Teens Writing Creatively

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So I wanted to give my students an opportunity that few have during middle school; the chance to learn the basics of fiction from someone who has penned a novel (or 2 in my case). I am far from an expert, but through my years of writing, editing, critiquing, reading novels, and reading about writing, I have gained valuable experience that will make their early start run more smoothly than mine did.

After six craft workshops, the students will have a writing period of a month and a half with check-in dates. Then we will come together and critique/workshop their pages and hopefully end with each one having a solid short story or first chapter of a novel.

It is extremely exciting to see kids engaged in creative writing and to provide them with guidance and advice that few middle school students have access to.

My recommendation: If you love writing, share your love with others. Join a critique group. Work with kids who also love writing and encourage their excitement. I am finding immense joy in sharing my passion of writing.

Writing Journal

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What I’m working on: Still editing Treasure Hunter Tales: The Family Legend, the first book in my trilogy. My critique groups have been extremely helpful in this process. I pinpointed several scenes to focus on in a recent read aloud. Hopefully it will be ready to submit again before summer.

What I’m listening to: Broken- Seether with Amy Lee

The devil on my shoulder says: Forget about the graduate research paper and work on your fiction.

Writing Journal

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What I’m working on: Reading Treasure Hunter Tales: The Family Legend OUT LOUD. Everything sounds quite different and I’ve found several areas to improve the writing.

What I’m listening to: Absolute silence, save the occasional air flow from the furnace.

Why I’m happy: I’m done with my weekend class for the day and can relax.

The devil on my shoulder says: Drink coffee and read until finished with the book.

Writing Journal

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Finally, I think I’m refreshed and ready for the fine tuning of Treasure Hunter Tales: The Family Legend. I felt such relief when I finished the 3 month manuscript overhaul and now, having read a few books, I’m ready for another rewrite. This time, however, I’m going to have a different focus:

1) I’m starting with the pinnacle scenes.  They will come alive without a single word misplaced.

2) I’m checking every question posed to the reader and then mapping out how long I took to answer it in an effort to enhance pace and suspense.

3) Last, I’ll conduct a final polish that questions every word, sentence, paragraph, and scene. They will all hold their water in the end (oops…I cliched).

Writing Journal

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I’m starting 2010 by hitting the books. The best way to learn how to write is by writing, but my focus is on writing well. For the next month I’m putting the manuscript aside and I’m reading books on the craft of fiction. After I document my favorite bits of advice, I’m going to read classics and favorites, with an eye for how the best writers have brought stories to life. Then I’ll pick up the manuscript again.

Coming soon: Great advice on writing and where to find it.

Manuscript Overhauled

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The major manuscript overhaul is complete (cheers fill the air) and with my data from the rewrite, I’ll make some important resolutions for the New Year.

1. Kill the adverb: I eliminated over 250 ly adverbs.  

2. Don’t overwrite: My manuscript is 10,700 words lighter with several useless scenes taken out. Watch out for phrases like nodded his head. He nodded is appropriate (what else can you nod?).

3. Replace the junk: Whether it’s a scene or a sentence, if it’s not your best, fix it. I rewrote more than 11,000 words. No more began to look or was looking. Make it looked.

4. Write from your main character(s) to your audience: With a thirteen-year-old male protagonist in a fantasy novel, my story will be marketed as middle grade when it sells (yes, when). I wrote the novel with the YA market in mind and without fully understanding point of view; therefore, I have a list of deleted words that wouldn’t come out of my characters mouth or enter his thoughts. Please laugh at me….

Contempt, rationalized, loathsome, nostalgia, magnitude, pronounced, zeal, subsided, dismay, subsequent, contemplated, commence, confiscating, assimilated, epiphany, improbabilities, feverishly, aggravating, periodically, reluctance, anomaly, impulsiveness, utterly, reassuringly

Stop laughing now!

5. Show, don’t tell: Exhibit A for beginning-writer-extraordinaire…Me. Yes I was telling emotion, and character qualities, and bashing my reader over the head with over-telling. I even told my reader something was a frightening phenomenon and something else unbelievably terrible. If I haven’t tickled my reader’s spine through action, emotion, and description, then I haven’t done my job as a writer. I could write a book on how bad I was at this, but I think you get the idea.

In the end, I changed thirty-three percent of the manuscript in this overhaul through deleting and rewriting and now have a 56,073 word story (from 66,798) that sounds better, flows better, and hopefully keeps readers turning pages into the night.

 More to come after I recieve reader feedback and complete a final polish.

Holiday Writing

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Ah…finally a chance to finish my latest edit. Two weeks off school means two weeks of full-time writing.

I’m working on: A major overhaul of my first novel Treasure Hunter Tales: The Family Legend.  Only 40 pages to go for the initial word slashing (then a polish edit).

I’m listening to: LOTR Two Towers soundtrack.

My Main Character: Is inches away from being eaten at the moment.

The devil on my shoulder says: Just have him lose a finger (this time… moo hoo haa haa).

Snow Day Writing Journal (tee hee hee)

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I have a snow day!!! Finally, time to write. I just compiled cuts from my first thirteen chapters (125 pages) and I hacked 11,500 words. I replaced about 7,000 of them with tighter prose and fed the rest to the word eater (see Ninjadillo on twitter).

I’m working on: My first real edit of Treasure Hunter Tales: The Family Legend, the first book in my trilogy.

I’m listening to: The soundtrack from Beowulf

I’m happy because: Snow day equals time to write.

The devil on my shoulder says: Let wifey sleep. She’ll try to make you clean when she wakes.

Editing, Rewriting, Learning, Oh My!

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And I thought I knew how to edit (laughs at self). The truth is that I had no idea. I was afraid to cut words and rewrite and instead focused on being grammatically correct and proper word choice (which I still wasn’t too good at). Now I know better.

Ten chapters into my latest edit (two months of work) I have cut and rewritten at least 1000 words per chapter. If this trend continues I will have rewritten about thirty-seven percent of the novel. Add in a reader edit and a final polish and I could easily rewrite forty percent of a story I thought was complete a few months ago. A few tips if you are interested:

1. Read a good book on editing or fiction writing in general. Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell is a good resource (his book on plot and structure is also recommended). Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us by Jessica Page Morrell is also a fun and enlightening read which explains the major reasons for rejection.

2. Read your favorite book(s) in the same genre and compare your amount of description, dialogue, internalization, and action. Notice the flow, the emotion, and how quickly it reads and compare it to your story. (I read The Lightning Thief and The Sorcerer’s Stone again)

3. Take the reader with you by SHOWING them the scenes and connecting them through the characters and all five senses.

4. DON”T be afraid to cut the extra words and unnecessary information.  You’re scared of harming your baby, I know, so save your original story as is and then start a new file with your cut story. This was my biggest stumbling block, but I took the plunge and so far my story is the better for it.

Good luck and take your time.

Writing Journal

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I’m working on: Another edit of Treasure Hunter Tales: The Family Legend. I’ve learned a lot since the last edit (wrote the second novel) and I’m literally replacing 30-40% of the words.

I’m listening to: Owl City: Fireflies

I’m happy because: Thanksgiving break means time to edit this week…sinister smile.

The devil on my shoulder says: There is nothing wrong with full bodied coffee at 9:30 at night.

Other News: I updated my website with a new novel excerpt, added music, and a new (still being developed) book trailer. See Links.