As I bask in the glow of a completed manuscript currently battling it out with others in the #PitchWars Twitter contest, I find it so easy to lounge. I wrote a book! Time to take a break…or not. At least for me, I find that if I don’t jump feet first into the next project, a week of leisure can become a month, even a year between major writings.
But jumping in isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. Where do I start? How do I select an idea out of the dozens hopping up and down like strays at the pound looking for a home? Should I continue with a similar genre, or should I head off into waters unknown? And even after all of those questions, the big one looms.
How do I start?
Starting a novel is terrifying. It’s not like giving over a few days to a poem, essay, or story, knowing that it’s easy to pull the plug. If a shorter piece fails, you’ve only invested a few days. Mere hours on the writing spectrum. But a novel, it’s a commitment. It’s taking an idea and locking in as if you take the hand of your first date and say What the heck, let’s go get married in that chapel around the corner. It’s a spiritual and emotional mortgage, cementing you to an idea. Once you’ve made that jump, though, it’s essential to get going because again, waiting too long can take the shine right off of your idea. So, I’ve assembled a few tips that have helped me move forward in the past, and one of these tips will hopefully help me put pen to paper tonight as I sign off on my new endeavor.
 

1. READ – This may sound counterintuitive, but don’t be afraid to carve out time to read in the genre that you’re interested in and feel how the author approaches his or her narrative. Copying isn’t a good idea, but emulating is. Does their opening inspire you?
   
   
2. Don’t Start On Day One of Your Story – First pages are so intimidating. And often as writers we don’t see the beginning of the story right away but rather we’re seduced by an inciting moment or a conflict. It’s ok to start there and feel how the tension plays out on the page. 
   
   
3. Outline – Even if you’re not a planner, it’s ok to throw down events and relationships or try the bullet journal method to craft a skeleton. See some outlining ideas HERE.
   
   
4. Talk It Out – Dialogue is a wonderful place to open a new novel. Think about your protagonist. What could he or she say that perfectly characterizes who they are? 
   
   
5. Location Location Location – Is your setting a character of its own? Forget about the primary story for a moment and build a rich landscape with all the texture you can muster. You might be shocked at how easily the characters come to life with a skillfully drawn backdrop.
   
   
6. Put the Pen Down – Meditate. Run around the block. Take a nap. But think about what is attracting you to the story you want to tell. If it’s the right one, it will put out the siren’s call and goad you to start. But if the story recedes to the caverns of your mind, perhaps go back to those other ideas jockeying for your attention. 
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7. Write Without Judgment – The first pages won’t be perfect. But if you love what you’re doing they will draw you back day after day, week after week, and month after month. And who knows, next year around this time you’ll probably be hunting for critique partners, editing with abandon, and readying your now manuscript for the world at large.

 
Whatever you do, keep writing. And enjoy every delicious, painful minute of it.

Summers for teachers are bliss. While I don’t want to support the ridiculous idea that we don’t review lesson plans and strategize for the following year, June, July, and August do lend themselves to pursuing hobbies, slowing down to cook meals at home and play with the kids more, and write with abandon. Bliss, indeed.
Except when no clock is ticking, writing often slips to the wayside. During the school year I write on a very regimented schedule…and it works. I hit my word count every day, whether it’s brilliant or bollocks. But when I’ve given unlimited time to write, without the urgency I often wait and write when I’m too tired or distracted. This reality reinforces how important, at least for me, it is to maintain a writing schedule and treat it less like a hobby and more like a profession.
In light of this, I thought I’d share a few different writing routines that have worked for me throughout the years.
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1. Write in the morning. Set your alarm an hour early and make sure you’re writing without distraction. A night of good sleep, however, is the only way to make this work. Going to bed at 2 a.m. and writing at 5 is the surest formula for disaster, and possibly some hilarious writing.

 

1. Turn a lunch break into a writing break. In my one and only office job, I sacrificed lunch in the breakroom for a picnic at my desk where I could shut my door and tap away at the keyboard. After more tedious work, the creative break was just as nourishing as my tuna sandwich.

 

1. Bullet plot points and fill them in on the weekends. This was particularly helpful to me during a hectic professional and personal time when I didn’t have an hour to spare every day, but on the weekends I could devote a few late nights without sacrificing the ideas bubbling in my head during the week.

 

1. Schedule writing sprints with online friends just like you’d book a manicure or a doctor’s appointment. Determine a frequency but put it on your calendar, and make sure others can hold you accountable. Most do this based on a time limit, but I’ve also had luck sprinting with a word count in mind.

 

1. Set the mood with a playlist. This will help you ignore the clock and simply write for the duration of five songs, or fifteen. And if you know what you’ll be writing about, selecting music that amplifies the tone you’re striving for may just push your writing to the next level.

 

1. When all else fails, scrap it. And by scrap it I mean write on scraps whenever you feel the inspiration. I once wrote an entire story on the back of receipts, and it ended up being a fabulous piece. I also love the idea of being able to manipulate and move pieces around to try different chronologies, so writing in bits rather than at once may work well too. But in keeping with the routine, hold yourself accountable by trying to him a minimum of scraps per day.

 

1. Mix it up. A writing routine or schedule may be essential, but it doesn’t have to be stagnant. Your life will change. Your job, the seasons, your family. Be flexible and kind to yourself and remember that as long as you’re writing in some form, you are in fact a writer.

 
For more writing routines, check out The Daily Routines of 12 Famous Writers and happy writing!
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​Last year as a Pitch Wars newbie, I was intimidated but pleasantly shocked at how welcoming the community and contest were. I didn’t make it to Mentee status, but I learned some invaluable tips through my first bumpy try. And I can’t wait to try again this year and see what happens.
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1. Participate in all the Twitter fun. Even if you’re not a social media maven, check out #PitchWars and all the other neat hashtags that go along with it. You don’t need to post, but Mentors will reveal tips and tricks, there will be query giveaways and other contests, and it will keep you motivated to continue.
   
   
2. Make friends! (Yes, digital ones count.) Look for authors who write in your genre or are just generally nice folks. You might find a new critique group. And go beyond Twitter. Look at their author websites and read the blogs that provide everything from craft articles to fun book recommendations.
   
   
3. Trade your work. Everyone is gearing up to make their queries and first chapter perfect. Don’t be afraid to share your writing and have fresh eyes take a look. And be reciprocal.
   
   
4. Don’t be intimidated. Some who participate have been writing for a long time and may seem to have the shiniest, most incredible manuscript in the world. But the thing is their success does not diminish your chances, not one bit. Brenda Drake is a rock star, and there are a slew of mentors that you may possibly work with.
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5. That being said, submit your best. Now isn’t a time to pull out something hasty or experimental. Be confident and put your best foot forward, knowing that writing is extremely subjective and some will love it and some may pass.
   
   
6. Provide support. Buy mentor books (even if they don’t pick you) because after all they’re also authors trying to make it in the big bad publishing world. Lift up others who are having doubts, and let’s face it. We wouldn’t be writers without doubts. Keep following and interacting on Twitter after the contest. Keep an eye on the winners and support them, too.
   
   
7. Be kind to yourself. If mentors request your work, super. If you’re chosen, incredible! If not, keep going. Writing is such an act of love, but often authors forget to love themselves in the process.

 
Good luck!

I am completely taken with the novel All the Birds in the Sky and by completely taken, I mean obsessed. I've read it twice, and I want there to magically be a film adaptation tomorrow. In a pitifully small nutshell, this sci-fi fantasy romp that places the magical and the technological world s head to head in a brutal battle for power. Add a Romeo and Juliet-esque complication, and I was sold by page three.
But this isn't just a plug for the novel, although if you're reading this I expect you to go get a copy ASAP. This is, however, a huge plug for genre-jumping. And if you're already putting up your nose saying I don't DO fantasy or sci-fi, I especially charge you to try it. Minimally try a genre that you may enjoy but have never attempted for the following reasons:

1 - You will have to learn. As writers we ought to be learning constantly through our reading and workshops. Through mentor texts and interaction with authors. Unfortunately too many writers feel that their voices and styles are fixed somewhere after college and don't necessarily try to evolve.

2 - Genres need to be challenged, too. Perhaps you can bring new flair to an established medium. Your personal style and voice paired with a new genre might just open up a new space for authors to write in.

3 - We don't know until we try. It's impossible to know what you're good at it without flopping here and there. What if children's lit is your thing, or perhaps gritty detective narratives will allow your skills at setting creation to flourish.

4 - You won't be bored. Ever feel like you're writing the same story over and over again? Do characters nefariously appear and relive their plot like Groundhog Day? It's tougher to do that in a different genre, and it forces your brain to be creative in a different way.

5 - It's fun to fail! Ok, maybe not fun but we all need more practice and we learn more from what doesn't work than what does. Write a historical piece and see what you learn. Maybe research isn't your thing, or perhaps developing a not-so-modern voice doesn't gel with your voice. That's ok, and now you know.

Ultimately I think one of the most attractive things about the writing life is the ability to continue to grow, defying age, defying physicality, and defying resources. It is truly a craft accessible to everyone with a bit of elbow grease and determination.

​Happy writing!

April is my favorite month for writing because it's typically the month I sign up for summer conferences and plan where my writing is going for the duration of the year. The NJ SCBWI conference is by far my favorite, but I also investigate writing retreats and summer contests. As a teacher I'm afforded the luxury of being a mostly full-time author in the summer.

​But as I make these plans I also block out which projects take priority, and every year I ask myself if it's wise to embark on two, three, sometimes even four writing adventures simultaneously. The same questions flash through my mind.

Would I be more productive if I just buckled down with one piece at a time?
​Will the projects become repetitive?
​Do characters hop from one work to the next?
​Is splitting my attention essentially heading down a rabbit hole of never finishing anything?

​And every April I arrive at the same answer. Absolutely not. While I can't speak for every writer, I know that laser focus on one project for me leads to writer's block and burnout. My writing blurs much the same way my eyes do if I stare at one thing too long. And while I keep a writing routine (writing every morning for at least two hours) working on the same project exclusively makes my passion fall into the landscape and becomes a task as tedious as cleaning the bathrooms and wiping down kitchen counters.

​That being said, there are a few tips and tricks I use to keep projects organized up in the air simultaneously.

​Physical Space: I keep the projects in separate binders or separate folders, color-coded so they carry their own visual cues. Just the different appearance often is enough to help my brain transition from one project to the next, particularly if the colors relate to the tone and vibe of the work.

​Temporal Space: I never work on things back to back and minimally give myself an hour or two of physical work to cleanse my creative palate. I am by no means an avid exercise gal, but nothing allows me to reframe my focus like walking the dog or funning a few errands.

​Emotional Space: The mood of the pieces matter. Rushing from a tragic piece to something cheery leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My mood matters, too. Multi-tasking my writing never works if I'm feeling overwhelmed in the other areas of my life. Doing so is akin to trying to parent my children simultaneously when both have different needs and different joys and challenges. If major problems in the 'real' world are at play, I've got to clear out those cobwebs before my fictional worlds can take flight.

​Market Space: This one is touchy. By market space I really mean do these projects have a finality to them? Are they being entered in contests or submitted to agents? Have I given thought to where they'll go, or are they balloons in the wind with no real direction? Multiple open-ended projects can induce a sense of frenzy. If none have deadlines or take priority over the others, they can easily become tangled.

​For me, multi-tasking my writing projects keeps them alive and keeps me on my toes. I know it's not for everyone, but that's ok. As with parenting, teaching, and the other facets of my life, I appreciate the fact that as I get older I learn how to best do each to suit my skills and challenges.

​Happy writing!

It's that time of year again when I find myself compelled to scamper around watching as many Oscar films as I possibly can before the big event. (Sort of a PokémonGO activity for movie fanatics.) This year, I've sort of outdone myself and broken down the walls into genres I tend not to care about so much. Arrival and Hell or High Water were the biggest departures from my book and film comfort zone, and I am so glad I decided. How the academy is picking a best movie from this year's insanely moving and powerful nominees, I have no idea.

​And as many other writers, I hope a special spot in my heart for both original screenplay and adapted screenplay awards. Realistically I will sadly never grace the screen with Leo or Brad, but what if...just what if a short story or book I write ends up getting adapted by a screenwriter? Or better yet, I hone my skills and adapt something myself? There's a lot to be learned from the adapted screenplays which is why whether it's Brokeback Mountain or Hidden Figures​, I often try to read the source story first. Watching what translates to screen is an excellent exercise in learning how to edit the fat down and make dialogue and action points more authentic. In fact, doing so for a number of years helped me evolve my own writing activity for my short stories, one that I'd love to share and strongly encourage if you're looking to discern the heart of your story.

​It's not too terribly difficult, either.

First, go to a site like First Draft and read one of their tutorials. If you fall in love with doing this, you might progress to purchasing screenwriting software, but it's not necessary. Plenty of free ones out there. Celtx is a personal fave of mine.

​Once you've learned the ropes, highlight digitally or with a good old-fashioned highlighter all the lines of dialogue in your story. These are your bread and butter and have to carry themselves well without excessive narration. In isolation, you may find that some of the lines fall flat - a good hint that in the story itself they need more oomph and purpose.

​This part is tricky. Start slashing narration. Look, instead, for the action moments and include more of those. The narration is still needed, but a screenplay visually leans on dialogue and action. Narration is on a need to know basis. If it's not essential, it doesn't make it to the script.

​Finally, and this is where having a writing group counts, ask a few folks to read the script for you. If they stumble over the dialogue, there's a problem. It will also allow you to see how easily they fall into character and if you've created characters that have different voices or are they really echoes of one another. Take notes. Lots of notes.

​And when all is said and done, return to your story with a fresh eye to reexamine what could be cut and what perhaps is missing to build the tension, to flesh out the characters, and to give your story a pulse. All of this may seem like an extra phase in the editing process, but I promise, it's fun and a need way to stretch your brain in terms of writing skills.

​And who knows, maybe you'll fall in love with screenwriting and I'll see you on that Oscar screen in a few years. Happy writing!

​These shoes drive me insane. They’re stunning and overpriced but fit like a dream and make any ho-hum outfit dazzling. I found them online and took a leap of faith ordering a brand and size I’d never tried before, and the retail gods smiled down and they arrived in all their sparkling perfection. They were actually the inspiration for my Instagram account FashionAndFiction pairing two of my loves, books and shoes. How does this relate to writing in any way shape or form? Oh trust me, it does.

I save these shoes and rarely wear them, worried they’ll scuff or the heel might come off. But really, what good do they do in my closet, nestled between two pairs of everyday pumps? And as much as I logically know that these shoes were made for walking, I still snugly lock them away. Worse yet, sometimes I do this to my writing.

I don’t take risks when I should. I harbor plot ideas that feel too wild or hide away poetic bits that read more purple prose than I’d like. I keep them tucked in the corners of my brain firmly labeled with yellow caution tape. These ideas watch others come to fruition in stories and essays, in poems and play scenes. Because whenever I sit down to write the really risky stuff, I get the sensation of standing on a writing precipice and what if, what if, the ideas don’t take off? Then my precious writing time has been squandered on mischief rather than the slow and steady projects that are safer bets.

But with safety comes complacency. Safer ideas are often derivative of one another. They chug along and are enjoyable to write and complete, because there is a defined ending and no mental gymnastics required. And there is a time and place for them. They are satisfying and cozy, a literary form of grilled cheese and tomato soup, the mahogany loafers I can always count on because they’re already scuffed and a little beaten-down so I can really go anywhere, do anything, in them without pushing any boundaries.

The jeopardy in lively solely in these safe writings is that the wilder side to writing, the big risks and the big payoffs, don’t often stand around waiting for the proper moment. In fact they are risky because they’re like a maelstrom that arrives while you’re in the shower or manifest from a wild scene you’ve witnessed, a catastrophe in the news, the urgency of the human condition, and they need to be welcomed and managed as handily as you’d ride a rollercoaster from start to stop. Screaming and shaking and possibly breaking off into unchartered territory.

And that’s what writers, and artists and scientists and many other professionals in creative fields, are for. To push the boundaries of what we know and what we like. To show the world how things could be. One of my favorite authors, Jennifer Egan, always takes risks. Whether it’s a chapter written in PowerPoint or a story fully developed on Twitter, she pays fair homage to her wild ideas. And they create new spaces in the literary world.

So, I charge you to think back to the nuttiest idea you’ve had, whether it’s a play written backwards or an edible poetry collection, and give it a shot. Who knows, you might unleash something incredible or break a literary mold. And even if you don’t, your creative brain will thank you for the exercise. Personally, I’m taking those shoes out for a spin and beginning a chancy short story because today is a great day to start, don’t you think?

Snow days were made for writers and a wonderful affirmation that teaching and being a writer in the wings go hand in hand. Rarely does the universe hit the freeze button and say, go ahead, write your heart out. Nothing else is required of you. Today is a frozen moment in time, and I plan on using every minute.

​I'm wrapping up a novel that has been a long time coming. It was an idea that turned into three poems and a short story, the characters scattered all over the map (and the internet). The end didn't come easily. It felt like an impossible game of tug-of-war, letting down the main characters whichever way I pulled. I went to bed last night wondering when I would sneak in a few minutes to wrestle with the ending, and this morning as the alarm went off and the call from my school district closing the high school simultaneously snapped me out of bed, I sat down and finished. There wasn't an epiphany. I didn't dream of the perfect ending, but somehow having the responsibilities of the day lifted off of my shoulders let things fall into place.

​Those writers gifted with unlimited resources and unlimited time are few and far between. For the rest of us mere mortals, it's not just about finding the minutes to write. It's about silencing the voice reminding us that there is laundry to be done  and ​what about the dog, he's dying for a walk and ​are you sure you did your taxes already? ​Time itself isn't such an unusual commodity. It manifests in doctor's waiting rooms and the space between work and the gym. Physical minutes and hours can be plucked from the day, but using them solely for writing, that's the tricky part. Climbing into the world you're creating, hushing the world hanging around you, is a sometimes impossible challenge. Not because one is better than the other but because they compete. They fight like maniacs, and at the end of the day the real world always wins. Its weight is tangible. Its urgency, undeniable.

​I am a routine writer. Every morning whether it's for fifteen minutes or two hours depending on when I can eject myself from bed, I write. But of those days, only half, possibly a third, are ones where I win. Where I put up the shade that allows me to shut my eyes and see the characters twiddling their thumbs, waiting to be played with like dolls on a shelf. The other days I drudge through. I bump my head against the wall between this world and that trying to get the sensation that I'm over there. But my worries and my realities win over and those pages go in the file labeled, hey at least I wrote.

​Whatever forces of God or nature blessed me with a snow day today, I owe you. Bigtime. Before the sun came out, when the snow was settling on the real world, I was able to slip off into my own little Narnia and give a few characters closure. And that is truly priceless.  

           January 1st brings new adventures and resolutions. Each year I try to shake up my writing routine in one way or another, whether it’s a move to poetry, taking on a new editing position, or in 2017 – deciding to self-publish.
           While I’ve enjoyed a fair amount of success with my shorter pieces, I never placed a novel in the right spot. Twice I got close (I liken it to *almost* walking down the aisle but getting cold feet last minute and racing away with my book under my arm). Neither publication offers were right. One was lucrative but the compromise in my work was too great. The other publisher didn’t offer the enthusiasm for my novel that I wanted. And after a brief moment of regret, in both situations, I was comforted by the fact that a first book only comes out once, and I wanted it to be on my terms. 
           On the flip side, I’ve always held a dim view of self-publishing. As a freelance editor who worked with authors taking this path, I was often turned off by the speed with which people wanted a manuscript released and the flippant attitude towards deep editing, a ‘real’ book cover, and other staples of the publication process. Amazon is swarmed with self-published eBooks that don’t necessarily represent authors’ best works. Pair that with the fact that it’s expensive to do the right way, and self-publishing had no appeal.
       Enter working with a for-hire editor who was just amazing last year, and my ideas shifted. I first heard about her at a SCBWI conference, and together she and I rummaged through an old manuscript of mine that was really brought to life. It was the first inkling for me that while I would have to shell out some cash for the moving parts of the process, I could actually produce a novel to my standard. But unlike some of the flash jobs I’d seen, I could devote a year to the process and really put my heart into what I was doing.
       In other words, 2017, let’s do this. I’ll be blogging alternately about the writing process but also the steps I take to self-publish my YA book. And I promise to include the good, the bad, and the ugly in the hopes that if, nah make that when, I am successful, my how-to from a novice perspective may offer assistance to other folks planning to do the same.
       I hope your writing goals and resolutions all come true in this upcoming year. Happy holidays, and keep writing!
 
 
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