From Sunny Florida

Here I am in the Sunshine State.

Driving, driving, driving...

And this was waiting for me!


Hillsborough County libarians sure know how to make a gal feel welcome. That's a Battle of the Books T-shirt in that basket. There was also this cool backpack kind of bag - and lots and lots of food (including chocolate).

Off to Florida

I'm heading to the Sunshine State of Florida on Saturday - until Thursday.

I'll be speaking at the FAME conference in Orlando (Florida Association of Media in Education).

I'll be visiting schools in Hillsborough County.

I'll be speaking at a dinner for the Florida branch of the International Reading Association.

And I'll be squeezing in a visit with my wonderful in-laws in Ormond Beach.

This one's for you, dad

My dad would have been 82 today. He passed away six years ago, but, of course, I still think of him on this day.

Two things I have in common with my dad:

1. Dog lover

2. Party animal

One thing I do not have in common with my dad = grades in school (especially English).

My dad's 9th grade report card:

My 9th grade report card (in English):

Note: You probably can't read it, but on my report card, the teacher has written: If Barbara wishes to maintain this rating, she must refrain from talking at the beginning of class periods.

She has also written: Barbara can improve her work by being more attentive to class instruction.

To my 9th grade English teacher, wherever you are today, I say: Pooey on you.

To my dad, wherever you are today, I say: Happy birthday.

Writing Workshop

Yesterday I did a workshop with fifth graders.

I love that - actually working with the kids and hearing their writing.

These particular kids were totally into it and produced some pretty amazing writing.







And check out those posters over my head. They are "book timelines": timelines of the kids' lives using significant books to mark various ages in their lives.

Then they write a short piece about each book, explaining why that particular book was important to them.

Cool, huh?

Back to School

My first school visit of the year. I always feel a little weird for the first one - like I've forgotten everything about my presentation. But then, it's like riding a bicycle - you don't forget. (At least not after you've done it a bajillion times.)

So, it was actually fun to be back with kids again.

Don't I look like I'm having fun?

Afterwards, one kid came up to me and said, "Good job!" (I love kids...)

OHD

I just started Sarah Miller's Miss Spitfire last night.

I'm only about 30 pages into it, but, danggit, she's making my OHD (obsessive highlighting disorder) kick in again.

Writing Tip Tuesday

Since I have my first school visit today, I've put my "writing teacher" hat back on (after a dark, lonely summer in the closet). In honor of that, I thought I'd start a new Tuesday post devoted to writing tips I've learned along the way...

Starting with basic structure and how it affects pacing.

Children's novels are a lot like scripts:

1. They are relatively short.
2. They need to reveal the story very early on.
3. They need to be tight and active.
4. They must be well-paced.

So I find studying scriptwriting, particularly with regard to structure, to be very useful.

When looking at a manuscript as a whole, you must be able to identify four key elements:

1. Setup
2. Development
3. Climax
4. Resolution

I think the most critical element in a middle grade novel is the setup.

The longer you take to start the story, the more you risk losing the reader.

The setup should reveal:

1. Whose story it is
2. Where the story takes place
3. A sense of the style or tone of the story
4. What the story is about

Number 4 (what the story is about) is, in my opinion, the most important part of the setup. In a 150-page middle grade novel, the reader shouldn't have to read 20 or 30 pages into the story to know what the heck the story is about.

According to scriptwriting formulas, there are two important parts of the setup:

1. The catalyst
2. The central question

Next Writing Tip Tuesday: Catalyst

Just stuff

I'm afraid I have nothing writerly today.

Had a lovely weekend in the beautiful Berkshire mountains at the car races. Paul Newman was there again. Each year, his car number matches his age. This year, he drove car #82. I mean, 82?! And guess what? He won!

Here is Paul Newman winning the race:

(Hey, come on, folks....cars drive FAST during a car race.)



Every year, we stay in a converted barn.








Today I try to repair my destroyed gardens.








And tomorrow I have my first school visit of the year.

Robert's Snow Gallery Showings

You can view the beautiful snowflakes made by children's book artist's for the Robert's Snow Cancer Cure project at The Child at Heart Gallery in Newburyport, MA and Danforth Museum of Art in Framingham, MA.

For information on both galleries, check here.

And remember, I will be featuring artists Brian Lies and Robin Brickman in the coming weeks.

Quote of the day

Now here's an interesting quote, from Kurt Vonnegut:

Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

I'm heading off for the weekend - to a car race in the Berkshires (Connecticut). Yes, I said a car race.

I've been once a year every year for about 15 years now. Whodathunk it?

But, it's really beautiful there....and Paul Newman was there last year - racing - at age 81 - and lookin' good!

Gay Paree...

I was just checking my stats for my blog and somebody from PARIS, TENNESSEE looked at my blog.

Paris, Tennessee??!!

Who knew?


(probably Kerry....but not me)

Before and After

My garden last week:



My garden this week:


That's all I'm saying....

No Holes in Holes

Since I suffer from OHD, I'm going to share some more of the highlighted stuff from Les Edgerton's book, Hooked.

He breaks a well-written opening into clearly defined parts. I am particularly intrigued by the terms "surface problem" vs "story-worthy problem" and "surface goal" vs "story-worthy goal."

("Surface", of course, means just that - the specific, clearly defined problem that might set the story in motion. "Story-worthy", on the other hand, is the larger, big-picture problem woven throughout the story - what the story is ultimately about as far as theme, etc.)

Here is how Edgerton breaks down the opening of Holes by Louis Sachar:

• Opening backstory: The curse on Stanley's family; why Stanley is on the bus going to juvie camp
• Setup: Camp Green Lake and the warden; intro to Stanley
• Inciting Incident: Stanley sent to Camp Green Lake
• Surface problem: To find a way to survive camp and the warden
• Surface goal: To return home
• Story-worthy problem: To overcome the family curse
• Story-worthy goal: To become a "self-sufficient young adult who no longer allows himself to be a victim"

I love those labels. They're nice and tidy and organized.

But did Sachar really think about them while he was writing the first draft?

A good writer is certainly aware of structure and uses it wisely during first draft - but I think that the real solid walls of structure probably come during revision.

I feel better now (I think)

I've had a little niggling worry about the first chapter of my WIP (that's "work in progress").

Normally, I love to hold my nose and jump in the deep end - right in the middle of the action - or as close to it as I can get. That's the "rule" about children's writing - get to the point and get there fast.

But the first chapter of my WIP is all setup.

At the end of the first chapter, the reader still doesn't know what the story is about.

The action hasn't started yet.

The sole purpose of the first chapter is to set the stage for the story that follows.

The "rule" says this is usually not a good thing.

But I really feel like the setup is crucial. (In a nutshell, the first chapter sets up how boring things are for the main character. Nothing to do. Boring. Boring. Until.....something happens - which is why the book is called The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis. He finally has, duh, an adventure.)

So then I'm reading Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, Les Edgerton, and agent Julie Castiglia says:

Never ever start with weather, dreams, setup, or a passive scene that takes the reader nowhere.

...and now I'm really starting to worry.

But then, last night, I get farther into the same book (further into the same book?), and Edgerton has a chapter called, "Balancing Setup and Backstory in Your Opening."

He gives some exceptions to that "rule" about not using too much setup in the beginning. One of those exceptions:

"A third instance in which a longer setup is crucial is when a deeper sense of context is needed to establish mood and set the stage for the events to come....A longer setup is essential...because the whole thrust of the novel depends on the contrast we see at the beginning."

So - yay!

That works for me.

It's my setup and I'm sticking to it.


Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go; Les Edgerton; Writers Digest Books; 2007

Review of How to Steal a Dog

My new favorite fifth grade teacher has posted a really nice review of How to Steal a Dog over on her teacher blog.

Thanks, Megan Germano!