Becoming and Staying Productive with Writing

We’re ending the fifth month of the year. Back in January, many writers had manuscript ideas popping and cracking as if trying to explode onto paper. The passion was sizzling. But as we write and the sentences don’t flow quickly or in any semblance of rhythm, the flame of passion for writing can cool to an ember, if that.

This happens to many writers, including me. If it also happens to you, take time to figure out why you’re writing. Do you have an appetite for storytelling? Do you write because you love it? If so, the words will come. Perseverance leads to success. Along the way, you face heartbreaking moments, those times when you KNOW, you are certain the editor will contact you with great news because you’ve been exchanging emails and phone calls; then the unbelievable happens. After all those rewrites and time and anxious moments, you receive a rejection. Pain as real as a punch shoots clear to the heart and hammers it.

Perseverance also brings joyful surprises. You may have sent out a manuscript so long ago, you simply forgot about it and gave up hope. Then out of the blue, an editor contacts you with a YES. 

The day-to-day writing schedule can be more hum-drum than kicking-up-heels exciting, but those moments when your writing connects with an editor or a fan contacts you stating that your book, your literary baby, was her favorite, takes the mere ordinary into the extraordinary stratosphere. That’s the magic of writing, the magic that fires a writer’s passion to produce more and better storytelling.

Persevere and you will find success in writing. Persevere and experience the magic.

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Skipping Stones. Writings (essays, stories, letters to the editor, riddles and proverbs, etc.) should be typed or neatly handwritten and limited to 1,000 words and poems to 30 lines. We encourage writings in all languages with an English translation, if possible. And, we love illustrations! Please send originals of your drawings, paintings, or photos to our post office box address below. Include your name, age, and address along with your submission.

Submission guidelines at http://www.skippingstones.org/submissions.htm

Since schools are dismissing for summer, I’ll discontinue Call for Submissions for Young writers until September.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Skipping Stones. Our readers, ages 7 to 17, hail from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. We want to make their reading of Skipping Stones an active experience, relevant to issues confronting them locally and globally. Writing and artwork by adults should challenge readers to think, learn, cooperate and create.

We encourage adults to submit creative informational stories rather than pure fiction. We prefer submissions focusing on your own culture or experiences. No adult poetry, please. 

Submission guidelines at http://www.skippingstones.org/submissions.htm#adult

I’ll resume Call for Submissions for Young Writers in September.

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 50+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. Check out her blog at www.nancykellyallen.com

Writing Visually

Most of the books I’ve written are picture books. They look simplistic. Not! This type of writing uses two techniques to tell a story: words and pictures. The story moves and changes with every sentence, and every page needs action so the illustrator can assist in moving the story forward. 

Illustrations do more than capture images of the text. They also capture the mood and behavior of the character. The setting and plot are enhanced through the art and give the reader much more information that can be found in the storyline. Some picture books tell more of the story through text and some tell more through illustrations. The range of text-to-illustrations in picture books is wide and varied.

Writers paint with words and the better we paint the better the image. In writing TROUBLE IN TROUBLESOME CREEK, I wrote in the first draft “James ran.” The words would communicate the idea to the reader but not in an interesting way. In revision, the text evolved to “James sure can make the dust fly as he picks them up and puts them down.” Voice is the quality of the writer’s words. That quality is reflected in surprising the reader with your own unique way of describing the action. Clichés water down the quality of writing because the surprise element is missing.

I always consider how my words can support the illustrations and provide hints to the action in the background. This is called writing visually. When I receive the first galley, I’m always amazed to see how the text influenced the art and how the two work together. 

Call for Submissions for Young Writers:

Launchpad. A bimonthly magazine dedicated to publishing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, book reviews, and artwork written and created by children ages 6-12.

Submission guidelines at http://www.launchpadmag.com/write/

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers: 

Bumples is an INTERACTIVE online magazine for children three- 10 years of age. Bumples specializes in illustrated fiction about children and animals in mysteries, sports, poems and fantasies with serialized adventures in each issue.
Stories are uniquely supplemented with puzzles, question games, and activities, all of which makes Bumples storytelling all the more engaging. Interesting information on a topic is always fun to explore after enjoying a great reading experience. Consequently, Bumples adds factual postscripts to complement each story.

Submission guidelines at http://www.bumples.com/WritersGuidelines.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 48 children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. 

Leave a message or check out my blog at www.nancykellyallen.com

Picture Book Revision, part 1

           Whew! The first draft is finished looks more like a lump of coal than a polished gem, but coal is good. The revision process starts now. Here are some “coal” hard facts:

The manuscript needs structure with a tight arc that clearly defines the beginning, middle, and ending. Many picture books suffer from an ending that’s too short or a beginning that’s too long. Writers accomplish this with a setup of three obstacles the character must face, each obstacle increasing in difficulty and leading toward a climax. Ideally, the beginning is about 20% of the manuscript, the middle is 60%, and the ending is 20%.

Here’s a burning question I always ask myself: Does the character accomplish what s/he sets out to do and without intervention by an adult? If not, rethink the plot.

Condensed writing. Keep the story less than 600 words, under 500 words is preferable with many publishers. The key to tight writing is to cut, cut, cut words. If the words don’t promote the plot or develop the character, axe them. Every word must help tell the story. Chop words that don’t paint pictures: it, there, just, that.

Allow illustrations to work for you. Since I’m not a writer, I have to constantly think about what can be shown with art. Facial expressions, color of clothes, etc. Think visually.

Burning question number 2: Have I communicated a particular idea? If so, it doesn’t need to be repeated, unless I’m using a repetition phrase intentionally for the purpose of rhythm and storytelling.

In my next blog, I’ll continue with more tips on how to polish that lump into a gem.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE. Highlights for Children is a general-interest, advertising-free magazine for children up to age 12. Stories for younger readers (ages 3 to 7) should have 500 words or fewer and should not seem babyish to older readers. Stories for older readers (ages 8 to 12) should have 800 words or fewer and should be appealing to younger readers if read aloud. Frequent needs include humor, mystery, sports, holiday and adventure stories; retellings of traditional tales; stories with urban settings; and stories that feature world cultures. Payment $150 and up. Rebuses should have 120 words or fewer. Pays $100 and up. Nonfiction pays $150 and up.

Submission guidelines at https://www2.highlights.com/contributor-guidelines

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 40+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. Check out her blog at www.nancykellyallen.com

First Draft, part 2

I’m making progress on my manuscript. In fact, the first draft stands on its own in black and white. Or does it? When I wrote The end, which are the two words I always delete prior to submission, Inner Critic decided the ending doesn’t work because it needs some surprise or twist. At this point I don’t have it. That means unless I can devise some clever ending, publication simply is not going to happen. (Inner Critic’s usual negative chatter shouts loud and clear.)

No magic formula exists for writing a manuscript that will capture an editor’s “ear,” but picture books have guidelines. Endings are especially difficult because they have to tie up loose ends and create a satisfying ending. If the reader figures out from the beginning how the ending will unfold, the enchantment of the storytelling is lost.

What I need at this moment is a story-ending machine. I feed it my beginning and middle and Kazam! out pops the effective, sustaining ending. Unfortunately, the big box stores don’t carry this product. Outta luck.

I’m playing with different endings. Something unexpected that surprises readers, or humors them, or leave them with a warm feeling of contentment, or a cliffhanger, a situation in which the ending is left to the interpretation of the reader.  (Thanks, Muse, for these ideas.)

Which will it be? By next week, I’ll know (I hope. Shhhhh, Inner Critic!) and fill you in on the process.

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers

Empty Sink Publishing is looking for professional-quality fiction and creative non-fiction submissions that stretch the mind, defy convention, and offer a new perspective on life.  

Submission guidelines at http://emptysinkpublishing.com/submissions/ 

Nancy Kelly Allen has written 40+ children’s books and a cookbook, SPIRIT OF KENTUCKY: BOURBON COOKBOOK. Check out her blog at www.nancykellyallen.com

Ways to Improve Writing

Today, I’m continuing the series “Ways to Improve Writing.”

Play into a character’s emotions as you write. By showing the reader how the character feels, the character seem more real, and that is the goal.

Fear flooded my entire body as I watched the bear walk closer. The reader is not going to feel the character’s fear because the character isn’t feeling it. The emotion has not been revealed. Stating that a character feels fear is telling.

Show how the character feels and reacts. The bear walked closer. My hands trembled and my heart pounded so hard, it hammered my ears works much better because you have placed the reader in the middle of the action. Emotions trigger a body’s physical reactions.

Thoughts and dialog also suggest emotions.

Thought: Why can’t he just shut up? And dialog: “You think I did what?”

Use such mental and verbal responses to showcase a character’s feelings. The more real the character, the more engaged the reader.

Website for Young Writers:

The only way to become a storyteller is to tell stories. The way to become a better storyteller is to learn new storytelling skills. And the way to become the best storyteller is to develop your own storytelling techniques. The best way to do all this is to explore many different kinds of storytelling. To find a storytelling project, with a story, craft, and activity, that you can do right now, stop in at the ClubRoom Page to learn about telling a Story Sprite Story with Storytellling Cards.

Details at http://www.storycraft.com/index.html

Call for Submissions for Adult  Writers: CHICKEN SOUP: HOLIDAY EDITION

Everyone loves holiday stories and that’s why our holiday books are so popular. In fact, we create a new edition for Christmas/Hanukah every other year. We are now collecting stories for our Holiday 2015 book and we are defining Christmas as the entire December holiday season, including Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and the New Year’s festivities too. We want to hear about your holiday memories and traditions. If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story and you will retain the right to resell it.

Deadline January 31, 2015.

Submission guidelines at http://www.chickensoup.com

Writing a Middle Grade Novel/Call for Submissions/Call for Submissions

Today, I’m continuing the series, Writing a Middle Grade Novel.

Let’s focus on pacing. Like movies, some books are loaded with action-packed thrills; others reveal bit-by-bit action in slow motion. The flow of the plot is called pacing. One key to good writing is to determine the pace of your story. Too much narrative may slows the story down to a stall. Too much dialog my move it along at too snappy a pace. Both are needed. Dialog helps to develop the character and promote the plot. Narrative shows action and setting details. Finding a balance for your novel is vital to great storytelling. Here are some elements to consider: 

Open the story with action or an interesting event that will hook the reader. The first line should instantly intrigue, or amuse, or create thought.  

Backstory, such as a character remembering something that has already happened, will not engage the reader as much as the reader seeing the action as it takes place. One rule that many writers use is to start on the minute the character’s life is different. That means to start in the middle of the action, at a place that is a big moment in the character’s life. The snazzy word for this is medias res, translated to “in the middle of the action.” Use narrative and dialog to provide past details as they are needed by sprinkling them throughout the text.

Avoid the informational dump. This often happens at the beginning of a story where an author introduces a character’s background. If you’ve ever been told that you story actually begins on the second or third page, because that’s where the action is, you probably have added too much background information in the opening.

 

Call for Submissions for Adult Writers:

Highlights Current Needs:

Authors may send their work directly to the editors whose current needs are listed below. Manuscripts should be sent to (Editor's Name), Highlights, 803 Church Street, Honesdale, PA 18431.

Fiction for Beginning Readers (Ages 6 to 8), up to 500 words, Joëlle Dujardin, Senior Editor

Fiction for Independent Readers (Ages 8 to 12), up to 800 words, Joëlle Dujardin, Senior Editor

Crafts, up to 150 words, Annie Beer, Editorial Assistant

One-Page Activities, up to 275 words, Linda Rose, Associate Editor

Puzzles, Games, Recipes, and Activities, Linda Rose, Associate Editor

Nonfiction for Beginning Readers (Ages 4 to 8), up to 500 words, Debra Hess, Senior Editor

Gallant Kids, up to 400 words, Debra Hess, Senior Editor

Science, 800 words (two-page features), 400 words (one-page features), 50 words (activities), Andy Boyles, Science Editor

History and World Cultures, up to 800 words, Carolyn Yoder, Senior Editor

Submission guidelines and article details at https://www.highlights.com/current-needs.