Looking back

I realize I said I would blog about my trip to Oregon, but there was so much going on that week, it proved rather impossible.  Now that I've been home a bit, I've had time to reflect on the trip. This might be a bit on the long side, so bear with me. There is a lot to tell.  We got there just in time to see this sunset, best one of the whole week as it turned out.

 

 

 

I ate lots of delicious seafood. If I recall, I had salmon, halibut, shrimp, crab, and clams. Some people pretended to eat seafood, like Ryan with this string of gooseneck barnacles.

And some people, like Hannah, don't like seafood at all, which is too bad.  (Check out Hannah's face when I suggested we could eat this dead crab we found on the beach.)



We made some fun side trips to various places along the coast.  One day, we went to Cape Mears to see the shortest lighthouse I've ever seen and the Octopus Tree, a crazy big Sitka spruce.

 

My favorite trip was the day trip to Cannon Beach, to see all the beautiful flowers and shop at their epic candy store, and visit Ecola State Park, to see the stars! Starfish, that is. Hundreds of them.

 

                                                                          

And of course, I attended the Oregon Coast Children's Book Writer's Conference in Oceanside, Oregon.  I learned a few things that week, some of it in the class from the actual instruction, but also outside the actual class. I've been to a lot of writer's conferences, so I've heard a lot of the course material before. That doesn't mean it isn't useful. It's just that I already knew it, so I started thinking~ what else am I getting out of this?

 

One thing I learned is not everybody can help you. Maybe that doesn't make much sense, so let me explain. There were several editors and agents at the class, but they didn't really work on the kind of material I'm writing right now. They could offer friendly advice, but they weren't my "in" to the publishing industry. On my way to the conference, I received an email from an agent I had recently queried. No, he didn't want to represent me either. It was the second agent rejection I had received on the manuscript. I had a third agent query out, but have never heard back, so I assume that's a 'no' too. An agent at the conference also rejected my offer to query, so that made four. I didn't really feel sad about it though; I'm getting used to it. The way I look at it, none of them could help me. Then, something exciting happened...

On Friday, late in the day after class was over, a publisher emailed and said they wanted to make an offer on the manuscript.  Finally, someone in a position to help me! So maybe it's just a matter of finding the right person?

 

The other thing I learned is this~ in the end, only kindness matters. Of course, you and I already know it, but it's always good to be reminded of this. I came to a class of strangers on Monday morning and left with many new friends on Friday. The kindness of the instructors in their thoughtful critiques was outstanding, a far cry from what I remember in English class. (*Note to self, blog about that!) The kindness of our hosts, David and his lovely family, was a refreshing escape from the rush-rush, 'I don't have time for you' real world. David, in particular, left me with the feeling that I could contact him any time and he would do his utmost to help me if he could. That's pretty impressive for someone who's about to leave for Morocco. :)  And that's a rare thing for anyone these days.

 

So maybe the take away is this~ we leave our footprints everywhere we go, including on the hearts of others~ always remember to tread lightly.

Blog 25 ~ The Golden Rule

I recently signed up for a critique session through my local Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s chapter. I live in a rural area and I don’t have many critique partners nearby, so when opportunities like this come up, I try to jump on it.  Now I have several manuscripts and synopses to review for a workshop in August.

Before I get started, I thought it would be useful to think about how I’m going to do this in terms of how I like to be critiqued myself.  I’ve had a rather brutal critique style in the past and I wonder if I might need to soften that. I witnessed a lot of verbal critiques last week and I came away with a better feel for how I personally would like to be critiqued.

First off, a critique is not proofreading. I don’t think focusing on grammatical errors is helpful at the early draft stage. It wastes valuable time on words that may end up being cut anyway. The only time to mention spelling, punctuation, and grammar is if they are so glaring as to be a complete and utter distraction to the reader.

For me, personally, here’s what I want to know:

Does it grab you? Intrigue you? Or is it confusing? Does it make you feel something? Anything?? Does it make you want to read more?

What words, dialog, or speech tags pop you out of the story? Where does it begin to bore you, or make your mind stumble over clunky, awkward language? Are there plot holes or things that don’t make sense?

Does the writing have heart? Does it have a theme, or at least a feel? Can you hear the author’s voice lecturing you or can you hear the voice of the characters? Do the characters seem like real people or card board cutouts that could be anyone?

Do you feel like you’re in “good hands”, as if the author has a sense of mastery that you’re comfortable with?  What parts to you love? What parts do you hate? How can I make it better?

Blog #20 Don't Knock it till you try it~

One morning, outside the writer's workshop classroom, I was waiting with some other classmates for the room to open and they were reminiscing about games they played as kids. There was hopscotch, kick the can, jacks, and marbles. And of course baseball. But then the conversation took a funny turn, as conversations often do, toward the comparison to today. “Kids today don't play motor skills games, except with their thumbs.” “Kids don't go outside.” “They're not interested in those things.”

 

And I thought to myself, because I'm not a very outspoken person, “And you people think you want to write books for these kids you don't even respect?” They won't get very far. If there's no respect for the reader, and that's just what this is, there will be no respect for the writer. Judging kids today by your experiences without bothering to understand their experiences and perspectives is a mistake and it will ruin any writing you do for children.

Maybe that’s why they say writing for children is just like writing for adults, but harder. You have to set aside your superior attitudes about the way things should be or your misty-eyed, sugar-coated versions of the past being better than the future to do it well. There is no room for nostalgia in children's literature. Young readers want the best you've got.

Blog #17 On the Edge of Land and Sea

If this blog reaches you on July 17, it means I’ve found a wifi coffee shop here in Oregon and somehow managed to upload a few words. The house we’re staying in is a lovely little cottage, but it has no cell service or wifi. Not even the kind you can steal from your neighbor, not that I ever would. ;) My phone has effectively become an expensive, electric brick.

Oceanside is really just a collection of houses perched on a steep hill beside the ocean. The night we arrived, Ryan and I went down to check out the beach. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so cold on a beach. The wind chill was bone withering. Coming from ninety degree temps to this was a shock. I found myself wishing I had brought more coats, jackets, sweaters, and hoodies! Where I grew up, going to the beach meant shorts and sunburns, so it’s always an adjustment coming to Oregon.

Still, we’ve had fun. It is good to unplug a bit, but I’m not sure I’d say I’ve loved it. I’ve missed refreshing my blog forty times a day and responding to your comments. I’ve missed Twitter because I’m addicted to it. I admit it.  I scheduled several blogs to post in advance of the trip here because I thought I’d be busy, not because I knew I wouldn’t have access! Good thing too, or I’d be way behind on my #31day blog challenge. J

More to come about the writing conference…stay tuned, same Bat channel!