Type, type, typing

Q: What’s even better than Butt in Chair?

A: Butt in Chaise!

With my registration for the SCBWI summer conference all set, I’m even more motivated to finish my current middle grade manuscript.  As a bonus, my new couch and chaise combo is boosting creativity by providing a super comfortable work zone. This week I’ve been working on new material as well as organizing some of my handwritten notes.   Who knew that changing up the seating would have such an impact?

Hot hot heat

Over the last two days it’s gotten remarkably hot in the Los Angeles area.  Normally people think of LA as being hot year round, and while it is always relatively warm, it’s usually a nice 70 degrees or so.  Well this weekend it shot up to the triple digits in the Valley, so all the nice sweaty people decided to come down to the Westside to hang out at the beach.  This of course led to lots of angry sweaty people stuck in traffic – never fun.  Ian and I had an engagement shoot this Sunday in Malibu, and it took us over two hours to get there.   The shoot was well worth it but argh.

The good news, however, is that the heat makes me think of ripening summer.  Two of the books I’m currently working on are set in this season, and the heat gets me in the perfect summer frame of mind.  I’ve been getting really into my books, which in turn makes my mind go, which makes it harder for me to fall asleep.  Factor in the oppressive heat which makes it hard to breathe, and you’ve got a recipe for sleepless nights.  At least I’ll be doing something productive with all that time!

The day my character showed up at Baja Fresh

A few months ago at the SCBWI Westside Schmooze we talked all things character.  You can read a recap of the topics we covered on the Schmooze blog, but one of the biggest things I took away was trying to visualize your character.  Some people build models for their character, some create collages, memory boxes, etc.  Well, this past weekend I one-upped them all and hit the jackpot – I saw the character in my current middle grade novel.  Ian and I stopped for lunch at Baja Fresh and in she walked with her mom and younger brother.

This girl fit my character’s description to a T – face, hair, height, build, clothing style.  Oh my gosh.  It was awesome.  Seeing a real live person who could have walked out of my pages was fantastic – not only did it super inspire me to keep writing, it gave me a fresh lens to view an otherwise 2-dimensional character (because she is on paper – not because she’s flat).

I tried hard not to stare.  In most cases staring is socially unacceptable – especially when  you’re looking at a preteen who’d rather no one look at her, family, friends, and strangers included.  The good news is, I’m not the only author who’s gained a boost from real life subjects.

A year or so ago I saw Brian Selznik, writer and illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, talk about his book and his writing and illustrating process.  Brian wrote his story and then waited until he found two children who looked like the main characters in his book.  He approached their parents, convinced them he was not a stalker but rather a legitimate writer trying to get published, and then used the kids as models for his book.  Pretty cool, huh?  You can read more about his process here.  (By the way, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a wonderful book that moves quickly due to an abundance of illustrations.  I would definitely recommend it, especially for reluctant readers.)

Either way, Baja Fresh is my new favorite place.

BIC HOK TAM – It hurts so good

My friend, the fabulous YA writer Edith Cohn, recently wrote on her blog that sore-butt syndrome is usually the result of high writing productivity.  Butt-In-Chair-Hands-On-Keyboard-Typing-Away-Madly (BIC HOK TAM) is a favorite writer’s motto that explains the only way to get things done is to sit down and do them.  The past couple of days have been the rear-end aching kind of days for me, and this is a good thing.  Yesterday I spent nine hours at UCLA taking class, reading, and writing.  The majority of these nine hours were spent in those terribly uncomfortable chair/desk combos so often found in institutions of higher education.  Yes, those chairs are functional and save space, but no one can walk after sitting in them for two or three hours straight.  Seriously, you lose all feeling below the waist.  But I digress.  The good news about all this sitting time was that between getting my homework done for a super-packed course load, I got in some good book writing.  I went to jot down one quick sentence and ended up with three pages of material.  Gotta love the flow state.  So the productivity?  Definitely worth the ache!

Writing?

The past two weeks have been super hectic for me on the photography side of things (multiple engagement sessions, client meetings, etc.) and also on the school side of things.  While I haven’t been able to do any writing for my stories, I have been doing lots and lots of paper writing.  The paper writing is at least some form of writing, which I guess is a step in the right direction, but it’s all on depressing topics.  Just ask me about the Holocaust, the Vietnam War, the politics of representation, and the manipulation of reality TV images.  Come on, I dare you.

Yeah, the children’s book writing is way more fun.

The voices in my head

At this Wednesday’s fabulous Westside Schmooze we talked all about character: how your characters behave, what they want, their histories, their tics.  Character drives plot and plot shapes character, so it’s super important to make both strong.  The meeting got me really fired up, and I’m excited because the madness of the week is over and I can get back to some writing.  I’m usually working on a few projects, meaning that I have a lot of characters talking to me.  Since I’ve been so busy this week, all my characters are yelling at me, telling me to help them fix their problems.  This is especially annoying during test taking and customer phone calls.  The only way to quiet the voices in my head is to write about them, so cross your fingers that I’ll be able to sit down and get them out this weekend.

First lines

The topic of the night at this Wednesday’s SCBWI Schmooze was first lines.  We discussed the importance of a first line that grabs you and all the elements the first paragraph of a book can convey.  I thought it was a great discussion.  I love memorable first lines and I usually don’t start writing until I have a first line that sticks in my head and won’t go away.  The line might ultimately get revised, but it’s what gets me building momentum to get the story off the ground.  The problem comes when there are too many first lines and not enough time to write all the stories!

Do you have any tricks to get your creative juices flowing?

I came, I wrote, I submitted

Woohoo!  I just sent off the first chapter of my YA manuscript to a literary agency and I’m thrilled.  There’s some sort of relief in having done it.  Now I can move on to other projects, which are rapidly piling up on my desk.  There are always about six stories running through my mind, so I can shift focus a little bit for the next few weeks.  Cross your fingers for me!

Reading is a family experience

Ian went out to Zion National Park in Utah yesterday, so I spent last night pet-wrangling  and editing away.  I love seeing my book take shape, but editing is utterly exhausting for me.   I took a little break and found this photo of me and 2/3 of the pet clan.   It makes me smile:

Everyone likes to get in on the fun.  In the photo we’re reading It Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley.  It’s a fresh new twist on the vampire book (less doom and gloom and more teen drama), and it’s a lot of fun.  Check it out.

Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist a little Willy Wonka there.  Yesterday began the read-through/revising process of my YA manuscript.  It’s amazing how quickly I can read through something that took such a long time to produce.  It’s a little sad, and it really makes me appreciate all the time and work that goes writing into each book I read. (Not to mention all the work by agents, editors, and publishers!)  I’m excited to begin this stage but also a little nervous.  As soon as I stop actively creating, my mind wants to focus on new things.  I’ve got a couple of ideas rumbling around, as well as a half-written middle grade book that I need to finish.  But one thing at a time – I want to get this book out the door.  My deadline is January 15th.  Wish me luck.