By Francine Puckly It’s one thing to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic and quite another if we were to have done this on the famous Stella Polaris in its heyday or perhaps today on the Seven Seas Mariner. Instead of a futile exercise, you’re grabbing a new perspective on an already-amazing creative journey. I returned last night from the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City. I spent four long, sleep-deprived days listening to inspirational lectures by authors, illustrators, agents and publishers about the fabulous things happening in children’s publishing, brainstorming ideas with colleagues for our personal projects as well as the efforts of our writing organization, and reconnecting with old friends and making new ones over mugs of tea and glasses of wine. This morning I pondered those nuggets of hope and inspiration I acquired over the weekend while I sipped my cup of tea. Then I rearranged my writing world. I moved my writing desk from a snow-blocked window to one that provided a different view, I deleted the first two chapters of my novel to leave room for a new perspective, and I wrote down the first five things I wanted to change this week. New views. New perspectives. New energy. And with renewed focus, I began to write and tackle those goals. What did I learn this weekend? I learned to listen to others and allow them to fill my well. I learned that it’s critical to network and meet new people with new ideas. I realized that no matter how hard it is to budget for workshops and leave my family behind, it’s essential to invest in education. And I found out it’s necessary to put my refreshed mind to work immediately before losing the positive influences. Even though you might not have gone away for the weekend, take some time today to look at what feels too familiar or no longer provides the inspiration it once had. Rearrange a few deck chairs. Make a quick list of things you can refresh right now. It might be as small as purchasing a new journal and indexing the pages as Laura Vaccaro Seeger does to keep track of her ideas, registering for a class or workshop that you didn’t think you could justify, or merely moving a desk to a new room or window to watch the birds or falling snow. Once you’ve done that, take out your favorite pen or brush and add some splash to your project. Francine
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The registration for NESCBWI's Anual Spring Conference opens tomorrow, February 4 at noon. Do you plan to go? Why should you? This is why we go: Francine: SCBWI has been a large part of my life since I joined my first critique group back in 2006. Registering and attending the annual spring conference is one of the main writing highlights of my year. It begins with the excitement of choosing my workshop selections from the smorgasbord of options offered each year (oh, the possibilities!), and it culminates on the conference weekend with three glorious days spent learning new aspects of the craft and engaging in heartfelt conversations over lunches, dinners and evening glasses of wine and tea. Yes, most years it requires an act of God to pry me away from my family demands for three days, but I've never regretted the time spent among my fellow writers and illustrators or the effort it took to get me there! The craft discussions and key note talks replenish my writing well, and the camaraderie amongst my colleagues sustains me through the deadlines and projects that lie ahead. Amanda: When I first got serious about writing, I had no idea where to start. I had a good, solid picture book manuscript, a beginning to a novel, and a bunch of cute ideas. A friend of a friend suggested I join SCBWI. After a Google search, where I learned about the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, I became a member just in time to sign up for one day of the Spring conference. Like a giant wave that is both majestic and terrifying, that day overwhelmed me. I walked away with a deep conviction of how little I knew. I walked away in awe of the process involved in making a book and with my head bursting with new information. I walked away with an insatiable hunger to learn more, grow more, WRITE MORE! And so, I return every year to discover those things that I still do not know; to learn and be inspired by amazing authors; to rub shoulders with agents and editors and put faces with names; to volunteer and serve; to connect with like-minded people who share my passion for words and stories and books; and to fill my writer's cup. So I can pour out stories onto pages for another year. Oh, and that solid picture book manuscript that got this whole thing started. Not so solid. I learned that too. Kelly: "Seems like a lot of mice scrambling for a small piece of cheese,” I commented to the stranger setting next to me at the SCBWI conference. I was overwhelmed looking at the crush of SCBWI conference goers heading to their next seminar. “It’s a big piece of cheese,” she replied. “Really?” I asked. “Say that again.” She did, and then she started our support group, is my partner in 24 Carrot Writing and without a doubt the most wonderful reason to go to the SCBWI conference. You will find inspiration from the wonderful speakers and enhance your craft at the informative workshops, but the best reason to attend an SCBWI conference is the opportunity to connect with a fellow writer. Strike up a conversation with the writer who sits down next you – you may just find your Francine! Annie feels so strongly about conferences as a way to connect with others in the writing community, she wrote a whole post about it here. Hope to see you in Springfield,MA April 24-26! Go! Sign up! By Francine Puckly Yesterday as I diligently worked to finish my novel at my writing partner’s house, her frozen pipes let loose. Water gushed from three broken pipes, and I was immediately thrust from novel writing into crisis management. The plumber wouldn’t come. The water shut-off valve for the 140-year-old church-turned-home-and-art-gallery was under a crawl space no one could reach, and water from the upstairs art gallery dripped into the downstairs kitchen while another hole in the crawl space below spewed water upwards flooding the kitchen floor. Finally, after 45 minutes and a whole lot of begging, the fire chief and several volunteer firefighters arrived at the scene to stop the influx of water. Then the sopping and mopping began. And poof. There went my novel, floating out the door. As I drove back to my friend’s house last night to sort through soaked paperwork and help her regain some semblance of order, I was reminded of how friends stepped in to help my mom when my dad had a stroke a few years ago. I was only able to leave my life and children in New England for a couple of days to assist my parents; the remainder of the help (managing the daily functioning of their farmhouse, feeding and watering the draught horses my father owned at the time, and prioritizing the influx of medical paperwork) came from neighbors and friends. I was so very grateful for their presence. And while at the moment I’m desperate to finish my novel, there was never a question of what I would and will do for my writing partner. She has been a rock, supporting my writing endeavors for the past several years. While I’m not paying her back for the writing support she has provided me, I feel I am paying it forward from the crisis management my own family dealt with a few years ago. I’m struck by how we pay things forward in our everyday lives, but I also believe it is an essential part of being writers and illustrators. A few years ago I had the opportunity to chat with Tomie dePaolo and thank him for attending a Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference. When I commented how much his words of encouragement meant to our membership, he said that when he was beginning his career, this type of support organization didn’t exist. Artists and writers were on their own. True, we are privileged to have a plethora of opportunities to network with other writers and illustrators. Although Tomie and I didn’t have a chance to discuss this further, I’m quite certain he had his own network of close friends and colleagues who encouraged him and bolstered his career. And he has offered that same gift to other writers and illustrators throughout his long, successful career. And those he’s encouraged? Well, I’m quite certain they are helping the next generation of newbies get started. So as we journey forward in our careers, let us continue to be open to those who encourage us—but also be aware of the small moments when we might be able to buoy someone who needs a special word of encouragement (or a few extra towels to soak up water in a flooded kitchen!). Those individuals might be on the verge of giving up—as many of us have felt from time to time. The whole concept of paying it forward means that we won’t necessarily help those who supported us or help them in the same exact way, but we can bolster those who come behind us and who need our encouragement. We will all achieve our career aspirations—and the journey will be much more enjoyable if we make it together. Happy New Year! Francine By Francine Puckly All of us at 24 Carrot Writing send best wishes to you and yours for a wondrous holiday season and health, happiness and good fortune in the year ahead. We are grateful you’ve allowed us to accompany you on your creative journeys, and we look forward to great ideas, sustainable motivation and delightful rewards for the hard work that will greet us in 2015! So raise a glass of cheer to celebrate the gifts of family and friends, but also to honor all that you have brought forth this year. Slap a gold foil star on the top of research pages, drafts and brainstorming notes you’ve completed, and crawl into bed each night with a content heart. You are on the right track for reaching your dreams! Happy Holidays! Francine, Amanda, Annie and Kelly “Every year I resolve to be a little less the me I know and leave a little more room for the me I could be.” -- Wendy Wasserstein “Uncommon Women and Others” by Francine Puckly As much has been said and written about revision as developing a first draft. Most manuscripts go through several major transformations before reaching an acceptable format to be shared with external readers such as agents and editors. The second draft especially receives, or should receive, a complete and major overhaul, whether you’re writing a 500-word picture book or 100,000-word fantasy novel. And it is this drastic reconstruction process that I’d like to discuss. If you have completed the first draft of your manuscript, congratulations! It takes a tremendous amount of dedication and conviction to climb over the numerous hills and descend into the subsequent valleys of story creation. It’s the mark of true accomplishment when you deliver an entire story from one single thought or tiny seed of an idea. So you’ve finished. Now put the manuscript away. Let the words and phrases simmer in a desk drawer or in the recesses of your computer storage for two to six weeks without looking at it. Not even one little peek. Instead, celebrate! Go get that “carrot” you promised yourself when you were writing the first draft. Refill your creative well—go to the movies, see a musical, plunk out a tune on the piano. Work on a different project or play with new ideas. Clean the house. Do anything but read your manuscript. Once you’ve allowed the manuscript to rest for the acceptable designated period, pull out your draft when you have a large block (or blocks) of time to devote to a reading session. Use your favorite pen. Take copious notes either on a paper copy of the manuscript itself or on a notepad next to your computer so that you can refer to these changes and suggestions as you work on the next draft. Read your manuscript with fresh eyes. Study it. What works? What moves, what slows, what questions have been left unanswered? Which characters are critical to the story, which characters add color, and which characters can be removed or combined? Comb over your words. Mull over the draft. Once you’ve gotten through the manuscript and have taken all the necessary notes, delete it. Delete the whole draft?! Making such a suggestion, especially as NaNoWriMo comes to a close and thousands of writers are chugging caffeine and working late hours in order to hit word count goals, is downright blasphemy. Yet drastic measures must be taken with the second draft in order provide the writer freedom on a blank page. This purging of the first draft prevents “tinkering”, a type of revision best saved for later drafts when the story has matured. Tinkering is not the revision method of choice when major parts of the story are still being honed, crafted, and invented. If we don’t separate ourselves from the first draft, we get locked into what is instead of what can be. The process I suggest takes the very best of what you, the writer, delivered in the first draft and mixes it with a new vision. Re-vision. If you’re too nervous to completely release that first draft, print a paper copy before deleting. Or at the very minimum promise yourself you won’t open the electronic document unless absolutely necessary. Trust that your story is imprinted in your mind and on your heart. Releasing that first draft will blow open your writing, because the path has already been laid out in front of you. Now you have the opportunity to enrich the setting, hone in on which elements of the plot march your story forward, and develop depth of character that will make even the most reluctant reader keep turning the page. So are you ready? Take heart and take a deep breath. Trust your story. But more importantly, trust yourself. And go after that second draft with the same gusto you did the first time around. You and the reader won’t be disappointed. - Francine by Francine Puckly Two years ago, I was struggling to find my voice as a writer amidst the demands and joys of having my two children home for the summer. I entered my July checkpoint meeting with my 24 Carrot Writing buddies having let nearly five weeks pass without a written word. Progress on my novel had come to a halt, the creative well was bone dry, and I was depressed, angry and frustrated. Depressed because I had shut out something I loved, angry I had put my desires and needs on the back burner—lest I be selfish, and frustrated I hadn’t yet kicked myself in the butt and righted the course of action. When it was my turn to state my monthly writing goals for August, I declined comment. I could think of nothing to say. No inspiration. No goals to set and achieve. I could imagine no scenario where I would achieve any goal I set for myself—that’s how little faith I had left in my writing. The others took turns stating their goals and when we got to Annie, she said simply, “I’m going to write for 20 minutes a day.” With that one little sentence she snapped me back to reality and snapped me back to being a writer. I decided I could write for 20 minutes a day. Because if I couldn’t give myself 20 measly minutes, what could I give myself? That became August’s goal. I undertook this challenge with unwavering devotion. No matter what, no matter what hour, I set the timer for 20 minutes and attacked the page with my pen. With a timer ticking along in the background, there was no time for hesitation. And day after day, scene after scene, words poured out of me. Twenty minutes might not seem like much, but that summer I had 10 hours of writing at the end of August that I hadn’t had in July. I continued into September, then into October. Weekends, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I wrote through them all, because it was a gift to myself to sustain that flow of writing. In all honesty, some writing days are easy and some days are more challenging. But I write anyway. If I’m drained when I write (like on those nights I pick up the pen at 11:30 p.m. because I didn’t “get to it” earlier), I tend to use prompts or pose question after question about my characters and plot and setting. Often those questions are answered in the writing sessions over the next couple of days. The thread of writing every day deepens my craft and brings a level of complexity and honesty that hadn’t existed before. And it feeds the hungry writer’s soul inside. As I pointed out in Monday’s blog, November is the perfect month to stretch your creativity. Even if you can’t commit to NaNoWriMo or PiBoIdMo, dust off your timer (or find the one on your smart phone) and give yourself 20 minutes a day to devote to your craft. Try it for a month, and watch the miracles unfold. - Francine by Francine Puckly January is the most notorious month for making resolutions and setting goals, a practice that has been in place since Roman times. But autumn is also steeped in the tradition of reevaluation, readjustment, and recommitment to life-sustaining behaviors and goals. In modern times, summer vacations—with their blend of frolic and leisure—leave most of us with refreshed, relaxed minds and bodies as we head into the final months of the year. The crisp air of fall brings an energy that was lacking in the sultry summer months. So it doesn’t surprise me that November has become a month of creative pursuits and challenges for writers and illustrators alike. Whether it’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), WNFIN (Write Non-Fiction in November), PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month), NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), or an illustrator pursuit such as SkADaMo (Sketch-A-Day Month) or a “30-Day Illustrator Challenge" (such as 30 paintings in 30 days), creative goals abound for every writer and illustrator out there. We join together from the far corners of the earth with the help of website sponsors and social media to journey through the month together, cheering on one another during this 30-day sprint. I am hesitant to join challenges I don’t feel I can complete, as it is debilitating for my creative soul to miss goal after goal. I have never participated in NaNoWriMo, the challenge-of-choice for the young adult fiction writer I am, but that has never stopped me from setting—and achieving—a month’s worth of writing goals each November. November is rich in creativity. I lay the groundwork for my current project in September and October after my kids return to their school routines, and the daily focus in November blows open the work. It is a time I cherish, and I am able to face the energy drain of the holidays because I have fed my soul for weeks. This year will be no exception. I will be participating in the November challenge by continuing my daily 20-minute longhand writing practice and topping that off with an additional objective to complete the revision of my latest manuscript. A friend is joining the creative push by dividing the month into four one-week buckets. She will sketch out one project a week. Another friend, who isn’t able to commit to the 50,000 words of NaNoWriMo due to the demands of her full-time job, is modifying PiBoIdMo. She is developing new ideas for her latest fantasy novel—world building, characters and plot—each day of the month. Consistency fosters creativity. Whatever your muse, whatever your project, whatever longing you feel with respect to your craft, I am certain that November holds something special for you and your creativity. Won’t you consider joining the thousands of other writers and illustrators by setting specific, achievable and realistic goals this November? Grab an accountability buddy, set your plan, and give yourself the gift of time devoted to your craft. Let’s try it together…for 30 short days. Francine ESTABLISHING INCENTIVES by Francine Puckly The journey to honing your craft and completing large projects is a long, arduous one. It takes dedication and commitment, and even the most driven and confident individuals need incentives to keep going during those hair-pulling, “why-am-I-doing-this-anyway?” moments of doubt. It is imperative that we take the time to reward and recognize our creative spirits for the completion of the hard work we tackle each day. As Annie mentioned in The SMART Key to Your Carrots (Sept. 22, 2014), it’s critical that your established goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant to the task at hand, and timely—a realistic timeframe in which to complete the work. In creative work, it’s easy to lose the long-term focus as we march toward the completion of a project that may take six, twelve or eighteen months to finish. In the novel writing I undertake, large projects are broken into smaller tasks, and rewards are set in proportion to the completed work. I establish a large carrot that encompasses the entire project, but each of the smaller tasks has a small reward associated with it. These baby carrots are nothing big and expensive—I’m a starving artist, remember! It might be a single rose for my desk, a steaming cup of chai from my favorite café, or an hour to play hooky and browse the travel section at my local bookstore. But the large reward at the end of the project? Now that’s something pretty special. It has to be in order to keep me moving toward the horizon. So what projects need carrots? Ask yourself: What are the things standing between me and my long-term goals? What am I having a hard time completing, either from procrastination, time constraints or intimidation? What task haven’t I started because I’m afraid to fail? These are carrot-worthy tasks. Afraid to dip your toes in the ocean of social media but your agent or editor expects a strong presence? Give yourself a reward for opening a twitter account. Indulge in a bigger reward after you’ve made 10 tweets and learned how to retweet something you loved. Struggling with designing your website? Give yourself a carrot for setting up and purchasing your domain name. Then give yourself little rewards for each page you design (your home page, your blog page, etc.). Then a BIG reward when it goes live! Illustrating a picture book? Reward yourself when you complete the sketches. Pamper yourself after each completed spread. Reward yourself handsomely for the completed project. It doesn’t matter if it sells or not. You must keep rewarding your creative spirit. Try it for a week. A month. A year. See how much you can accomplish when you give yourself the credit you deserve! --FRANCINE |
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