I Have Hit a Wall.

I have hit a wall.

A wall I have avoided for a long time now.

A wall most professional authors need to learn how to climb.

A wall I have learned to hate.

A wall called... OUTLINING.

As most of you know, I am in the process of revising my book, but "revising" isn't a strong enough word. I am in the process of a full-on rewrite. This is something I chose to do but at the time didn't realize how painful it would be.

Last week, after successfully completing 40,ooo words, I realized one of my sub-plots wasn't working. In addition, the time frame was off and another sub-plot felt extraneous. To say that I felt like crying would be an understatement. I felt like ripping my hair out and stabbing myself with pencils. How could I have gotten 40,ooo words in and screwed up like this?

The answer?

No outline.

In my defense, I write like some wonderfully talented people paint. I apply layer upon layer of words until I get it right. If something doesn't feel right, I add (or cut) more words, smashing and crashing it around until a beautiful portrait emerges. This method has served me well, until now. Right now I need a master plan. An outline. And what really drove it home for me was watching my new favorite show "On the Road with Austin and Santino." Just like Project Runway, I noticed the guys draping their dress forms to decide what the finished dress would look like BEFORE they began actually constructing it. They were draping and pinning and moving fabric around without ever stitching a thing. Not to mention the sketches they were pausing to create. These were master craftsmen who were, in essence, OUTLINING their creations.

Sigh.

Yes, the dress form sealed it for me in terms of deciding I had to do this, but actually writing one still scared me to death. Outlining meant knowing everything that was going to happen before I wrote it. Right? Well, sometimes I just don't. Sometimes I discover my story AS I write it, so this outlining business has always made me feel boxed in, un-artistic, and uncomfortable.

Ack.

SO, I did what I have learned to do for any dilemma. I prayed about it.

And the answer was the same: YOU NEED TO LEARN THE SKILL OF OUTLINING!

But, as God so often does, he sent several angels to lead the way.

To be continued...

Katie

To be continued with all of the outlining tips I have received and more about how I intend to achieve this. SF will also be posting about her experiences with outlining, including how it pertains to illustrations. And PLEASE, if you have any advice, we'd love to hear it! In fact, we beg you for it :)

Go Read This Chapter!

They aren't lying. It really is fantastic. And can you believe PW sent this insanely wonderful publicity?! Go Beth, Go! P.S. I LOVE the cover!

The Relatives Came . . .

Me. This week.

I didn't get any writing done. But, I heard LOTS of great stories . . .

:-) sf

Let it Slide

This last week, I was forced to lay low as I had dental surgery that left me in excruciating pain all day. So, the first few days, I couldn't even think about my book, but, at about day four, I started to slowly get back to revising. However, that was also the day I had out of town company arrive.

This chaos made writing the "sub-plot" of my day, rather than the main one. But I have to say, it was refreshing!

Sure, I still wrote, but I had too many other things going on to really obsess about it. I just did what I could and let the rest slide. But here's what was weird. Rather than getting upset that I couldn't write as much, I found that I was using my writing time WAY better. I was slowly and steadily climbing that mountain and it was productive to say the least.

I dunno. I woke up this morning hoping to hold onto this very relaxed mode of writing. It works. It isn't stressful and its productive. You just do what you can and let the rest slide. Try it, you'll like it :)

Keep it Simple, Stupid

I recently read a great middle grade novel, NATURE GIRL by Jane Kelly. It's a classic fish-out-of-water tail about a New York City girl named Megan who gets lost in the woods and decides to hike the Appalachian trail. The voice is authentic and snarky--I fell in love with the main character. It is a great book.

While I was reading this, I kept thinking about a novel that I wrote several years ago--a similar story of displacement which was written in first person. The story is about Katherine who makes a connection with a wonderfully wacky art teacher whom she unexpectedly finds in a small Southern town. The art teacher has Katherine turn everything upside down that she has ever learned about art and technique--frustrating her and making her grow at the same time.

This novel has been sitting untouched for a LONG time, and I was eager to reread it and see if I could do anything with it.

Well, it's terrible. The language is overly descriptive and flowery, not at all the way a thirteen year old would speak. The book is episodic and full of flat characters. But worst of all? There is no action plot. None.

My book is all about the emotional plot, and that doesn't fly in children's books (I think adult writers can get away with it--think Eat, Pray, Love . . . no action plot at all, purely about Elizabeth Gilbert's emotional angst and growth). So, when I kept asking myself "What is the main character's goal? What does she really want? What stands in her way?" I couldn't come up with anything concrete--just a bunch of touchy, feely words like "she just wants to be happier."

We're all familiar with these plot diagrams. But, here's the deal--you need a diagram like this for BOTH the emotional plot and the action plot, and it's best for the emotional plot to resolve just before the action plot resolves.

In NATURE GIRL, there is an intense emotional plot in the book. The Megan's best friend's mother has cancer, and her friend has been pushing her away. Megan's also miserable about being out in the country and about having to deal with her older sister and her boyfriend. So, when she gets lost in the woods, she decides to go on a quest to reach a certain mountain where her best friend is staying for the summer. Throughout the book, the reader is pulling for Megan to reach the mountain despite all of her obstacles--both physical and emotional.

Simple, right? She wants to reach something that is real and tangible. She wants to climb a mountain. The other emotional stuff resolves as she makes her journey.

I've been listening to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the car as I sit in carpool lines. JK Rowling does the same thing--she has a very simple action plot that threads it's way throughout the entire novel. Harry is preparing for and competing in a wizarding tournament, and the reader really wants him to win (or at the very least, survive). There is plenty of emotional plot going on as well--Harry's longing for a parent, Harry being ousted by his best friend, Harry being misunderstood . . . but without the wizarding tournament to pull the reader through the book, it would be pretty boring. A school tournament--simple.

Sooooo . . . with my novel, I have come up with something to pull the reader through--an art contest that the main character desperately wants to win so that she can go to a summer art camp in New York. The book has got to be COMPLETELY rewritten, but I think it could work this way. When I think about it now, it just seems so simple . . .

sf

THE BACHELOR PAD

I like to think I'm evolved... But the fact that I am hopelessly addicted to THE BACHELOR PAD might prove otherwise. Thankfully, my darling husband is addicted too, making me feel slightly less shallow.

What I love about this show is that it takes Survivor type tactics to a whole new level. The producers have wickedly pitted the boys against the girls, but they all share the same room. AND, they have to kick off members of the OPPOSITE sex.

It's hard to explain here how this all plays out, but let me just assure you, it's delicious.

Last night, one sideways move by a key player, and the entire game was thrown off. It was a sight to behold as Gia (my total fave) chose the wrong guy to give her rose to, which had drastic repercussions in the end.

Do any of you watch it? What's your take? My husband and I were sad to see Craig M leave because he is so drama. But we can't WAIT for next week!

Yours Truly,

Katie

Revisions . . .

Before I begin this post, how about a huge THANKS to everyone who made WriteOnCon possible. Was that a great conference or what? I hope all of you organizers are getting to hibernate for a few days (or at least, getting to have that much needed chocolate or ice cold mojito).

Soooo . . . . I received my much anticipated revision letter from my editor at Viking a few weeks ago. I was thankful to see minor revisions and lots of kind words. Most of the text changes were necessary to make things more clear to the reader, the reader is probably in kindergarten and really doesn't want to be confused, after all. It is amazing how much better my book reads after some minor tweaks and changes here and there.

Big sigh of relief (although, I will say that I would have turned the book upside-down and on its head if that's what my editor thought would make it better--just sayin'). These revisions were just changes of the text, so I'm not looking at my illustrations yet. Yet . . .

But, one of the suggested revisions involved a change that necessitated a change of the illustration. My editor had me flip two pages and when I did that, the facial expression on my character didn't make sense. I couldn't help doing a minor edit to the illustration, just so the story flowed properly.

This reminded me just how interconnected the illustrations and text really are in a picture book. And, I strongly believe if you write picture books, even if you aren't an illustrator, you need to do some kind of visuals as you write and revise--stick people thumbnails are fine. It can make all the difference in the pacing of the story, and it can make you see how big an effect a change in a fifteen word phrase in an 800 word picture book will have on the overall story.

What say ye picture book writers out there? I've never written a picture book text without also doing some sketching and thinking about the illustrations. I'm interested to know if non-illustrators who write picture books think about them visually or is it more of a verbal thing with the cadence of the words, etc.

sf