Motivation

I find it funny that my kids will never willingly pick up anything off the floor, but when the chocolate chip bag spilled all over the kitchen, each child jumped up immediately to help me. They couldn’t shove the chocolate in their mouths fast enough.  It made me laugh, and I had to take a picture.  Who knew that all I needed was a little chocolate to get them moving?

The characters in our stories are just like my kids.  They need the right motivation to get them going.  They need a little chocolate.  We as writers need to figure out the driving motivation behind our characters.  We need to know what drives them.  What excites them.  What gets them moving.  Motivation is important in stories.  It helps determine how the plot unfolds, and brings out conflict.  Without motivation, the story falls flat.

So it’s time to spill a little bit of chocolate on the floor, and see if you can find your character’s motivation.      

Amazing

Kids are amazing. They can come up with anything simply by using their imagination. When my youngest daughter was sad because she couldn't go inside Minnie Mouse's house in Disneyland, my older daughter built one for her out of a cardboard box. The two of them played for hours in the makeshift house. It was amazing. And my youngest was never again sad about not being able to go inside Minnie Mouse’s house. To her, she had been there, and now she could visit it anytime she wanted in her own room. All it took was a cardboard box and imagination. As a writer, I want to do be just like them. I want to take my piece of paper and imagination, and create something amazing.

Student Council

This girl just got chosen for student council in her fifth grade class. She is so excited. Only two kids from each class were picked, so she feels very honored to be one of them. But the funny thing is, she almost didn’t even try out for student council. She thought she would not be picked, so why bother. She almost let her fear keep her from doing something she really wanted to do.

I told her that we do not do things just to win. We also do things just to try. Just to see what we are capable of. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but the important thing is we are trying. Failure only means that we are one step closer to our goals. And the more we try, the more we succeed. We can learn just as much from our failures as we can from our wins. And we never know what our potential is, or what we might achieve, until we take that first step.

I am so glad that she didn’t let her fear rule her. She put in her application, and she won. Now she is doing something she loves. What if she had let that fear keep her from trying? What if she had never applied, because she thought she might fail?

We can’t give up. We have to try. We have to overcome our fears. We have to keep working towards our goals. Only then will we know and become our very best selves.

Quirks

My son loves to collect rocks. Big rocks. Little rocks. Large rocks that I trip over on my front step. Rocks that go unnoticed in his pockets, and end up in my dryer clumping around. (That’s always fun.) Yes, my son definitely loves rocks.

The other day, I went upstairs to clean the bathroom, and I found a fresh set of rocks next to his bathroom sink. I assume he found them at some point during his day at school, put them in his pocket, and brought them home. He most likely remembered them when he was brushing his teeth, and put them next to the sink. So thoughtful of him.

But as I moved the rocks so I could wipe the dried toothpaste smeared all over the counter, I couldn’t help but smile. This is my son. It’s his quirk. And it makes him him. And, at the end of the day, I love this about him.

So what are the quirks of your characters? What makes them them? And what makes you fall in love with them?

Burned Toast

The other day my daughter asked me to make toast for breakfast. Our toaster had not been working all that well, and it would sometimes forget to pop the toast out. I would have to remember to pop the toast out myself by hand, or be stuck with burned toast. On this particularly morning, I was busy getting too many things done in too little time, and I forgot about my daughter’s toast. It came out black, and not very appetizing.

I told my daughter that I would make her new toast, because the first piece was gross. She told me that she still wanted it. I said, “No, you won’t like it.” She then proceeded to throw a tantrum (she’s two after all), because I would not give her the black toast. I tried to tell her again and again that she would not like it, and that I would make her a new piece. She was having none of it.

Finally, I gave up and gave her the burned piece of toast. She happily stopped crying, took her toast, and proceeded to eat the entire piece. I was shocked. I never would have eaten that piece of toast. But my daughter did, and she liked it.

As I thought about this moment with my daughter, it reminded me of my writing. Sometimes, as writers, we want to force our characters to act a certain way, because we think it is the way they should act. But we shouldn’t force our characters to do anything. We should let them develop. We should learn about them and understand them. And we should definitely let them decide whether or not they like burned toast. Maybe we wouldn’t eat it, but our character or daughter just might.

Cumulative Picture Books

I had the chance to go to my son’s classroom again this week, and teach more about writing and picture books. This time I taught them about the cumulative picture book structure. Cumulative stories add repeating elements as the story progresses. When a new event occurs in the story, the previous events are repeated. Basically, the plot builds on itself. These stories can rhyme, but they do not have to.

The kids really enjoyed the cumulative stories. We read: THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY by Lucille Colandro, and THERE WAS AN OLD MONKEY WHO SWALLOWED A FROG by Jennifer Ward. We then had an activity where the kids created their own cumulative stories. It was so much fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. There were a lot of giggles and smiles. And they were so creative. They came up with many unique ideas. Leave it to a kid to come up with the silliest and most outrageous concepts. That is exactly why writers need to think like a kid. That’s when creativity is at its best.

I am so happy that I get this chance to teach these children. I love being around them. I love their energy and excitement. I love how much they love books and writing. I love their zest to learn anything new. And I love that they love picture books as much as I do.

Voice

I listened to a webinar yesterday about voice. It talked about how each of us have our own unique way of writing that no one can duplicate. Everything that we have experienced and done in our lives contributes to our writing voice. No two people can write the same story the exact same way.

I really enjoyed this webinar. I liked learning more about how each of us has our own voice. As writers, we each have to work on finding and developing that voice. I know I am constantly trying to develop mine. I am ever learning, growing, and developing my craft. I am happy that no one can write just like me. I want to write my own unique stories, in my own unique voice.

Just About Anywhere

One of the great things about writing, is that I can do it just about anywhere. Some of my recent favorite places to write are: the shower, while rocking my daughter, the car, on walks, during bike rides, outside with my son and a Popsicle, while cleaning the bathroom, while doing dishes, and late at night when everyone is asleep (my favorite).

7th Annual Idaho Conference on Youth and Childrens Literature and Writing

Two weeks ago, I attended my first SCBWI conference, and I can’t even begin to say how much I enjoyed it. Learning from professionals in the industry was amazing. Mingling with other writers was fun. And getting to spend the entire day focused on nothing but writing was perfect. I loved the entire day. I couldn’t write fast enough in my notebook. I wanted to capture every moment. I wanted to remember it all. It was a wonderful experience.

I learned many things from the different authors who presented, and from literary agent, Sean McCarthy. They each gave wonderful speeches and presentations that helped me to learn more about the craft of writing for children. I also had a critique with Sean that I found very informative and helpful. He was kind, thoughtful, and he gave me comments and suggestions on my manuscript that have been beneficial towards my revisions.

Some of the main things I learned from attending this conference were:

• Readers need to feel at home in a book.
• Readers need to see themselves in literature.
• How will children interact with your text?
• What will your characters do that will be visually stimulating?
• We need to care about the characters.
• The transformation of characters is what readers keep going back for.
• Just because it is well-written, doesn’t mean it will sell.
• Clearly see how a character is different from beginning to end.
• Fresh, original concept
• No one can do character like you can.

These are just some of the many things I wrote down during the conference. There are so many more.
I am so glad that I attended the conference. It was a fantastic experience, and I would tell anyone who has the chance to attend an SCBWI conference, to do it. It is worth the money and sacrifice. I will definitely be attending next year.

I want to end this post by quoting author, Matt de la Pena. “If you’re good, and do the work, you can do anything.”

The Perfect Ending

Lately, I have been studying the ends of picture books. I have been trying to figure out what makes a perfect ending. It has been fun to analyze each book. I have come to find so many endings that I love and admire. And it is amazing to me that an ending can really make or break a book. The ending is the author’s last chance to make an impression on the reader. No author wants the reader to feel dissatisfied at the end of a book. In fact, an author wants the complete opposite. He or she wants the reader to feel completely satisfied when they turn the last page.

This rings true with me, because of an experience I had with my son a few years ago. We had gotten a book at the library that we were both really excited to read. We brought the book home, and started reading it right away. But when we got to the end of the book, the last page was missing. And of course, that was the page with the final punch line. Without this page, my son and I had no idea how the story ended. We felt dissatisfied and frustrated. It really bothered us to not know what happened. Later, we were able to get a hold of another book which contained the last page. Reading the end of the story, made such a difference in our feelings about the book.

This experience made me realize how important a good ending is. Without it, a book is just a book. But with it, a book becomes magic. And I, for one, want all of my stories to be magical.

On Hold

I love when I get an email from the library telling me that a book I requested is on hold. It makes me happy. I usually pile my children in the car and head straight there. Luckily, I have trained my children to think that libraries are awesome, and books are a special treat. Basically, we all love it when good books are on hold.

First SCBWI Conference

I just signed up for my first SCBWI conference. Saying I am excited, would be an understatement. I signed up for everything I could—lunch with speakers, critique—so that I could get the most out of this conference. I want to learn all that I can, and find new ways to improve my craft. This conference is going to be so much fun, and I know I am going to learn a lot. And I will, of course, report back here on everything I learned, gained, and gleaned from attending my first conference.

Ignored

Today when I asked my son to please help me clean up a mess, he repeatedly ignored me. Then, when I asked my manuscript to please help me come up with the perfect ending, it repeatedly ignored me. Good thing I'm persistent.

You're Ugly, First Draft

First drafts are ugly. Good thing there is revision to make them beautiful. Just repeat until pretty.

You Never Know

The other day my husband was going to go to the driving range. I sweetly suggested that he take our 4-year-old son. He looked at me and said, “I don’t know how that’s going to go.”

“Well I don’t know how the grocery store with three kids is going to go half the time,” I said to him, “but I still do it.”

Needless to say, he took our son to the driving range, and our son loved it. Now my husband takes him as often as he can.

I share this example, because to me it is like writing. One never knows exactly how a story is going to go, but that is ok. Sometimes the story will practically write itself. Sometimes it won’t. Sometimes the ending is easy and the beginning is difficult. Sometimes the title is causing all of the problems. Sometimes you don’t even want to try. But you have to try—even if you don’t know how it is going to go. Because your story, like my son, might just surprise you.

Catching Fireflies

Ideas are like fireflies. They fly around in a magical glow, just waiting to be caught. And we, as writers, have the job of searching for and catching these fireflies.

This may seem easy enough, but often times it isn’t. It can be a tricky thing to capture a firefly. Sometimes they fly so close, but we can’t quite reach them. Sometimes they are too quick and fleeting, and we don’t have enough time to grab them. And sometimes we are not paying close enough attention to find them.

That is why there is PiBoIdMo. For the entire month of November, we get the chance to catch 30 fireflies. PiBoIdMo gives us the jar (notebook) and motivation (daily posts) that we need in order to catch our fireflies. PiBoIdMo gets us moving. It gets us thinking. And it gets us searching.

This will be my third year participating in Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo, and I am excited. Every year that I have participated, I have come out with more than 30 ideas (or fireflies if you will).

There is something about participating that really puts your mind into firefly-catching mode. From the daily posts, to the Facebook page, PiBoIdMo is the perfect place to seek out and find ideas.

So come join me for this year’s PiBoIdMo, and see how many fireflies you can catch.

Artwork is courtesy of my eight-year-old daughter.

Just Listen

Sometimes my characters, like my children, won’t listen to me. I try to make them listen. I tell them. I beg them. And sometimes I force them. But more times than not, it doesn’t work.

That is when I usually feel like screaming and pulling my hair out. But we all know how that turns out. So instead, I turn things around and listen to them. And more times than not, that is when I have my best writing and parenting moments.

So take the time to listen to your characters and your children. You never know what they might have to say.

Never. Give. Up.

We all need this reminder sometimes.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing

Do sit and write

Don’t procrastinate

Do study your craft

Don’t assume you know everything

Do join an unbiased critique group

Don’t think your mom, dad, sister, brother, spouse, grandparents, or children will give you honest and helpful feedback

Do read books in the genre you wish to write

Don’t stop reading

Do write for yourself

Don’t write for trends