Hello friends! Please join me in giving an enthusiastic welcome to the writer and agent, Kaitlyn Sanchez, who is making a guest appearance on my blog, Eye on Writing. Kaitlyn has graciously agreed to let me pick her brain, and I am psyched to share our conversation. Thank you, Kaitlyn!
Here we go!
Question 1: When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did it change as you worked your way up through the grades, or did it remain the same?
Kaitlyn: When I was a kid, I always said, “I want to be a people doctor, an animal doctor, and a writer in my spare time.” Then, in third grade, I had a magical teacher, Mrs. Cripe, who somehow harnessed my “social butterfly during class” tendencies and propelled me into using that energy for school work. From that year on, I wanted to be a teacher, like Mrs. Cripe. Of course, the next year, I wanted to be a fourth grade teacher, and when I got to middle school, I told my parents that I couldn’t decide if I wanted to teach English or math because I loved them both. So, of course, my dad – an analyst – went to the computer and came back with printed papers (ya know, the kind where you got to peel the outer edge off of – one of my favorite things to do as a kid!). He said something to the effect of, “When you’re an adult, they’ll need more math teachers than English teachers.” So it was decided; I would teach math, which is what I’m doing now. I started as a high school math teacher, and now, I’m loving teaching middle school math. Writing was always part of my life, I just never knew it could be a career, but that’s a whole different story.
Sarah: Wow, kudos to your dad for such insight!
Caption: Kaitlyn (bottom right) and her family
Question 2: In this interview with Ellen Levanthal, you said your husband said “…make sure there’s time for us…” after showing support for you becoming an agent intern. WOW! Sounds like you’ve got a strong relationship there! Good for the three of you! So, how DO you make time for hubby and Kiara while you’re teaching, writing, being an agent, and spreading your knowledge enthusiastically across social media?
Kaitlyn: Aw, thank you so much. I am very lucky to have such strong relationships, starting with my parents. They have always been so supportive, and I’m beyond lucky that my husband and friends are as well. A lot of people talk about their loved ones not getting their writing, and agenting can be even more complicated to explain. But luckily for me, my family and friends have actually believed in me more than I have myself more often than not.
Caption: Kaitlyn’s cousins held a celebration for her when her first book as an agent, Mushroom Rain by Laura K. Zimmermann illustrated by Jamie Green, came out.
Beyond my family, my agency has really helped me find a balance because as an agency, we’re off duty from Friday through Sunday, so that allows me to use that time to be with my family. I also leave work at work when I’m teaching. I’m also trying to take my therapist’s advice to plan out times to start and stop agenting stuff each day to ensure a balance – I’m still working on that because I get really excited and obsessive when I work on agenting things like editing and making submission lists, but I’m getting there. Also, recently we implemented Thursday night Family Nights at my house, where no phones are allowed once I get home from work, and my clients have been incredibly supportive of this, which I think goes to show how wonderful and compassionate my clients are. So, everyone reading, please support these wonderful writers by ordering/pre-ording these books:
HATTIE HATES HUGS, by Sarah Kovorka (Click here to purchase.)
MUSHROOM RAIN, by Laura K. Zimmermann (Click here.)
Sarah: I love love LOVE the idea of Thursday night Family Night! I will have to try that with my family!
Question 3: What are the benefits of signing with Context Literary Agency over another literary agency?
Kaitlyn: There are so many wonderful agencies out there, but I adore Context for many reasons. To name a few, we’re one of the only agencies with a Brand Manager, Monica Rodriguez. She helps our clients with their brand as well as helps them understand and implement their publishers’ marketing plans. We’re also incredibly collaborative, with weekly roundups, weekly meetings, and tons of discussions on Slack.
Question 4: Who is your favorite mathematician and why?
One of my favorite female mathematicians is Ada Lovelace because she proves what I love to share: that math and writing are more similar than some people think as she was a mathematician and so wonderful at using her imagination as well.
Question 5:I was struck by something you said in one of the links on your website, how having a good support group helps you handle rejections. Do any of your critique groups have a “thing” they do for rejections (ritual, celebration of progress, chocolate)?
Kaitlyn: That support really keeps me going. We don’t have any rituals per se, but just sharing and supporting each other, knowing others are going through it and feeling the same things just really helps.
Question 6: Your excitement at finding your voice (enthusiastic!) is palpable on your website. Do you think ‘knowing’ our voice, as writers, comes from ourselves or from the observations and comments of others?
Kaitlyn: That’s a great question! I think it can come from either. For me, it came from others pointing it out, but for others, it can come from their own observations. The most important thing is to keep writing, writing, writing, and reading, reading, reading so that you can find and continue growing your voice.
Sarah: Yes, that is so write; I mean right. How far back can you remember telling stories to family and friends? Can you remember all the stories you created when you first learned to write? Do you think your voice has always been enthusiastic?
Kaitlyn: Haha, I’m so glad I’m not the only one who accidentally writes “write” when I mean “right”! As for storytelling, I’ve definitely always been a storyteller; my parents always loved sharing stories with my sister and I, whether they were about their intriguing lives or completely made up, so I bet I get it from them. I have always been notoriously bad at remembering my stories without writing them down. In fact, when I was a kid, maybe around 7 or 8, my family and I went on a snow trip. Some background, I was a sick kid growing up, sick so often, the school nurse and I were super tight. Anyway, of course, I had to get sick the first day of our trip and spent the whole time indoors, so I wrote and wrote. I adored that story, but I lost it! I tried rewriting it the whole way home, but I couldn’t remember most of it. I’m still devastated to this day that I can’t remember it. As for my voice, I think my writing probably has been enthusiastic since I’ve always been an enthusiastic person, but I’m delighted at how it’s developed over the years.
Question 7: You mentioned in another interview that you write when you’re inspired. Does that mean you WAIT for the muse? (Gasp!) Do you designate certain times on certain days to write? Are you inspired all of the time?
Kaitlyn: I definitely love writing when the muse strikes! For me, it’s often an image in my head that I get the honor of writing a story about. That’s probably why most of my contests have image components, ha! I definitely don’t write my own writing every day. For me, it’s usually during school breaks and every now and then on weekends when I’m inspired to write. Like last weekend, I woke up from a dream and thought that it could be a good idea for an MG or YA. I’ve never finished writing anything that long, but I do have a desire to write novels and a few ideas up my sleeve, so hopefully someday I’ll actually write them. I may have to do NaNoWriMo someday.
Sarah: Yes! Definitely try NaNoWriMo! (Click here, readers, if you want to learn more!) If you do, give me a heads up, and you’ll find the “Sarahnator” cheering you on in November!
Question 8: And now for our last question(s)…What are you looking for as an agent and what are your favorite books of all time? As you add to the list of favorites as new books come out, do you find that what you’re seeking as an agent also changes?
Kaitlyn: What a whopper of a question! How much time do you have? Lol. One of my favorite books as a kid was The Rainbow Fish – the bright, shiney scale totally intrigued me, and I also loved the Clifford books, but one that others may not know/remember is George and Martha. I have ‘Round and ‘Round practically memorized. For novels, I adored Thursday’s Child by Sonya Hartnett as well as Black Boy by Richard Wright and the Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane.
I definitely think as new books come out, my agenting wants change. I love Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend, The Other Half of Happy by Rebecca Balcárcel , The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez by Adrianna Cuevas, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series by Holly Jackson, and would love to rep a book that could comp to any of them. I think TV and film also influence my agent wants too because I would LOVE to have a book like The Mitchell’s Vs the Machines or Burden of Truth.
So there are a few agent wants. I also would be intrigued to see some good commercial NF for PB and some new hilarious PBs or PBs that really play with format.
As we conclude our conversation, and this blog post, I’d like to shout out a HUGE thank-you to Kaitlyn for taking time out of her super busy life to share her insight and knowledge with us. I am grateful for being able to interview this fabulous woman!
Giveaway- An Above the Slushpile Giveaway for Agent Kaitlyn Sanchez
So…HOW can you win this fabulous prize? There are several ways to gain points, and the more points you gain, the higher percent chance you have of winning!
Share that you added MUSHROOM RAIN, HATTIE HATES HUGS, OLD FRIENDS, AND BRAVE LIKE MOM to your Goodreads “Want to Read” list and/or your Amazon Wishlist. (1 point total)
Share that you ordered/pre-ordered a copy of MUSHROOM RAIN, HATTIE HATES HUGS, OLD FRIENDS, OR BRAVE LIKE MOM (1 point each; 4 points total)
Share that you did a purchase request for MUSHROOM RAIN, HATTIE HATES HUGS, OLD FRIENDS, OR BRAVE LIKE MOM at your library (1 point each; 4 points total).
Share that you left a review on Amazon OR Barnes and Noble for ANY of these books (1 point each; 8 points total).
Share that you retweeted or quote retweeted my tweet about this blog post on Twitter AND tagged some friends (1 point total).
I will RANDOMLY select one winner one week after I post this blog. May the luckiest person win! Thank you, Kaitlyn, for this wonderful opportunity!
I got out of a bad marriage in the middle of the pandemic while becoming sober. Someday, I’m sure I’ll be proud and amazed; for now, I still don’t think I believe it all! So that got me thinking…what else can I accomplish that I previously thought impossible? Can I call upon these superpowers elsewhere in my life? I’ll use this question as a springboard as I plan my 2022 writing year.
You’ve probably heard of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). I’m not going to make “getting an agent” a goal, because it’s not Achievable; I can’t make this happen–it’s not completely up to me. But there are plenty of other, Measurable goals that I have. Here’s my favorite part: organzing my goals to make them Achievable over the Time of one year. (I know, I’m kind of nuts….)
I want to start strong with the coming of 2022. (Let’s face it: over a year-and-a-half of contentious divorce doesn’t leave much time for writing, let alone bandwidth for thinking about much else!) Here is my four-fold plan of attack:
1. Write more rough drafts of new picture book stories (let’s say ONE new manuscript per month).
2. Submit something. (I actually went through 2021 submitting next to nothing. I only submitted one poem to two magazines, and just for practice.)
3. Generate more magazine articles. In particular, I’ll use what kids’ magazines (Crickets, Highlights, A Boy’s Life, Stepping Stones) are looking for to practice writing poetry (let’s say ONE new magazine article per month).
4. Participate in all twenty-four of my local critique group meetings if I can, as well as keep in touch with all of my friends in the writing community.
Now I’ll break down those goals even further:
January through March, 2022:
Tara Lazar’s Storystorm is something I look forward to every year. I get so many ideas in that powerful month of January; I usually don’t have time to use all of them in the year ahead. (I also tend to get ideas throughout the year, usually while driving or just before falling asleep–I still have many ‘leftovers’ from 2021 to write about.)
And I’ll join Julie Hedlund’s 12 x 12 and actually participate in 2022.
Finally, I intend to enter the Valentiny contest in February (Susanna Leonard Hill), the #50PreciousWords contest in March (Vivian Kirkfield), and Madness Poetry in March (Ed DeCaria).
Oh, and I aim to compose one new blog post every month… and give my website a makeover.
April through June, 2022:
I want to use spring to expand the ideas I will generate in January into complete manuscripts–from scrawled notes in one of my plethora of notebooks to polished stories. As of now, I have twelve manuscripts that give me energy when I think about them and that my fingers are itching to write.
A few other things I want to explore next spring are researching the market, reading as many newer picture books as I can get my hands on, and compiling a list of good-fit agents and editors to whom I should submit.
And I’ll blog….
July through September, 2022:
The summer will be for submitting. I’ll do research and refresh my memory on how to write a good cover letter and get as many reasonable submissions out as possible.
I find querying to be a bit tedious, so it’ll be good to do it in the summer. I’ll spend some time submitting and then go outside in the sunshine for a walk or a jog.
Oh yes, and I’ll blog.
October through December, 2022:
NaNoWriMo is a must–I’ve been doing it for the past four years, and I don’t want to stop now. Even though I haven’t reread most of the novels I’ve created in November, I know I’ll get to them, just like I know the practice of writing is worth it in and of itself. Plus, I enjoy it!
This might also be a good time to resume editing my super special secret NaNoWriMo story from a couple of years ago. I’ve got a gut feeling about this one. Without giving the plot away, I’ll say that I relied heavily on my knowledge and experience as an optometrist to create it. I haven’t stopped feeling certain (since I wrote it in…2019?) that this story will go places!
I am so excited and happy…this is the first blog I’ve written in a looooooong time. I am reentering the literary world; get ready everybody, here I come!
I have just returned from my critique group’s second annual writing retreat. We spent three days in northern New Hampshire writing, relaxing, socializing, and eating (one of our writers is a professional chef!). One of the best things about this retreat is that it was structured, and yet flexible. We had a plan, but frequently amended the plan to include spur-of-the-moment activities or to designate more time where it was needed. I now feel refreshed in spirit, mind, and body; ready for more writing. In addition, I am immensely glad these ‘gurlz’ are my writing partners and, most importantly, my friends.
The Drives Up and Back
While I balk at sometimes having to drive an hour and forty-five minutes one-way to work, I thoroughly enjoyed the long drive to and from the retreat. I carpooled with one of my CPs. We were able to chat and catch up, something neither of us had had much time for in the past several weeks. It was the perfect start to three days of writer’s bliss.
Hitchhiking
In this
article by Kim, one of my critique partners, she explains how
to use ‘hitchhiking’ to get the creative juices flowing. While we ate lunch and
waited for all six of us to arrive, we practiced hitchhiking stories. One of us
would start a story, and we’d keep going around the table, adding a sentence or
two at a time, until the story ended. Let me tell you, the stories never went
in the direction I thought they were going to go. I was particularly grateful
for this activity: I used it to flesh
out some of my Storystorm
2020
ideas.
Juggling
One of our critique partners is a professional clown and circus performer. She treated us to a juggling break where we learned to juggle poi and practiced what we had learned last year: juggling scarves. This elevated our heart rates and got the blood pumping to our brains in preparation for our next activity: making vision boards.
Vision Boards
At the beginning of the month, we worked together to help each other come up with a focus word for 2020. Mine was ‘explore.’ We took our words to the retreat, and used scrapbook materials, magazines, and other craft supplies to create a collage representation of what our word meant to us. Set among the background of music and wine, this was the perfect creative activity for the evening. I made three vision boards! (I couldn’t stop myself!)
Morning Yoga and Wish Paper
Kate, another one of my critique partners, teaches yoga to teens at the library. She led us in poses that stretched the body, followed by an exercise to stretch the mind. We wrote wishes for 2020 on wish paper and curled each paper into a cylinder. We then placed the cylinders on a plate and lit the top of each one on fire. After a few seconds, the wishes leapt into the air, consumed in flames! I caught my charred remains and smeared some of the ashes into my writing notebook—I’m not really sure why; it felt symbolic.
Storymatic
I have to purchase this game
for writers. Jackie brought Storymatic—both the
version for kids and the one for adults—to the retreat. We selected cards like
“librarian in love” and “mirror” or “covered in tattoos,” “doesn’t feel
attractive enough,” and “obvious plastic surgery” and spent 10-15 minutes
writing stories which integrated the phrases. Then we read our stories out
loud. My favorite memory was not being able to finish the first (and then the
second!) sentence of one of my stories without everyone interrupting with
laughter and snorts.
Acting
We helped each other unstick our sticking points. This ‘helping’ took the usual form of ‘talking things out,’ except, however, when it didn’t! We discussed one partner’s plot points. We brainstormed titles for another member. After that, we acted out the picture book I’m writing and which recently has me stumped. Watching my story performed as a play was hilarious and fabulous, and probably one of—if not the—highlights of the retreat. This exercise—which was more fun than work—helped me immediately with setting, plot, dialogue, and a whole lot more. Above all, I am so grateful for these moments of laughter and improvisation and will cherish them forever, even if this particular picture book never gets published. (But I think it will! Someday!)
Freewriting
What would a writing retreat be without freewriting? There was plenty of this, thank goodness! I got to do my morning pages, kept up with Storystorm, and worked on drafts for at least two picture books. Similarly, I wrote poems, concocted silly brain-unblocking stories, and journaled. I may use one of the Storymatic ideas that I fleshed out during a freewriting session, and turn it into a picture book. In addition, I may also use a question one of my critique partners asked me—What would you tell your eleven-year-old self if you could go back in time? —as a blog post.
Conclusion
There is no ‘all-in-all’ or ‘in conclusion’ sort of ending that justifies just how amazing the entirety of this writing retreat was. Friendships were solidified and strengthened. Tears and laughter united us. And writing… did I mention how much I love Love LOVE writing?!
Have you been on a writing retreat lately? Similarly, what do you look for in a writing retreat or critique partners?
“Allow yourself to listen
to the still, small voice that is bidding you to do.” (Alice Faye Duncan, LA19SCBWI)
Introduction: FOCUS
One of the main goals that Adam and I set for our #PBChat mentorship was to get more me into my manuscripts. In order for that to happen, I need to flush out all the negative self-talk and other things getting in the way of hearing my “still, small voice.”
The mentorship officially started this month. I had paid for the LA19SCBWI Conference before I knew about #PBChat. At first, I was worried that attending the conference would distract me from focusing on my mentorship. Rather, this conference leaves me refreshed, energized, and better equipped to tackle it. In this blog, I will share how the LA19SCBWI helped me get out of myself (the introversion, the doubts, the fear, etc.) and into my #PBChat mentorship.
YOGA and a “Coincidence”
I enjoyed the yoga on Saturday morning. Being a beginner, I found Lori’s instruction to be both easy to follow and appropriately challenging. While I physically stretched myself, I similarly expanded my mind and prepared myself for being open to all that the LA19SCBWI Conference had to offer.
At the conclusion of the class, Lori scattered about 100 cards – pictures on the front; words on the back – on the carpet and invited us to select an image that spoke to us. I picked the “eye,” which was actually the Sea Serpent. My card said: “The Sea Serpent represents …expression…. creativity… helps us move…into a healthy current…. We express ourselves creatively …without fear or shame…. We loosen the grip of self-judgement…. We let the cool waters of forgiveness in to heal our wounds.” Was it an interesting coincidence that I was reading about creativity at a writing conference? I’m not sure I believe in coincidences!
Mandatory Morning Pages
I made it a point to continue doing my morning pages, an exercise from Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY, throughout the conference. I spent about ten minutes (or three pages) writing in my journal freestyle first thing every morning. I wrote whatever I wanted – journal stuff, conference information, gossip, meaningless words, budget stuff – everything! This helped me empty my brain so that I could fill it up with what the day had to offer: lessons, insight, and meeting new people.
Did all this “extra” writing do anything? Yes! Lots! I have attended scores of conferences over the past decade. At all of them, I noticed common themes with my behavior, all revolving around introversion. I was always on the periphery of the conference. But this conference was different. I talked to anybody. I felt only a little jet lagged. I was just a little “whelmed;” not overwhelmed. At the “Woodstock, 50 Years Later” party, I danced right up in front of the stage. I credit all of these things to the morning pages exercise, although I don’t understand the “why” yet. I wonder how these changes will ripple through the rest of my life!
Learning
To say I learned a lot at this conference would be an understatement. I have so many bullet points, practices, and mindsets to bring with me into my mentorship as a result of those four intensive days of conferencing. On Friday, I learned more about rhyme and rhythm in picture books, with #PBChat mentor, Lori Degman. I LOVED Linda Sue Park’s writing room on Saturday afternoon. Writing anything, I believe, helps a writer get better at writing what she wants to write. My take-home from Sunday, after listening to Carol Hinz’s lecture, was that I need to rewrite the back matter for three of my stories. On Monday, I learned that a couple of agents whom I had previously thought desirable, while they are still very talented and knowledgeable, might not be the right fit for me.
Deepening Relationships… and Food
One of the best things to happen during this conference was the down-time spent with my critique buddies. In particular, I am grateful for the time they spent helping me to revise one of my upcoming potential magazine publications. But I also enjoyed things such as re-trying sushi for the first time in nearly a decade. I liked it!
I met Stacey Mozer at the NESCBWI luncheon and ate nearly an entire gluten free pizza on my own! Speaking of food, it was feast or famine throughout the weekend. They fed us once on Friday, once on Saturday, once on Sunday, and not at all on Monday. Although we went out to eat three times, seven of our meals came from a Thursday evening Target run. The best meal was the taco bar at the “Woodstock, 50 Years Later” party on Saturday night.
Bonus!
During lunch on Saturday, I attended an illustrators’ informal workshop, munching on veggies and hummus and sketching the live models in 5- and 10-minute drawing sprints. When I went up to the woman model, Ariel, at the end (to show her my favorite pose and talk about modeling and sketching), a camera crew swooped down upon us. I might be included in a documentary film!
Conclusion
All in all, I am very
glad I attended the LA19SCBWI Conference.
It directly supported my mentorship; in fact, it seems like a huge
“coincidence” that the conference took place at the beginning of my
mentorship. I feel primed for writing,
thinking, and revising throughout the months ahead.
“If you are comfortable
with your uncertainty, then you are on the path of learning.” (Yuyi Morales, LA19SCBWI)
Did you go to LA19SCBWI? What were your big take-home messages from the conference? What other writing workshops would you recommend attending?
I cannot remember the last time I was this happy! I have no words! And I’m going to need words… I just won a
#PBChat mentorship with the fabulous Adam Wallace!
!!!!!!
I’m going to document my mentorship over a series of
blogs. And this first blog is going to
be two-part: BEFORE my first
conversation with Adam, and AFTER.
BEFORE:
I had to work a double shift the day the mentees were
announced. Would I turn my phone off and
check it in the evening? Would I check
it at the sound of each ping? When would
Justin announce each mentorship? Why did
I feel like an imposter? These were the
questions going through my mind Tuesday evening (okay, maybe for the entire
month of July!)
Let’s backtrack even more… I had hit a point in my writing
career where I had nearly stopped querying.
I felt like every manuscript was more trash than gem, and I struggled to
find the time needed to revise all 17 manuscripts. I also felt guilty for the time I spent
writing, which was always time NOT spent with my family.
Enter #PBChat. I
latched onto #PBChat and sunk my teeth into it; hungrily devouring the Twitter
feed each Thursday morning (I had to work late Wednesdays, when #PBChat took
place). I became addicted. I became obsessed.
Obsessed you say?
Yes, I became hooked on the idea that winning a #PBChat mentorship would
be my nod that I was going in the right direction. If I won, then I’d know all this time writing
and therefore all this time away from my kids would be worth it. God or whatever you believe in would be
confirming that I am indeed allow to pursue my dream of being a children’s
picture book writer.
Okaaaaaay. I know I
was being irrational. But I also know
me. And one of my weaknesses is that
once I get something stuck in my head, it’s really hard for me to get it out!
At 10:10 am on July 31st, my phone beeped. I was supposed to be taking a patient history
for one of the sisters at a nursing home for nuns.
I glanced briefly at my phone, just looking for the shape of
the cards that Justin’s #PBChat announcements came on. I would check my messages later (otherwise, I
knew I wouldn’t be able to give my patients the attention they deserved!)
But my brain, in that split-second glance, recognized my
name! WHAT? I grabbed my phone with two hands, ignoring
whatever the sister was saying to me (probably in French). OH. MY. GOSH.
I was the first mentee ever for #PBCHat, and I had won my first choice,
Adam Wallace!
I can honestly say my happiness was disproportional… I was
happier beyond belief. And I still
am. It’s the longest running happy high
I have ever had in my life!
I let it all hang out in my application to Adam Wallace. I said what came to mind, uncensored. I felt like I was cheating when I wrote that application. I had FUN with it. It was 100% me.
So to have someone select me being 100% me – if that makes any sense – is mind-blowing and life-altering for me. I’m going to allow myself to be me for this entire mentorship. I wonder, will I explode?
Okay, I’ve got to go make dinner. I get to meet Adam in less than two hours!!!!
AFTER:
I’m back!
It’s definitely meant to be!
Adam said our first goal was to get the “me” in the application into my
manuscripts. Haha! I can’t wait!
Been on any first dates lately? What about first dates where you know you’ll
be seeing a lot of the other person for the next few months, regardless of
whether or not he’s just as okay in person as he is on paper? I felt a little like that… except for the
dating part. Haha!
You know what? We
clicked! Hooray!
The result? I am even
more excited – if that’s even possible – for this mentorship. Woo-hoo!
Let’s get started!
Speaking of started, I’ll be checking out the book The
Artist’s Way, as well as spending 10 minutes each morning freewriting whatever
comes into my head, uncensored.
Oh, and I sent over a bunch of my manuscripts. You know that feeling of vulnerability that
comes with sharing your work, your baby (even if your baby is a little
underdeveloped, haha) in a query or critique group? Well, magnify that by something-fold: sharing a lot of works all at once is QUITE.
A. FEELING.
I’ll keep you posted over the next several days and months
ahead. I won’t promise stellar blog
writing, but I do promise to share.
How about you? What
are you working on? Any pre-writing tips
you’d like to share? Any big or small
news or plans?
One year and six months – that’s how long I had been attending the bi-monthly local critique group before we held our first retreat for children’s book writers. As I approached the huge house on the coast of Maine, I wondered…Would I like the writing retreat? Would we all get along? Well, as it turned out, the retreat was everything I had hoped it would be and more.
We began.
After a brief welcome session, we began with a workshop on goal-setting. I had volunteered to lead this workshop, and I used Lisa Jacobs’ YOUR BEST YEAR, 2018 as a guideline. Discussions centered around how we had been our own worst enemies concerning our writing for the previous year, and how we planned to overcome these obstacles for 2019. One of the things I realized was that I needed to get beyond the negative self-talk I sometimes have in my mind (“You’re not a good writer,” “Why bother submitting, you’ll only get rejected,” etc.).
Query Letter Workshop
Friday afternoon consisted of our first manuscript critique session, query letter critiques, and discussion about our soon-to-be-launched group blog. The query-writing workshop really stuck with me. One thing I learned was that every sentence in a query should be unique to the writer’s story or to the writer herself. I was happy to learn something new, especially as I was also leading the query workshop. (This highlights the importance of getting together with like-minded writers from time to time!) I had prepared by summarizing scores of articles I had read online about query writing, but do you know what? We wanted to concentrate whole-heartedly on critiquing each other’s queries, so I saved my notes for a future blog post instead. (I had thought three days was plenty of time for a retreat, but we didn’t get to do everything on our carefully planned outline!)
A chef?!
After breakfast on Saturday morning (Did I mention one of our critique partners is a chef?!) we did a creative writing prompts exercise focused on character study. Next, we had two hours of free write time, which I used to fine-tune my query letter. The morning concluded with a lecture on revision, based on information from Jim Averback and the Storyteller Academy. This lecture highlighted one of the main problems I have in writing picture book middles: writing action that is both escalating and cause-and-effect. I can’t wait to apply all of the helpful tid-bits I learned to my manuscripts!
Tons of Fun
After lunch, we took our group photo for our upcoming blog – we had tons of fun, because we were outside in the snow. Then we spent the rest of Saturday afternoon critiquing manuscripts and planning how we want to structure our four hours per month of in-person time for the rest of 2019. We discovered that receiving critiques was a priority for everyone, as was the business of working on our group blog, but we decided to table exploring the craft of writing until our blog gets going. (We’ll all be attending at least one SCBWI conference this year.)
Focused
Sunday, we focused on three things: writing and critiquing some of the group posts for our blog, how to better communicate with each other (think: beyond email), and a retreat reflection. The retreat reflection was especially enlightening for me. My biggest take-away message from the retreat was: don’t be afraid because fear paralyzes creativity. I had shared one of my WIPs with the group, having gone back and forth with whether or not to do so. Drafting it had been so much fun, and yet, I was afraid… probably afraid of rejection. But the thing is, if something causes me joy to write, then it is worth sharing, period. And everyone encouraged me to keep working on this special WIP and to eventually submit it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I highly recommend the DIY writing retreat. For less than $300.00, I came away with invaluable information, advice, and deepened friendships. I am grateful to have met these six fabulous ladies. I am terribly fearful of our group fizzling out, but I don’t think that will happen because we are all driven by a sincere desire (maybe even something more than ‘desire’) to be published children’s book authors. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we are enjoying how we have shared our writing journey together thus far, and that we look forward to all of our future interactions. Oh yes, and there will be many more writing retreats in the years to come!
Children’s author Julie Hedlund, challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers (http://www.juliehedlund.com/12days) series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. I noted in my blog, TO RESOLVE OR NOT; NOT THE RIGHT QUESTION, that Julie belongs to a (hopefully growing) group of people who believe the way New Year’s resolutions are traditionally made come from a place of negativity. We tend to resolve based on what we did NOT get done or did NOT achieve in the previous year. Instead, she suggests we set goals for the New Year that BUILD on our achievements from the previous one. I decided to participate in this Anti-Resolution Revolution! Here is my list for 2018:
January 2018: I wrote. I attended my monthly critique meeting (while being a full-time mother, full-time Optometrist, and wife).
February 2018: I celebrated the launch of a friend’s book at a bookshop. This visit led to my meeting Vivian Kirkfield, a truly fabulous person, in March.
March
2018: I met Vivian for the first time
and asked her tons of questions about how to become a published writer…. she
introduced me to 12×12. I was a finalist
(12th) in #50PreciousWords.
April
2018: I went to the NESCBWI, where NO
SHOES STANLEY was born.
May 2018: I read GET KNOWN BEFORE THE BOOK DEAL and
BUILD YOUR AUTHOR PLATFORM. I also attended my first “The Craft of Writing” critique
meeting.
June 2018: I launched my writer’s website! I also participated in my first #PitMad. July 2018: I participated in my first critique meeting where we read 25 pages of our novels… I introduced the group to my YA, BLOODY AUTUMN.
August 2018: I met with Vivian to interview her for our three-part, get-to-know-Vivian blog series on my new website. An agent who signs 1 out of every 20 writers whose ms she reads told me she wants to read the first several pages of BLOODY AUTUMN.
September
2018: I participated in #PitMad. I interviewed Vivian and then wrote the
second installment of our get-to-know-Vivian blog. I was featured on Susanna Hill’s “Would You Read
It? Wednesday” blog. I read GUIDE TO
MAGAZINE ARTICLE WRITING and submitted “Honeybee-leaving” to Skipping Stones
Magazine.
October
2018: I participated in Susanna Hill’s
Halloweensie Contest. I was featured on
Susanna Hill’s “Would You Read It? Wednesday” blog. Skipping Stones emailed to say they’d publish
my “Honeybee-leaving” article!!! I finished
writing my first draft of my first YA novel, BLOODY AUTUMN.
November
2018: I was featured in Susanna Hill’s
“Would You Read It? Wednesday” blog. I
bought my 2019 WRITER’S MARKET. I
started and completed my first draft of my second YA novel, SPECTRUM BREAKDOWN
(NaNoWriMo). I interviewed Maryann
Cocca-Leffler and wrote an article about her for our critique group’s secret surprise.
December
2018: I participated in Julie Hedlund’s
12 Days of Christmas for Writers. Skipping
Stones told me that my copies of their magazine are in the mail. I participated in Susanna Hill’s Christmas
Story Contest. I submitted about 100 PB
queries over the course of the year.
I wonder what next year will
hold? I can’t wait! Let the journey continue!
It was quite a trip, literally and figuratively. I did “win” my first NaNoWriMo experience, with better-than-expected results. Allow me to share what I learned.
1.There will usually be something more appealing to do, especially after the first week.
Once I hit that 15,000-word mark, I kept finding more important things to do. Did I mention I had a 10-day work-ation planned in the middle of November?! I packed and cleaned. Traveling, I typed in cars and plotting on airplanes. I always made time to keep writing.
2.There will sometimes be something more compelling to write.
Let me count the different ideas, tasks, and writing deadlines which surfaced in November. I had to work on my first children’s publication deadline: a magazine article for Skipping Stones Magazine. After receiving a great suggestion for an agent seeking monster MCs from a writing critique buddy, I sent in the appropriate PB query. I had to write up a (nine-page!) summary from a conference I attended on behalf of a professional organization I’m a part of (think: day job). And, as Denise Jaden promised, around week three, I thought up a stellar idea for a new YA novel that sounded way more appealing to work on than my current NaNoWriMo novel. I resisted. (And I persisted)
5.If you don’t feel like writing, giving yourself permission usually works.
When I really didn’t feel like typing, I would tell myself that I could type for 200 words, and if I wanted to stop after that, it was okay. I would also tell myself that I could type total baloney. The result of giving myself these two indulgences was that I usually typed at least 500 words, even on a bad day, and the “baloney” usually turned out better than I imagined.
4.Preparation goes a long way.
I read FAST FICTION, by Denise Jaden, before NaNoWriMo began. Inside, there were exercises for determining character names and traits, structuring the three acts of my story, brainstorming theme, and many, many more extremely helpful practices. The result was that by day one of NaNoWriMo, I was ready to type, nearly nonstop, 2000 words a day, for at least the first 15,000 words of my novel. After that, I used a practice shared on Facebook: I loosely planned every 10,000 words, and then inserted the main characters into situations and saw how they reacted. The result? I didn’t hit a real, double-bricked wall until about 35,000 words.
3.The last part of the novel will feel like it drags on and takes twice as long to type.
When I hit that double-bricked wall at 35,000 words, I hit it hard. I feel like I began to cheat on my characters, inventing bizarre situations and taking certain traits and actions to the extreme. I even killed-off a character. What was my lesson learned? Perseverance. I figuratively grit my teeth and set my jaw and sat down and made myself type to the end. And now I have a 50,000-word novel to go back to and revise.
Will I participate in the NaNoWriMo madness next year? I don’t know. Right now, I’m still ready to figuratively hurl my 50,000 MS across the room and out the window… but we’ll see, it might boomerang back, and I might – just maybe – write that fabulous YA idea (see #2 above)!
Thanks for reading. Please share your writing experiences! I welcome any advice, especially a good book to help me edit my NaNoWriMo novel.
