Month: April 2012 (Page 1 of 2)

so, no, I didn’t write on Monday. Brain overload, well, no, not that. It’s more like processing. I need to process the information. Sort of like marinating meat, i.e., marinate |ˈmarəˌnāt|verb [ trans. ]soak. Yep. That’s it. Soak. Soak in, through, around and go deep.

One of the best things about the workshop with Cheryl Klein was the opportunity to focus on my own WIP and by that I mean think about what she was saying in relation to my own writing.

What a gift! Made me think that even though there were fifty people in the room, it felt very intimate and personal. This workshop, co-sponsored between SCBWI Carolinas and SCBWI Midsouth,  gave new meaning to plot, both action and emotion.

There were two teaching methods she provided, making this possible. One, via the pre-conference assignments, I worked so intimately and completely with my story that as Ms. Klein made comments about types of plot, or the inciting emotional event of the story, I was able to *know* exactly where that was in mine. And, two, by telling us right up front she would be giving us access to her presentation, all 82 pages, it was not necessary to take notes about anything other that what jumped out in relation to our story.

So. I’m off to marinate some more. Soak, souse, immerse, bathe. And end up with a superior work than I ever imagined.

Off to Asheville, North Carolina this morning. Home of the largest private house in America, Biltmore Estate, the Grove Park Inn with a world class spa, UNC Asheville, the only liberal arts college in the UNC system, and some of the funkiest stores downtown as well as a vibe that is straight out of 1960 Northern California :-).

But. I will be doing none of those things this weekend. I will be sitting in a windowless, over air-conditioned room, with 50 other writers, listening to Executive Editor Cheryl Klein attempt to push into my brain Plot! The first definition of plot is a plan made in secret by a group of people to do something illegal or harmful which I kind of, sort of like, because I’m writing a mystery. The second definition is more apt, the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence for the work we will be doing in this self imposed eight hour exile from the real world.

Ms. Klein’s book, Second Sight , An Editor Talks On Writing, Revising & Publishing Books For Children and Young Adults, is a primer for those who want to write well for children. And. I think that’s a huge distinction. For children. I know when I returned to children’s books with my own girls, I was enchanted by the way the story was told. In adult books, we allow authors to use short cuts; a brand name for a car to denote wealth or near poverty, a high profile school to infer privilege, or even a famous name to identify a style or attitude. No can do with kids. They’re definitely not as tolerant as children. Although I do believe the most popular of adult books are basically written to an eighth grade level. And sometimes that’s demeaning…to an eighth grader!

So today I finalize my book map. I make sure my spelling is correct and that I’m on top of the material request, although, in truth, I almost feel like I’m drowning in a sea of possibilities and my ears will be too clogged to listen. So. Probably it’s for the best that I am in a totally sterile environment. And, I’m guessing, I’m not alone in feeling overwhelmed!

…one of the coolest things to do on a Sunday afternoon is listen to someone talk about blood and gore and when a real forensic practitioner talks, well… April’s  Murder We Write meeting brought in Senior Forensic practitioner Joanne Morrissey, who served with the Metropolitan Police Service in London for 17 years and is now in her 4th year with the High Point Police Department. She had an amazing power point presentation, but not only that, she had great war stories, old crimes, weird crimes and yucky crimes. 

I have three pages of notes. With a master’s degree from university in UK in Fire Investigation [this side of the pond we call it Fire Science] Jo was full of information about certification, evidence procedures, documentation and scene preservation. And,  as I know from Lee Lofland  nobody on TV does it well, or right, maybe close, but then only maybe. Bottom line, Castle does most of it wrong. NCIS and The Closer did more of it right. But still. You don’t solve a crime in an hour.

The trick of it is whether or not you can make it close enough to believable so that people are willing to over look the odd or weird or uncertain device you chose to use to solve the crime. With Castle, you over look a LOT because of the Richard Castle , not because the mystery is better or worse than anyone else’s. With The Closer you watch because you want to find how Brenda Leigh is going to screw up everyone else’s life to solve her crime. With NCIS it’s more a combination of the two, you watch to see the characters interact and to find out whodunit.

So. Now I have to rewrite or rethink the  scene where the dead body is found. Do I let the local police mess up the crime scene making it tough for the main character? OR, do I have the CSI come in and make things more difficult for my main character?  hmmm……