Write On!

Okay, so as you know, my posts are never brief (practically unheard of) so I am apologizing in advance for what ever length this post turns out to be. An essay, a chapter — maybe a novel, who knows - hahahahahah!

Ahem ...

Deep down I'll admit being a serious, wannabe writer was a part of me, but it was all kept 'up here.' (she says tapping a finger to the side of her head) I was pretty good in school at English Lit. and English language. (We have a sightly different structure in the UK I think to the US) I loved writing long letters to my friends filled with funny little line drawings and usually lots of bad humour. I'd take a week or two to write them making them teens of pages long, using different colors for different day's entries — almost like diary writing. Sad that I actually saw these friends at school everyday and did this, but who can explain the madness of a 13-year-old, right?

I can remember reading a particular series of books when I was about 12. They were written by a girl named Jayne Fisher (here's a brief background link about her) She was roughly the same age as me. My reaction: well come on, she's published? I can do that! What impressed me most, was that she illustrated her own stories too. HAH, well I can do THAT at least, I thought. Then I grew up and took on a slightly different path in life with art & design, but I continued to read all sorts of books adult and children's, fiction and non-fiction and still do to this day.

Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake also kept the thoughts of becoming published in the children's market one day in the back of my mind — even now. Between Roald's wonderfully quirky style of writing and Quentin's adorable scratchy, humorous ink illustrations, deep down I felt I could fit in somewhere with someone and hopefully bring joy to little ones with my work like they did for me (and still do!)

My path veered around and around and upside down until a few years ago when I ventured into finding out more about the industry here in the US — naturally I was hooked and haven't stopped striving for that dream I had so long ago. But it wasn't until April 2006, when I signed up for the annual SCBWI NJ conference did I decide to see if I had anything worth pursuing when it came to writing.



I hashed a then 1200-word story together filled with flashes of my own childhood based upon a small-town sweetie shop that a fun, jolly round woman owned. Actually the story spawned from something else I tried to write, so I 'went' with it... and Jolly Miss Bonbon was born. I signed up for a manuscript critique, and low and behold the editor wanted to see a revision! WOAH! I saw her again at the 2007 NJ conference, and she remembered me! Double WOAH! And of course, she's still waiting for that revision. (something I struggle more with than writing - you want me to write it again, do you KNOW how long it took me to write this draft???)

However, and this is a big however. Since her response in June 2006 (about 18 months now) I have gotten much more serious about writing and proudly have six picture book manuscripts and one YA novel underway. One PB MS is sitting in an editor's office waiting on a dummy full of sketches and two finished sample illustrations to arrive! Two others are undergoing what is hopefully their final revision and the other three are still being crafted into something I find suitably silly enough to surrender for feedback.

Unlike illustrating or anything visual, I struggle tremendously with writing. Actually putting my thoughts down on paper is so difficult for me. My thoughts and my writing skills aren't a match made in heaven but the point is I am doing. I am not just sitting wishing or thinking about doing.

I joined a local writer's group. We are an organization built of about 40 members broken down into groups of 6. I am a facilitator for my smaller group and we are a mix of illustrator/authors and authors. We meet once a month. The majority of the group are unpublished wanting to break in. We have an eclectic melange of experience, knowledge, skills and talents right through the genres of children's book publishing. I joined the group in April of this year, just after I attended a writer's mentoring weekend in Princeton.

A couple of months after that I was invited to join a second writer's group. They told me they were looking for "fresh blood." The difference being with this group is that they are all published writers. Why on earth they want me in their group is beyond me. I figured I can certainly learn something from them, so I sat in on a couple of meetings and officially was welcomed as their newest member. The pace is much different as are the levels of writing. We discuss people's rejection letters, editor experiences, member's books due for release and critique each other's work. There are three illustrator/authors out of the 8 of us including me.

Both groups are extremely beneficial to me in numerous ways and I know I Will continue with my writing. I'm glad I pushed myself and made that leap from brain to paper.

I am totally crap at rhyme. I tried it. I was abysmal. I stopped and never did it again. Did you know Diane Ochiltree writes in prose first, gets her story 'down' and then goes back and creates the rhyme. Remarkable.

I love writing nonsensical stories that may not necessarily have a 'hidden' message and I love to use silly words that are fun to say out loud. I'm also a big fan of alliteration and find Ol' Roget and his thesaurus are my best friends when I am sat toiling over a manuscript.

I can certainly attest to being part of a critique group makes all the difference but like illustration-critiquing, it doesn't have to be a physical group. It can be done online. As I said in my comments on Courtney's post. We're part of a group already so why not push ourselves (always optional) to share manuscripts for critique also. I think setting up a private blog is better though. Just for copyright sakes and all that jazz. I'm happy to share my experiences and knowledge.
What say you ladies?