant plot twist--think "Luke, I am your father." This twist must be carefully seeded so that your mind goes back over the entire story and makes it more true than its ever been.

Plot reveals who the characters are. How can you care about what happens if you don't care who it's happening to???

Character has to solve the problem by himself--the writing comes in choosing the right details. Think about when you have a conversation with a toddler. She will ask "why, why, why" after everything you say. Ask yourself this when you write--constantly.

Bruce introduced a story of a boy dropping a book in a puddle. How do you kick this up a notch??

*Give the book emotional appeal--what kind of book is it? Mother's high school yearbook full of signatures. Show mother reading back through the book--sentimentality. Crank up the emotional volume--mother says that two people who signed it have died. Mom notices that her son's high school principal is pictured in the yearbook wearing goofy shorts.

*Kid asks mom if he can take the book to school and she says "no"--too special. Kid has bragged to his friend about the picture of the principal. He disobeys and takes it anyway.

*Have child listening to rain on the roof (detail which prepares the reader for the puddle that the book will be dropped into). Plus, this makes the reader feel like he is in the room with the child.

*Don't just say there's a puddle in the road. Have a car drive through the puddle and describe the splash.

*How rotten can you make life for this kid? He drops the book in the puddle--what's the one thing he doesn't want? He doesn't want to see his mother. So, make her drive up. Describe her through the child's eyes. She's happy to see him. She doesn't know about the book.

*Tough moral choice--The kid could stand up and get in the car without his mother ever knowing about the book, but the yearbook would be ruined forever. OR, he could confess and they could run home and try to save what is left of the yearbook. Does he save his book or his butt???

*Kick up the stakes--how does the kid make the moral choice if his father is abusive? Think of all possibilities and explore them.

Plot is not incident, not complication, not idea. Plot happens when you work with the idea and mold it and explore it. If it becomes part of a larger story, it is plot, not incident.

Always be afraid of losing a kid's attention. Something must be at stake. "Who wants what and why can't he have it?"

Plot is a series of actions in the the thread of a story in a nonrandom way that is emotionally satisfying. Coincidence can happen to start a story, but it can't be used at the end. Fiction is held to a higher standard of believability than real life.

Plot is what happens when desire meets obstacle--the character must use the most conservative method to overcome it (don't use a pistol to kill a fly).

Drive your characters to desperate extremes so that they have to make choices under pressure. If there are no consequences, it wasn't really a choice. Be sure to think through every implication of the character's choice.

Plot Tricks:

1) Drive character to a moral choice--at the heart of a great story lies a great human action

2) Up the ante--make whatever is weighing on the choice have a broader impact, think through what would happen if the character fails

3) Ticking Clock--Must tick in the reader's mind. Use devices like carving a notch in a stick to show the ticking down of time--have the reader sense that time is closing in

4) Twist or reversal--The world tips on its head but still makes sense. A straight line story offers no surprise or intrigue

5) Subplots--Add texture and emotional resonance by indicating and building disruptiveness of truth

6) Braided plots--Two or more characters that have adventures that spiral around each other and come together at the end. We get to experience the characters through other characters

7) Plot loops--Side plot, not a subplot. This is only useful if you need to make a book longer or need to take care of something (give info)

8) Set ups and Pay offs--No pay off that isn't set up and vice versa. The reader pays attention to everything that's put in (if there's a gun on the wall, somebody better shoot it). When you have a pay off, go back in your story and write the set up. Can do things like cumulative humiliation where each put-down gets worse and then the character finally strikes back. When you put stuff in the subconscious, it sits and waits to come out.

Outlining: Important part of plotting (plus it keeps you from not finishing books--even though they rarely end the way you planned!) Outline is simply a guide that keeps you on the path.

Writing energy:

Male energy--action adventure

Female energy--relationship, interaction, character

The best stories partake equally of both types.

***Stay tuned.... my next post will feature the brilliant advice of Sara Pennypacker.