Critiquing a critique group

Over a year ago, I stepped away from a local SCBWI critique group I'd been part of for several years. There was nothing 'wrong' with the group or its members. They're all talented writers, working hard on their craft and focused on getting their WIPs in shape and ready for submission. But they were all working on picture books. I was working on a middle-grade novel.

So I set about creating a critique group focused on writing middle-grade novels. A month later, five of us, all avid readers and writers of literature for that age group, met virtually for the first time. After initial technical problems, we settled into a rhythm of monthly manuscript submissions and online critique of our middle-grade WIPs. The group seemed to be going well.

Six months later, one member withdrew. She found getting feedback early in the writing process derailed her vision for the piece. We all understood and wished her well. 

Last month, another member withdrew. Multiple demands in his work and personal life left him with little extra time and energy. Again, we all understood and wished him well. 

So the three of us who remain will decide the group's future. We've all been at this long enough to know that groups like this are malleable. They morph into what is needed by its members and are reshaped as members come and go. The three of us can tweak our guidelines and procedures or we can tear them up and start over. We can keep the group at just three members, or we can add another one or two. In any case, I look forward to the process of redefining ourselves and am excited about our future.  

Warrior Writers

Last Sunday, I attended a workshop at the Dietrich Theater about the Warrior Writers project. It's a grassroots effort whose mission is to "create a culture that articulates veterans' experiences, provide a creative community for artistic expression, and bear witness to the lived experiences of warriors." - from Warrior Writers website. Through "writing and art-making workshops, we provide a creative community for self-expression and reflection, while also fostering mutual understanding and peer-to-peer support." - from the introduction to the Warrior Writers 2014 collection book.

What an amazing mission it is - use of the arts as a tool for veterans to process their experiences and express them creatively and genuinely. They have offered writing and art workshops, art exhibitions, and performances with vets throughout the US since 2007 and have published several compilation books of vets' stories and poems. This organization uses the arts as tools of healing. Even among us civilians with cushy lives, who couldn't use a little healing?


The Dietrich plans to host a monthly workshop for interested vets. Each workshop will be facilitated by Jennie, a combat veteran who has been active in the Warrior Writers in the Allentown area. A co-facilitator, typically a local writer, will assist. If the project is embraced here the way it has been elsewhere, Jennie expects that local veterans will be ready to lead the workshops in about 6 months. If you or a vet you know who would like to participate, please call the Dietrich at 570-836-1022.

Plastic Somethings

While cleaning today, I found an odd-shaped Plastic Something sitting on top of the freezer. It's no bigger than my thumbnail with little grooves and slots where it obviously is supposed to fit into or onto Something Else. Looks important, as if Something Else wouldn't work correctly without this strange missing piece. What that might be, I have no idea.

So I asked Michael if he could help me identify this Plastic Something. He didn't recognize the piece either. We now had a choice -

- toss it and find out in hours (or days or weeks) that the Plastic Something was indeed a vital part of Something Else and now the entire thing won't work and aaarrrggghhh! or...

- keep it just in case we figure out where it came from.

We placed it beside the other odd-shaped Somethings on a corner of his desk. Just in case. As time goes by, we'll realize that whatever it came from obviously works fine without it. Then we can pitch it in good conscience. But for now, it gathers dust with its soul mates on his desk.

The other day I found Word files on my desktop I'd written some time ago and forgotten about. Some were first drafts of short stories which I never polished. There were shorter bits too, snippets of character profiles, unusual settings, and story lines jotted down in 30 or more different Word files.
Don't get me wrong. Some are probably trash.
But others have potential. I've just never taken the time to develop them, or more to the point, to figure out where they might fit in some larger work.

Those pieces of manuscript are like that Plastic Something -  I keep them, just in case I figure out where they belong. After all, Something Else might not work properly without them.

The TBR in 2015 list

For Christmas, Mike gave me "By the Book: Writers on Literature and the Literary Life from The New York Times Book Review." The volume is a compilation of 65 interviews of writers, artists, historians, and others. The focus of the interviews are books - favorite reads in the last year, favorite childhood books, which books most influenced career choice, that sort of thing.

It was a great way for me to add to my 'To Be Read' list. 

Books written by fellow local authors Eric Buffington, Heather L Adams, Regge Episale, Eugenie D. West, and John Koloski were already piled on my pseudo-desk, waiting for me. After reading "By the Book," I added dozens more to the TBR list, at this point still a list on the public library's website.

There's an interesting mix there of print and audio books, fiction and non-fiction, adult and juvenile literature. There's inspirational, fantasy, historical, and literary, some poetry and short stories - just about any genre imaginable. And with authors like Hilary Mantel, Laurie Halse Anderson, Elmore Leonard, John Irving, Toni Morrison, Laini Taylor, Alice Munro, Thomas Merton, Margaret Atwood...

It's going to be a very good year.

Cooking up a good story

I love to cook. Give me a couple hours free on a Saturday, and I'm quite content in my kitchen. I put on some tunes and dance and sing while (I hope) no one is listening. I might try a new recipe or a familiar favorite for dinner, make a pot of soup for my weekday lunches or a loaf of banana bread to share with a friend. In any case, I lose track of time as I chop and saute and mix until my house smells glorious and my appetite is whet.
There's a great deal of pleasure to be had in both the process and the product when I cook - the process is a creative experience for me, multi-sensory and totally enjoyable. And most times, the end product, a scented home and delicious foods made from scratch, is quite satisfying. Even if I do have to do it all over again the next day.

I love to write.Give me a couple hours free on a Sunday, or any day for that matter, and I'm quite content in front of my computer. I sit in the silence of my basement with the company of my own thoughts. After assembling my ingredients, the ideas I've entered in my voice recorder over the last few day, heaps of research materials, my plot notes, and character sketches, I get started. I chop the scene I'm writing apart, verify some historical details, and mix them with the 'what-if' scenarios my recorder and my imagination hand me. I lose track of time and often re-emerge from the depths well after dark, having forgotten to switch out the wash or eat dinner.
The process of writing is a creative experience, one that completely overtakes me. I find myself lost in my fictional world wondering how my protagonist will ever get out of the mess I've made for her. The end product for the day, a few more finished pages, satisfies me. And it leaves me itching to get up the next day and immerse myself again.

A fan, an interview, and a giveaway!

I had the great honor of being approached by an enthusiastic reader from Australia - dare I say it - a fan! Since Risking Exposure is on her personal list of favorite books of all time, she asked for an interview and for my permission to offer a giveaway on her blog. Of course, I said yes to both :)

So here's her blog, the interview, and the opportunity for you to win one of two free e-books. Have fun!

Hazards vs risks

Over the last year and half, I've been involved in a community project to build a new playground in Factoryville. The completed structure is awesome - including that central tower which stands probably 12 feet off the ground.

So as we worked with Steve Hemmler, a playground designer from Landscape Structures, our concerns about safety and potential risk were paramount. His answer has stuck with me. In effect he said that our job (and his) were to design and build a playground with virtually no potential hazards. But to eliminate risk from the playground design would have meant sacrificing the potential for fun. 

The more I thought about that statement, the more it rang with truth. We all want to participate in activities that are as safe as we can make them. Reducing potential hazards to a bare minimum makes absolute sense.


But virtually any activity which is ultimately fun involves some risk - that's what makes it fun. If an activity is too easy or the outcome is guaranteed simple success every single time, the risk is gone - and so is the joy.



I can apply that same hazard vs risk principle to writing. By never sharing my written work, by hiding it away on my computer, I could have played it safe and completely eliminated the risk of rejection. It would have been completely safe, completely free of the hazard of potential hurt or disappointment.

But it also would have prevented me from experiencing the joy of connecting with readers, of getting unsolicited compliments via email or positive reviews posted by complete strangers.
I'm glad I took the risk and put my work 'out there.' I wouldn't miss this fun for the world.

Six-word memoir

On Facebook, one of the writer-support sites I follow is holding a 'six-word memoir' contest. I've seen these before - the objective is to actually summarize your life, your philosophy, lessons learned, whatever, in just six words. I've also seen contests for 'six-word stories.' Probably the most famous of these stories is by Ernest Hemingway. "For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn." Tells the whole, horrible story, right?

As a writer, capturing a story or a memoir in a measly six words is an interesting exercise in being concise. To say the least.

I enjoyed reading some of the submissions. Some evoke a clear mood:

- I do not belong here people!
- I left a million dollars in...
- I told you I was ill!

Others were clever:
- Your memoir using only six words.

And still others took the philosophical approach:
- I am a child of God.
- Evolving, one word at a time.

Here's mine:
- Support laughter, challenge growth, create faith

What's yours?

The most frequent questions, Pt. 3

Will there be a sequel to Risking Exposure? What are you writing now?

When I finished writing Risking Exposure, I was tired. I had spent several years reading everything I could get my hands on about the Nazi era, watching documentaries, etc. Pouring through so much twisting of the truth and outright evil was exhausting, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. My conclusion was that I never wanted to read another thing about Nazi Germany ever again.


But within 6 or 8 weeks, something happened. I'd be driving down the road and a character I'd relegated to the 'deleted scenes' folder would pop into my mind. Something a neighbor said would remind me of a dialogue exchange I'd cut. Pretty soon those characters and exchanges were forming new scenes and it became clear - the characters in my deleted scenes folder wanted their story told too. It's my job to give them their opportunity.

What is taking shape is a sequel, although told through another character's POV. No, I don't have a title or a time frame for release. That's actually not even on my radar yet.
I've been researching events which took place in Munich during July 1938 until very early 1939, about 6 months after Risking Exposure ends. I have what I believe to be a framework on which to hang my story. In my over-ambitious mind, I have set a goal of getting a first draft written by the end of 2014. (I may kick myself for making that public.)

The most frequent questions, Pt. 2

Why would a nice person like you write about Nazi Germany?

  I've written (and published) fiction and non-fiction short pieces for all ages, preschool through adult. Risking Exposure is the only one set in Nazi Germany. The others aren't even remotely similar in time or place or even in tone - Chicken Soup for the Soul for audiences seeking inspiration, Highlights High Five for preschoolers, Advance for Physical Therapists for PTs and PTAs, Discovery Years and Thriving Family for parents, Hopscotch for kids, plus a few currently on Wattpad. I think across genres, I read across genres, so I write across genres too.

I love stories, real or fictional, in which an unlikely hero must pull himself up by his bootstraps and become more than he was, in which an ordinary person is forced to rise above her circumstances in order to stand up for what is right.
That means the hero would have to be in a time and place in which doing what's right comes at great personal risk. Nazi Germany was just such a place.

All four of my grandparents emigrated to the US from Germany in the 1920s. One grandmother lived in our apartment building when I was a kid, and the other one moved in with us when I was a teen. So we got a good dose of the language, food, music, and culture of the homeland they loved. When I learned of the Nazi years in school, I asked the same questions many have asked - How could that happen? How could the country which produced my own family, plus geniuses like Bach and Goethe allow such horrors to occur right under their noses?

The answers are complex of course, spanning decades of Germany history and the culture of everyday life in a police state and dictatorship. But in exploring the answers, I found some simple themes which resonated with me -
it was a time and place of blind allegiance to an ideal;
in which some people held more value than others;

in which people were brainwashed by a flood of government-controlled information;
in which the voices of those who spoke against the regime were silenced through threats, violence, or detention.

It was and still is a perfect storm to use as a backdrop for a hero story. That's probably why so many of us writers choose to set our stories there.

The most frequent questions

I've had the good fortune to take part in a number of book signings, and I've presented my historical research in front of more than 100 people now. Audiences have varied in age and size, but I find I'm being asked three questions at almost every event. I'll try to answer them here in installments.

1. Did you always want to be a writer/ write a book?
As a young girl, I did want to write stories. Even then, I was fascinated by the way stories and characters stayed with me, and I wanted to be able to have my ideas impact other people that way. Experiencing a story for me has always been close to experiencing it first-hand - I feel emotions, learn lessons, cheer for heroic actions, and weep over sad endings. Through reading historical fiction and stories set in distant lands, I've come to understand that people through history and around the world are pretty much the same.
So yes, I did want to write when I was a kid. But I also wanted to be a ballerina and to travel the world in a hot air balloon. Turns out I'm a klutz and not fond of heights, so those things didn't happen. And even though I loved creative writing class in high school, I never pursued it in my college or career  plans. I went to college to learn a skill to get a job, not to pursue an interest which would I thought would never earn me a living.

Once my own kids were grown and I had time for personal interests, I found that I still liked to write. In fact, the more I did it, the more I liked it. No, I loved it. Now, a perfect day for me involves some coffee, a good dose of sunshine, and a couple hours of writing.



Next:
Why would a nice person like you write about Nazi Germany?

A school visit

One of the most delightful aspects of being published is the opportunity to share my book, my research, and/or my interest in writing. This Friday, April 4th, I'll have that opportunity again. I've been asked to speak with 7th and 8th graders at Fell Charter School about the writing process and how to research. Of course, I said yes!

 I've got an activity planned, and I'll bring some of my primary research materials. Because of the target age group and the more general content of writing and researching (rather than specifically about researching and writing my book), my power point will be a bit different than the one I've used for my other venues. So I'm creating a new version of the basic presentation, tweaking the content as appropriate. I hope to be able to use it with other schools in the near future.

The organized mess

During the process of writing Risking Exposure, I learned two things about my writing style. First, if I outline too much, my characters rebel once I start to write. But if I don't create some structure for the book, it meanders like a ship without a compass.
I don't want to go through either scenario again.

I've started researching, organizing, and writing the sequel to Risking Exposure. For weeks, I've had a basic outline in my head. I've documented many ideas into the voice recorder that's always in my dashboard cubby. (I drive a lot.) I've read books and websites and taken notes. I've plunged ahead and written a couple scenes, one of which may become the opening scene. Now the time has come to create something more concrete.

So I spent yesterday organizing my basic plot points at the dining room table. Crazy, but this is my organized plot. The long paper is a timeline on which I jotted notes about historically significant events in late 1938 that will provide a backdrop to the story. The other piles are research materials on a historical figure and a 'way out' for the climax that will make sense in the story.

I also used a story map, and I sketched out one for my main character yesterday. Today's task is to create a voice journal for her, a longer and more detailed one than I had for the first novel. In coming days/weeks, I plan to sketch out story maps and create voice journals for the other main characters as well. This will (hopefully) help me keep track of who they are, what each wants, and how those personalities and wants conflict and intersect during all three acts of the book.

In the meantime, I have to move all this organization aside so we have a place to eat. 

Scratching the itch

I've been feeling the itch to write more. But the practical aspects of living - spending time with people I love, working, taking care of my home and my health, participating in community and church activities, etc. - have left me precious little time to write.


Don't get me wrong. I am involved in each and every one of these activities because I enjoy them. They fulfill me in different ways, connect me to the bigger world and allow me to use different gifts and graces. But I find myself frustrated, trying to carve out small bits of time to jot down notes and read some background material. Honestly, it's not enough time to immerse myself in ideas and characters, and I need that to satisfy my muse.

Michael and I talked about it yesterday. I think we came up with a way to create a Writers Retreat of sorts. Not a physical place. More like an escape from other commitments which chip away at my writing time. So we're going to try it next weekend, and my hope is for a good 10+ hours of planning and writing.
I wonder if that much scratching will satisfy my itch. Part of me thinks it will ease the itch for a time. But I bet the overall effect will be like scratching a mosquito bite - I'll just spread the venom through my system and overall, the itching will increase. So be it.

Thanks for the support!

I'm touched and delighted with the turnout for my presentation today at the Dietrich - 43 people! Friends from my church and work and neighborhood lives, from the Writers Group and the Theater, and even more amazing, complete strangers who dedicated an hour or more of their lives to come and listen. Some scooted out before I had a chance to thank them personally, but I truly appreciate the attendance of each and every one.

Sharing my journey as a writer is such fun. I hope venues like this lead to more opportunities!

Of time, presentations, and characters who won't be deleted

I've dropped off copies of Risking Exposure to a number of local libraries and schools, and that's given me a chance to speak with librarians about the book. Several of them suggested ways I can connect with the readers, including presentations about 'how I wrote a novel' or about the research I did to create the setting and historical details. I'll present at the Dietrich on those same topics this winter as part of a fundraiser for them, probably to a combination of adults and youth. So I'm excited to share my experiences with two different audiences, both interested in developing their love of reading and writing stories.

Now to develop those presentations. And to write the rest of the stories swirling in my mind. I need to find time. The classic lament of adulthood.

The writing time I've chiseled out for myself has recently been taken up by marketing, in addition to other wonderful and necessary things put on the back burner during my final push toward publication - time with my family, involvement in my church, and the Factoryville Playground Task Force.
Oh, and I work. And I should probably clean my house.

As I've mentioned before, I cut many characters and their subplots cut from Risking Exposure during a long series of edits. Now those characters call to me from the Deleted Scenes folder on my computer. Their stories want to be told, and I want to share them. Kindle and Nook. And threads of a sequel to Sophie's story comes to me unbidden at times, so I jot the ideas down and wait to see if a story fabric can be woven from them.

My plan is to edit a few of them, turning them into short stories for release on

I'll get to it. As soon as I find the time.

What am I doing marketing my own book?

What I know about marketing could fill a teacup. A toy teacup. And yet here I am with a finished product, trying to get it in the hands of consumers.

So I started where I usually start, with research. I read up on how to market and was bored to tears.

That wasn't going to get me anywhere. Then I read other writers' experiences in self-marketing, the strategies they used, the lessons they learned. I soon found that their goals were money and fame. Those aren't my goals, so using their strategies wouldn't get me what I want.

I want to connect with readers.

I want people who don't know me to read Risking Exposure and learn about the plight of people with disabilities during the Nazi era. I want readers to understand that acting against injustice when the entire society in which you live has warped the very meaning of right and wrong must be incredibly difficult. It takes courage beyond what most of us use in our lifetimes.

So here's my marketing plan in a nutshell - donate and spread the word. I am donating copies to libraries and schools, as well as to non-profits that support writers and people with disabilities. I am spreading the word through Facebook and hopefully through newspaper articles. And of course, through word of mouth.

If you've read Risking Exposure, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads and spread the word. Thank you!

Pursuit of a fuller truth

Yesterday, I watched this TED Talk by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie entitled "The Danger of a Single Story." She describes the inherent limitations in our understanding when we see a group of people from only one point of view. The video clip is less than 20 minutes long, and this young woman is articulate and engaging. I recommend taking the time to watch it.

The preconceived notions westerners had about her and her family, notions that were formed in and perpetuated by popular literature and media, were stereotypes caused by a dearth of knowledge and a superficial truth. Her point is well-taken - if we are given only one point of view, 'a single story,' then stereotypes will perpetuate and the depth and dimension of the truth will elude us.

Our job as writers, teachers, bosses, parents, community organizers, etc. is to speak the truth in our work, revealing multiple facets of our subject matter. It's our duty to convey more than one side of the story to our audience so they come away with a fuller understanding. And fuller understanding will be closer to the truth.

We've all read sad, horrible stories set in Nazi-era Germany, and unfortunately many of them fall into this 'single story' mold. I didn't want my story Risking Exposureto be another one of those; I wanted it to reveal a different facet of the truth of that time and place in history. So I chose to tell the story through the eyes of an insider, a girl in the Hitler Youth who has only been told the preferred truth, her society's 'single story.' When changes in her life open her eyes to other dimensions outside of that single story, she sees a fuller truth. Hopefully, readers will also.

How my 8th grade self's tombstone rubbing ended up in my book

In my adolescence and early teens, I had the good fortune to spend a couple weeks of summer vacation on Cape Cod with my friend Anne and her family. Anne's mom was a high school English teacher with a fascinating blend of etiquette and quirkiness. When we visited a local grist mill, she encouraged us to role-play Don Quixote fighting windmills; when we went clamming, we were treated to lengthy explanations of the plight of local fishermen. I came to expect a new perspective at every turn.

So the day she handed me a long roll of white paper and a brown wax block, I wasn't surprised. "Where are we going?" I asked. "To the cemetery," she said. "To collect poetry from old tombstones and hang them in the classroom."

I'd never seen poetry on a tombstone, just names and dates and maybe a little phrase like, "Loving mother," or "Forever at peace." But I was game. And sure enough, in the old sections of Cape Cod cemeteries, she led us to whaling-era tombstones etched with elaborate poems. Poems about the brave young man whose life was cut short by the merciless sea, the fair maiden who walked the pier awaiting his return and probably still walks there today, the stooped old woman who watched from the Widow's Walk atop her waterfront home, hoping and praying for her son's return. Dutifully, I rubbed the wax block over the paper to catch the words beneath, then carefully rolled the paper until it could be hung in the classroom. Honestly, I've forgotten most of them.

But the sentiment expressed on a very simple tombstone has stayed with me to this day. It was a plain stone, etched with a woman's name and the dates of her birth and death. Centered above that was the single phrase, "She hath done what she could."

I sat back and stared, stunned by that beautiful truth. Such an incredible testimony to a life well-lived. What more can we want than to do what is within our power to do? This woman may not have had money or success in the eyes of the world, but she had used the power given to her.

All these years later, that simple phrase still resonates with me. When I wrote my novel Risking Exposure, I integrated the search for that truth, that power into the main character's story line. The last words of the book are "I have done what I could." A totally satisfying ending for a story, taught to me by the memorial of an 19th century stranger's life.

Wattpad

A couple months ago, a woman in Writers Group at the Dietrich mentioned a story-sharing website called Wattpad so I checked it out. It's part social media, part writers-seeking-an-audience. Some confident writers use it to connect with readers and gain a following. Some have seen their stories there read over 200,000 times, garnishing tens of thousands of 'votes.'

New writers often use the site to get feedback from real readers on their work. And it offers something to readers as well. The anonymity provided by the internet might give a reader space to offer constructive feedback instead of a more saccharine "that's a nice story."

That same woman from Writers Group mentioned an acquaintance who posted the first couple chapters of her book a few pages at a time on Wattpad. In a few months, she gained about 7000 'followers' of her story. She self-published it and had thousands of immediate sales. Her audience was ready-made and the initial burst of sales was enough to put her on the best-seller list for a time. Was the story really that good? I couldn't say. But her marketing plan was awesome. She essentially used crowdsourcing not to develop the product but to develop the readership, to create a platform. That's exactly what happens on American Idol, The Voice, and a dozen other reality shows. Why not in stories?

If you want to see some of my stories on Wattpad, I'm jeanne42.