Middle Manuscript Syndrome

Writers often refer to their books as their babies. This may seem ridiculous to those, who do not write, but for those of us who do, we so get it. Like raising a child, a writer spends months dreaming about and laboring over the idea of their story, sleepless nights nurturing it and changing its messes, and years developing it into a manuscript we are proud to send out into world. And as with babies, the pain associated with the labor it took to bring the manuscript into the world is quickly forgotten when we are finally holding our bundle of joy.  

That being said, if books are a writer’s babies, then my YA novel SIGH, has a bad case of MMS (Middle Manuscript Syndrome.) Wedged firmly between my first YA, IN THE CREASE and my third, FINDING OBENO, SIGH is often told “Mommy’s busy” anytime its older and younger siblings need attention.

 

This photo from the Huffington Post says it all

 I began writing SIGH in 2008 and have yet to finish it. The rough draft is two-thirds complete and patiently waiting for me to return to its story. SIGH's plot charts and chapter breakdown still adorn the wall of my dining room administering a good dose of guilt every time I sit down to spend time with my other writing projects.

According to parenting sites, while older children get the benefits of all of the “firsts” a child accomplishes and younger children benefit from the emotional impact of being the baby of the family, middle children often feel left out and invisible. To counteract the effects of Middle Child Syndrome, they advise setting aside time to spend with your middle child.

So that is what I have set as my new summer writing SMART goal. Having completed my first summer writing SMART goal, finish the current revisions on my baby FINDING OBENO, I am now going to spend some quality writing time with my middle manuscript SIGH. I can’t promise that issues will not arise with my other manuscripts, which may necessitate my attention, but my new goal should alleviate some of the guilt I’ve felt over my poor, neglected middle manuscript.

Now, if only there was an easy way to deal with the guilt over neglecting my actual children and husband while I write.

  

So, fellow writers, how do you deal with juggling multiple writing projects?

How to Survive the Sharknado of Revisions

When you have been working on the same project for months…or years, there are moments when you may wonder with great despair if you are writing the Neverending Story.  

 

Since school ended, my days have been a whirlwind, nay, a Sharknado, of writing and revising my manuscript FINDING OBENO, a project that I began in April 2012. Unfortunately while caught in this twister of reworking chapters that occasionally bite, my poor blog has been neglected.

Although writing blog posts does take time away from my current project, which honestly was one of the reasons I avoided starting a blog in the first place, I have found it to be valuable. (The other reason was that as an unpublished writer, I didn’t feel I had anything to say, a fact my husband still laughs over. Apparently I have a lot to say…often, now whether or not what I say is of value is to be seen, but I digress.) Writing a blog post or online article allows me to take a piece from beginning to end in one sitting…sometimes two. This is very refreshing when you have been working on a novel. So today I’ve decided to take a step out of my Sharknado of revising to write a blog on one of my great loves: DISNEY

 

 

When I first began my writing journey, I attended several “nuts and bolts” workshops. At each workshop, the speakers advised that a writer should “Write what you know.” Well I know Disney. For those of you who have followed my blog since the beginning of its short existence, you were forewarned about my Disney obsession early on, so thank you for your continued support.  For those of you just joining us, my apologies for there is a good chance “Its’ a Small World” will mysteriously burrow into your brain by the end of this post.

 

As is evident (much to my husband’s dismay) by its slow invasion into my house and classroom, I get downright giddy when I find ways to weave Disney into teachable/inspirational moments for my kids, students and self.  How bad is my obsession? Last summer I walked around taking photos of the Disney quotes adorning the construction walls in the parks while my family ran off to get fastpasses for rides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a vast knowledge of useless Disney facts and experience in teaching, there really was only one thing for me to do: write a series of articles on the educational opportunities available in the four Walt Disney World parks.

The lovely folks at Passporter.com were kind enough to run my articles.

Magic Kingdom

EPCOT

Disney Studios

Disney's Animal Kingdom

Over the last few weeks, I have found a couple amazing blog postings about Disney and writing that now adorn the walls of my writing space!

The first is a great post using popular Disney movies to explain literary techniques.

Disney explains literary techniques

 

The second is a wonderful post about Pixar’s Rules of Storytelling.

Pixar: The Art of Storytelling

 

Writing a novel can be very isolating. Being able to write short articles or blogs on a topic you love allows you small breaks from working on your longer pieces and gives you immediate feedback from the site editors and readers, which is sometimes all the encouragement you need to dive back into your main project.

When you are working on a lengthy writing project, what side pieces do you write to keep your sanity? Do you write a blog or articles about your interests? If you do, please comment and post links. I'd love to read them.

For now; however, my break is over. I am refreshed and eager to dive back into my Sharknado of revisions with my chainsaw at the ready.

Until next time, happy writing and...
M-I-C See you real soon!
K-E-Y Why, because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E!
 

 

 

Getting to the Core of your story

Anyone who has written a query letter or synopsis knows how difficult it is to explain your 68,000+ word story in less than 250 words. It is a task writers loathe and avoid like I loathe and avoid cleaning the bathtub. Unfortunately, my hatred and avoidance of both unpleasant tasks does not eliminate their necessity.

So after completing my first YA manuscript, I visited various writing blogs about query letters and synopsis and read through dozens of successful examples. After a few months of teeth gnashing and hair pulling, I felt that I had composed a decent summary of my story.

And then I was accepted into to Stephen Roxburgh’s Editing for Writers workshop and given the following homework assignment. 

Write, in 100 words or less, the core statement of your story.

In the months preceding the workshop, I made several attempts to write a core statement for my manuscript IN THE CREASE. At one point I even summed up my story through haiku.

Fitzy moves from home
Joins a Mohawk lacrosse team
And learns to be brave

Ultimately I decided not to go with the haiku. Surprising, I know. And in late June 2011, I packed up my 100-word core statement and drove to Honesdale, PA.

During my first one-on-one session with Stephen, who had read my entire manuscript, he asked to see the statement. Upon reading it, he told me what I’d written was not the core of my story. I explained that I’d found it difficult to summarize IN THE CREASE in so few words. He explained that the limited word count was not the issue; my attempt to summarize the story was the problem.

Instead of summarizing the story, I should have been pinpointing the plot. The story is the sequence of events. The plot has causality and ties the events together. He further explained that though IN THE CREASE was a sports story, its plot dealt with deeper issues. Those issues were the core of my story. And then he sent me off to my cabin to revise the statement.

Over the next couple days I struggled with differentiating between the story and the plot, but by the end of the workshop and with much guidance from Stephen, I crafted a true core statement, which I am proud to announce weighed in at a scant 55-words.

This is the statement I wrote with Stephen’s help:

Traumatized by his father’s death and his older brother’s deployment, fifteen year-old Fitzy finds protection and guidance within the crease of a Mohawk lacrosse team, but when the team’s leading defenseman and Fitzy’s best friend dies on a smuggling run, Fitzy must discover the confidence and strength within himself to step out of the crease. 

Stephen further whittled it down to 8 words:

Fitzy’s recovery from trauma and discovery of self.

 

And then he gave me this directive:

Cut anything in your story that does not relate directly to your core statement.

Twelve months and numerous revisions later, I had cut 6 characters, 3 extraneous storylines and 200 pages. I revised my query letter to begin with my new 55-word core statement and began researching agents.

With subsequent projects, I’ve worked on crafting my core statement earlier on in the process. It keeps my writing anchored and prevents tangential storylines, which I’ve discovered I’m prone to writing.

As painstaking as it is to write a core statement for your story, I highly recommend it. As a writer, it is important that you know what lies at the core of your story, for if you can’t define what your story is about, chances are your reader won’t be able to either.