The cover is finally up on Powell's and Amazon!
Getting closer to becoming a REAL book!
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Web site down
If anybody is trying to get to my web site - it is temporarily down.
Hope to be up and running by the time you finish your pumpkin pie.
Hope to be up and running by the time you finish your pumpkin pie.
Before and After
I think one of the best ways to help kids understand specific writing techniques, such as "Show, Don't Tell" - is to present them with examples of before and after revision.
Over the years, I've collected some great samples of revisions done by fifth graders that illustrate their grasp of the "Show, Don't Tell" technique.
Check these out (from workshops in which the kids - fifth graders - write biographies of a parent or grandparent):
Before: Bob wasn't happy when his father told him they were moving.
After: Bob's father came in and announced, "We're moving." Bob groaned when he heard the news.
Before: John loved to play baseball with the kids in the neighborhood.
After: As soon as John got home from school, he dashed back to his room to grab his baseball mitt, then hurried to meet his friends in the vacant lot next door.
Before: She was good at swimming.
After: Swimming medals covered her bedroom wall.
Before: Sam loved to go to the Cape every summer with his family.
After: Sam counted the days until his family would load the beach chairs and boogie boards into the car and head for the Cape.
Before: He hated doing chores, like vacuuming, washing dishes or raking.
After: He groaned when he had to vacuum. He whined when he had to wash dishes. He grumbled when he had to rake.
Before: His favorite subject was geography.
After: He loved it when the teacher whacked her pointer on the map, pointing out countries and rivers.
For any kid who didn't quite "get" Show, Don't Tell, hearing these usually lights the old proverbial light bulb for them.
Over the years, I've collected some great samples of revisions done by fifth graders that illustrate their grasp of the "Show, Don't Tell" technique.
Check these out (from workshops in which the kids - fifth graders - write biographies of a parent or grandparent):
Before: Bob wasn't happy when his father told him they were moving.
After: Bob's father came in and announced, "We're moving." Bob groaned when he heard the news.
Before: John loved to play baseball with the kids in the neighborhood.
After: As soon as John got home from school, he dashed back to his room to grab his baseball mitt, then hurried to meet his friends in the vacant lot next door.
Before: She was good at swimming.
After: Swimming medals covered her bedroom wall.
Before: Sam loved to go to the Cape every summer with his family.
After: Sam counted the days until his family would load the beach chairs and boogie boards into the car and head for the Cape.
Before: He hated doing chores, like vacuuming, washing dishes or raking.
After: He groaned when he had to vacuum. He whined when he had to wash dishes. He grumbled when he had to rake.
Before: His favorite subject was geography.
After: He loved it when the teacher whacked her pointer on the map, pointing out countries and rivers.
For any kid who didn't quite "get" Show, Don't Tell, hearing these usually lights the old proverbial light bulb for them.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Writing Tip Tuesday
In scriptwriting, the term development refers to the part of the story between the set-up and the climax.
The development:
The mother of all rules = Don't slow the pace with unnecessary STUFF.
The mother of all rules #2 = Don't dawdle in the scene. Get in and get out.
Next Writing Tip Tuesday: turning points.
The development:
- Is made up of scenes that advance the story until you get to the climax, but not in a straight line or at the same pace (more on that later)
- Reveals more about the characters
- Usually contains more backstory
- Consists of action that revolves around the central question or problem
- Consists of interconnected scenes (not episodic)
- Should stay focused on the story line.
The mother of all rules = Don't slow the pace with unnecessary STUFF.
The mother of all rules #2 = Don't dawdle in the scene. Get in and get out.
Next Writing Tip Tuesday: turning points.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Quote of the Day
Writers write about things other people don't pay much attention to.
--Natalie Goldberg; Writing Down the Bones
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Authorfest
I took part in a terrific authorfest at a school in Massachusetts. There were five authors. All grades (K-8) got to see several presentations.
The librarian did everything right - balloons, fresh flowers, a "snack room" for the authors, a school-wide special lunch (which included parents), a book fair, a book signing, and so much more. She even made special little booklets with blank pages so that when the authors signed their books for the kids, the kids could sign the author booklet!
A school visit made in heaven!
One of several displays throughout the school.
(left to right) Janet Zade of Zade Educational Partners (my booking agent), school librarian Janice Griffin, me
The librarian did everything right - balloons, fresh flowers, a "snack room" for the authors, a school-wide special lunch (which included parents), a book fair, a book signing, and so much more. She even made special little booklets with blank pages so that when the authors signed their books for the kids, the kids could sign the author booklet!
A school visit made in heaven!
One of several displays throughout the school.
(left to right) Janet Zade of Zade Educational Partners (my booking agent), school librarian Janice Griffin, me
Authorfest continued
(left to right) Mark Peter Hughes, me, Janet Zade, Brian Lies, Darlyne Murawski
Janice Griffin and faculty-member Zack GiallongoPopping the cork
... the champagne cork, that is.How to Steal a Dog has been named a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.
Woohoo!
And.....that's not all.....
....it has also been named an ALA Book Link's Lasting Connections for 2007. (This is Book Link's annual roundup of the year's best books to tie into the curriculum.)
Woohoo again!!!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Who needs Victoria's Secret?
I realize this is Shameless Self-Promotion, but how can I not announce that I have been declared a Hot Woman of Children's Literature by the one and only Kirby Larson!
I mean, sheesh, I'd be happy to be a Warm Woman. :-)
And what more can I say about Kirby but that I attribute her and Sarah Miller with pushing me right over the edge into historical fiction.
I adored Hattie Big Sky.
Just sign me, Sizzlin' in Seattle (except that I don't live in Seattle, but, oh well...)
I mean, sheesh, I'd be happy to be a Warm Woman. :-)
And what more can I say about Kirby but that I attribute her and Sarah Miller with pushing me right over the edge into historical fiction.
I adored Hattie Big Sky.
Just sign me, Sizzlin' in Seattle (except that I don't live in Seattle, but, oh well...)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Serious addiction
I am seriously addicted to this.I put it on salads.
I put it on couscous.
I put it on baked potatoes.
I put it on fish.
It has 14 calories per tablespoon. FOURTEEN!
There are 22 tablespoons in the whole bottle.
I could drink the entire bottle for only 308 calories.
Writing Tip Tuesday
According to scriptwriting formulas, in addition to the central question and the catalyst (inciting incident), backstory is also a critical element of the setup of the story.
Backstory is:
Backstory is sometimes also interspersed throughout the story. (Often, backstory needs to be interspersed throughout the story in order to maintain the emotion of the story - or perhaps the tension. But you need to gauge how much is too much and how much is just the right amount to accomplish your goal.)
We only need the information that clarifies or enhances the story in some way.
If backstory doesn't clarify or enhance the story in some way, we don't need it and the reader won't care about it.
If we don't need it and the reader doesn't care about it, take it out!!
Backstory is:
- the stuff that happened before your story starts
- all the vital information we need to orient us to the story
Backstory is sometimes also interspersed throughout the story. (Often, backstory needs to be interspersed throughout the story in order to maintain the emotion of the story - or perhaps the tension. But you need to gauge how much is too much and how much is just the right amount to accomplish your goal.)
Rule #1 regarding backstory = Don't give the reader too much!
We only need the information that clarifies or enhances the story in some way.
If backstory doesn't clarify or enhance the story in some way, we don't need it and the reader won't care about it.
If we don't need it and the reader doesn't care about it, take it out!!
Monday, November 12, 2007
The end
In an interview with Lisa Yee over at HipWriterMama, Lisa said:
"I always write my endings first and then write my way toward them. It’s always the first 50 pages that cause me the most difficulty. So I overwrite and then cut, cut, cut away."
That sounds absolutely heavenly to me.
I confess that my first reaction was a jealousy so severe I longed to crush Peepy with my bare hands. (You must visit Lisa's blog to understand that.)
But, fortunately, that feeling was short-lived and I moved on to feeling the love of Lisa for showing me the possibility of a new and heavenly writing process.
Having just come out the other end of a torturous tunnel of hair-tearing, tandrem-inducing, blindly-barreling-through first draft with no vision of the end in sight until the last lap, well, I've decided that from now on, I'm going to write like Lisa Yee.
I'm going to write the ending first.
There, that was easy.
Now, excuse me while I dial up Lisa and find out how the heck she does that....
"Peepy? Oh, hi...Barbara O'Connor here. Is Lisa there?"
"I always write my endings first and then write my way toward them. It’s always the first 50 pages that cause me the most difficulty. So I overwrite and then cut, cut, cut away."
That sounds absolutely heavenly to me.
I confess that my first reaction was a jealousy so severe I longed to crush Peepy with my bare hands. (You must visit Lisa's blog to understand that.)
But, fortunately, that feeling was short-lived and I moved on to feeling the love of Lisa for showing me the possibility of a new and heavenly writing process.
Having just come out the other end of a torturous tunnel of hair-tearing, tandrem-inducing, blindly-barreling-through first draft with no vision of the end in sight until the last lap, well, I've decided that from now on, I'm going to write like Lisa Yee.
I'm going to write the ending first.
There, that was easy.
Now, excuse me while I dial up Lisa and find out how the heck she does that....
"Peepy? Oh, hi...Barbara O'Connor here. Is Lisa there?"
Blogging for a Cure Week 5
The schedule for week five of Blogging for a Cure (Robert's Snow fundraiser for cancer research) is in the sidebar to the right.
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