Oh How I’ve Missed You…

Dear Writing,

I’ve missed you greatly. I went to a local SCBWI “I Love To Write” mini-workshop focused on you, writing (spurring on ideas, thoughts, getting it down on paper). Familiar faces showed up, followed by friendly warm hugs, and new acquaintances were made.

How often I forget that you, writing, is where I can explore, grow, challenge, and feel confident and proud. The creativity which I find and love in life comes out in you, my…writing.

So thanks for staying in my back pocket when my life is crazy and remembering that I haven’t forgotten you.

Sincerely,

Karin

To Heal…

I have had a life full of ups and downs and the last three months have been some of the worst. Yet I’ve been lucky enough to have several friends that I communicate with via Facebook, email, and text messages who have been a nice support system. And in this day and age it seems as supportive as in person that one with a busy life can get. (Of course nothing is better than in person support).

The healing process for one’s self is a complex set of emotions, whether it is mental or physical. And I sure have been attempting to find the answers or at least start to put together answers while living life in the process. Thankfully I have only lost one really good friend in my latest set of ups and downs, the rest I have discovered were, dumbasses (thank you Red Forman…more on That 70′s Show in a future post) to begin with. I have had to deal with the friendship loss and learn that it requires healing and understandings I have yet to learn. And I have to learn how to accept that I know the truth and if others are not willing to understand and forgive that I have to learn to heal regardless.

I won the first drawing from Small Yellow Songbird!!

And….as you can tell I’m not the best at discussing this or the advice that one can impose. Sooooo, gratefully, my friend is doing a much better job than I could and I’m happy to direct you to her wonderful new blog “Small Yellow Songbird.” She post a new message of wellness every Tuesday. (She also has giveaways  bimonthly) Small Yellow Songbird is regarding women’s wellness, but men should also feel free to check in because of her global message of understanding your health and body is universal. Because I am overwhelmed and behind, I didn’t get the word out soon enough, so be sure to check the first post which explain why she is blogging.

The Road to a Book Contract – Part 2…Getting Info. to Publisher

I have learned on my rather short journey that some stories are true. Like the long absences of being in touch with your publisher. I took the nearly two month absence from any contact or replies as normal. Yet I started to doubt that I had even signed that piece of paper (the one that had a glowing light when I opened it and the sound of ahhhhh coming from it as I removed it from the envelope).

Alas I made contact with my publisher like a grateful alien finding human life.

But with contact comes the feeling of being overwhelmed, and thus…actually being overwhelmed. (Life does not put things aside or make things happen in perfect order)

I was well aware of this of course…that I would have a lot to do with the process of “before the book” and “after the book.” But actually doing it is mind-boggling in the sense that I feel like I’m trying to handle a sticky octopus shooting its legs in all different directions.

I had to start by controlling at least one of the legs, before I could move to control the next leg. And so that is where I am in the process of my first book. Controlling what I can, when I can, and never happier to get a little bit of octopus goop on my hands.

Why I Write for E-Zines

In the world of children’s writing, and probably adult writing, online magazines, for the most part are not considered anything special when it comes to a writing “making it.” For starters a lot of them don’t pay, or they don’t pay industry standards. They are almost looked down on because they are not something tangible to hold, like a real paper magazine. So why would a I “waste” my time on submitting to e-zines.

For starters I submit my stories to all different magazine venues. And while I would prefer to be able to see my work in a tangible form, like I have a few times, the point of my writing is to get my story out there, to children or adults. And the cheapest and easiest way for families to get stories to their children (especially with our struggling job situations) is through online venues.

Over time I have decided that why I write is more important than what the writing industry thinks of e-zines. And while many of my long time blog visitors know my stance on e-readers :/ I feel that magazines, because they offer short reads, are okay to be apart of the industry’s way to promote easy ways for children to get excited about reading.

After all, the point of writing is reading.

Writer’s Block

My brain is mush, my writing brain is stuck on idle. The thoughts are not there, the ideas don’t probe and poke to get out, to be put down for all to see. As a writer (or I guess I can now say author) my ideas and words are what I use to move forward, to produce, to free my mind of what sits inside. Maybe it is not that there are not any thoughts, but that there are too many. In the quietest of times I am unable to stir up anything of meaning, and I guess that is a author’s biggest fear….writer’s block. But why is it never called author’s block?

Sign Here…The Road to My First Book Contract

notes

My journey started in 2005-2006, when the idea for a story (middle grade reader) crept into the empty slots of my mind. I took little notes here and there, on index cards, sticky pads, and torn sheets of notebook paper. The idea soon developed into a story, complex in its own way, and in my thoughts.

Over the first year I worked my writer’s butt off on plot, characters, settings, and dialog. After revision number eight, I sent the draft to an editor, whom I paid sixty-five dollars to make suggestions and line edits. Upon receipt of the newly edited manuscript I went back to work for another period of time working on the edits and coming up with better ideas.

time-line

In May of 2006, I submitted, what I realize now was a sub-par manuscript to an agent, and surprisingly I received a request for the first three chapters, soon hearing a no thanks a month later.

I moved forward, editing it more over the years, submitting it to more agents and publishers. In August of 2006 I got word that my manuscript was one of the top five still be considered with a publisher out of the thousand submissions received.

In the end it was a no thank you.

I moved forward yet again, editing, putting aside, editing some more, taking it to my now no-longer existing writer’s critique group, where the first part of the book was discussed and critiqued. (I owe Dawn, Ken, and Cherie all a big high-five and thank you!) The Husband even took the time to do some editing and word arrangement help! (Thank you!)

In the end I discovered, as I keep a very detailed record of my submissions, that regardless of the handful of personal no thank you(s) from publishers and agents…I racked up 57 rejections!!! 57!!!!!

the setting (floor-plan)

My last submission was a query letter to a publisher (February 2011). I waited only two months before status querying her (and all the writers gasp at the fact that I didn’t wait the standard three months) to double check that she received my query. I quickly received an email back stating that she never received it, and asked that I resent it…so I did…then on May 17, 2011 I received word that the publisher wanted to offer me a book contract.

The contract was in the mail, the publisher told me…and so my ears turned into those of an owl and I heard the mailman’s truck from a mile away…after he left I dashed out in my bathing suit (for those that know me…you know how odd that is of me do such a thing!!) and behold the priority mail envelope literally sung as I opened the mailbox door.

character's family tree

I bolted back inside, carefully ripped it open and began reading, thrusting a copy for The Husband to read as well.

And as it goes…I signed here!

More details to come in the future as I move forward…

TMIS Syndrome

I recently discovered I am not alone in my out of control thinking as a writer. THANK GOODNESS!!! I thought possibly that something might be wrong with me…

Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant wrote a helpful piece back in 2009 for Writer’s Digest, about overcoming Too Many Ideas Syndrome (TMIS) for writers, it may even be useful to non-writers with TMIS.

9 Ways to Overcome Too Many Ideas Syndrome by Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant.

What I have done to help with my TMIS is write down the stories I am working on now, my top ones, ones in which I feel the strongest about or are complete, go on an index card. My goal is to only work on the stories on the index cards…if my mind wonders to a new idea, then it goes into a folder.

I am finding, because of this TMIS, that I am spreading myself too thin when it comes to working on a story. It is adding in a less quality manuscript.

What do you do to control your TMIS?

Research Paper…I Think Not!

As a writer it pains me to say that…I CANNOT write a research paper!

In all of my college classes, at any level, I have never received anything higher than an 80% on a research paper. Essay papers I have received many 100%, but I can’t seem to pull it together for research.

If I saved every piece of feedback from teacher’s comments next to the grades, it would read: “I’m lost, you jump around, great points, but too wordy, I really don’t see how they connect, nice effort, have someone proof read it because I think you are making up words.”

AHHHHH!

So this time, I applied some writer’s knowledge to my research “manuscript.” I cut up the entire paper, at each paragraph, and went to work. Finding the proper order, is just like rearranging the scenes in a story.

As a writer can you be “bad” at research papers, yet still be a “good” writer?

De-Cluttering/Re-Organizing/Purging of Writing

I do believe, at times that I might have certain  OCD among others when it comes to my organization. For me, if I am organized inside of drawers, file cabinets, bookcase shelves, then my mind is, in a sense, organized as well. Which hopefully will lead to me getting more sleep at night.

My life…my drawers, folders, file cabinets had become a bit unorganized, for me at least. The folders were labeled and nothing was thrown about, yet it was still a complete disaster to me.

I am one to think of ideas for stories I have yet to write and those that I have and write them down on anything I can find, then shove them into the correct folder. Well, I have been doing this for years, often times never remembering that I had a folder of notes that I didn’t ever think about again to link up to the stories on my computer.

Alas…I spent an hour going through folders and files…de-cluttering, re-organizing, and purging. And I feel better! Of course I also feel overwhelmed because I discovered about 30 pages of a novel I had started written in long hand!! That is just one of the overwhelming file folder discoveries.

Yet besides my new discovers, and removal of things that I no longer felt worked or realized “What was I think!?!?” I feel better, a clear focus ahead. I think maybe I discovered I was trying to start too many stories, when I had yet to finish the twenty-eight I had originally started.

So what do you do to manage and organize your writing lifestyle?

New Hat

I find it hard to discuss my writing, or what I am writing…the craft of writing so to speak. And if you visit my blog frequently you will know I really don’t discuss much about my writing. Even I can find it a bore.

Yet today, an idea come about…so I ran with it.

I wore a “new hat” in my writing…that of non-fiction/essay. (And all my writer friends rejoice! LOL) And while this blog is all essay and non-fiction (expect for my 5-minute fiction), I rarely write and submit non-fiction works to magazines. Why? Well, I do not hold the confidence, or at least that is what I learned today.

But as any person will tell you, wearing a “new hat” can really be beneficial in writing and in life.

Have you ever stepped outside your box, outside your “hat” and had negative effect? Has life ever demanded you return to your “old hat?” Or have you learned something about yourself?