Five Focal Points for Revising A Manuscript

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I am training for a triathlon. That means I have to practice three different ways of racing: swimming, biking and running. Each one requires me to work on my form for that sport. But the form for each sport has lots of moving parts: arms, legs, head, neck, spine. When you’re practicing any of those, it’s hard to think about your entire form all at once. So I think about it parts. When I’m swimming, I’ll think about elbows one lap, or keeping my neck loose. When I’m biking I’ll work on relaxing my shoulders and leaning forward for a half mile at a time. When I’m running, I’ll work on my forward lean for 2 minutes, then knee lift for the next two.

The same goes for writing and for revising a manuscript.

It’s hard to think about all of it, all at once. So try breaking it into parts.

In May, I attended an agent workshop hosted by my local SCBWI chapter. I spent the most time with Vicki Selvaggio from the Jennifer de Chiara agency. In final presentation of the weekend, she suggested each of us go back through our manuscripts and read it over five times. Each time through, she offered a different focal point for us to consider. Because it’s hard to revise your manuscript and think about all the important pieces all at once.

Here are the five focal points she suggested for revising a manuscript:

  1. Make an X in the manuscript whenever you get bored, a character says the same thing more than once, you’re confused, or you see a tell vs. a show.
  2. Make an X if a scene, page or chapter doesn’t move the story forward, if it doesn’t end when the story is over, if there’s a main character change or if the theme isn’t clear.
  3. Make an X if it’s not written in a unique voice, if someone doesn’t have an important role, if they dialogue tags are too visible (“said” is just fine).
  4. Make an X if your story is missing sensory details, if the story feels like it’s in a void, if you haven’t mentioned how things look, sound, smell, taste, feel, if you can combine setting details with action.
  5. Make an X where you start paragraphs the same way, if you can avoid “-ing” verbs, if you can avoid double verbs, if you can remove adverbs, or other weak words.

Before you tackle this, she suggests letting the story sit at least a month. I’m well overdue for revising my manuscript, so I have to get started making x’s right now!

 

Read it five separate times. Revising a manuscript

Read it five separate times!

Building a Hut

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My fingers are a little sappy as I write this. By sappy, I don’t mean weepy and dramatic,  I mean sticky and covered in sap. Because even though I bought garden gloves for my boys so they wouldn’t use mine, I didn’t go and grab my garden gloves when it was time to drag pine boughs through the woods to help my boys make a hut.

(Bough is a homophone for bow, meaning to bend at the waist, while bow is also homonym for bow, the one you tie on birthday presents.)

We’re making a hut because it’s summer and what else does one do in summer except whatever one wants?

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We recently visited Meadowcroft, a rock shelter in southwestern PA that has yielded evidence of some of the oldest human habitation in North America. While we were there, the boys had a chance to visit a Monogahelan tribe village, built by hand by the staff of Meadowcroft.

(Video on my twitter – link right here!)

My middle son shrieked with delight when the village came into view beyond the new spring leaves of the forest. He had just studied Native Americans in third grade social studies and had lots to tell us. The boys loved learning about farming, gathering, living, and hunting.

So when school got out, they wanted to build a hut.

I struggled with helping them and letting them figure things out on their own. I tried to offer ideas without telling them HOW to do things.

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They’ve done pretty well on their own. I gave some help with the tarp, but they’ve built the walls and done the interior, such as it is, on their own.

Their project reminds me very much of My Side of the Mountain, which I started reading to them last night. As I expected, it spoke to their little survivalist souls. They are ready to devour more. They are also excited about using the Internet to learn about making tools and shelter as opposed to just playing games.

Yes, there’s also an undercurrent of Lord of the Flies when I hear them making clubs and slingshots, but we won’t be reading that book for a few years.

Advice for Writers from an Agent

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In May, I attended the SCBWI Western PA Agent Workshop. I learned a lot and got some excellent advice for writers on pitches, storytelling, and revision and I wanted to share it with you!

Pitching Advice for Writers

While they need to be short, they still need to include the main character, the obstacle and some sense of resolution.

This was my pitch and it was well-received.

Short and sweet!

Short and sweet!

Storytelling Advice for Writers

  • Mirror, Mirror. Please don’t use the tired device of describing your character’s physical appearance by having your your character look into a mirror.
  • Too Much Telling takes away from action.
  • Why Should I Care? This is the feeling that readers get when they confront too much backstory. Weave it in, don’t dump it.
  • Bubble Boy or Girl. Or Alien. Make sure your characters don’t exist in a bubble. Describe the setting and use all five senses!

Revision Advice for Writers

More advice for writers covered how to revise your manuscript. Envision your manuscript as a road that your readers will travel on a wondrous journey. The first draft is like that rocky, dirty, bumpy path carved out by construction equipment. Each stage of renovation makes it smoother, easier, more pleasant to travel.

As you read your manuscript, look for places where you’ve left out setting details, where you’ve used passive voice and -ly words, and if your main character is changing. If not, go back and call in that construction crew.

Advice for Writers of Picture Books

Did you know 60% of the story should be told through illustration? That means for non-illustrating writers like myself, I should only write 40% of the tale in the text. This is an interesting way for me to examine my texts, even though I never considered myself particularly mathematical. I like the idea of making sure the larger part of the tale comes through in the art, even if that does make writing harder.

Does Watching the Movie First Make Kids Better Readers?

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Lots of parents don’t let their kids watch the movie versions of popular books before their children read the books. I’ve heard this about Lord of the Rings, Divergent, Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and more.

I totally see the logic of this. Parents are worried their children won’t read the books if they’ve already seen the movie.

I want readers in my family, too. But we probably sound a little crazy and lazy to other families, because I let our kids watch the movies before they read the books. In fact, I often encourage it. I think it’s a great way to for my children to find stories that interest them and that it actually encourages them to read more instead of reading less.

Recently, I let my kids watch entire collection of Harry Potter movies. And you know what? Watching the movie first might have made my kids better readers, because after the movie they only wanted to read the books more.

harry potter spell

Imperious doesn’t work when it comes to making kids better readers

My oldest son, who is 11, had already read the first four a few months ago but after the movies he was even more motivated to read the final three. He was so interested, he actually went back to the beginning and plowed all the way through the entire series of books. My middle son, who is only eight years old picked up the first book and is now almost finished the fourth book. My middle son was actually more excited about reading the books after seeing the movies because he wanted to know more of what happened. Instead of going from the rich, detailed book world to the skim-and-dip experience of a two-hour movie experience, he went the other direction. He went from the brief, delightful movie experience and dove into the fully fleshed out magical book world of Harry Potter with extra scenes and extended dialogue and an imaginative setting. He loves pointing out things he didn’t understand in the movies that are now clear to him because of the detailed book.

Movies Before Books

I did try it the reverse once, with the classic book The Last Unicorn. I read that book out loud to my sons over the course of many weeks. They were transfixed and captivated by the unicorn’s search for her lost people. When we finished, I announced that we could now watch the movie. At the end of the ninety minutes, all they did was talk about the parts of the book left out of the movie.

“If I watched the movie first,” my middle son declared, “I would want to read the book right away to learn what I had missed.”

I totally think the books are always better than the movies. Truly. And I want to reiterate that I get that parents are looking for ways to make their kids better readers. But parents might not realize their well-intentioned plan can backfire.

Look at this way: Did you ever play a sport as a kid? Did you ever have to run laps as punishment for something you or your team did wrong? Did it make you love running? Sure, it made you stronger as an athlete but it became a punishment, not a reward. Many adults still think about laps with loathing and dread running. Reading shouldn’t be the same thing.

It’s possible that when parents say kids must read the books before getting to enjoy the “more desirable” result of viewing the movie, parents are turning reading into a chore. If they make it task or duty to be suffered before getting to the fun movie, parents should think about whether they are really encouraging a love of reading or sabotaging their own goals.

Were you allowed to see movies before books as a kid? Did it make you more or less of a reader?

What other ways do you find helps make kids better readers?

Where to Find Ideas for Stories

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ideas for stories, organizing ideas for writing

Tools of the Trade

Ever wonder where to find ideas for stories? Here are fifteen places I find ideas for stories.

1. On a run.

“What would happen if I crawled through that drainage culvert?”

2. Reading other books.

“What if I combined Polar Express with The Martian?”

3. Cooking.

“What if there was a story about spices?”

4. Showering.

“Why doesn’t Santa have a pet?”

5. Listening to kids talk.

“Do teeth ever lose their kids?”

6. Listening to adults talk.

“I wish I could just rent a kid, for holidays and stuff.”

7. Listening to music.

“But with the beast inside/There’s nowhere we can hide.”

8. Gardening.

“How do worms keep our garden safe, Mom?”

9. At the museum.

“What if the dinosaurs had dance parties at night when the museum was closed?”

10. At the grocery store.

“Do seeds ever try to grow into a different kind of plant?”

11. At the park.

“Are there zombie bees?”

12. At a sporting event.

“Can kids do triathlons, too?”

13. Lying in bed, trying to sleep.

“Where did my grandfather get that old pocket watch?”

14. As soon as you wake up and remember your dream.

“All I remember is the church became a riverboat, and then the Devil walked in.”

15. Driving somewhere.

“Johnny sped out of town, the white lines on the highway blurred into a streak. He couldn’t understand how, but suddenly he remembered every moment of his life from birth until now. Including the face of the woman leaning over him, injecting him with something. Who was she? And what had she done to him?”

So now where do you find ideas for stories?

How to Run a Critique Group

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What do you need to run a good critique group?

First you need people. But once you have enough people, running a good critique group needs something more than just kind words and cheerleading.

critique group

Keep it real – but Include some positive

They need structure.

We’re working on tightening up our critique group structure in our SCBWI group and I feel like we’ve hit on a good formula.

  1. We use a Doodle poll to find a morning date and an evening date that works for the majority, but not everyone.
  2. We keep our day meetings at the coffee shop and our evening meetings at a local restaurant.
  3. We have a Facebook group and are encouraging members to share their work at least a week in advance.
  4. We ask a different member of the group to run each meeting.
  5. The meeting runner decides the total time we spend on each person and informs the group.
  6. The person running the meeting picks the writer we are starting with at that meeting.
  7. Critiques begin with the person to the left of the writer being critiqued. The meeting runner keeps track of time.
  8. Each person gives their critique and tries to include positive details and places that could be improved.
  9. We try to avoid chitchat during critique time and save it for when the meeting is done.
  10. We rotate jobs!

How do you run your critique group?

Six Storytelling Tips for Kids (and Adults, too)

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Our brains are made for stories. Our brains LOVE stories. More areas of our brain are activated when we hear stories, our memory works better, and our emotions kick in. If you want to sell more products or if you are a parent and want your kids to listen!!!) Tell them a story.
Some people are born storytellers and know just how to hold the audience under their spell. Other people need little bit of work and practice to tell a good story. This is true for kids and adults.
Remember the old game where one person says a sentence and the others in the group continue it? A classic. I love doing that one with my kids and setting up interesting problems for the characters to solve. That’s a great way to spark some creativity. But if you want a little coaching or helping getting ideas, try playing with Storycubes. We love these in our family. They event worked great at my workshops for the Summer Food Program.

I offer storytelling tips in my workshop “Want to Be a Writer.” I share my journal and my creative process. Running is of course a big part of my idea machine. But there are other ways I come up with story ideas. I share them all with the kids and I encourage them to experiment with some of my favorite techniques for thinking of and telling good stories.

Six Storytelling Tips

  1. Doodle. I love to doodle and this often inspires a fun story starter. Doodle off of paper, too. Think outside the box. Maybe the act of doodling makes it into your story.
  2. Lists. I generate lists of words and events that might happen to a made character. This helps with word variety, too.
  3. Listen. Jot down what people around you are saying. Combine the sentences of two different conversations. WHOA, did that just lead you to an amazing new story?
  4. Ask questions. I let my kids ask as many questions as they want. That includes my own children in my family and the kids in my workshops.
  5. Senses! Make sure your story includes things people see, feel, hear, smell, and taste. Get that brain activated!
  6. Humor. My favorite six sense is the sense of humor. Even a scary ghost story is better with a little joke here and there.
 These tips aren’t about the mechanics of writing. These are about the magic of storytelling. And that’s the really fun part, in my opinion.
Looking for more info on how the brain lives for stories?

What are you favorite storytelling tips? Share them here!

How to Write a Story A Month

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If you want to be a writer, you need to write and you need to write a lot. In fact, there’s a lot of advice out there that suggests writers should write a story a month.

I’ve been writing regularly for many years. I have a tidy stack of rejections that serve as a time capsule of my development as a writer. I juggle several projects at one time, but aside from that, I do try to write a story a month to keep producing new work and letting those creative juices flow. So far this year I’ve revised several stories that I started in late 2015, but I have at least four brand new stories I created in 2016:

  • Schadenfreude (essay)
  • The Hunter Case (adult short story)
  • Weirdest Creature in the World (picture book)
  • Digit (picture book)
  • Good Friend, Bad Choices (essay)

That’s five new stories or essays in four months. This doesn’t count the pitches, blog posts, or articles I have sent in to magazines and doesn’t count the progress I made on my new middle grade novel.

You don’t need to write each story perfectly and you don’t need to try to publish all of the stories you write. But you need to write a story a month. The big question many people face is how to write a story a month. 

Keep your writing tools handy

If you want to write a story a month, you can’t run around searching for paper and pen every time an idea strikes you. You also can’t rely on your memory. I carry a notebook and pen with me wherever I go. That way whenever creativity strikes I can jot down my ideas. But I also have a smartphone and a mini-keyboard in case a get a story idea and I’m in a spot where I can type out more details. Smartphones are also useful for recording ideas when you’re sitting in a dark bedroom waiting for your child to sleep.

write a story

It’s like an idea net

Go on autopilot

It’s not always easy to come up with ideas when you want to write a story, but sometimes inspiration does strike. It just doesn’t strike when you want it to. So you have to let yourself be open at times when you’re busy. Driving, showering, cooking – those are all times when we’re on autopilot and often ideas will float into our brains.

Force It

It’s ok to force yourself to be creative, too, by generating lists of things you like and don’t like. Just write down all your thoughts. One of them could lead to an idea that becomes your story of the month. One of my favorite tips from a writing conference was to think of twenty possible outcomes or solutions to a problem. After you write all of those down, even the dumb ones, you start on twenty-one and that’s when things get exciting.

Move

Blood flow helps the brain and you need your brain to write a story. So go for a walk. Go for a run. Ride the stationery bike. Move. Aerobic exercise tends to lead to more creativity, but strength training is good for balance.

write a story

Ideas come on the go

Listen

You don’t have to come up with all of the ideas for your stories on your own. Listen to other people! Yes, we all hate it when people tell us “you should write a story about…” but sometimes, every once in awhile those ideas aren’t that bad. My first fiction story ever sold to Highlights came from me listening to my eight year old.

write a story

Doodling also inspires ideas

Get accountable

Joining critique groups are a great way to motivate you to write a story a month just so you have something to bring and share. SCBWI has info on critique groups for children’s writing and Pennwriters has groups for all kinds of writing.

If you want to go virtual, write your story and share it on Scribophile.

There are also monthly activities out there to help you reach your goal o writing a story a month. There’s PiBoIdMo or “Picture Book Idea Month” that encourages participants to come up with one idea for a picture book a day for a month. Out of those 30 ideas you’re bound to find 12 that could become stories in the next year. And you could then join in with Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 or start your own Facebook accountability group.