Clare Vanderpool

Reading Clare Vanderpool’s writing does nothing if not bridge gaps between reader and character, reader and setting, and especially reader and author.  As I read Moon Over Manifest, the story ran on ahead of me, drawing my childhood out of my calloused feet as if daring it to a race.  It makes you feel good without feeling patronized.  It makes you drink in history—yours, Abilene’s, Kansas’, America’s—without choking on sentiment. 

But what I find to be the loveliest thing about Clare is her website.  Moon Over Manifest won the 2011 Newbery award, which is fantastic, especially considering it was Clare’s debut novel.  But clarevanderpool.com should win its own award for staying true to Clare’s heart, even after the book was published and the Newbery won.  Reading it makes you feel like you’re part of her family, in part because she evidently forgets sometimes that people other than her family read it.  She reminds you of her connection to you, her closeness, with every blog post.  Just a few weeks ago, she wrote “2011 was a wonderful year but not only because of a special award.  Other big events:  Lucy got her braces off.  Paul got his braces on.  Luke crammed 80 high school kids in our garage for a dance and everyone survived.  Grace's singing has not broken any windows... yet.  (Lucy made me put that.)”

Clare’s work is part of her life, not its life’s blood.  She has a husband and four children, as well as a dog.  She grew up in a small town in Kansas her whole life, and she says that it was that childhood that prompted her to write Abilene’s story of wandering, of shifting.  Clare says that she has always had a strong connection to the concept of place, and that, at some point she wondered “what would a ‘true place’ be for someone who has never lived anywhere for more than a few weeks or months at a time?”  Moon Over Manifest is her response to that question.

Clare recently finished writing her next book, Navigating Early, that she says will come out next spring.  I, for one, look forward to taking off my shoes, digging my feet into the dirt, and preparing for the next race.

Mary

Just a Little Rant about Grammar

When I was in school, the rules of grammar were drilled into my head. No matter how old you get, English 101 never seems to leave your mind completely. I specifically remember my sixth grade teacher beating into our brains: “You NEVER begin a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’!” For years I would feel so incredibly stupid if I started a sentence with a conjunction. I’d quickly erase my mistake and take it with me to the grave.

                              

            However, when I started writing more, I found myself ignoring all the rules I learned when I was younger. I read other stories where the authors rebelled against those restricting grammar rules. I was baffled! So, it IS okay, I thought. If published authors can do it, then it is allowed. That’s when I split my writing personality between Novel Writing and School Writing.

            Recently I returned to school. Being an English major it’s pretty obvious that I am taking English courses. The first English course I took my first semester back kicked my a… you know…! I discovered I had developed an ego. I thought my writing style was top-notch because I did what I wanted. Then I relearned all of those grammar rules that sifted through my head over the years. While I will never pretend to understand all of the rules—Who vs. whom? Forget it!—I am much more aware of when authors break the rules.

            Alright, alright. I’ll get to my point! I recently read The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (almost done with Catching Fire, no spoilers please!). Ms. Collins breaks so many rules! Even though the story is excellent and I find myself unable to close the book, sometimes I am districted by her (I have to say it) terrible grammar! She begins many sentences with conjunctions and more than half of the story is comprised of sentence fragments. I get so aggravated when I’m reading and reading and reading and all of the sudden a wild sentence fragment appears and tears me away from the scene because I stumble over the sentence. What did that say? Wait… that makes no sense. Oh, I get it now! Why did she just at “you are” at the beginning of the sentence and make it whole?! Then I want to throw the book.

            Oh my point, right! My point is. I have decided I want to be that author that adopts a style of writing that is both unique and grammatically correct in narration. Dialogue is different but as for the person narrating (whether it be first or third person) has no reason not to narrate correctly. I don’t want my readers to stumble over the words in my novel and I refuse to dumb down my writing. I do not believe people are so illiterate that I need to be grammatically incorrect for my novels to be understood.

            Whew, okay my rant is over. If you read this far then I thank you!

            ~Tabitha, Tabby, MegaPaopu

Brittany Writes a Blog

Right in the middle of NaNo this past November, I signed up with the Writer’s Digest online sign-up... thingie. Originally, I was looking for an article that I wanted to share with my growing NaNo circle, something about 10 Writing Habits and why they were good or bad or both. I had read the article while at a client’s office and thought it would be great. Unfortunately, the online structure of Writer’s Digest meant I not only had to purchase the entire back issue but, in order to be given the chance to purchase the issue, I had to subscribe to the magazine. At the time, that was too much work and a little more money that I was good for, so that idea fell into the cracks.

However, as a direct result of this trip through the nooks and crannies of Writer’s Digest, I ended up on their email list and boy, do they have a lot to say. I receive anywhere from one to three emails a day from their website, on everything from tips for writing, editing and getting published to web conferences* on different ways to turn writing into a lucrative career NOT via a book deal. Did you know that people will pay you to write corporate memos for a living? Yeah, neither did I.

Now, like many of you, I haven’t written a single word since NaNo (except for those times when I stop dead in the grocery store to jot down a plot idea on my phone. It annoys my boyfriend to no end. The stopping, not the writing). After Jenn surprised me with an email telling me it was my week to blog (charts, what charts?), I decided my best bet was see what I could dig up out of the emails and pretend like I actually planned for this. To that end, I present: 6 Simple Ways to Reboot Your Writing.

…

Oh, you’re still here. What, you want me to write about the article about writing? What is this I don’t even - fiiine. Here is the 6 Simple Reboot tips as they apply to me. For putting this much effort out there, I expect some comments on how they apply to all of you, even if you just do one of six. Anyone doing all six obviously has as much free time as I do and probably deserves some kind of prize.

1. Your New Year artist statement: You do have one, don’t you?

I didn’t have one before reading this article/writing this blog but here is the one that I made up on the spot:

When I began writing, it was because I had all of these ideas in my head and they never stopped and I needed to do something with them. To me, that is my creative writing: a release for all of the ideas that build up and up and up and give me headaches until I give them a space to suck up paper/hard drive. As a result of all of the creative writing, my professional writing is superb and gives me the confidence in my daily work doings to think that maybe, just maybe, I’m not a complete failure.

2. Your current regimen: Still working?

I keep trying to tell myself I will have a writing schedule. I will have a time specifically set aside for writing when I will ignore the siren calls of Skyrim and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and just write. This never happens but for the handful of times it actually has and man, was it ever effective. NaNo proved to me that I felt so, so much better when I had words on the page than when I had promises to myself that I would put words on the page. There will always be excuses but there comes a time when you have to suck it up, buttercup, and get to doing. For me, that time will be... likely February.

3. Your hardware, software: Time for an upgrade?

Scrivener vs Word = no contest. Scriv was a fastastic tool for my NaNo this year and allowed me to write in workable chunks instead of feeling like I needed to keep continuing the same plot path because it was all in the same file. I sincerely hope I haven’t missed out on being able to get the discounted copy (in February) but I might just pay the full price regardless. It’s worth it.

4. Writing extracurriculars: Are you missing out?

Now, the article talks specifically about outside learning tools, such as writing conferences and web conferences*. To me, this is more about building an outside circle of people to do the local event planning for you and take you from your comfort zone. Your comfort zone is likely a lot like mine - a lot of distractions and empty promises (see #2). Getting out to write ins (while also full of distractions) creates a space where you’re encouraged to write because everyone else is writing. A location change can also inspire new wiggles in your writing - new locations, new ideas, new characters.

5. Your support network: Is it in place?

Uh, I think so. You’re all here, right?

Sometimes it can be hard to get support from the people we feel like should support us most. In high school, when my urge to write was really taking off, my mom was less supportive than I would have liked. It wasn’t until I started looking into colleges and the writing opportunities there that she actually got on the bandwagon - and then promptly fell back off when I switched majors. To that end, I don’t really go to her for support on my writing anymore, though I do go to her for other things. Sometimes we need to build our support networks out of different people for different things to get the support we really need.

6. Day planners and deadlines: Have you mapped out a path to success?

Deadlines are actually amazing motivators but as a procrastinator, deadlines also represent the least of my ability. When I wait until a deadline, I rush and when I rush, it sucks and when it sucks, I’m frustrated and suddenly less motivated to take on another project. My push to get 20,000 words out in the last four days of NaNo left me with a novel I will probably never touch again. There is a lot to be said for doing even a little bit of plot mapping. It keeps you on a track - and yes, I even mean you, members of the Illustrious League of Pantsers.

Also - This blog isn’t due until Friday and it’s only Wednesday and I’M DONE ALREADY. Deadlines be damned!


All right, your turn. How does your writing need a reboot?

Brittany


*I hate the word webinar. It’s an atrocity.

Insanity Stories

I've been writing consistently since I was fourteen. I am now twenty six, and through my years of writing short stories and novels, I have learned a few things. I don't consider myself an expert in any way, but you don't do something for twelve years without learning some things. One of these wonderful bits of insight is that writers are insane.

How so? You're really asking me how so? If you're a writer, you should already know how insane we are, but I'll humor you and fill you in on this little secret.

Most writers are naturally creative people, and many writers have different ways of working out their ideas. Some people outline obsessively. I'm talking about every single detail of their story, it's outlined in some way. Other people talk out the ideas that they have in their heads to work everything into a coherent thought. This is often done out loud with a lot of pacing involved (I'm in this group of writers). Some writers stare at the blank page for hours waiting for something to happen, this either leads to brilliant stories...or a headache and a glass of red wine. Some just write until something good flows out, then they sift through the mud looking for the diamond that they know is there. There are about a million other ticks that writers have, but you get the picture, so I'll leave it at that.

Does any of that sound sane to you? Over and over again doing the same thing? Keep on writing, and talking, and brainstorming until you finally have something to put down on paper? No! It's insane. However, what comes out of all the insanity, obsessing, and quirks is a story, and a story is about as normal as normal can be. People have been telling stories since the dawn of time...well, maybe not the first people, not much to tell....

First man: “So yesterday I realized I existed.”

Second man: “...and?”
First man: “That's it.”
Second man: “Lame story, dude!”
First man: “Lame what now?”

Stories have always been around in some form or fashion. One of the most important bits of advice I can offer people who tell me they want to write a book is this: Tell a story. It doesn't have to be an epic tome of grandeur, but make sure there's a story to follow. Reach into the insanity that is the creative mind and pluck out a beginning, a middle, and an end, then craft them into a good plot. Look for some interesting characters or creatures. Create a world to set it in, whether it's downtown New York, an alien planet, London in 1743, or a Middle Earth knockoff. Next, let your plot, characters, and world drive the story. Let go, and let the insanity take over. Write!

If you have a bunch of creative characters in a fascinating world, but no story, then your writing is going to be dull and boring. No one will want to read it because nothing is happening. The most interesting man in the world is still a boring person unless he's doing something, or something is happening to him. Something needs to happen and the characters need to engage in the world that they live to experience the story they are in.

A story is more than words on a page or screen. A story is an experience. Readers need to walk with you as you show the events that take place. They need to see it, feel it, smell it, taste it, and touch it. They need to bond with it, and feel like they're going to walk away with something when they reach the last page.

To you, the writer, it's insanity, especially the creating and writing part, but to the reader, it needs to be a story. Through the insanity, the story comes out. And let's face it, the love of stories is why we enjoy writing in the first place.

Andrew Ronzino

2012 welcomes new Write On friends

The year has barely snaked into our lives and we had our first little get together with new members invited.  It was a great meeting and having new blood makes for a new and interesting set of stranger friends.  The December 2011 challenge for current members was to write a letter to the new members letting them know why they joined our group and what it's meant to them.  Here is mine:

Dear 2012 Write On Newbies:

Being one of the co-creator’s of Write On, I helped start the group when the realization that my Nanowrimo socializing was going to end with the ending of November.   In good ole fashion conspiracy style, Liz and I conjured up a list of people who brightened our days with their wit and conversation.  I really wanted to keep laughing with a bunch of nerdy weirdos like myself.  My ulterior motive was to keep up the idea of Nanowrimo, you know, the idea of writing.  I planned to use these social gatherings as a way of keeping me going with writing and forcing me to be faithful to my hobby. 

What I got out of the group in the last year is first and foremost a bunch of nerdy weirdo friends who make me laugh till I have an asthma attack.  No lie.  Everyone in this group is unique and interesting and I have gotten to know some great people.  We only meet once a month and that’s about the only time we talk, but I can see why this silly group is a group of writers.  There is some real creativity in those noggins.  This group has also helped fuel my own creativity.  Admittedly, we have been terrible about that whole writing part but the fun we have has more than made up for it.

I’m very excited to include our newest members to the house of Write On.  All my jokes will be new to someone, all our stories will be new to someone, and maybe we’ll behave long enough to write for at least fifteen minutes.  I welcome you newbies and can’t wait to call you veterans of our group.  I hope Write On continues to write and laugh on and on for years to come.

Jennifer  

Stop the Obsession

Nanowrimo has begun.  We’re ending day two here, and I have 165 words accomplished.  Really, really bad start.  Now I’ll give myself a couple of excuses of other commitments already in place that I couldn’t, shouldn’t, or wouldn’t give up.  There was also all the fun I was having in the writing chat room when I could actually get in.  All excuses, some of them not excusable, but I’ll accept my fate on those.  After writing some of those 165 words, I discovered another flaw that’s kept me from getting any further.  My obsessing over what I already wrote.  It’s less than 200 words, and I can’t stop rereading and analyzing the words!  Gah!  No wonder I can’t move on.  I’ve forgotten some of the push on rules.  Last year, I utilized the rule not to reread during the month of November, not to correct things you know are wrong, and to just keep moving forward with speed over quality.  This is opposite of my normal writing procedure, but might be another key factor in winning that I didn’t realize until I found my old patterns creeping back up at the wrong time.  I have to relearn and reapply those important Nanowrimo rules.

Of course this is a guideline, not a rule.  A recommendation by those who have made the 50K accomplishment.  I am definitely an edit as I go along writer.  I actually feel confused at the idea of one day finishing a novel that I feel worthy of editing and trying to go back and edit it.  I feel like I don’t even understand the concept.  Pretty sure I was taught that in school.  Kinda remember the drafts, but I’ve been doing it so differently in the past countless years that it’s going to take time.  The important thing I need to keep in mind here, and maybe you too, is to forget editing at this time of Nano need.  Just keep pushing forward.  Stare at the horror later…when your stomach is off the speed train and can ride the love/hate coaster.

So first, I need to hit 50K before the end of November.  Second I need to finish a novel…beginning to end, even if it’s well beyond 50K.  Third, I have to determine if it’s worthy of editing.  Then I have to edit and/or get up the nerve to show someone.  I have novels in mind, novels that are “THEE” story, the one you are so in love with that you want everything to be perfect.  They aren’t written yet.  I still have a long way to go and a lot of love for those ideas that I don’t want to destroy them too quickly.  Let’s finish these goals first.  Last year I did 50K, but the story was far from finish, and I dropped it.  This year let’s hope I can kill two birds (or a lot of characters as we like to relate things in our world) with one stone and go 50K and beyond.  Yeesh…what a goal for someone already so far behind.

Jennifer

Oh, I seriously need a P.S. cause this is crazy.  I’m so particular with my story but an email or forum post or let’s say…blog post, get’s little to no editing treatment.  I have things really screwed up in my head.

Why NaNoWriMo matters to me.

For the past few weeks I have felt the need to justify my excitement about NaNoWriMo this year.  Part of this is due to the recruiting I have tried to do and part is because I recently thought about how different my life is this year compared to last year.  Those of you who know me will acknowledge that I can be a ball of complete eagerness pretty frequently, but in this case I have legitimate, heartfelt reasons why participating in NaNo is important to me.  So  I decided to make a list of why this November shindig matters.  And since it is my turn to blog, you get to read it.  Aren’t you lucky??

1)      The people.  Seriously, you are all amazing.  I have made some of the coolest friends ever through this whole shenanigan and cannot believe that a year ago at this time I did not know any of you at all.  It’s scary, in a way, to think that getting involved brought me such strong friendships with people I most likely would have never met.  Along with that is the community we have created- I know for a fact that those of us who were involved last year intend to draw others in this year.  Hopefully that will grow each year until we are an unstoppable Army of Awesomeness.

2)      The ability to be bad at something.  I am, admittedly, not a detail oriented person.  At.  All.  Not even a little.  Things that some people do out of habit take me a long time since I have to direct all my spastic energy towards them.  NaNo allows you to write without worrying about detail.  You have this opportunity to be creative with no limits.  This is your excuse to be whatever you can be for the sake of art and creative expression.  It’s like on “The Magic Schoolbus,” when Miss Frizzle always says “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!”  THAT is what NaNoWriMo is about.  We have to make mistakes before we can turn them in to something really magical.

3)      The chance to do something amazing.  How many people can say they wrote a novel?  Granted you may not admit that the novel was something you flew through in a caffeine induced state after getting less than 2 hours of sleep each night, but still.  It’s bragging rights and the opportunity to accomplish something that many people say they want to do but never take a chance on.  I know that writing is not for everyone, but some people get that flicker in their eyes when you talk about finishing your first novel or starting on a new story.  Those are the people that need NaNo so they can see just how attainable this goal truly is.

4)      A way out.  Everyone needs some kind of creative release or stress relief.  Many of us choose to lose ourselves in a good book, but there is something even more awesome about getting lost in a world you are creating.  It’s an escape that involves no money, risk, or danger (though murdering your characters does tap in to those sadistic urges so you should be careful.)  NaNo brought me to a place where I was able to get out of my own way and just enjoy creating.

5) Pure Enjoyment.  Think about the last time you honestly enjoyed writing something.  Maybe it was an email to a person you could not wait to type.  Maybe you got to write a note to a friend after they did something kind for you.  Maybe it was a post-it note with "I love you" scrawled in ink that was tucked  in to your child's lunch box or husband's coat pocket.  What makes NaNo so much more enjoyable is that you not only have your own happiness in working through a project but you get to live vicariously through other people’s enjoyment.  Last year I had more fun rooting for others as they finished than I did completing my own novel.  The heart and energy that goes into this project inspires me to continue to grow.

So, what are you waiting for?  Go to nanowrimo.org and sign up.  Try it out.  Get involved.  What can you lose?  Some time, possibly a little sanity, and a few bucks between Starbucks write-ins and donations to the local region... but you will gain so much more in personal satisfaction.

-Liz