Books in Waiting

Sometimes I think real books are better than e-books.

I’m not anti-e-book, because I love to read and e-books make it so easy to read. I love using my library’s app to find an e-book, check it out, and start reading. It saves me the time and gas of driving to my library! I’m not sure the environmental impact of making e-books, but I wonder if it’s offset by reduced driving, printing, shipping, etc.

But I do love a real book. And there are some very special things about real books that can never, and will never be replaced.

I started thinking about this when my youngest son dragged a giant book he loves off the shelf called “Our Fifty States.” On the inside page was an address label for my grandfather, who we called Gonky.

“This was Gonky’s book!” my youngest exclaimed. This was a thrilling thing as my youngest has always felt a special connection to my grandfather. Finding out that a book my youngest loves belonged to his great-grandfather is a very special surprise that could never happen with an e-book.

Eight Reasons to Love Real Books

Here are things that are so great about real books that make then better than e-books.

1. Making new friends. This is accomplished by spying and being nosey. At soccer practice, I spied a mom reading a giant book that I was reading. I struck up a conversation, confident that I could find something in common with this woman. We are real friends now, and I am so grateful to that real book.
2. Inspiring my kids. My kids are also nosey and love reading the titles of real books I’m reading. They ask what it’s about, is it good, do I wish I had written it, should they read it, etc. Then they tell me what they are reading. When they see me with my phone, they think I’m playing a game.
3. Bookmarks. Real books need bookmarks. My kids make me bookmarks. If I only read e-books, my kids wouldn’t have such great gifts to give me. They buy me bookmarks. I use a wide variety of bookmarks and many hold special places in my heart.
4. Gifts. It’s hard to gift an e-book, at least for me. I love giving a real solid book and I love receiving them even more. In fact, I received two books about oysters for my birthday, and purchased a book as a vacation souvenir. Not e-books, real books.
5. Inscriptions. My older son gave me the two oyster books as gifts and I was so excited for him to write me an inscription. He wouldn’t be able to do that with an e-book. Now I’ll always remember he gave them to me, selected by him, based on his knowledge of a topic that excited me.
6. Passing books down. My grandfather had lots of books to pass down, and we love them. I’ll have books to pass down, too. I love that we have these memories of him and love that my real books will be based down, too.
7. Selling used books. But not every book is worth keeping and passing down. I don’t know if one can sell used e-books, but I love being able to sell (and buy!) used books.
8. Access to information for all. I love the ease of an e-book, but I think it’s important we still have real books that don’t rely on technology to access. Many of my reasons are based on the emotions surrounding books, but this reason is a larger good reason. I don’t ever want access to books restricted and if we only used technology to read books, I worry our access could be limited or cut off.

I want to always have a book to read, even if it’s one I’ve already read. And I always want you to have a book to read, too.

Based on an idea I call the Stuart Little Experiment, I think it’s harder to be published today in children’s literature. I’m reading Stuart Little with my kids right now. At first they were reluctant to start it. I don’t give in to complaints easily, and they can’t resist me reading to them while we are all snuggled under blankets. After the first few chapters they were hooked.

“There’s not much happening,” said the middle kid, age 11. “But this is fun to read in a day-in-the-life-of kind of way.”

I agreed, parts of it are really entertaining. I particularly liked the scene where Stuart gets caught up in a window blind. The cat is very amusing in that chapter and the idea of a mouse wearing dapper clothes.

Yet there are other parts that make that same kid cry out in disbelief and a little touch of dismissiveness.

“Why does the mother still think this mouse is really her child?” he asks more than once.

We kept reading. And then it happened. I read one chapter that made me think, “Nope. No way. This would never make the cut.”

Stuart Little first edition

Published or Punished?

Before I did my research, I assumed Stuart Little hit the shelves after Charlotte’s Web. Editors would take anything he wrote after Charlotte, I supposed. I was wrong. Stuart Little was written in 1945, and it was White’s first book. But back then, I’m not sure White had very stiff competition.

(Have you even heard of, let alone read Rabbit Hill, the 1945 Newbery winner?)

Some classic books, while quiet, could still find life in 2018. I think Charlotte’s Web easily could be published any year. The horrible pigeon book I read that somehow, beyond all rational thought, won a Newbery Award would never, ever make it today, in my opinion. Probably the roller skating book that also won a Newbery would be dying a slow death in a slush pile today. At least I hope it would.

I think, sadly, Stuart Little would be, too, thanks to the sailing chapter. It started out fun with a cute image of Stuart longing to sail the boats at Central Park. Of course he was dressed for the part. But then White basically dives deep into self-indulgent waters and overloads his text with so many nautical terms that I don’t think either of my kids could form a mental image of what was happening. I think they were relieved I was reading aloud so they didn’t have to struggle with the strange terminology that was served up without enough context to help them grasp the ideas. They got the gist, but I think  other kids might have lost interest, or felt frustrated.

At the very least, I think editors today would heavily revise the chapter.

And what is the purpose of the chapter? To show off White’s nautical knowledge? It taught us a little of Stuart’s character, and perhaps it will tie in later with some kind of plot or story, but it really felt like White was pleasing himself and not necessarily a reader. I’m think this book would not be published.

The Stuart Little Experiment

I would love to try this experiment. I want to put chapters from older, beloved children’s books in front of editors with altered names and see what modern editors would say about the content, writing style, language, etc. Would Stuart Little be published today?

It would be challenging to try and identify books that editors hadn’t read, and to not clue them in that they are reading already published books. We’d need to throw a few fakes into the mix. I wonder if there’s an idea for a conference session somewhere in here??

Registration is open for the 2018 SCBWI Western Pennsylvania Fall Conference! 

The conference will be November 9 and 10 at the Hyatt Pittsburgh Airport. Our faculty this year includes Samantha Gentry, Charlotte Wenger, Susan Graham and Stephanie Fretwell-Hill. Linda Camacho will also be providing critiques. We’ll have new PAL-led sessions and a pitch party on Friday.

Don’t wait, register today!

Can’t wait to dive in!

Are you looking for writing help? My writing friend gave me a stack of Writer’s Digest magazines on Thursday, bringing my total to 14. 14 glossy collections of insightful advice, commentary and exercises from experienced writers who for the most part, know their art and the industry pretty well.

These magazines are useful to me. Back in the spring of 2012, I used them to correct my arm form while running. I guiltily admit that I haven’t used them as the publisher presumably intends: to effectively to improve my writing. But after a day spent in partial procrastination and office cleaning, I have formulated a plan.

How long would it take me to read a slim publication like Writer’s Digest? 30 minutes? An hour if I took notes?

I’m going to read each issue and take notes, maybe even make a video with highlights of the best tips and advice. That way I know I’ll remember the info better – because I learn when I write things down. I’ll have the information and tips preserved for later use and be able to share it with other writers who are short on time like me.

****************************************************************************

My completed homework:

September 2010 – The Big 10 Issue

September 2011 – Best-selling Secrets

October 2011 – Get Your Agent

I’m always looking for ways to organize writing ideas. I have a lot of them and yes, not all the ideas are great. But I do a variety of writing, from magazine articles to crafts, educational market fiction and non-fiction, and I hope to produce books for the trade market, too.

That’s why it’s important to write down my ideas somewhere because you never know which ones will be perfect for a quick magazine article or a reading comprehension passage. There are a few ways I organize writing ideas.

It might seem like spending time organizing is taking time away from writing. It might seem like procrastination. But I think organizing prevents wasted time and increasing productivity because ideas are always ready and waiting for you.

Try these systems out, some combination will hopefully work. Feel free to share your ideas, too.

Things

My super quick way of organizing ideas is to use the Things app and jot down ideas in either Fiction or Non-Fiction. I don’t edit or limit my ideas, I just put them down so I don’t forget.

Table of Contents

I handwrite in journals almost every day, and have for years, which means I have several journals. After I’ve jotted down an idea in Things, at some point I take the time to add some details in my journal. Instead of turning page by page in my journals looking for where I’ve jotted down an idea or an outline, I make sure to dedicate the first few pages of my journals to a table of contents. Then when I write in my journal, I fill out the table of contents.

Writing Ideas Ebook

I just started this version of organizing ideas, and I’m excited. I created an ebook in Pages and then inserted a Table of Contents. (Yes, the table of contents is SO KEY.) Then I created different headings in the ebook based on the kinds of writing I plan to do. Next, I went to my ideas in the Things app and started putting the various ideas into different categories. Some ideas went more than one place, which is good, because I like to be able to use one idea for a variety of outlets. I love the electronic table of contents, because I can click on the page number and go right to the specific section. I can also create sub-headings as I use this system more.

Stay organized!

What systems do you use to organize writing ideas?

What are you reading this summer?

This summer, my critique group is working through a middle grade summer reading list. We’re trying to read a book a week, and we are answering questions about the book when we’re done. Here’s our summer reading list. The questions we answer for each book are below the list.

Middle Grade Summer Reading List

• The Nameless City (The Nameless City, #1), Hicks, Faith Erin.
• Belly Up (FunJungle, #1), Gibbs, Stuart.
• All Summer Long, Larson, Hope Larson.
• Knife’s Edge (Four Points #2), Larson, Hope.
• Compass South (Four Points #1), Larson, Hope.
• Summer of the Monkeys, Rawls, Wilson.
• The True Meaning of Smekday, Rex, Adam.
• Magic Marks the Spot (The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates, #1), Carlson, Caroline
• The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (The League of Princes, #1), Healy, Christopher *
• Once Upon a Marigold (Upon a Marigold, #1), Ferris, Jean.
• Amal Unbound: A Novel, Saeed, Aisha.
• Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor, #1), Townsend, Jessica.
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Barnhill, Kelly.
• Running on the Roof of the World, Butterworth, Jess.
• Sheets, Thummler, Brenna.
• Orphan Island, Snyder, Laurel.
• The Seven Tales of Trinket, Thomas, Shelley Moore.
• Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, White, Jen.

Questions for Middle Grade Summer Reading List

1. Did you like it?
2. Was there a point when it hooked you? What page?
3. What was your favorite part?
4. Did you find any part boring? What section, plot line, or character?
5. What surprised you?
6. Rate the opening – on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the best opening ever!)
7. Rate the ending – on a scale of 1 to 5
8. Did you like the writing style?
9. Did anything seem cliché?
10. What did you learn from this book?
11. Did the story remind you of any other books?

If you have any book suggestions, please feel free to add them here!

The secret to being a published writer isn’t just writing – it’s writing and submitted. Recently, I received an email from someone asking for advice on how to be a published writer, and the first thing I suggested was that they should write every day. Every Day.

The second step on the path to publication is to submit your writing. If you want to be a published writer, you need to send your work out to agents, editors, magazines, publishers, journals, and even reputable websites.

I should specify that as a writer, I’m not writing for free, I’m looking for paid published opportunities. Many other writers are happy to write for free, but writing is not only my passion it’s also my source of income.

Writing is hard work, and I know if I’ve written every day. But if you have a busy life (who doesn’t?) you can lose track of how much you’ve submitted in a week or month and how successful you are. You need to keep track either on paper or on a spreadsheet or lipstick marks on your mirror.

Track Your Submissions

I keep track of my submissions and over the past several years because it gives me a boost when I feel worried. I also like tracking because it helps me make sure I’m keeping my effort levels high. Here are my 2017 results.

And here are my stats this far into 2018

How would your submission rates compare? You can see my submission rates from previous years in these posts:

Submission Rates for 2016

Submissions, Rejections, and Acceptances

How to Improve

I know that I have about a 10% acceptance rate as a result of tracking my submissions. I’d love to improve that rate. Here’s what I’m doing:

• Taking courses to improve my writing
• Better understand what a publisher or agent or magazine likes
• Find new outlets I haven’t considered
• Produce a variety of high quality projects
• Submit frequently

What do words mean?

While a lot of things are uncertain and fluid in our world, I wonder if we can debate the meaning of words.

My oldest son has a pretty decent vocabulary, but in seventh grade, he missed several words on a recent vocabulary quiz. I looked over the list. His grade surprised me grade, because I saw words that I would expect (assume, anticipate?) him to know.

“I knew the words, but the definitions weren’t ones I use,” he explained. (excused? justified?)

I couldn’t help smiling at his answer. I also didn’t hesitate to challenge him on it.

“You know, words have established definitions. It’s not really ‘your definitions’ versus the ones on this sheet. You need to understand these definitions,” I insisted.

Books About Words

He knew better than to argue back. But the conversation sparked an inner debate in my own mind. And of course the inner debate got me thinking about a book, specifically the book Frindle.

My selection for my book club in January was Word by Word, a book about dictionaries. I learned some interesting things from that book. I learned the dictionary describes how words are used and what they mean. The dictionary doesn’t proscribe what words mean. That was a really significant distinction in my mind.

I feel words do have accepted meanings, but that those meanings can change. And that my son’s problem is not that he didn’t know what the words meant, but that he hadn’t learned the accepted answers he needed to learn for that particular quiz.

What’s a word that has changed meaning from the first time you’ve learned it until how you (or we) use it today?