« March 2009 | Main | May 2009 »

April 24, 2009

God Winks, Mind Blinks & Clarity of Character

I'm wondering just how long one bowl of soup can last. I'm writing in a local coffee shop today and across the way, within perfect earshot, is a truly annoying voice. Talk about distinct. And fast. And nonstop.

It belongs to a middle-aged woman who either had a couple of doses of Red Bull before she arrived or only has one hearing friend, the nodding woman sitting across from her who forgivingly keeps checking her cell phone.

Rather than pick up my laptop and move, however, I tune in. I listen to her run-on stories about continuing to pay her 25-year old daughter's credit card and about a college coed who got pregnant by a janitor. The woman dips her bread and fills her spoon and still the bowl remains mostly full. I want her to leave, but I don't.

For this woman has presented me with a gift: Clarity of Character.

I have been struggling with my protagonist lately. I understand who she is and what she wants and how she changes as the story arcs. Yet, she remains two dimensional. She's busy and challenged and flawed, but she's just a character, any character, bravely hurdling the obstacles I throw at her.

However, one constant remains. She is not distinct.

But the soup-eating woman is. She bounces in the seat as she talks, bobs her head for emphasis, leans way back when she laughs. She is visible and animated. She changes the pitch of her voice for the people she's quoting in her stories. And with each shift, her facial expression changes.

Don't get me wrong. I don't want my protagonist to be this woman -- no, I don't want my readers to hope for the soup bowl to drain. But I do want them to know, really know, my protagonist. I want her to be this extreme, this distinct.

After taking in her last spoonful of bisque, the talking woman leaves as abruptly as she came. And before the door even closes behind her, I click open a new document and let my fingers flip and flap across the keyboard. I define what kind of soup my protag would eat, with whom she'd eat it, and what stories she'd tell over it. In that brief amount of time, my blurred vision of her begins to clear.

I now know how she reacts when she receives difficult news. I can hear the changes in her voice when she talks with her patients or confides in her assistant. I see her facial expressions when she confronts her daughter or sips wine with her lover.

"She is real," I shout. "My protagonist is real."

There is a new book out by Squire Rushnell called When God Winks on New Beginnings.

I think writers experience these eye-opening God winks all the time. Only it's probably not fair to compare these clarity-of-character moments to divine gifts from above. Rather than "God winks", I like to call them "Mind Blinks." They are flashes of inspiration we receive when we spend enough time with our plots and our characters (and with our innovative nonfiction ideas, as well).

I'd love to hear about your own Mind Blink awakenings. When did you iron out that wringle in your plot point? Or what was the trigger that anchored the motivations of your protagonist? Your villain?

By sharing our creative experiences here, we might just trigger a Mind Blink Blast!

Hope so!

Judy

Posted by Judy at 12:57 PM | Comments (12)

April 08, 2009

Take a Positive Approach: Attend a Conference for Writers

Currently, there's a lot of chatter on the web (and tweets on twitter) surrounding the agent-author relationship. In brief, some of the postings turned negative when several participating writers complained about certain agents' policies including the no-response-means-I'm-not-interested one (in other words, when a writer sends a query, an agent doesn't respond at all unless she is interested in seeing more of the manuscript). Writers complained that they deserved the courtesy of a "no thanks" reply, at least.

I won't continue on the subject, here, because I feel enough has been said. When I had something specific to offer in the way of advice or opinion, I posted in the comment sections of the corresponding blog entries. If you'd like to catch up on any of the goings on, click on some of the blogs listed to the right of this posting.

If there's enough talk about the above-mentioned controversy, why then did I bring it up here? For two reasons:

1. To inform you of its existence, in case you didn't already know.

2. To NOT hop on the bandwagon and, instead, to help you use this fodder as fuel to propel you into writing/editing/submitting action.

How? By doing what every good writer should do in the spring/summer seasons: Attend a writers' conference.

Rather than spend a lot of time complaining about (or reading the complaints about) agent policies, why not take a positive action that can bring about the results you want: To sign with an agent or publisher? I can't think of a better way than to take hold of spring and/or dive into summer than by attending a conference.

In order to find the right conference for you, ask yourself (and be honest), where am I in my current project? If you've written and edited an entire manuscript and you feel it's ready for submission, I recommend attending a national conference where big-name agents will engage in pitch appointments with authors (ten-minute stints that allow the writer to pitch the novel or nonfiction book idea to an agent of his/her choice). There, you'll hear top authors speak and rub elbows with some of the most successful in the biz. Here are a few that might interest you.

For mystery and thriller writers: ThrillerFest 2009

This one is good for writers of romance, mainstream fiction, and even mystery: Romance Writers of America Conference 2009

Another conference with a lot of big-names: 2009 Backspace Writers Conference

Here's one that allows you to meet New York agents or to focus on writing memoir: International Women's Writing Guild: Big Apple Conference

If you have a strong first draft but know your manuscript needs some polishing, attend a nuts-and-bolts type conference in which the techniques of revising will be highlighted, along with other helpful sessions that might include encouraging you to write an engaging query and/or an irresistible first chapter. Here's a favorite of mine for such instruction.

This conference helps you kick back and tap the muse or roll up your sleeves and work, work, work: The International Women's Writing Guild: Remember the Magic

If you've got the seed of an idea and want to know how to turn it into a novel or approach magazines and newspapers with it, a local conference will probably give you the best bang for your buck (sorry about the cliche). In addition to my top choice shown below, check your library and community calendar listings for workshops, seminars, and even book/critique groups in your area.

This conference is great for writers of all levels: The Pennwriters Conference -- A Writer's Tool Chest

Take a moment or even a couple of hours to browse these websites (and others) to find the right conference for you. Talking with active writers, hearing the words of inspiring presenters, and schmoozing with editors and agents is the best motivation a writer can find. Let me know where you decide to go!

Posted by Judy at 10:40 AM | Comments (2)

April 04, 2009

WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids: Pittsburgh's Original Creative Writing Camp

The Fifth Annual WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids is now accepting registrations.

My colleague and friend Mary Patouillet and I founded an exciting, information-packed WRITING CAMP INTENSIVE for students entering grades 4th - 8th. Borders Books and Music in the Shops at Northway on McKnight Road in Pittsburgh has offered us our premium venue for the past five years. Borders employees are extremely accommodating. In fact, their Regional Vice President and other regional managers have visited the camp and commented on what a unique offering WRITE NOW Writing Camp is! It's a warm and encouraging, positive experience that both parents and students truly enjoy.

This year, WRITE NOW Writing Camp will be held the week of June 22 – 26, 2009. Due to demand over the past three years, we host two sessions. Choose either the 9:00 AM – noon OR 1:30 – 4:30 PM session. Space is limited, so reserve your spot today!

The camp features Brainstretch Exercises and Round-robin Breakout sessions in fiction, nonfiction (including essays), and poetry. We also focus on various skills and techniques that help students learn to edit and improve their writing projects. At the end of the week, the students take home a bound book of their camp creations. It is a keepsake that is both a reference guide and a memory book.

As a unique feature, WRITE NOW's curriculum changes every year due to the high number of returning campers.

This year we're hosting our fifth annual WRITE NOW Writing Camp. We've attracted campers from 33 different schools and homeschoolers, as well. Kids come together from as far north as Evans City and as far south as Upper St. Clair to enjoy this event. We provide a unique, comfortable environment that encourages self-expression and interaction. What better way to release your child's creativity?

WRITE NOW Writing Camp is designed for students who love to write and for those whose parents wish they did! Click below to find out how to register and for more details.

WRITE NOW Writing Camp for Kids: Pittsburgh's Original Creative Writing Camp

WHEN: June 22-26, 2009

WHERE: Borders Books and Music in the Shops at Northway, McKnight Road, Pittsburgh

SESSIONS: Choose from 9:00 AM - Noon OR 1:30 - 4:30 PM

WHO: WRITE NOW is for students entering grades 5 through 8 who love to write and for those who want to learn to write better. (This camp is not remedial.)

FEE: Cost is $130 and includes a t-shirt, notebook, folder, writing supplies, and a bound book of camp creations.

Space is limited.

Email me for more information and a printable registration form.

WRITE NOW Writing Camp: Building Writing Confidence in the Classroom and Beyond

Posted by Judy at 09:17 AM | Comments (2)

April 02, 2009

Rejection from an Agent is like a Rejection from Harvard: You Can't Take it Personally

My daughter's friend did the unspeakable. He applied to 18 colleges. He's a minority student who scored 2400 on the SATs, earned a 4.0 GPA (or 5.0 or 6.0 whatever the highest is these days), racked up 300 hours of community service, plays the piano, tap dances...the list goes on. And on. In short, he is the quintessential college applicant (the envy, or more likely the bash-bait, of all his peers).

Why blog about Super Senior on my writing space? There's a lesson for us all in what lies ahead. Keep reading.

As colleges passed out their decisions over the past few days, this ultimate applicant, however, received the following news.

Harvard: Rejection
Princeton: Rejection
Yale: Rejection
Penn: Wait-listed

You might first react by saying, "What the...?" The point is that rejection happens, even to the tippy-top, cream-of-the-crop.

And the same holds true for submitting writers. Many of my colleagues and cliets have received rejections from 2 or 3 agents and then tossed their manuscripts into a drawer. Sometimes that manuscript needs to be tossed, especially if it had a waning plot or was one draft short of being ready to submit.

Some of those manuscripts, however, are ripe and ready. And the writer needs to do the unthinkable, like the 2400 Kid did, and submit, submit, submit. There's no way Super Senior can take his rejections personally. He did everything in his power to make it to the top of the admissions pile. And still, for some schools, he just wasn't what they were looking for.

If you have a manuscript in the drawer that has been rejected a couple of times, pull it out and read it. If it's rough, revise. Make it tippy-top, cream-of-the-crop. Then, hop on over to The Guide to Literary Agents and start researching appropriate potential agents. Next, write an exciting query letter (if you're stuck, check out Query Shark) and give it a try.

And if you receive a couple of rejections, don't take it personally. You simply didn't write in the genre or voice they were seeking at the time. Keep submitting until you find the right agent for you.

Adopt the perserverence of the Super Senior who, by the way, was accepted to Brown and Dartmouth. Poor kid won anyway, didn't he? And you can, too!

Good luck!

Judy

Posted by Judy at 08:37 AM | Comments (5)