Weeding the Garden, Weeding the Story

Rich Soil, Rich Plot

Kitty Griffin

Bee Balm and Coneflowers

Okay, so yesterday was my day to blog and I was worn out from gardening. I have gardens everywhere. There’s a huge vegetable garden out by the driveway, a smaller vegetable garden next to the house, one large flowerbed, and beds encircling the house.

As I worked yesterday I began to think about how gardening is like writing.

What does a good garden need?

Rich soil on a plot of earth.

What does a good story need?

A rich plot on firm earth.

You won't get a harvest if you don't pull the weeds, pick off the pests, enrich the soil, and make sure it's watered. You won't get a story if you don't clean the clogs, get rid of extra verbiage, don't nourish your characters and make certain it's edited.

No, a harvest of any kind requires due diligence. 

Waiting to be put up

As you tend the garden, sometimes there are weeds that need to be pulled. As you nurture your story, sometimes there are characters that need to be yanked out.

When your soil gets depleted you can enrich it with good compost, good rotted material.

Sometimes a story drags and you can renew it using ideas from stories that you’ve set aside.

Sometimes there are surprises in the garden, at first you may think it’s bad, but when you realize this is beneficial, you leave it alone.

in the zucchini

Sometimes in your writing a plot twist will shock you. “I didn’t think that would happen.” But as you back away you find that it’s just what the story needed.

All sorts of pests will be attracted to your garden. Some of them are bad for the flowers and some of them can be dangerous to you.

Sometimes a pest appears in your story. A character who is so interesting it causes you to lose sight of your main character. It will take courage to dispose of the bad actor.

Wheel bug on a zinnia, they BITE!

If you’ve done your work, you’ve chosen a good variety of plant, you’ve made certain to keep it nourished and watered, you will enjoy a harvest bounty. If you've done well, you'll attract beneficial bugs and your flowers will glow with color.

If you’ve done your writing, you have a strong character with an interesting problem and a good supporting cast, you will have a sound story.  If you've done well you'll have a story people want to read!

Big fat bee on a marigold

Here is a playhouse for children that I’ve always wanted to try. You need Mammoth Sunflower seeds and Morning Glory seeds (or any other good climber).

Make a shape for the outline of your house with the giant sunflower seeds, setting the seeds so that the plants will be close, but leave a child-sized strip that will be the doorway. Between the sunflower seeds, drop in the Morning Glory seeds, so that as they grow, the Morning Glory will surround the sunflower stalks. By summer’s end you’ll have a secret hideaway for your little ones.

Mammoth Sunflower

An abundance of Zucchini? Here's a recipe.

If you find yourself with an overlarge zucchini don’t worry. Now, if it’s baseball bat size, no, give that one to the compost heap.

In a frying pan heat some olive oil and a chopped onion and some garlic if you like. Grate the zucchini and swish it into the sautéed onions. Cook until just a bit tender. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan, or Italian mix cheese.

If you want to have beautiful cut flowers, grow Zinnias. They are fast. They are east. Nothing bothers them and they are lovely in arrangements.

Zinnia, oh Zinnia!

Now…let me think about that wheel bug. If I were a naughty little boy who somehow got turned into one of these….what do you think might happen?

It's Not Easy Being Different by Kitty Griffin

Last night on "The Voice" Mia Z got booted off. (She's the gal in the upper left corner with the ponytail)
Why?
Her voice was different. 
Her style unique. I don't understand.
Sawyer is getting credit for his unique voice and he's most likely going to win the entire competition.


Okay, so I'm being a bit grumpy. I loved Mia's voice and to support her I bought several of her songs from iTunes. I think this 16-year-old who sounds as though she's possessed by a woman much older is wonderfully talented.

Sometimes though, sometimes being too different doesn't work. 

Especially for a writer and for a writer's first book. There are unwritten rules for emerging writers to follow and if they don't know them they can waste a lot of time. 

And that is so frustrating. And unfair. Because just like the young singer Sawyer is credited with being a genius and something NEW, because Mia choose an old style she finally ended up being voted off the show by America. Her coach, Pharrell, who recognized and delighted in her talent couldn't save her.

Should she have sung familiar pop songs in a familiar style? Because she has the pipes to do it. 

But she wouldn't be staying true to who she was. And Pharrell never ever asked her to change. 

Same thing with writing.

When I teach I always encourage people to be true to who they are and to what they want to write.

I just warn them, that being too different might mean it takes longer to break through.

Mia has a unique talent and fortunately she lives here in Pittsburgh where there is solid support for both live music and her style of the blues.

And i'll be happy for Sawyer. He's just a kid. He is amazing and I'll most likely be buying his albums in the future.

So how about you? Is your voice different? Is it going to help you get published or keep you from being published?

Life Lessons from writer Anne Lamott's Facebook post, reposted here because they are FABULOUS

Here is the opening to Anne Lamott's Facebook post on the occasion of her 61st birthday--

Anne Lamott

April 8 at 12:31pm · 

I am going to be 61 years old in 48 hours. Wow. I thought i was only forty-seven, but looking over the paperwork, I see that I was born in 1954. My inside self does not have an age, although can't help mentioning as an aside that it might have been useful had I not followed the Skin Care rules of the sixties, ie to get as much sun as possible, while slathered in baby oil. (My sober friend Paul O said, at eighty, that he felt like a young man who had something wrong with him.). Anyway, I thought I might take the opportunity to write down every single thing I know, as of today.

and to read the rest (and please do)

go to Anne Lamott on Facebook

LOOKING FOR YOUR VOICE? by Kitty Griffin

Pharell Williams sitting in his chair on "The Voice"

This is Pharell.

He’s looking, listening, waiting for the singer who will blow the audience away.

What do they need to succeed?

Voice.

Something that when they sing identifies them.

What do writers need to succeed?

Voice.

Something that when they write identifies them.

What do artists need to succeed?

Voice.

Yes, voice. Because how they choose to express what they see is what they are telling the world. Surely you know the difference between Picasso and Van Gogh. Right?

How do you want the world to see your voice?

What do you want to put in your writing to make it stand out?

Rich, lush descriptions? Like this from “The Disenchanted Widow” by Christina McKenna.

         

               She blew jets of smoke from her nostrils like a dragon in a fairy     tale, crushed the fag in a prickly pear cactus on the windowsill, yanked the bag from him.

Rich, full of images.

Full of style. Full of voice.

If you ever get stuck with your writing try listening to the sample of music provided on iTunes of the same song by different artists. You will be AMAZED at what they accomplish with their instrument, with their voice.

I didn’t mean to get hooked on “The Voice” this year, but gosh darn, I’m sucked in. I have my favorites and when they sing I get teary-eyed. I love the 15-year-old Sawyer who strengthened his voice by singing to the cows on their farm. I love Tanya who helps prison inmates sing in a choir. I adore crazy-moves Hannah who puts her entire body in her songs. I admire 17-year-old Mia from Pittsburgh (a Yinzer girl!) who gets taken over by the spirit of a smoky-voiced 40 year old experienced woman.

So, as you work with your writing, think about your voice. How do you want to sound to the rest of the world?

What is she dreaming about?

ten for Tuesday, dreams, thoughts, ponderings…by Kitty Griffin

Here, for your thoughts are ten story starts, snippets I've stored in my many notebooks. And if you'd like some music to go with them, try the Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi, I find the music sets me free, unbound to the far reaches of wishes and dreams.

STORY STARTS

One, starting with dialogue

"I want a change in attitude, missy," Dad snapped. "After all, this move is for you."

Because of me, she wanted to scream. Because of what I did.

Two, a silly start

"Lizard," said Wizard, "I need your tail."

"Wizard," said Lizard, "it's not for sale."

Three, an Irish start

The mirror reflected a face as sad as a wed Wednesday.

Four, another Irish start

She held the pen in her hand, the notebook lay open and ready for words. How could she describe this place? Every color of the rainbow, as long as it was green.

Five, a dangerous start

You need to find her. You need to tell her that the forces of darkness are hunting her.

Six, YA 

"I want to have your face tattooed on my ass."

"Why?"

"Cause you're always on it."

Seven, YA 

The counselor leaned forward, her eyes blinking. "So tell me, what do you think about your parents?"

"My parents? They're okay. As long as I can run from them."

Eight, creepy

"You know who's killing the children?"

Nine, wacky

My father will visit any place he has a relative, or where Elvis lived.

Ten, prickling

She'd been told to sort the laundry. Someone had balled up a shirt and stuffed it into the pant legs of a pair of jeans. Why? As she pulled the shirt free and shook it her mouth opened and she sucked in air. Where had all that blood come from? Whose was it? 

How screenwriting helped me be a better writer

Screenwriting-
It can help you be a better writer. Really!by Kitty Griffin

MORE!

Not too long ago someone asked me what I felt helped me most with writing.

Getting an MFA was good. But ...

     If I were to say what helped me to become a good writer I would say learning to write a screenplay. Had I not taken a screenwriting class I don't think I'd be published.

Why? Because screenwriting teaches two things, a three-act structure and, how to write an electric scene. How to write a scene so that the reader can "see" it. 

The book Arthur is looking at is "Goodnight Gorilla." There are no words. But he gets it. He understands the scenes.

The pictures took him on a journey and he followed it.

That's just what you need to do whether you are writing a picture book or a novel. You want to create scenes that the reader can follow.

When I first started out I heard all the time from editors, "Gee, you're a good writer, but you move so fast I couldn't keep up."

The story was running away from me.

If you ever watched the television series, "Lost" I really think that was a show where the story ran away from the writers. They got lost in their own creativity.

What can you do as a writer? You can take a class at your Community College. You can get books on screenwriting, try Viki King's book, "How to Write a Movie in 21 Days". Also the book, "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder is a good one.

One of the best conferences I ever attended was the Austin Film Festival. I heard the Cohen Brothers talk about structure. I took a class with Gary Ross, the writer/director of Pleasantville and many more feature films. I stood in line just behind Sandra Bullock (she's tiny!) and I had the absolute time of my life. There were 900 men and maybe 50 women. There was so much testosterone in the air even I felt aggressive. 

It is such a different world from writing for children, but I'm glad I dove in. (I didn't stick with it, although my one screenplay that I wrote took first place in the Moondance Film Festival. )

As I finish up my newest novel, I am going to spend the next few days looking at it from a screenwriter's perspective. What it taught me to do was to look at my scenes carefully, to make sure they help build the story. I want to make sure each chapter has a rise to it. Most of all, I want to make sure that my readers won't get lost.

A Romance Writer Takes A Leap!!

What do you do after you've written eighteen historical romance novels, books set in Regency England? What do you do when you've made it to the NYT Best-seller list? What do you do after you've won numerous genre awards including "Bookseller's Best, The NJRW Golden Leaf,  the CRW Award of Excellence, the National Reader's Choice Award, the Beacon, and the Holt Medallion?
Why you collaborate with your husband and start writing rollicking, hair-raising, fun-filled adventures for kids, that's what. 

Choosing the pen name EG Foley, the E is for her husband, Eric and the G is for her Irish name, Gaelan, together they embarked on not just writing together, but publishing electronically. Gaelan left the safety of traditional books and decided to let go and do something fun.

First, let me tell you about Gaelan. She is one of the hardest working, most dedicated authors I've ever met. She sets goals for herself that are strict and she stays on track. It takes her about eight months to complete a book and her research is absolutely thorough.

That's why I was curious when I found out she'd done a children's book.

And even more curious when I found out she'd decided to work with her husband.

I had questions.

Kitty: Gaelan, this is so different for you. What inspired this story?

Gaelan: Frankly, I think it was leftover Dickens. All of these romance stories I write, well, they have these orphan kids. I wanted to do something with them. You see, when I finish writing one of my romances I need something to give me a break, so often I'll pick up a kid's middle-grade book. 

Kitty: Your husband, Eric, teaches middle grade, right?

Gaelan: Right. So i wanted to do something, I wanted to do a quest. 

Kitty: You've written quite an adventure, and it's full of lots of creatures. How did that happen?

Gaelan: My novels are Regency novels, well, the sun never set on the British Empire so as I wrote I decided I could use all the magical creatures everywhere.

Kitty: Even an angel?

Gaelan: Even an angel. I decided to do that because I wanted to signal to my readers that Jake's world is within a context of a greater world.

Kitty: And you've done something that children's writers are told to avoid, you've used multiple viewpoints.

Gaelan: Yes, I did. I wrote it in the way that would be enjoyable and I ignored the rules. i thought kids could handle it. I did try to take out some of the different viewpoints and the story lost emotion and texture. 

Kitty: What age do you think this series is for?

Gaelan: Nine to twelve. Most of the fan mail is from nine-year-olds.

Kitty: How about the decision to do it as an ebook?

Gaelan: If readers want a hard copy, that can be ordered. But as far as the ebook, when we started we haired someone to help us format it, but now Eric can do it. It was hard to get used to the difference in sales, electronic versus traditional. When you have a traditional book come out there's a huge push at the beginning. With the ebook it is something that has to build. We've noticed a push in sales since we got noticed in Amazon with the "Also Boughts" that put us with Rick Riordan's books.

Kitty: What about editing with the ebook?

Gaelan: Oh, we have a good copy editor, and that's important. They catch things you just don't see. Sometimes what's in your head and what's on the page need tuning. I have to watch for repeating words.

Kitty: Are you pleased with how things are going?

Gaelan: You bet. We've had the first book optioned and it's on its way to Hollywood to see if a producer might be interested.

Kitty: That's so exciting. What's next?

Gaelan: The second book, "Jake and the Giant" is out and the third, "The Dark Portal" will be out in October.

Kitty: And I see that you're doing a series, "Fifty States of Fear."

Gaelan: These are spooky fun stories, a bit sci/fi, nothing that would cause nightmares for kids. They're short and there will be one for every state in the Union. I call them "Red, White, and Boo!"

Kitty: Fun. And how about your romance writing, anything new? 

Gaelan: I just happen to have a new one, just out. "My Notorious Gentleman."

Gaelan is, as I said, a hard-working, dedicated author. If you'd like to find out more about her romance books go to gaelanfoley.com and to find out about her kid's books go to EGFoley.com
You can download a sample of "The Lost Heir" from Amazon. Try it! It really is a roller-coaster of an adventure!

Fitting Writing Time into Summer Vacation

It's coming onto summer vacation time when more than your stories are demanding your time. Relatives and friends come calling. The kids in the neighborhood are running loose. It seems that there always someone or something in need of attention.

Right now I love being in the garden. I love taking walks. And I love writing. How do I make sure I keep my focus on my writing?

It's hard. I've learned though that when I have quiet time I need to focus on one problem that my character is having.  Today as I weeded around my emerging carrot plants I forced my focus on my main character. 

I worked on building her scrapbook. I used the time to think about who she is and how she got that way. I thought about her likes and dislikes. Does she like carrots? What's her favorite color?

My writing time is going to be compromised because a friend is coming to stay for a few days. That doesn't mean I don't have other things I can do. Okay, so I can't concentrate and work on a chapter, what I can do is busy work. I can use the bits and scraps of time to build her wardrobe. Since this story I'm working on is set in 1889 I can take a few minutes here and there to go on line and get clothing ideas. I can find her carriage. I can work on the map of where she lives. I can do the things that don't require the "zoned out" concentration that full chapter writing takes.

I can't write when someone else is in the house when I'm doing my first draft. Now rewriting, that's another situation. But when I need full concentration, no, I can't have anyone near by.

No matter what your writing style is, try to find a way to keep in touch with your story. Even if it's just putting a scrapbook together. Or even if it's just solving one problem. 

Do you ever do this? Just before you go to sleep bring your character forward and ask your character to solve her problem? I've done it and sometimes it works! I've been told that the moments before you go to sleep and when you first wake up can be very creative times and to take advantage of them. Harvest them, so to speak. It takes effort and concentration.

So, as summer fires up, do what you can to stay in touch...with your characters and your story.

Is It Time to Invest in a Workshop?

Retreats or Conferences

 Just How do You Want to Spend Your Money?

by Kitty Griffin

One of my writing buddies, Dave, is getting ready to head to New Jersey for the NJ SCBWI June conference. He's excited because he's got a good manuscript and he's been paired with someone he wanted to meet.

The NJ conference lets you pick who you get to send your manuscript pages to. That's pretty special. I've been to other SCBWI conferences where you don't know who you have until you get there. 

Knowing in advance gives Dave the chance to do a little research on the person so he can go in prepared. That's terrific for both sides. 

So, as we roll into summer, there are lots of workshops and conferences available to children's book writers. How do you chose? Most of us don't have a gazillion dollars to spend, so it's important to find out what is going to help you get the most bang for your buck. 

For writers, I think it's very important to find a conference that leaves you so fired-up you're anxious to get to your story. Not only that, you've got some fresh ideas on what your story needs.

Beginning writers can't go wrong with SCBWI conferences. It's a great place to find out what's expected of you. For those writers just starting out, trust me, a day-long conference can be exhausting. If you've never read your work out in front of strangers, it can also be intimidating. But SCBWI has been helping beginners for a long time. They know what they're doing.

Those of us a bit further along need to find conferences like the New Jersey conference where there is a dedicated track for nearly published and published writers. (I must confess here, I've been on faculty for the NJ conference). 

I really love week-long conferences. I love being among all types of writers and immersing myself in words and characters. 

One of my absolute favorites is the Appalachian Writer's Workshop held at the Hindman Settlement School which is located at the Forks of Troublesome Creek.

I mean, just the name, Troublesome Creek, if that doesn't lure you in I don't know what would. 

(Again, this is a conference where I've been on faculty).

When I first went to Hindman I remember feeling accepted as a writer, and what joy that was. There was no separation of published and not yet published. We were all writers. George Ella Lyon taught the Children's Writing class and every day was an experience where we laughed, and yes, sometimes cried.

The Bridge Crossing Troublesome Creek 

I also took classes in poetry and non-fiction, screenwriting and grown-up fiction. It gave me a chance to try on different types of writing.

The Cabin at the Settlement School

This summer, the featured speaker is Barbara Kingsolver. Oh, how I wish I were going!

Music is important all week long

It's a long, busy week, but you'll come away refreshed and renewed. I have to caution though, the living style is not the Ritz. It's more like comfortable Girl Scout Camp. But you do have the option to stay at the Quiltmaker Inn for a bit more money.

For more information go to 

www.hindmansettlement.org 

and follow the link to the Writers' Workshop. 

Another weeklong program I've been to is one held at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. This is another program that offers a variety of workshops including writing for children and young adults. You stay in the dorms. I chose this program because I paid the extra money and got credit towards my MFA. It was well worth it.

http://mvillemfa.com/summer-writers-week/the-30th-annual-summer-writers-week/

Whether you go for a day or a week, invest your money carefully. Some workshops, like the ones at the Highlights Foundation, are quite expensive, but if you come away with what you need to sell your book, isn't it worth it? 

If you aren't willing to invest in yourself as a writer, well, why should an editor invest in your book?

Does anyone else have a conference recommendation?