The trouble with NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo has been calling to me since I heard about it from a friend who did it years ago, and especially since I hatched a new idea for a book back in the summer. Plus, I like a challenge. The only thing I didn’t understand about this Nano thing was the “winning” part. When I joined I found out that the only requirement to win was completing 50,000 words in the 30 day time-period. It didn’t really seem like winning. It seemed more like giving gold stars for effort. Nevertheless, I joined figuring it would be fun and It’d be a breeze riding a wave of literary consciousness all through November.

Well It’s not.

In the first week, I was consistently ahead. Even the second week wasn’t too bad, and then I hit a wall. It felt like a literal wall. It felt hard and it bashed me in and I knew there was nothing beyond it but more and more layers of story-stopping brick. Suddenly the idea that someone could actually write 50,000 words in 30 days about the same subject definitely felt like a major accomplishment. Because it is. That gold star isn’t for effort, it’s for prevailing at a stamina-wrecking literary marathon.

Now, I probably write about 4-5000 words a day, between the blog, and freelancing and working on my non-fiction book projects. But it’s all different things, so although it’s still pretty tough and my days end with me exhausted in bed, my mind gets a little break from constantly working on one idea.

Right now, I’m about 4,000 words behind the Nano-set daily goal. Granted, I’m very close to my own personal goal of 30,000 words (which is still nothing to sneeze at) but I have several more scenes in mind, so I’m going to have to go over 30k just to satisfy coming to a conclusion.

I realize there is no way I will make it to 50k in the next eleven days. In any event, this story doesn’t need 20k more words. But man I hate to lose. Because if you’re not a winner… that OTHER word applies.

Point of view in non-fiction writing

Since reading William Zinsser’s On Writing Well, my approach to writing non-fiction has changed. I think my Meyer biography benefitted greatly from it, but I am really struggling wth the Creech bio. Zinsser’s book advises that for non-fiction writers, it’s not just about finding the facts, verifying them, and plopping them down in order, it really is about the author’s response to the subject. Readers respond when the author injects a little of themselves into the writing, in whatever small way. My interpretation of his advice is that when writing non-fiction, it’s important for the writer to have a definite point of view.

Now, I like Sharon Creech’s books a lot. Love That Dog is my hands-down favorite, followed very closely by A Fine, Fine School. But awe and respect isn’t really a point of view about a person. It’s the same as when your 2nd grade teacher forced you to stop using the word “like” for every description. I like Sharon Creech, I like her books, I like her writing. This does not make for interesting reading. I didn’t have this problem when I wrote the Spinelli and L’Engle biographies because back then, awe was enough for me. I thought my sole job was to write about all the things they did that I thought were so great. Now that I’ve read Zinsser, it’s not enough. Thanks for nothing, William.

It might be that I’m a little overwhelmed because I’m doing multiple projects at the same time, or that I’m incredibly tired. It may also be that I haven’t read through enough of the articles I’ve pulled. Part of me wants to blame Creech herself for being so darn likable. I’m sure I won’t have this problem when I start Al Gore’s biography in the Spring. I have definite feelings about ol’ Al and I’m really excited to get to his story. He’s polarizing, maybe by nature of being a politician, but he makes a great story.

So back to figuring out my point of view about a person whose books I admire, but whose personality I have no bead on. It’s going to be rough. And that deadline isn’t getting further away.

The Vampire’s Zombie Cat: Chapter 5

Tracey had been having some problems coming up with a new chapter for THE VAMPIRE’S ZOMBIE CAT, so Vernon thought he’d lend a hand.

“She could write about the time I went trick-or-treating,” he thought aloud.

“Or about the first time I took you pumpkin picking.”

“I know! She could write about how I’m doing with NaNoWriMo this year!”

Cornelius took a moment to stop licking himself.

Cornelius was, after all, the title character.

 

Text and image copyright 2009, Tracey Baptiste

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4

How to talk to an author

This Saturday  I was chatting with some of my writing comrades when a young man approached me. He was an aspiring author and wanted to talk with me because we both write YA. I always take time out to talk to anyone who wants advice because:

a) I was in that position once.

b) I was nervous as hell to talk to anyone. (Still am.)

c) I’m no different than budding writers now, even with five published books.

I also don’t want to discourage anyone. It’s the teacher in me, I suppose. But the sucker in me always gets pulled into longer conversations than I’d like. When you approach someone, you might not have any idea how much time you’re taking up or if you’re being inappropriate (been there, done that!). So here’s some advice:

1. Be specific. When you approach someone (look at you! brave!) have 2 or 3 questions in mind. Like, how did you find your agent? What is a working relationship like with an editor? What did you find difficult when you were staring out? etc. Every author has a different story, and while your path will not mirror anyone elses, you might find out that they were just as frustrated as you, or learn some pitfalls to avoid.

2. LISTEN. So many times people approach me and then chat me up about their project and how great they think it is and why they think they’re the next big thing, if ONLY someone would give them a chance! If you’re talking more than I am, I’m out. I may stand there, because I’m polite (and a sucker), but I’m not invested in you anymore. Know why? I’m not your therapist. Writing is hard. For all of us. If I learned anything this weekend, it’s that all authors are struggling with something regardless of their level of success.

3. Move on. After I’ve answered your questions, say “thank you” and leave. The fact is, I can’t help you with your book, or getting an agent or publisher, so telling me about your project is not productive for either of us. And since we’re not really colleagues, we’re not in a position to commisserate over our issues. I would never go up to say Kate diCamillo and complain about how hard it was to get my second novel published because she’s past that stage. And I’m sure you don’t want to hear me complain about that either since you’d love to have that problem from where you’re standing.

WARNING: If the author (or authors) you approach look uncomfortable or upset that you’ve come up to them, apologize and back away. If they are dismissive, back away without a word, and move on to someone else, or go have a beer and lick your wounds. Not everyone will talk to you and it might not have anything to do with you. They might be having a really rotten day. I’ve had this happen to me and it ain’t pretty. Yet another reason I tend to stick to myself and figure things out solo.

Communing with co-workers

At the end of last week I was at the NJASL conference with a bunch of other authors. I’m not comfortable at these things. Authors are there to get school visits and it feels like a hard sell and I’m typically shy and solitary, so it’s not fun. What is fun is seeing fellow authors, some I’ve come to  know from the conference and others that I meet for the first time. Going to one of these is kind of like having a day at the office. The only thing missing is a box of donuts. Here’s the rundown.

Frank Finale, the author of A Gull’s Story and many others is a Jersey Shore poet and writer. He always comes with these giant posters, the height of a 4 year old child and equally as wide, of the book covers (which are beautiful). Frank always seems perplexed that I’m happy to see him. You’re a nice guy, Frank!

Lin Fong-O’Neill is another regular. Lin is amazing because she self-publishes her picture books and markets them really well. I think it’s brave and ballsy. She also gave me a copy of Tiger! Tiger! Tail on Fire! for the kids, especially helpful since my daughter’s a bit of a fraidy cat. Courage wins!

I always meet up with Jackie Hardrick, who I met for the first time at the NJ book fair that was held in Englewood some years ago. Jackie is another self-pubbed author who I really admire. She’s incredibly hardworking and a marketing champ. Giant publishing houses could learn something from Jackie.

Kevin Kammeraad is the author of The Tomato Collection and This is Not a Square which are pretty special. It’s not a square! It’s a rectangle! Oh, the page is a square? Wait. If I cut the rectangle in half it’s TWO SQUARES? Crazy! What would Kevin do with a triangle? Get on that, Kevin!

His buddies, the Adlerman duo are pretty cool. Kim is an illustrator who was kind enough to not laugh in my face when I showed her my illustrations for Zombie Cat. Her husband Dan is hysterical and apparently had an odd, pranky relationship with my Simon & Schuster editor when they worked together. Hmm.

I also ran into a former co-worker from MGH, Trish Marx, who is writing so many books about far-away lands and logging so many hours on a plane to do it that she might have to commission her own jet. She’s starting a biography of Muhammad Yunus, who I did a piece about in Being a Leader and Making Decisions. She read my piece and was able to confirm something she had been wondering about Yunus. You’re welcome, Trish. I’m happy to help.

Know who else needs to thank me? Javaka Steptoe. I was kind of surprised to see him there. He’s HUGE. I went over to say hi and to tell him that I’d chosen his book The Jones Family Express for the 3rd grade reading anthology for MGH. He had no idea. Fortunately Betty Tatham was there as well. I chose her Penguin Chick for the same anthology and she always travels with it, so I was able to show him the layout. He said he vaguely remembered signing off on something, but didn’t really know about it. Dude, you owe me. Big time. I had to fight for that book. Seriously. I expect you to buy me a drink next time we meet.

Susan Amesse the author of Kissing Brendan Callahan was there, who’s like me and has one work of fiction out. We could commisserate over struggling to get book #2 out there. Stay strong, Susan!

I also met Nancy Viau for the first time. Her book Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head was one of those that really piqued my interest, and I meant to buy a copy for my daughter and have Nancy sign it, but it never happened. Clearly I have rocks in my own head. It’s ok. I’m sure I’ll run into Nancy again.

There were many other authors and illustrators there, and it was nice to see everyone. I think I’ll be back next year. So who’s bringing the donuts?

How authors prepare for author visits

As I’m getting ready today for my visit to the 5th grade class at EPCS tomorrow, it occurred to me that a lot of people might not know what’s involved when an author gets ready to visit a school. Over the years, I have sensed that some educators see author visits as something extraneous, or simple entertainment, or something we do off the cuff. The truth is, like writing a good story, or planning a good lesson, a good author visit takes a lot of preparation.

Here’s what I do to prepare for an author visit.

1) I like to talk with the teachers ahead of time to get a sense of what their personality is like, and what their students are like.

2) I try to find out what they want to accomplish with this visit. This will determine how I structure my presentaion.

3) I start preparing a slide show for my presentation. I do a new presentation for every single class. This is because I have found that no two classes are alike and teachers want different things. Yes, I re-use slides from other presentations, but putting together a new slide show is still time-consuming.

4) I gather some additional props that I will pass around during the presentation. No one wants to just stare at a screen forever. Not even the best video-game player.

5) I practice the slide presentation, and what message I want to convey with each slide. This takes some time. Standing up in front of a bunch of people to do a presentation that goes smoothly and presents exactly the point you want to present requires a LOT of practice.

6) I choose a passage from one of my books that I think would appeal that particular group, and practice reading it aloud. Reading to a large audience is not like reading to your kid at night before bed. It’s a performance, and having slip-ups can ruin the mood. I will re-read aloud several times until I feel I have the meter and breathing and facial expressions comfortable and smooth.

7) I do a dry run with my computer and slide projector to make sure everything’s working fine. I also check the timing to make sure that I don’t go over my alloted time. This may require going back and tweaking the presentation, or doing a shorter or longer reading selection.

8 ) I’f I’m going to a book club, I read through my book again to make sure I remember everything that’s in there. It’s no good having someone ask me about something in the book that I don’t remember.

9) I check the weather, and then go to my closet to pick out what I’m going to wear. I want to look professional because no one is impressed by a sloppy author. I also need to be comfortable. If I’m going to be lugging a laptop and projector from class to class, I will not want to wear heels or a dress. If I’m presenting in an auditorium and I can be on a stage, then I might wear a dress. And heels.

And that’s what I do.

So when you’re thinking about having an author come in for an author visit, consider the kind of preparation that is being done on their part to make your day a success. Please make sure that there is preparation on your part as well. When I go into a school, I expect the students to know that I’m coming, who I am, what my books are, what I will be doing in their school, and be prepared with questions. Interacting with students makes it a much more enjoyable and engaging presentation for them when they know what’s going on and feel comfortable enough to talk to me.

If you’ve made it to the end of this post and would like to have one of these awesome Author Visits for your school, send an email to Tracey @ TraceyBaptiste dot com.

Catching up

After last week’s bout of Swine Flu I’ve been trying to catch up with work, the dreaded laundry and the mess-fest that is my house. Unfortunately yesterday was one of those days when things decided to crash all around me. I believe last night I fell-asleep mid-sentence during a conversation with my husband.

Fortunately, today is better.

But I’m still not caught up.

Yet.

Don’t even talk to me about NaNoWriMo.

T.G.I.F.

I was so out of it yesterday, I didn’t even realize I posted twice. An early snarky one and then a later more redeeming post. Well the good news is that I’m in much better shape today (my son as well) so I think we’re finally over the dreaded Swine Flu. The bad news is, I think it’s affected my eyes because I had to whip out my glasses this morning, and I haven’t worn those suckers in months.

Oh well. At least it’s Friday.

I’m still having a few struggles with how to outline the Creech bio. Her writing very closely parallels her life, so I’m trying to figure out if I should use the books as a guide for how to section off blocks of text in her bio, or if I should write about her life and her books separately. Either way would be pretty interesting, but writing about her life and weaving in her books and how they  relate or were inspired by her real-life events would be harder, but more interesting. Yeah. I think I’ll do it that way.  I did it separately in the Spinelli bio, and that came out good, but not great. OK. Now I have to take a closer look at those timelines…

In other news, my NaNoWriMo writing is going fairly well. I’ve managed to keep up with my word count despite my virus-induced delirium, and having a couple of deadlines this week. I still have absolutely no clue what that book is about, or how in heavens name the main character is going to solve her rather large and unwieldy problem, but so far, the action’s exciting. Lots of chases and close calls. That’s fun and it makes for quick writing, which helps with keeping up the word count. I may even make the whole 50,000 by the end of the month. No pressure though. The goal I have in my head is 30,000.

Alrighty, that’s all I have for now. Carry on!

Little things

This morning I woke up feeling rotten and pouty and whiney about why it is I can’t just make up my own stories and write them down and have somebody pay me for it just like Neil Gaiman for heaven’s sake! Most of that comes from the nasty little germs that have invaded my body and turned me into a grouch. And just as I started writing an incredibly grouchy post about how hard it is to write restrictive little passages for freelance work, one of the editors I work for sent a message asking if I’d be interested in writing another biography. Pronto. And she gave me a list of names to choose from. And then a friend of mine asked when I was planning to write another chapter of Zombie Cat, because she missed it. Suddenly I was feeling better. I do have some flexibility in the book-length freelance projects I do, and I definitely get paid for those, and Zombie Cat is pure fun even though I don’t get paid for it.

Little things like choice and cracking up my friends really make my day.

Annoyed

Yesterday morning I was starting to feel better. I even got ambitious and decided to rake up the leaves in the backyard. Then sometime after lunch, both my son and I crashed. He seems to be doing better again this morning, but I still feel like someone pumelled me in a dark alley and left me lying on the concrete.

I need to get over this flu. It’s annoying.

It’s making me feel whiney about working freelance projects (because the requirements and restrictions are so aggravating) and about people asking me to come in to do author events without even considering that a) they might need to pay me for them. Do YOU do your job for free? No? Well then; and b) I can come in at their convenience. I do have a schedule, you know!

I’m not sure why  it is people think that because I work from home I have oodles of time at my disposal. Does anyone really believe that authors sit around twiddling their  thumbs all day long? I know I don’t! Most of the time my house is a mess because I’m working so much I barely have time to clean up after the two tornados I call children.

Aaargh. I know most of this is the germs talking, but I do have a point in there somewhere. If you want an author to come in and do something, be considerate of their time by asking them about their schedule, and offering to pay for their time and expertise. It’s the right thing to do.