Challenges of writing childrens books

I'm amazed at the kaleidoscope of feelings associated with starting to write a new book. The slate is blank:

Terror: What am I going to fill it with? Excitement--The options are endless.
Terror--Who are the characters? Excitement--I get to create them.
Terror--What is the theme? Excitement--One that is near and dear to my heart.
Terror--What if I can't do it? Excitement--What if I can?


A foggy idea floats around in my head. It's there when I go to bed, when I wake up, when I shower or go for a walk. Finally, I sit at the computer and begin to write, but there's much to be done before I delve very far. I find that I can write several chapters, introducing the idea which is still quite vague at this point, beginning to reveal the characters whom I'm only beginning to know myself. I explore the setting trying to incorporate all the senses. Eventually, I get to the point where although the gist of the story has been in my mind for some time, I must hone down the specifics and make sure I know the theme and heart of my story before I go on. But by now, I'm excited. I read about my topic. I surf the internet. And think, think, think about my protagonist. What does she look like? Sometimes I sketch a picture even though I can barely draw a stick figure. What are her hobbies, strengths, and faults? What is endearing about her? How is she different from other girls her age? What does she want? Why can't she get it? If I could meet her right now, what would we talk about? What words would she use? Why? And on and on it goes until I can write dialogue and know when it feels right and when it doesn't. And clearly, if there's dialogue, she must be talking to someone. Who? What are they to her? What are their personalities, goals, problems, etc.

When I read books by great authors like Sharon Creech or Katherine Patterson or Kate DeCamillo, it fascinates me how quickly I know their characters, and how easy they make the writing process look, and then to work on my own novel and realize how difficult it is to make it look so easy. This journey of writing stories for children is an incredible challenge, but one I look forward to embarking on every day.

To outline or not to outline

I've come to believe there are as many approaches to writing fiction as there are writers. Some complete the entire novel before making any revisions. Others agonize over a paragraph before going on to the next. One of the big debates is whether or not it's imperative to outline your story before delving into the writing. Those who do outline, swear by it, claiming it keeps you focused on the theme of your story, or the direction you want it to take--that it basically keeps you on track. Those who don't outline often say it thwarts their creative juices. I fall in the "don't outline" camp for the simple reason that I can never think what to put in my outline. I spend a lot of time thinking out my story in a general sense, but it's not until I'm actually sitting at the computer that it begins to unfold. After listening to some authors, whose work I totally admire, enumerate the benefits of outlining, I decided to give it a try with a novel I had half written. I even went back and briefly noted the general gist of each chapter I'd already written. When I finished that, I sat down ready to outline the rest of the book. And I sat there...and sat there. Finally, I went and wrote the next chapter so I knew what to add to the outline, and that's when I knew outlining probably wasn't going to work for me. It's an interesting thing to learn about yourself, especially when as a researcher for many years, I outlined every report before I wrote it. But those were technical reports with an introduction, a hypothesis, methods of data collection, analysis, and results. The outline is already there, you just fill in the blanks. You'd think that with that much experience outlining, it would come natural for me, but in fiction, it doesn't. I guess the moral of this blog is, don't agonize over what works for others, do what works for you, and appreciate the diversity of methods that produce incredible stories.

Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2009

I attended my sixth Pikes Peak Writers Conference last weekend and it never disappoints. The quality of the workshops and the professionalism of the staff are superb. Many states were represented at the conference. A woman from Florida told me it's worth the expense and travel time to attend, and she prefers the PPW conference to all others.

Linda Rohrbough ran a wonderful workshop informing us of a number of tools many writers know nothing about but which can open up new doors and become instrumental aides for the writer. I'm anxious to try them out. I attended two workshops by Linda Seger and was extremely impressed. Linda is a script consultant and has worked on over a hundred movies. In the first workshop, she used a movie video to demonstrate an actor's character arc. It was clear, to the point, and very relevant to any work of fiction. She also used movie videos in her second workshop to demonstrate the 3-act structure. I found myself reviewing two of my books with this model in mind and came away with ideas for making them stronger. Exactly what one wants to get from a conference. All of the keynote speakers were magnificent. I especially loved Jeffery Deaver's humorous address at the awards banquet.

It's always fun to come to the conference as a contest winner. I loved hearing my friends cheer for me as I accepted my first-place award for my tween novel, SEASHELL SECRETS. And the structure of the meals (an author, agent or editor seated at the tables with the attendees) allows wonderful opporunities to pitch your work. I left the conference with 3 requests to see part or all of my manuscript, and a huge smile on my face!

I'm always struck with the camaraderie of writers at the conference. One writer sitting between me and an agent kindly told the agent he should hear about my novel, setting up the perfect pitch opportunity and one of my 3 requests for material. Thanks Mandy! Her unselfish assistance inspired me to do the same for other writers which I plan to do every chance I get. She confirmed what I already knew--writers are a special group of people.

The art of revision

I just returned from a lovely trip to Cozumel, Mexico to learn that my tween novel, SEASHELL SECRETS, won first place in the 2009 Pikes Peak Writers contest (children's category). What a nice way to lift your spirits after you've been whining about the vacation coming to an end.

I spent much of the past year reworking parts of this manuscript and the win was a great reward. I must thank my wonderful critique group who refused to let me get away with scenes that didn't quite work or actions that didn't quite match my character's personality. It's amazing what others can see in your work that you can't! What's even more amazing is that you can see the exact same problem in someone else's work but not in your own. When I first began writing, I had this ridiculous notion that I could do it on my own...without a critique group. What was I thinking!

It's amazing to look back at a first draft and compare it to draft number 423. Not really that many...but close. The first draft is about getting the story down and putting together interesting and believable characters. From there it's flushing out what works/what doesn't in the plot, which characters need to be strengthened or gotten rid of, and polish...polish...polish. Get rid of passive words, not so much narrative voice, more realistic dialogue, these 20 pages drag, beef up the tension. Revision is tough but so necessary. And as I talk with other writers, I find that there are as many different revision styles as there are writers. Some delve into the big issues first, saving the grammatical changes until the end. Others do the reverse. Some put it on a shelf for awhile, others dig right in. I think one of the most important attributes of someone who has mastered the art of revision is the ability to set their pride aside and evaluate the critiques honestly, even if it means deleting your favorite part of the whole novel. The temptation, of course, is to disagree with the reviewer because then you can hold on to your golden nuggets and reduce the revision time substantially. The one drawback is that your hard work may eternally sit on the shelf. For me, the revision process has been a learning experience--sometimes a painful one. But I believe as with many other talents, practice hones revision skills which improves not only a specific work, but the author's overall writing ability.