Write Early, Write Often…Write Something!

Teresa Fannin, reader, writer, gardener, chocolate fan & tea drinker

Category: Art & Craft (Page 4 of 17)

Heroes

04/01/2017 /

Who is a hero? The one who saves the day, right? <BTW, what is with the capes? Glory Be! Like having something around your neck is not an invitation to a villain to grab it and strangle you with it? And, d’uh, why don’t they, the villains I mean?>  But I digress. Again, who is a hero? Is it enough to save the day? Today it seems like they have to save the world, no the Galaxy.  And then do what? Retire? Are all the criminals and the villains gone? I get that a story, be it a movie or series, must end. We need to know <although there is the ending to The Giver (Lowery)and the ending in Peachtree Road (Siddons)>  we are at the end of the story.

Grimm’s last show was THE END. They were honest. Give them points for that. But they tricked us. <spoiler>  Everyone dies and then everyone comes back because we have this cool magical object that says we can do that. But they went a step further–sort of like JK with Harry. They showed the next generation of Grimm’s fighting the Wessen. So, they saved the planet, well, all humans, but no one is ever really saved. So there was a smidgeon of truth.

We don’t even suspend disbelief anymore. We know there will be something to bring them back. Ironic. In the 21st century, when we say that science is fact, we all believe in magic.

There was a book I read a long time ago, [can’t remember the title]  back in the 1970s, a sci-fi/fantasy book. It was about good triumphing over evil. Evil was powerful, huge armies, lots of people participating. Good was small, a boy, if I remember correctly. And maybe an old man and not much else. The upshot is <was> that good will always triumph even with the full force of evil against it. But like with Grimm, the battle is never over. Maybe the major one is one and done, but there will always be brushfires.

I am a child of the post-war. Not the war to end all wars. That was a silly way to identify it, because the treaty of Versailles only exacerbated the problem and set the world up for a second war. I am a baby boomer. The stories I read were of the men and women who resisted the evils of totalitarianism, oppression, genocide, and communism. Primary text, I think they are called. These individuals did what they could to limit the devastation, to eliminate the threat of an over-class rule. They were common people; maybe bankers, housewives, farmers, shopkeepers, or they were not, perhaps they were earls, counts, government officials. They did not think of their lives as forfeit, but in many cases they were. There was no coming back. There was no magic.

What I read in the 50s were the original memories, the heroic stories of their realization that no one else would stand. They knew literally they had no choice. Today we say we always have a choice. What we mean is you can say yes, or you can say no. Everything we read and see brings this mixed message. The truth is no, no you can’t say no. You can’t.

At an SCBWI conference one of the speakers, Tony Horowitz, I think, said that if nothing else we should be truthful to our children, we should terrify them with the truth. And so, we are back to heroes; those who recognize there is no choice, that saying yes is the only thing, and that doing what you must, even though you are terrified is the right thing.

I call that bravery.

Naming

03/05/2017 /

My favorite biblical story is where Adam and Eve get to name everything. I always imagined them sitting on a log side by side. Sun shinning, nice breeze and,  “Lion,” says Adam pointing to a fluffy white ball with a puff tail.  “No, silly,” says Eve, shaking her head, pointing elsewhere. “That is a lion. Look at the teeth, the mane, the eyes.” And so it would go, day after day until they almost ran out of words…LOL, nobody runs out of words.

Almost every child has a naming story. For me the doctors were sure I would be a boy born mid to late January. Well, I must have been very comfy, because I didn’t come out until February 2 and at that I was born at around 11:40 PM, noticeably the last time I was truly a ‘night’ person. With the boy thing, my parents picked a name: material grandfather and paternal uncle. Oops!  My mom suggested the name of her favorite cousin. Turns out my dad was not enamored of said cousin. Compromise time. Part of the name but not all. [as was the custom then and turns out the perfect saint for me–Teresa of Avila! another blog posting for that one] with a very Irish nickname. At home I was rarely called by my baptized name–well, unless I was in extreme trouble–and yes–I did hear it often enough. But I considered my ‘nickname‘ my real name. Ah, sly parents trying to trick the middle child!

What made me think of this? An article in the WSJ: DO WE LOOK LIKE OUR NAMES?  The consensus is that people come to look like their names. Ha! I don’t think people LOOK like their names. I couldn’t pick a Joe from a Ralph, or a Mary from a Susan. But I do think most grow up, and in that process of growing, they perceive how others say, write, add adjective and adverb to that name! The author of this study talks about naming her daughter Lilac,  “and already, she says, people are cooing that Lilac is blossoming into a beautiful flower and smells just as sweet.”  Poor child!

My name…nickname…was very different. [From 1880 to 2015, the Social Security Administration has recorded 23 babies born with that name in United States. The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1967. The highest recorded use of the name was in 1969 with a total of 7 babies.] It is/was consistently misspelled, miss-pronounced, made fun of–yes the bullying part [except by the nuns who were uncanny in singling me out–was it the name? or the child?], one of the reasons why I don’t use it except with family and close friends. And here’s the deal: I don’t think we look like our names, but I do think we PERCEIVE ourselves as our name. Add to that birth order and you have a combination, for me, that could keep a panoply of mental health professionals busy for a lifetime. Ha!

So. Naming. For a story it is like from the inside out–the idea comes with a name–the story and the character who will have both the active and emotional fortitude to take the story to the conclusion. It has taken me a while to figure this out. I’m slow :). Not prone to a lot of internal examination, so this journey to understand where the names of my characters comes from has required more time than I wish. But! And here is the cool part. When I look up the names I am mostly right on in my choice. Damn! This could have saved me a lot of time in my revision!

Next time!

 

Processing

02/16/2017 /

So. Four days out from the end of the 18th Annual 2017 SCBWI Winter Conference. I always feel like we are on timers and we have to get to this, move onto the next, then the next. And by the end on Sunday. Whew!

Time to process. I love the keynotes. They are all inspirational in their own way. Each leaves behind a nugget. A tidbit to get me through the writing process. No, not going to share. I’m sure each person who listens hears their own nugget.

The panel on picture books is always fascinating to me. I listen and am still star struck at what they are able to imagine to create a book of 32 pages that has so few words and yet conveys a whole story, emotion, life. A picture book is a wondrous thing.

This year my two picks for Saturday breakouts brought more to my toolbox than I could have imagined. I go to these all the time. I listen. I take notes. I wonder two things: if this is an editor/agent that I could submit to and in the end, I usually say no. And, I pay attention to their presentation skills and if this is someone we could bring to our regional conference. Both were a yes on both–a first.

The first editor used the Newberry Award Committee criteria as a prism through which to view middle grade. The first thing I liked was the discussion about middle grade. The editor stated that middle grade encompassed everything from Captain Underpants to Brown Girl Dreaming. Interesting. Do you know the Newberry Criteria?  If not, and you are writing middle grade, then look it up. Here’s the short version: Interpretation of the theme or concept, Presentation of information including accuracy, clarity, and organization, Development of a plot, Delineation of characters, Delineation of a setting, Appropriateness of style.  I am huge on show and tell, so the editor illustrated each point with a book and why, including short readings, which is cool.

The second editor was unexpected. I had not realized this editor’s involvement in nonfiction. I had always thought in terms of fiction, which is why we hosted the editor at one of our conferences in Carolinas.  I think when I checked that box I was more interested in title than I was in presenter. What did I get? The knowns: nonfiction is powerful, shows how to think, works for curious children and has a reverence for the facts. This house publishes commercial quality nonfiction.  And mentioned was Capstone, Lerner, Rosen, Scholastic, National Geographic. The house like series, not unlike the success of the Magic School Bus, though not from this house. I think the thing that was most exciting about this presentation was that the editor delved into what would be almost Pop Culture nonfiction. And that versus the nonfiction I grew up with, there is now a push to have nonfiction reflect the 21st century.

The Sunday panel on The Current Landscape for Children’s Books was more interesting than I thought it would be. One participant claimed that the ‘role of the gatekeeper’ is outdated. Now there is  independent publishing,  self-publishing, as well as publishing that comes from blogs, serialized graphic novels that form a platform for and a entry into traditional publishing.  Also mentioned was that a large number, 55%, of young adult novels are now considered crossovers. Sheeze, I have been immersed in children’s literature for so long, I’m not sure I even see that, but there you go. 55%!

Some new terms I learned in the publishing business. Editors/Agents are looking for empathy builders. They worry about marginalized readers. And, they use sensitivity readers to ensure that the books they publish that are of a diverse nature are accurate and appropriate.

One very positive note. Ken Geist, VP Publisher [Orchard Books, Scholastic Press Picture Books, Cartwheel Books, Readers, Branches and Little Shepherd] stated that there is no doubt the picture book market is better than it has ever been!

On the publishing side, there was also the note that the NYTimes has changed it list. And because I have not focused on that, I’m not sure I get the change. But one VP/Publisher was very concerned. So need to investigate.

So. Good stuff. Time to review my own submission. Push the ideas that I have into a manuscript format. And of course, time to submit the manuscripts that have been so very vetted and are ready.

Processing is a constant. I think I like that.

Write!

01/28/2017 /

That’s what this whole blog is about. Write! String words together, make them constructive, make them sensical, make them more than a thought, give them attitude, admit they are me; they are my thinking.

We are at the end of January. I’ve written. I’ve read. I’ve revised. I’ve submitted. I’ve followed. I’ve commented, on politics, on free speech, on the economy, on policy issues, and probably more if I was to break it down. The importance is that I write. I write every day. Maybe not here, maybe not on my stories, but I do write. I seek to explain, entertain, inform, and defend.

I find this past eighteen months instructive in understanding the imperative that Memory Is Tyrannical. Oh. Yeah!  Let me amend for the current century: [ apologies to Rosenstock-Hussey] Raw facts are  tyrannical. They can be bullying. Why? Because there is no time!  In today’s world of instant blogging, posting, tweeting and messaging there is no time beyond the blur of information, no time to verify facts.

So,for the sake of my blood pressure and for my sanity,  I’m back in time. From this perspective the past looks quiet. Calm. Unassuming. There is the meme going around Facebook I’m glad I grew up before social media. Most of which claim the giddy feeling because they grew up in the 70s or 80s. Ha! No, before that, back when there were only two, maybe three channels on the TV and they the pictures were black and white. Back when we were informed via newspapers via teletype. When phone calls across the US were a big deal, never mind from continent to continent. Not quite the covered wagon, pony express, not quite.

It’s 1954. The Congo. The more educated black part of the population is beginning to understand that it is not enough to ‘act’ white, or more, correctly, Belgian. It is not enough to be educated the way the Belgian government allows. Now is the rise of the evolue, the most prominent is Patrice Lumumba.

It is 1954. The United Nations. Dag Hammarskjöld is the second Secretary General. He is considered a technocrat, an administrator. He takes over a demoralized organization, traumatized by the ‘red scare’, the McCarthyism in the US, the clash of communism versus capitalism.

The turmoil, politically and culturally,  in Congo, over a hundred plus years,  is a story of personal gain oppressing a native people, of national interests obscuring sovereignty, and of  the willingness of world to allow it all to happen.

 

Winter

01/12/2017 /

Winter, the season, officially started at 5:44 AM on Wednesday, December 21, 2016.

For me winter starts when it snows. then you can get a cosy fire going, enjoy the fascination of wood burning, and do nothing for hours whiling your time away feeling like a closet arsonist. And, it is a time to find your flannels, long-sleeved tees, and be appropriately dressed to never leave the house.

So, winter is perfect for writing, minus the whiling hours of staring. For me, it was the perfect time to edit. I don’t like to edit. It’s a thing. I don’t re-read books. I don’t memorize whole sentences/paragraphs, let alone phrases. Unless they are part of the vernacular, then no, they are not part of my lexicon. The whiling thing, however, feels so wasted and this year I printed off both my middle grade novels that are mostly done, but we all know, a novel is never really done, and I sat with pen and highlighter in hand to check all the spacing, spelling, paragraphs, consistencies, and chapters so that I could follow through on my 2017 #oneword resolution. Choose.

You know a submission is ready when you can’t think of another thing to do to it, when everyone who’s read it, beta readers, critique partners; all say, send, done. So, okay.

The snow that God gave is beginning to go away. It’s cool, but not cold. Winter is not over, but that feeling of quiet and alone time, of do not disturb time, of me time is now swiftly exiting stage right. This is a new time. #submittime #choosetime. Find the names, follow the rules. PRESS SEND!

PS. that sweet little voice is E, ‘no, thank you’ is the translation 🙂

 

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