A Little Jumpstart -- Robin

I’ve been trying to get back into the edits on my middle grade book, The Happiness Project, but it’s hard to let something sit for a while and then pick it up cold. Whenever I open the manuscript, I stare at the screen, unable to make changes…fearful any word I write will ruin it forever. So I’ve been doing a lot of staring lately.

I had this problem once before when I was trying to make edits on my first middle grade book, Dude, Where’s My Locker? The manuscript had been in the hands of an editor for a while, and when I tried to make the changes she had suggested, I totally froze. I couldn’t write a word! For some reason, I wasn’t able to get into the character’s voice, couldn’t figure out what he’d do next, couldn’t put him in dangerous situations because I didn’t know how he’d react.

So to break myself out of my writer’s block, I started writing a fake sequel to the book. I knew it wasn’t really going to get published, so I felt free to explore situations and play around with the character’s voice. Usually I wrote short stories, kind of like blog posts, and I was finally able to “hear” my character’s voice again. The title of my fake sequel? Dude, What’s That Smell? I wrote a lot of scenes about the lunchroom. Of course it will never get published…and that’s what made all the difference. It allowed me to warm-up until I was ready to get back to the real deal.

So I may need to take this approach again with The Happiness Project. Which means I need a fake title to my fake sequel. How about…

The Somewhat-Depressed-Sure-Could-Use-A-Reese’s Project

or

The Frustrated-By-People-Who-Don’t-Use-Blinkers Project

or

The I-Have-To-Admit-I-Have-A-Crush-On-Anderson-Cooper Project

Any other suggestions?

- Robin

I Have a Theme! -- Robin

Something really amazing happened to me this week. While I was revising my middle grade manuscript, I realized…my book has a theme! And the strange thing? The theme wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.

About half-way through writing the first draft of The Happiness Project, I decided the theme of the story would be about the importance of having opinions, and how having different opinions can be a good thing (in relationships and especially in society).

So, okay. Fine. That’s a fine theme.

But then this week, when I was working on approximately draft #347 of the book, I came across a sentence that jumped out at me. It was one line my main character said to her mom while they were talking about the family dog. And I realized: that one line is my theme!

It was one of those moments where fireworks went off and angels sang and chocolate was eaten quickly! I had heard of this happening to writers before—they write a story and many, many drafts later the theme presents itself to the author. Like magic! Then these lucky authors write another draft where they strengthen the theme and make one of those...you know…awesome books. I just never thought I’d be one of those authors.

Just like I never thought I’d consider myself a runner. I usually describe myself as someone who “moves her feet rapidly 3-4 times per week.” Not a runner. But I guess technically I can now call myself a runner because I've experienced that one thing that all real runners have experienced: Runner’s High. Know what I’m talking about? That moment where you’re running and you realize that your brain is not attached to your body and your lungs are on auto-pilot and you feel so good you think you could run forever…or at least all the way from Sarah Palin’s house to Russia and back!?

Well, it happened to me! (Once.) I was running on the beach in Morro Bay, CA and I literally ran so far I ran all the way to the next town. I ran so far the dog leash law changed!

So, I guess I can kind of call myself a real runner. And now I feel like a real writer. I wrote a story and the theme presented itself to me like magic!

Now that’s Writer’s High!

- Robin

The Higher Power of Revision -- Robin

I’ve been pretty blurry-eyed lately, pouring through the edits Jay and Eve gave me for my manuscript, The Happiness Project. Looking at all their slash marks, I realized that I have some serious word addictions.

I used to think my only word addiction was to the word wonky. I love saying that word...and I don’t even think it’s an actual word! But now I realize I have many more word addictions, where I use the same words over and over, hoping for a different result each time. But what really happens is they just end up getting slashed by my wonderful critique partners because I never needed those words to begin with. So now I take it one page at a time, accept the words that I cannot change, have the courage to change the words I can, and hope Jay and Eve have the wisdom to know the difference.

Here is a small list of the words I am seriously addicted to:

• Suddenly
• Um
• Okay
• Even
• Just (...but I just love that word!)

I also have an issue beginning too many sentences with the ever dependable: Then/But/So. Which sounds like a new type of dance move, to me. Which reminds me! My friend Katie told me about a new dance craze called Zumba. I thought it sounded like a fruity, semi-alcoholic drink, but she assured me it was a fitness program. And I believe her because she can do this. And I…um…can’t.

Speaking of addictions and things I can’t do well, reading through Jay and Eve’s edits also showed me that I have a serious dysfunctional relationship with the italics function…and…the…ellipses function.

But I looooove them. Italics and ellipses are just so…what’s the word???

Wonky!

- Robin

From GA to CA -- Robin

I’m back from my vacation in Georgia where I had my fill of Waffle House and Chick-Fil-A. (But I don’t think I can ever truly get my fill of the vanilla dream ice cream cones at Chick-Fil-A. I miss 'em already!)

I also managed to accomplish the three things I needed to do in order to complete the research for my middle grade novel set in Atlanta.

First, I checked out some architecture…


Note: The house I grew up in looked exactly like this one, except that my house was small and wasn’t white and didn’t have columns and didn’t look like this house at all.

Then, I rode the MARTA subway train downtown. Here’s a picture of me and my brother standing in front of the High Museum of Art...


Note: My brother is the one standing with his arm around me, not the guy in the Skipper hat…in case you were wondering. (You probably weren’t wondering.)

And finally…I took a tour of the Centers for Disease Control!!!


My mother and I were escorted through the visitor center with our own personal tour guide. It was fascinating and I came away with a few great nuggets of detail that will fit perfectly into my story.

The CDC is very secure and we had to go through a couple of security checkpoints. Our car even had to go through security, with two armed guards thoroughly searching every part. Even the engine! They only allow you to take pictures inside the visitor center. You are not allowed to take pictures outside. (But I did anyway. Don’t they understand I have a blog!?)


Note: That’s me in the CDC parking lot. I swear!

When we landed back in Los Angeles, we did what all sane people do at the end of a long, exhausting trip. We went to see Donna Summer at the Hollywood Bowl! She brought down the house with “Last Dance.” The queen rocked it!

So now I’m energized to finish these last rounds of revisions and get this book into the hands of my agent. Hopefully she won’t mind the pages that come with smudges of vanilla dream ice cream. Mmmm…Chick-Fil-A. I think I’m ready for another trip back to Atlanta…

- Robin

Back in the Saddle -- Robin

No doubt, we had fun at the national SCBWI conference. But the highlight for me was Sunday at the Golden Kite Luncheon when Lin Oliver gave a moving tribute to Sue Alexander.

Lin told the story of how SCBWI came to be. She and Stephen Mooser were friends who had just graduated from college in the early 70’s and they had been asked to do some work for an educational publisher. Neither one of them knew much about writing for children, so they tried to find an organization to answer their questions. But there were none. So…they decided to start their own. They ran an ad asking for writers to join their new organization called the Society of Children’s Book Writers. And the first person to answer that ad? Sue Alexander.

Over 35 years later, looking around that glamorous ballroom full of nearly a thousand people, it made me want to cry. I am so proud to be part of an organization so thriving and full of amazing supportive people. Sniff!

The conference inspired me and motivated me (as it does every year) to get back in the saddle and push harder and harder to write the best story possible. Which, for me, meant getting back to revising my middle grade novel, The Happiness Project.

You may remember that I spent quite a while revising that puppy with my new, lovely, Elite Uni-Ball red pen...


And I assumed I had gotten the manuscript into really good shape. But my critiques from Jay have been rolling in (apparently he’s partial to fine-tipped black pens)…


Umm...yeah. I have a lot of work to do.

So thanks to the folks at SCBWI for putting on a fabulous conference. Nothing but love. And I also want to say thanks to my critique partners, but really…that’s more of a love/hate thing.

Nah, let’s face it…it’s mostly love.

- Robin

Suite Revisions -- Robin

This past week was a vacation at our house, only we didn’t take a family trip…at least not together. The plan was for my husband and kid to take a father/son camping trip so that I could have the whole house to myself while I worked on revising my middle grade manuscript.

I know…great plan!

Except that the camping trip suddenly got cancelled when we found out the cement mixing truck was scheduled to come earlier than expected. (We’re doing a landscaping project in our front yard, which is another post in itself, and it will include pictures, I promise!) Anyway, that meant my two-day, interruption-free revision retreat was now cancelled, too.

I know…total bummer.

My hubby saw the disappointment on my face and told me to go to a hotel…that cement mixing is bonding for a father and son. (Who knew!?) So off I went to spend two days at The Embassy Suites.

Yes, I said suites! That means two…whole…rooms! I set up the bedroom with my computer and iPod and speakers and stocked it with Coke Zeros and peanutbutter crackers. I used the “living room” to read the drafts and take notes. It was an awesome set-up. No, it was a suite set-up!!!

The hotel also had a large pool and a 24-hour gym. I brought my bathing suit and my gym clothes, thinking I’d have plenty of time for extra-curricular activities. But, no. I worked from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and only took a lunch break, coffee break, dinner break, and then a late night run to the grocery store to get Little Debbie Nutty Bars. (Love those!)

At first I thought the revisions would go quickly. I pulled out my handy-dandy red pen and cut some lines. Like, for example, page 8. A couple of sentences deleted. No biggie.


By the time I got to page 22, it was a different story. My handy-dandy red pen was starting to see a lot of action.


And page 35? Good grief. I gave up and just turned to a blank page.


So the process is coming along slowly, but at least my husband and son have now bonded in the name of cement. What more could I ask for!?

-Robin

Revision-O-Rama -- Robin

This past weekend, I wrote it: The End. Writing those two words makes me do back-handsprings and air-splits and handstands underwater. Well, it makes me want to do those things. (I have coordination issues.)

So instead, I settled for a frosty beverage and some Cheez-Its. Then I looked over my manuscript and realized two things:

1. It needs major revisions.
2. It kind of sucks.

Usually, a revelation like that would cause me to dig deeper into a box of Cheez-Its and pour another frosty beverage, but I finally figured out how to handle the revision part of this book. This is a totally new idea for me, so we’ll see if it works.

But first, let me share a wee bit of backstory (it’s very wee, I promise!). I came across a summary of the SCBWI Washington conference on someone’s blog and saw that an editor there had spoken on the topics of Plot, Theme, Character and Voice. Which, to me, sounded like a speech about Everything. But then I realized that those topics, in that order, are the layers of revisions I need to do!

First, I’ll go through and revise only for plot. I’ll make sure the main character gets from A to Z, and that the manner in which she gets from A to Z makes perfect sense. I’ll also make sure that the car which was lime green in chapter 1 is still lime green in chapter 24.

Second, I’ll go through and look just at theme. Now that I have a newly buffed and shiny plot, did my idea of ‘xyz’ (whatever that ends up being) come across as I wanted it to? Is it too subtle or way too heavy handed?

Third, I’ll go through and revise for character. I’m not sure what the editor was referring to in his speech, but for me, revising for character means I’ll look at all the other people in my main character’s life. I’ll try to make them well-rounded and avoid stereotypes. I might look at subplots and see if I can strengthen their stories. I want the people in her world to be as interesting as possible (but not annoyingly quirky) and deliver only some of the best punch lines.

And finally, I’ll go through and revise for voice. Now that my main character is propelling her way through a decent-ish plot, she has an interesting theme to wade through, and the characters around her are freakishly real (hopefully)…what the heck would she say and how would she say it!?!?

I’m not going to kid myself…all of this revision is going to take a long time.

So! My plan—for now—is that once I get to the voice-round of revision, I’m going to check myself into a lovely bed and breakfast and just focus on my main character and her words. I’ll only think about how she would react to each moment and just become her. I think I can do that if I’m away from my own world and don’t have to get up from my computer every five minutes to help my son clean up the Life cereal he dumped on himself (which is what I’ve been doing while writing this post).

This is a new way of approaching a novel for me, so let’s hope it works. And if it doesn’t? I’m moving on to the hard stuff…a good bottle of Pinot Noir and Rainbow Goldfish.

- Robin

How I (Don't) Write -- Robin

I’m about halfway through writing my fourth novel, and I’ve noticed that the way I’m writing this one is much different than how I wrote my previous novels. Whether I mean to or not, I’ve been treating my manuscripts differently! (Bad Mommy!)

It’s similar to how my parents raised me and my brother differently. What worked for him, didn’t really work for me. And not just because of the he’s-a-boy-and-I’m-a-girl reasons. My brother was the type of guy who missed, like, one question on the SAT. I, on the other hand, couldn’t even find the building to take my SAT because the directions were so confusing and I was super late since my friends and I had to stop at McDonald’s for our hangover-relieving breakfast. Mmmm…combo #1.

(Sorry, Mom and Dad. But I still turned out okay…right!?)

Anyway, for novel No.4, I’ve been writing my first draft much more loosely. I’m moving along quickly without spending much time on description or searching for the perfect word. In fact, I often find myself writing things like (Insert: write about her feelings here) or (Insert: describe house) or, my favorite, (Insert: make this part not so stupid). As silly as it seems, this new technique is really working for me. It allows me to stop dwelling so much (which is not an attractive look for me) and just move along with the story at the pace my brain wants to move. And with this book, my brain feels like it’s in a drag race. Woo-hoo! Step on it, baby!

I was explaining this new technique to Eve the other day and she joked that, at some point, I’ll probably write (Insert: Next chapter here). Well, she was right! Yesterday, I got myself all psyched up to write a particular chapter, only to realize that another chapter needed to be written first. But I didn’t want to write that chapter so I actually typed the words (Insert: Next chapter here). So thanks, Eve. Your ridicule is now my reality!

So I decided to Google the phrase “how I write” to see how other writers handle the process of book-writing. Apparently Garrison Keillor gets up at 5 a.m., sits in an armchair, and types a chapter into his laptop. Then he prints it out, makes lots of changes in pencil, and types the final revised version straight into his computer…all before lunchtime! That made me feel ridiculous for not having wonderfully polished chapters completed before lunch, but then I came across this quote from Judy Blume: “The first draft is a skeleton…just bare bones.”

Aaaahhh. No wonder Judy Blume is still my hero.

(Insert: adorably witty ending to this post.)

- Robin

Sideways Stories from the Laundry Room -- Robin

I have decided not to complain about laundry on the blog anymore. That’s my new rule.

But I couldn’t figure out what to blog about since I couldn’t talk about laundry, so I figured I’d complain about how hard I’ve been working lately and how tired I am and how I haven’t had a spare moment to even call my dear, sweet mother and also how much laundry I have to do. Oops. Sorry. Curse you laundry!!!

Anyway, now that spring break is over, I’ve gotten back into the swing of things and I’ve been a writing fool! First, I revised my chapter book, The Nitwits, based on suggestions made by an editor. I loved her suggestions and now I think the manuscript is in way better shape...like it just got a much-needed haircut. My agent also loved the changes, and now the story is back out in the world trying to be adopted by a loving, nurturing publishing house. I feel like a momma sending her son out to the big, bad world and yelling after him, “Write if you get work!”

Meanwhile, I’m still at home with my baby…my new middle grade novel that is starting to take shape. And honestly, I think it’s about to become my new favorite manuscript. (But don’t tell my chapter book. His feelings would be sooo hurt!)

Seriously, I just love writing goofy, fun books. I got hooked on the power of silly stories back in my very first year of teaching. It was fifth grade and I had the kids all day…every moment. And the moments after lunch were the worst. They were wiggly, unruly little monsters. I asked one of the other veteran teachers what to do with them after lunch and she handed me a book. “Just read this out loud,” she said. “They’ll love it. You won’t have any more problems.” It was a copy of Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. That book is the quintessential funny middle grade book, in my humble opinion. And that teacher was right. The kids were riveted. They begged me to keep reading. Then some of them would come up to me later and beg to read the chapters I had just read to them. Now if that doesn’t tell you how powerful silly stories can be, then I don’t know what does.

But for some reason, I used to almost apologize for writing silly books. I felt maybe I should be writing something with more depth and a message since I was writing for children. However, in January of this year, Jon Scieszka was named National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and now I’m very proud of my obsession with writing silly books. Mr. Scieszka is the author of The Stinky Cheese Man and The Time Warp Trio (among others), and when he was interviewed about being named ambassador, he talked about the need for making books entertaining. His goal is to reach those kids who don’t like to read. “It’s time for reading to be fun again,” he said. I love that guy!

Now when I tell people that I write goofy stories, I can say that I’m just following orders from the ambassador. That’s serious stuff, man!!! Now, if I can just get the National Ambassador for Laundry to make my load of whites disappear…

- Robin

Back to the Butcher Paper -- Robin

This past weekend I attended a plotting workshop put on by Robin LaFevers, author of Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos (recently nominated for an Agatha award!). Her presentation was fabulous. We learned about plot layers, inciting incidents, rising action, world building, turning points, acts, pacing, finish work and the pelvic woo! (No, we didn’t really learn about the pelvic woo. It just happens to be my favorite phrase and I like to use it whenever I get a chance. If you have a child addicted to SpongeBob, you’ll know what I’m talking about.)

I had many “uh-huh” moments at her workshop. (I’m hoping with the popularity of Oprah’s “a-ha” moment that the “uh-huh” moment will soon be sweeping the nation.) The first “uh-huh” moment came from the discussion of when to start the story. (Hint: right away...or at least, kinda soon!) My current WIP was getting pretty blah, blah, blah-ish at the beginning and I realized that I probably wrote it more for myself than the reader.

Later, I looked up more information on beginnings in a screenwriting book. Richard Walters writes that the beginning “is that part before which there is nothing.” For example, he says that the movie Kramer vs. Kramer is a film that starts at the proper beginning. Meryl Streep is standing in the doorway with her bags packed, ready to leave the family. It would have been tempting to start with the couple’s escalating fights and then get to her departure, but that’s not really what the story’s about. It’s about the father reconciling with his child. So get to the story!

The other “uh-huh” moment I had at Robin’s workshop was when she talked about writing in acts. She suggested writing just to the next act, like a mini-goal. It makes the idea of writing a whole novel seem less daunting. Surely I can write one act! Right!?

So all that plotting and structure talk caused me to do what I always do when I’m trying to plan a novel…pull out the butcher paper. For me, the scenes have to be drawn on a long paper that I can put up on the wall as a daily reminder of what the heck I’m doing. Even though “what the heck I’m doing” seems to change daily. But there’s always more butcher paper!

How do you writers out there prepare to write a novel? Outline? Note cards? Close your eyes and throw a dart?

- Robin


Oh, wait! Uh-huh Moment #3: Always find a babysitter who can stay the whole day while you attend fabulous workshops so you don’t have to speed home on the lunch break and pick up the second babysitter, then scarf down a PB&J sandwich in the car instead of eating a lovely lunch with your peers. Or maybe that’s just me…

Busting the Box -- Robin

When it comes to writing, I’ve come to the realization that I’m one of those people who does not fit in. True, I am very tall and typically don’t “fit” into most things (I can’t actually shop at The Gap, I have to go to Gap online). But now it seems my books are shaping up to be just...like...me!

My middle grade book, Dude, Where’s My Locker?, is about a boy getting through Day One of middle school. It includes drawings and graphs and letters and quizzes and just general weirdness. By the end of the day, he defeats the bully, gets the girl, and finds his locker. I’ve been getting amazing responses, including one publishing house that said they passed the book around the office because they thought it was so hilarious. Their problem was that they couldn’t figure out how to market it. I think this book is a case of needing to find a publishing house that loves a book that doesn’t quite fit the mold (which sounds like the plotline of virtually every Disney movie ever made -- a story about a kid who doesn’t quite fit in…or a lion, or a clownfish, or a cowboy doll, or a mermaid). And those movies seem to do just fine!

I took a break from writing Dude a few years ago, and decided to write something completely different. Something that might actually sell, I thought. What came out was a chapter book called The Nitwits about a couple of bumbling boys who solve local mysteries that always end up being spoofs. And how did that turn out!? Totally and completely outside of the box. Nitwits is part novel, part graphic novel, part screenplay, part, um…something. But it was fun to write and it involves lots of scenes where someone falls down. And I find falling down very funny. I love slapstick comedy. (Give me a Jim Carey/Three Stooges/Naked Gun movie marathon and I’m in heaven!) And again, I’m getting a great response to Nitwits, but no one’s willing to publish a little book that refuses to get in the box. (I like to think of this book as more of a happy chicken on a cage-free ranch.)

I’ve considered adjusting my writing style…believe me, have I ever considered it! But in the immortal words of Popeye (another great dude who never quite fit in), I yam what I yam!

- Robin

Gender Bending -- Robin

After being completely encouraged by Laini Taylor’s “just start writing” advice, I’ve been immersed in the world of my new middle grade novel…and I’ve written a whopping ten pages! Woo-hoo!

But just yesterday, I had an epiphany. Now, I must tell you that I always have my epiphanies in two places: either in my bed during those lovely moments when I’m just waking up…or…when I’m in the shower. So when I have an epiphany, I typically rush out of bed (half-dressed) or jump out of the shower (not dressed at all) and run around to find my dear husband so I can share this life-changing thought. And he typically responds, “Yes, that’s nice, dear…now get some clothes on!”

So here is the new epiphany I had yesterday: I think my main character needs to be a girl, not a boy. Zoinks!!! How could that be!? I’ve been stewing this book idea in my brain for months, and it’s always been with a dorky 11-year-old boy as the main character. So why does it need to be a girl? Well, I broke it down to two reasons:

Voice: To make any book work, that has to be right on. The thing is, I’ve been writing my other middle grade novel with a boy main character for almost five years. And honestly…I can’t get him out of my head! When I sat down to write my new story with a completely new boy, I felt I was still writing from the perspective of my previous MC. And as much as I’d like to admit that I am a highly skilled and adaptable kind of writer, I have to come to terms with the fact that maybe I need to make a real big change in order to force my brain into a new way of thinking. And that big change is…a girl!

Audience: My new novel is big, big, big in terms of plot (which is a bit of a diversion for me, since I seem to be more of a character writer). For some reason, I felt this big plot needed a boy to carry out all of the adventurous activities I was planning on writing for him. And I figured only boys would want to read about spy stuff and world domination and soccer. But now, I think I was wrong about that. Girls are different than boys, that is true, but when I was teaching, I knew a lot of very strong, smart, feminine, sweet girls who could also kick butt and save the world. So I think those girls deserve an action-packed book just as much as the boys do. I’ve always loved girls who played sports and wore a nice shade of lipgloss.

So now I go back to Laini’s advice to try not to get hung up on the “other” writing stuff like outlining and having epiphanies in showers. I’m just going to reactivate my feminine side and get writing!

- Robin

What's in Your Van? -- Robin

Yesterday I was sitting at my computer pulling my hair out trying to finish the last paragraph of my rewrite on my middle grade novel. The problem was that I had to change the ending completely since I had altered the timeline. So the old ending just didn’t make sense. And endings are very important.

It needed to be just as punchy. Just as funny. And kinda brilliant. And thus…me sitting at my computer pulling my hair out.

Then I remembered something that my good friend Jay once told me: Don’t dance in public anymore.

He also told me another story that’s actually related to all of this. He said that he once read an article about the guy who wrote the movie Little Miss Sunshine. Apparently, while he was writing it, there was a scene that he couldn’t figure out how to resolve. Remember when they’re in the van and they get pulled over by the cop and then the cop lets them go because of something he finds in the back of the van? (I won’t say what he finds in the back of the van because it’s a little vulgar and this is a family operation here.)

Well, while he was writing it, he knew he needed the cop to let the family go, but he couldn’t figure out how to do it. Then a friend told him to write down everything that was in the van. Maybe the answer was already in there. So that’s what he did, and there…sitting in the back of the van…was his answer. Yes, vulgar, but oh so perfect!

I remembered this “What’s in your van?” story yesterday while rewriting my ending. I knew there had to be the perfect word, the perfect prop, and the perfect reason for it to end, you know…perfectly.

So I kept asking myself, “What’s in my van? What’s in my van?” (Only my story isn’t about a van, it’s about middle school, but it was still helpful.) And sure enough, when I kept digging around in the story a little more, the answer…and my ending…was already there.

So, what’s in your van?

- Robin

Okay, just for kicks, let’s see what’s in my van literally. Hang on, I’m going out to my mini-van right now to see what’s in it. Okay, I’m back inside (it was cold out there!). Here’s what’s in my van:

Chapstick, coffee mug, pens, hand lotion, CD holder, stacks of papers from work, overdue library books, a stuffed shark, jacket, shoes, backpack, sand toys, a plastic dinosaur, a bag of new clothes from Kohl’s that I’ll sneak into the house later, sunglasses, oops--more overdue library books, a dog leash, some hardened raisins, and a half empty water bottle that Evie left in there on Sunday (thanks for gunking my van up, Eve!!)

Maybe I’ll call my movie Little Miss Packrat!

The Early Bird Gets to Take a Nap -- Robin

This past week I’ve been trying to tweak my writing schedule so I can get the maximum amount of writing done, watch The Daily Show, and feed my son (on an almost daily basis). A certain very special editor has asked for another round of revisions on my middle grade manuscript and now I’m in frenzied writer mode!

I remembered some conversations I had in the past with other writers who are also mothers. Here’s their one piece of unwavering advice: “Oh, honey, you gotta get up at 5 a.m. before the kids get up to get any writing done.” At which point I smile at these “helpful” moms and then kick them in the shins (but only because I might hurt myself if I tried kicking them in the head).

I was feeling desperate, so I took their advice. Beep, beep, beep! My alarm sounded at 5 a.m. and I tried smothering it with a pillow to put it out of its misery. Only there I was… without a pillow and the stupid alarm kept going off and my husband kept kicking me in the shin. (See where I get these ideas?)

I loaded up on diesel fuel for coffee, broke out the butcher paper, put on some bluegrass…and guess what!? I got busy, y’all!


This was my kitchen table at 8 a.m. after hubby loaded up on my gourmet diesel fuel coffee and took this picture. It was a very productive morning and I now openly apologize to anyone I physically hurt in the past.

Hopefully all my mother/writer friends out there are smiling on me and saying, “Finally…she gets it.”

Except that it’s 7:30 p.m. now and I just passed out face down in a bowl of pasta. Anyone got any other advice?

- Robin

Rolling with Revisions -- Robin

I just finished my first—no, my second—revision of my young adult novel and I’m feeling…well, cross-eyed. Which, I suppose, is better than feeling blurry-eyed. And even better than feeling eye-less, which is a weird thing to say.

Anyways, I love that by the end of my story I absolutely love my main character…Skye. Love, love, love her. I just want to hug her and go shoe shopping with her. So it’s nice to feel that I made a lasting impression on myself. Now on to the rest of the world!

But before I give it to my critique group and then Jay and Eve, there’s one more bit of business I need to attend to: my title. At this point, it’s called Skye is Falling. It’s a good title and I like it...kind of. It was Jay and Eve’s suggestion, and I like them very much as people…so…you know…there’s that.

I feel like a title tells you so much about a book and a good one can make all the difference. Since you all helped Eve with her title search, I was hoping you could help me with mine!

Here are some of the themes in the book: Skye, a withdrawn depressed teenage girl is the daughter of a recovering alcoholic. She spends a lot of time at Al-anon meetings and skips school to hang at a coffee shop. She meets a guy (woo-hoo!) who is a bit of her opposite (very religious, home schooled) and they fall in love (very woo-hoo!). She is basically on a search to find passion in her life and to discover her spiritual side. Oh, and she plays piano and loves crossword puzzles. (Can you believe I stretched that into 175 pages!?) So here are some choices:

SKYE IS FALLING (Thanks, Jay and Eve. Love you guys. No matter what.)
A GIRL LIKE ME (Which is a line she says at an emotionally climactic moment with her guy.)
FAITH NO MORE (Which is a really great band I saw in Athens, GA back in the late 80’s, but could also be a good title.)
FINDING NEMO (No?)

Um, that’s all I got. I considered putting the word scrotum somewhere in the title, but Jay gets all fidgety when I mention it. (Great…my parents are reading this and probably don’t know about "the controversy." At this moment, my father is no doubt hugging my sobbing mother, patting her on the back and saying, “There, there.”)

So back to my title search. Will it be Skye is Falling? Or something I’ve never considered? Bring it!!!

- Robin

It’s the Process—Robin

Man, I have so much to do. Polishing my first draft is consuming every moment I have. No time for the “extras” in life like balancing checkbooks or personal grooming. (Luckily it’s winter and my legs and toes are constantly covered!)

I met with my critique group yesterday and they gave me a great pep talk about revising. Cynthia reminded me to go through it many times, looking for only specific things each time.

First, is continuity. Then there’s language then dialogue then more layering then similes and metaphors then symbolism. Oh, and maybe some grammar.

Well, I’ve already gone through the manuscript once making sure it had a beginning then a middle then an end. At the same time I also made sure I used the same name for my main character all the way through. Wow! Not bad, Robin!

Now on to reading it through six more times, then having my critique group edit it, then Jay and Eve, then my agent, then back to me and then…it’ll probably be winter again and my legs will be covered and I’ll have some extra time to finish it up.

So this morning I found I had some extra time (hubby was sick in bed and son was telling Dora on TV which log to step on so she won’t fall in a snake pit). And what did I do? I wrote out a summary of my next novel! A middle grade humorous historical science fiction epic! (For real.)

Okay, fine. Back to revising. But before I do all the layering and similes and stuff, I gotta go through my manuscript and make sure I take out all of these…NOTE TO SELF: MAKE THIS PART BETTER.

--Robin
(who is wearing long pants and boots out of necessity)

'The End' Never Felt So Good -- Robin

This past Friday was a banner day in DiscoLand! If you took that phrase literally, and actually wrote out a banner, it would read:

Congratulations, Robin! You finally finished your first teen novel!

Now shut up and get back to work.

Yep. Finished it. Done.

Okay, fine. So I’m done with my “first” draft. My friend Mary Hershey likes to refer to the first draft as the “discovery” draft. Which is so cute. But personally, I like to refer to it as my “schwetty” draft (I’m trying to cut back on my foul language…and I love that old Saturday Night Live skit with Alec Baldwin!).

As I sat in the coffee shop writing the very last line of my book, Jay walked in to meet me. “Shhhh! Sit down and don’t speak!” I said as I pointed to a seat across the room. He tucked his tail and hung his head while I finished my final words. Good boy, Jay.

When I finished, I punched myself in the shoulder feeling like I was king of that small section of the coffee shop. “You can come back over, Jay. Now read my last page and tell me I’m a genius.”

I sat across from him and watched his facial expressions, analyzing every eye twitch. He’s very twitchy. Finally, he looked up. Honestly, he looked like he was going to cry, which was the biggest compliment he could’ve given me (other than actually crying and telling me I’m a genius, but I take what I get).

While I know that I have a lot of work to do, it feels insanely cool to know that I actually made it through the whole story…and that the ending feels so good.

- Robin

Coffee Talk -- Robin

The other day I went into our hangout coffee shop, Linnaea’s, to meet with Jay and talk writing. As you may have noticed, Linnaea’s is like our own version of the bar in St. Elmo’s Fire (only with less beer and no one named Demi Moore or Rob Lowe…which is a shame, really).

Jay had been working furiously on his rewrites and his eyeballs were dashing back and forth, so I figured he needed a break. “Hey, I know! Let’s talk about MY book!” I said.

“Okay. What’s happening next in your story?” he asked with focused eyeballs. (So sweet!)

“Well, it’s going to get more exciting, and more, you know…well, it will have a climax and stuff, and then she’ll learn something, and then it will wrap up nicely and everyone will be happy.”

“Seriously, Robin. What’s going to happen next?”

I flopped my head on the small square table. “I don’t know! You caught me! Are you happy!?”

I went on and said some other things and Jay said it’s really not nice to call people names.

Once we got past the awkward silence, we were able to come up with some really great ways to finish my book. It was amazing. We talked and brainstormed literally for hours (I know because I got a parking ticket). What we came up with was nothing short of miraculous and now I know exactly what will happen next and exactly how it’s all going to wrap up! What a gift!

If there had been a fly on the wall during our conversation at Linnaea’s (or if Demi Moore had been on the wall, which would make this story a lot more exciting) here are some snippets of what that fly, or beautiful woman, would have heard:

• No, too cliché.
  
• Make sure she solves her own problem.
  
• Yeah, it’s funny but that’s something you would do.
  
• Again, too cliché.
  
• Would you stop eating my peanut butter cookie?
  
• Take out the part about the helicopter and the cliff rescue and the Channel 12 News crew, plus all the cliché parts, and you’re on to something!
  
• Wow! You took a long time in the bathroom. Is everything okay?
  
• No, overusing references to great literary works will not win you awards. Or readers.
  
• Seriously, you should put some money in the meter.
  
• Of course you can kill your main character. (Kidding. Right, Jay? You were kidding, right?)
  
• Is that Demi Moore on the wall?

Just then, Eve walked in and we told her how I never put money in the meter and how my car is probably being towed as we speak and how we spent the last few hours coming up with wonderful ideas for my book.

The girl didn’t miss a beat. “Great! My turn!”

- Robin

Finishing My Novel...In My Dreams! -- Robin

I’m getting there. It will happen. I will finish this book.

I just have to figure out what happens, why it happens and how it will end. That’s all! Well, the other day, when I was stuck in the muckiness of all these whats and whys and hows, I remembered some advice I’d heard at this year’s national SCBWI conference. Wendelin Van Draanen spoke about how she plots her novels (Sammy Keyes, Shredderman, etc...). She said she often reads what she wrote that day just before she goes to sleep and then trains her mind to actually dream about her characters. She finds that her subconscious will work out the plot problems for her! Wow, I thought. And all without prescription drugs.

So, I tried it. I curled up in my bed and read my half-written manuscript and told my brain, “Tonight, I want you to write this story. I need it finished and polished and perhaps even award-winning. ‘Kay?” My brain nodded ‘yes’ back to me. (It was a weird moment.)

So I happily fell asleep and had big, epic, fanciful dreams. A lot was accomplished, but it had nothing to do with my novel. What did I dream that night? I made-out with Bill Clinton. He’s a good kisser, really. But then he wanted me to do “secretarial” work and update the phone numbers in his phone directory. I said, “Whatever, Billy. I have a book to write.” And I woke up.

I hate it when stories end with “and it was all a dream.” But it was. However, I think from now on I’ll stick with daydreaming instead.

- Robin