How to Write More – Tips and Tricks for a Quick First Draft by author Jo Hart #ChaBooChaLite

How to Write More - Tips & Tricks 

for a Quick First Draft

by Jo Hart

Committing to write a certain word count within a short period of time can be daunting. You start the first week or so with high motivation and the words spill out onto the page. However, after the first or second week, your motivation starts to lag and the words don’t flow quite as easily.

From my years participating in NaNoWriMo and ChaBooCha, I’ve learned a few tips and tricks to help get out decent chunks of words in a short amount of time. This has been especially vital for me as I’ve always had to fit my writing into small spaces of time due to kids and work.

1. Start With an Outline. This one is a bit too late for this round of ChaBooCha, but something to keep in mind for future writing challenges. Having an outline, even if it is as simple as having a beginning, problem and ending worked out, will help you keep momentum going. Knowing in advance how you want the story to end means, even if you veer off on different tangents while you are writing, you always know where you are going and have something to write towards. This helps a lot with staving off writer’s block.

2. Turn Off All Distractions. Turn off your phone or put it away. Close your internet browser. It’s so easy to ‘just check Facebook’ and find yourself pulled into the rabbit hole of the internet. Choose writing over TV. Sometimes I grab my old school notebook and pen and go sit outside to write. P.S. Writing outside is a good way to write when you have kids. They’re happy playing while you can watch them easily and write at the same time.

3. Write or Die. If you haven’t heard of this you need to check it out: writeordie.com. Basically you set yourself a goal (eg: 200 words in 30 minutes) and set a punishment. If you stop writing for too long the punishment comes into effect. The punishment might be as gentle as a reminder to keep writing or as severe as erasing your words! It’s a great motivator and a great way to churn out those words in a short amount of time or push past writer’s block.

4. Just Write. Don’t worry about fixing typos as you go, or wondering if that dialogue sounds right, or going onto Google to research how people dressed in the 15^th Century. That’s the sort of stuff that can wait until you go back to do revisions. If you’re not sure if something is accurate (eg: 15^th century clothing or modern day forensics) just write what you think, for now, and highlight it or put some kind of place marker so you can research it later during revisions. When you stop to fix or research, you derail the flow of your writing. The aim for your first draft is to keep getting words down on the page until you get to the end.

5. Raise the Stakes. If you’re struggling to get through writing a scene in your manuscript because it’s tedious, raise the stakes! Chances are if you’re finding it boring to write, your reader will find it boring to read. Make it exciting. Add conflict.

6. Reward Yourself. Give yourself incentive for reaching goals, eg: hit 10,000 words, buy that new book you’ve been eyeing off. Alternatively, you could make deals with yourself, eg: you can only crack open that double choc fudge ice-cream if you hit 1500 words today, or you can only watch that movie on TV tonight if you hit 2000 words.

*****

Jo Hart is an Australian author with stories published in a variety of anthologies and online. Her writing blog johartauthor.com (which contains a multitude of articles and links for writers) is currently celebrating its 6^th blogiversary. As part of the celebrations. Jo is running a COMPETITION where you can WIN an advanced copy of her soon-to-be-released short story collection Beautiful & Deadly. Also among the prizes is a chance to have an in-depth critique of your story (up to 10,000 words). Visit johartauthor.com to enter the draw!

You can find Jo on Facebook at facebook.com/JoHartAuthor and on Twitter at twitter.com/gracefuldoe

School Visits by Y. I. Lee #ChaBooCha

School Visits

I’ve been fortunate to have the privilege of going into local schools with my children’s book, "A Rat and A Ransom."

It’s so encouraging when the future generation enjoys reading. They are a delight to be with. In most instances, I would meet the children in their class room, but at the last school I visited, a week ago, we were in the school hall. There were children from three class rooms, averaging around sixty pupils. They filed into the hall and sat in front of me, on the floor.

I always love their excitement and enthusiasm. It can be a little daunting at first, to have so many expectant faces focused on you, but I’m used to it now and enjoy the experience.

The children had written down the questions they wanted to ask me, and considering the average age was nine, the questions were intelligent and sometimes challenging. They wanted to know about the publishing process, even editing, which came as a surprise - until the teacher explained that the children were doing their own writing and learning to edit. 

It thrills me when I hear children love to write, as well as reas - some budding authors for the future I think!

The question and answer session was great fun, but reading to them is my personal favourite. The fact that I’m reading from my own book makes it particularly special.

The children are so attentive, overawed I guess by the fact that an author is in their school and reading to them.

It’s a real privilege, to be trusted with such an amazing responsibility.

It’s not easy for an author to go into schools, these days. However, for any author wishing to do so, here are a few suggestions:

The easiest option, and the one I was able to take advantage of, is to approach a teacher’s assistant. I was fortunate to be close friends with two, both work in different schools, in my area. They each took a copy of the book and showed it to the head teacher.

The one school invited me in right away, and I spent one afternoon a week, for a month, reading to the children and answering any questions they might have. This was a particularly nice experience, as, over the month, I built a relationship with the children and their teacher.

At the end of my time there, I presented the school with a couple of free books for their library.

The school I visited recently were given a copy of my book, and, for quite some time, I heard nothing until my friend reminded the teacher.

We have to remember, teachers are extremely busy! She had no spare time to read the book, so gave it to one of her pupils to read.

He really enjoyed it, and to everyone’s surprise, he wrote a review, and a few days later I was invited to attend an afternoon session with the children.

I was so impressed with the pupil's review; I presented him with a mug, bearing the image of the book cover.

A photographer from the local paper came and took photos.

A child, who excels in reading and writing, is definitely news worthy.

It’s a good thing if local authors can go into schools. It encourages the children. They love to meet and talk to a real author, and I know from what the teachers have said…children are inspired to read more and try their hand at writing. So it’s a win, win situation.

I would encourage all authors to go into schools if they can.

Find someone who has contact with the school.

Give the school a copy of the book to look through. They will want to check it is suitable for their children to read.

Don’t harass them, but if you don’t hear anything for a while, get in touch through your contact working at the school, or if you don’t have one, pop in. Schools are busy places and they may well have forgotten.

Most times a personal approach works well.

Also, if you have a friend, whose children attend the school, you would like to visit, give them a copy of the book. The parent’s recommendation can open the door for you.

Then there are the school governors. If you know such a person, give them a copy and ask if they would read it, and if they think it is suitable, recommend it to the school.

And always offer some free copies of you book for the school library.

I hope what I’ve suggested is helpful. Getting authors into schools can only be a positive thing!

***** 

 About the Author

Y. I Lee genre is Y/A Fantasy. "The Shadowed Valley," her first book, was published in 2011, followed by "A Rat and a Ransom," published in  2012. Her third novel, "Through a Glass" was published in 2012 and the sequel "Through a Glass: Gathering Storm" was published in 2014. You can find her book on her Amazon author page.

*****  

Give-away

Y. I Lee has generously offered to donate a copy of her book "A Rat and a Ransom" as a prize for ChaBooCha members. If you are already signed up for the challenge, all you have to do to qualify for the drawing for the prize is to comment on this blog post. Be quick as the drawing will be done tomorrow, the 31st of March, at noon PST. Good luck!

Marketing Madness - But It Doesn't Have to Be by author Jackie Castle #ChaBooCha

Marketing Madness... But It Doesn't Have To Be 

Fact is, children generally do not buy their own books. Parents do. So, how can you catch, first a parent's interest, then draw in children? Here's a few tips I've thought about and plan to try implementing when my middle grade series, The Watchers is released this spring.

Use Pinterest to Gain Interest

Pinterest is a wonderful place to draw interest in your stories. Start early by following libraries, book interest groups and Kid-lit bloggers on Pinterest. Set up a board for not only your favorite children's books, but set up a board and pin anything that's related to your book. Is it a fictional story? There are loads of scenery and character inspiration pictures you can find and pin to your story board. Make a small note on why you included that link or picture. If you're writing non-fiction? Look for inspirational memes, articles or pictures that will go along with your topic.

Use a Blog Site to Make It Fun

Create a blog that revolves around your story world or topic. Provide extended learning activities to go along with your story or book. Character sketches. Fan art. Extra scenes. Notes, facts or bits of story background written by one of your characters.

Think outside the box and think of the other groups of people who might be willing to purchase your book for a child. Teachers. Home School Parents. Librarians. Daycare Teachers.

Can you provide a list of vocabulary words? How about math or social studies lessons to go along with the book?

My series The Watcher's deals with nature conservation, so I'll be including lessons about nature, recycling, protecting wildlife and other topics on my Watcher's book series blog.

If you have illustrations, see about offering coloring pages that can be printed and colored.

Create videos you can put up on YouTube, your website or other social networking sites. Read part of your book. Show pictures of a character and talk about them. Again, think outside of the box. Think of what can you do, that a parent will want to show their child to help entertain them? Keep it simple. Keep it fun.

Posting on Promotional Sites

Invest some funds on purchasing ads on book promotion sites.

There are many who will help get your book out to people who are looking for... well, books. Some you will pay a lot, but many only require a small fee. Do some research, see what the audience is for various promotional sites. Maybe often promote children's books.

Moving Away From the Computer, now....

Schedule school visits in your area. Better yet, zone in on a writing lesson you can teach children. Offer your workshop for free with the allowance of selling your books. Print up a list of your books for children to order before the workshop and the price of each book. Make sure your presentation is good, and then ask the teachers for feedback.

Check with your local library about speaking on your topic, or offering a workshop and selling your books. Again, you can teach writing lessons, or offer summer classes.

Craft Fairs and Book Fairs are both places families will visit. Check into setting up a vendors booth.

Resources:

- Joanna Penn at The Creative Pen offers tips on marketing, and does weekly podcast about the writing life. There is one podcast that deals with marking children's books.

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2014/01/14/books-for-children-karen-inglis/

- Six Powerful Ways To Market Children's Books.
http://www.30daybooks.com/six-powerful-ways-to-market-childrens-books/

- Katie Davis is a great resource on marketing kids books. Tune into her Brain Burps About Books podcast for tips and ideas on marketing and the kid-lit world.  

http://katiedavis.com/

- Children's Book Insider and another great resource for all things dealing with Children's books. There is a membership fee, but they offer a wealth of tips and training for children's writers. http://cbiclubhouse.com/clubhouse/

*****

About the Author

Jackie Castle graduated from UT Southwestern Medical Center of Dallas. She is a published freelance writer, storyteller and former elementary school educator. She lives in Texas with her husband, children, and dog, Ginger (aka ginger-roonie).

Her favorite pastime, besides reading, is traipsing through the worlds of Alburnium or Fae in search of another story.

She looks for the extraordinary in the ordinary in everything she experiences.

Find out more about her shenanigans over at Jackie Castle's Story World: www.jackiecastle.com where you can find links to her own book blog sites.

The White Road Chronicles http://jackiecastlebooks.blogspot.com

Visit The Castle Library for reading adventures. http://castlereads.blogspot.com

*****

Give-away

Today's prize is a copy of "The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression" by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. If you don't already have this book, you really should get it. If you are already signed up for the challenge, all you need to do to enter the drawing for this book is to comment on this blog post. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on March 31st at noon and will be announced later the same day.

Getting Through the First Draft by Wendy Orr #ChaBooCha

Getting Through the First Draft

First drafts are scary. You take those beautiful images, people and plot that have been floating around in your mind and pin them down with words: concrete symbols on paper. The fear is that they’ll be as dead as a butterfly pinned to a board, no longer free to flutter gracefully from flower to flower.

And that’s true. Much of the first draft will be dead. (I’m talking about normal people here, and of course by normal I mean writers like me, not the rare genius who writes perfect first drafts. They may exist; I haven’t met them.)

So I’ll stop using the second person – this is how I experience and get through first drafts. Depending on how I count books, the one I’m in now is either my 34^th or 51^st, but it doesn’t make much difference: it’s a new story, a slight change of genre, a challenge in style… and I have to sort it all out again as if it were my first.

Some days, if I look back over what I’ve written, it seems that so much of the first draft is absolute crap, that I might as well just stop writing now – or go back and start editing before I go on.

Other days it all seems so brilliant that when I suddenly realise something I need to alter early on, I think I might as well spend the time and really polish that scene, or even the whole draft up to now.

I tweeted that dilemma the other day. An emerging writer tweeted back that I should go back and polish; an editor friend (actually my very first editor) – said, ‘Finish that draft and revise when you’re done.’

She’s absolutely right.

Because even if some of your first draft is suitable only for the trash, or the delete key, it’s still there. You’ve got something down on paper or on screen, and once it’s there it can be revised. But you need to see the whole shape of the story before you start revising, and you can’t see it until you write it.

With the present story, I have a pretty good map for where I’m going: thorough synopsis, lots of notes, and a list of scenes for the next section. But there are still surprises, because I don’t always see the psychological significance of a scene until I’ve written it, and that may alter what needs to happen next, or even what happened way back in Chapter 1. Other times there’s a logical link that I hadn’t seen when it was a floaty image; it’s not till I’m putting the words down that I realise she couldn’t have got where she was going from where I had her. Or even realising that another character needs more of his own scenes.

The point is that if I spent a week polishing Chapter 1 into absolute perfection, that work will all be wasted when I get to Chapter 13 and realise that the story will be much stronger with an incident or insight or even just a few words altered in the beginning.

Worse than wasting the time is the temptation to waste that insight. I find it very hard to change words that I’ve polished to perfection, that I’ve read aloud and heard sing exactly the way I want to. Once they’re at that stage, it’s very difficult to simply go and slot in another paragraph or two, because of course every sentence that’s changed impacts on the sentence after it.  Or maybe I’ll actually just have to delete that whole lovely scene – and at that point it’s easy to start questioning whether that scene in Chapter 13 is as important as I thought?

So here are a couple of my tools for pushing through to the end of that first draft:

1) Honour yourself for the effort. You are creating something new that has never been created before. Don’t be surprised if it’s sometimes exhausting.

2) Spend time thinking about your characters and their motivations (I’ve blogged on this on my own blog.)

3) Remember that it’s completely natural to love and hate your writing on different days.

4) Truly hold in your mind that this is a first draft. It’s okay if some of it is boring, if you repeat yourself, if some of your similes are trite and your sentences clumsy. It’s okay if there are bits that don’t make sense. The second draft is where you start to fix the logic and the bigger repetitions, and draft after draft, you’ll fix the boring bits, the stereotypes and the unintended rhymes.

5) Be prepared to discover that the story is not going to be exactly how you pictured it. I think that is one of the most exciting things about writing – enjoy it!

6) A first draft gives you the chance to experiment, play and fail. You will never write anything great without that chance.

7) Honour your deadline. It’s a great way to concentrate the mind – participating in something like the Chapter Book Writing Challenge is a great idea.

8) And for when I really want to go back and start fiddling around before I go on:

   a) If it’s a whole, significant scene, as the one I’m referring to was, I write it while it’s fresh in my mind, starting on a new page. I drop it into the story where it needs to go, and with a great effort of will, leave it alone. I don’t worry about how it segues on from the previous section or leads on to the next (okay, I worry, but I don’t act on it).

   b) If I see a more minor link that I think needs to be added or altered, I add a note in italics or on a  footnote. Here’s one from yesterday: Has she lost her cloak? Probably better. How?  

9) Remember that even though you’re doing this because you love it, it won’t always be easy. Meditate or use techniques such as EFT tapping to get you through. 

Good luck to all!

About the Author

photo by Roger Gould

Wendy Orr is the internationally published and award-winning author of more than thirty books, ranging from picture books to adult. In 2008 Nim’s Island was released as a Hollywood feature film starring Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler; Return to Nim’s Island, based on Nim at Sea and starring Bindi Irwin as Nim, followed in 2013. Her most recent book in Australia is the third in the series, Rescue on Nim’s Island, which was published in 2014 by Allen & Unwin and is in development as a film. A Nim’s Island television series is also in development. Her most recent publications in the USA and Canada are the first two books of the Rainbow Street Animal Shelter series: Lost! A Dog Called Bear, and Missing! A Cat Called Buster, published by Square Fish. 

www.wendyorr.com

www.wendyorrjournal.blogspot.com

Twitter: @wendyorr

Pinterest: wendyorr1

Like onFacebook

Give-away

Today's give-away is "Writing Plots with Drama, Depth and Heart: Nail Your Novel (Volume 3)" by Roz Morris. If you are a signed-up member of the challenge, all you need to do to be entered into the drawing for this book is to comment on this post (on the blog). The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on March 31st.

Muddling Through the Middle by Melissa Gijsbers #ChaBooCha

Keep Going Through the Middle

It’s about the half way point of the Chapter Book Challenge, and we’re all at different points in our journey. Some people are powering along, and others are still just starting. Wherever you’re at, well done. You are further along in your book than you were at the start of the month.

It is also the point when many of us start slowing down and getting burnt out.

Don’t worry; you’re not the only one feeling like this.

I’ve been participating in the Chapter Book Challenge since the start and here are some of my tips for getting through the middle:

Take a break – A night off can make a huge difference. I now factor in a night off when I’m planning my writing time.

Sit somewhere different – Maybe you just need a change in scenery. Take your notebook or laptop to a café, or even just sit on the couch if you usually sit at a desk. A change is as good as a holiday, right?

Use a different medium – If you normally write on a computer, try writing a chapter in a note book, or vice versa. It’s the same idea as writing somewhere different as a change can help you get a new perspective and help get you excited about your writing once more.

Get some feedback – Sometimes it can be helpful to get a bit of feedback on what you’ve written so far. It could be from other members of the challenge, or from someone in your family. I get feedback from my kids.

Review your research – If you’ve been doing a lot of research for your book, reviewing your research can give you a fresh perspective on your topic, or give you some ideas for things you could include. Even if no new ideas come, it can help you get excited about your topic again.

Whatever you do to refresh yourself, keep going. There is still half the month left. You can do it.

About the Author

Melissa Gijsbers is an Australian author and blogger. She has had flash fiction stories feature in a number of anthologies and her first children’s book, Swallow Me, NOW! was written in the 2013 Chapter Book Challenge, and was published in October 2014. When she’s not writing or coming up with ideas for stories, she’s running around after two active boys and working in the family business. You can find her online at MelissaGijsbers.com or on Facebook. 

Give-away

Melissa Gijsbers has generously offered an e-book copy of her book "Swallow Me, NOW!" as a prize for one lucky member. If you are a signed-up member of the challenge, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post in order to be entered into the drawing. the winner will be selected by a random number generator on March 31st.

Crafting appealing cover art - guest post by Julia Stilchen #ChaBooChaLite

Cover Design for "SuperHERo Tales" created by Julia Stilchen

Crafting Appealing Cover Art for your Chapter Book

The book cover designing process can be exciting and an easy process if you understand what to look for and plan out the concept.

Before you get started, it is best that you have done your research and have defined your target audience and age range. There are generally two types of chapter books: early readers (6-8 years) and older chapter books (7-9 years).

Chapter book covers are often depicted with a main character especially if it is a character driven series. 

Things you should consider for a concept:

• Think about what message you want to portray with the main character. The message needs to stay consistent with the main theme of the story.
• Does the typography of the title match with the theme? Is it legible? Script fonts are to be avoided in most situations because they can get lost or they just don’t have much readability as a clean and bold type would.
• Are you using elements that are also consistent with the theme?
• Choice of color palette - colorful, dark and mysterious, etc.
• The layout and composition. Do not depict characters standing idle in a stick position. Have them in the middle of an action. This is far more engaging and appears more natural. Keep in mind things like spacing and contrast, so that both the title and the cover art stand-out but do not conflict with the other.
• Genre/tone. If your book has a lot of humor, then showing the main character in a humorous moment is ideal and consistent to the tone of the book. Same goes with other genres.
• Visual metaphors that evoke an emotion or intrigue in the viewer.
• Think about the type of art style you want to use. If your book has comic book elements, the cover art style should have that also.

A book cover should be attention grabbing. Its goal is to generate interest. It is a marketing tool. You want kids to stop and beg their parents to buy your book, and the cover is the first thing the viewer will see. First impressions are important to gain interest and help increase sales.

With the amount of books published today, you want to put forth the best design possible. So a cut and paste design really doesn't stand up against its competitors especially if they are professionally designed.

Research and study other chapter book covers. What appeals to you most likely has appeal to kids too. Observe products that are sold in stores, packaged for children. Having a graphic design background, it helped me to understand the emotion behind a design. Does it evoke intrigue? Excitement? Humor? Adventure?

Design several concepts as rough drafts. Compare and choose one that contains the best potential while keeping the above elements in mind. But keep things simple. Do not overload the cover with unnecessary clutter, or else the typography and visual message you are portraying will get lost. The saying “Less is More” holds a lot of truth. Kids these days have shorter attention spans, so narrow the art down to focus the theme/message of the story without it being overwhelming to view it.

Have fun with it, and the more you practice, the more familiar the entire process becomes in designing appealing book covers!

***** 

Julia Stilchen loves writing stories for all ages. She works from her bat cave, mischievously plotting mishaps for her characters as they embark on fantastical adventures in otherworldly places to confront dangerous and daunting villains! Muhahahah! When she is not plotting or daydreaming, she spends time with her husband and two children where they create adventures of their own. She created the book cover for "SupeHero Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories" and also puts together wonderful book trailers. To learn more and see current developments, visit online at http://www.juliastilchen.com.

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Alas, there are no more prizes to offer this month, but I hope you will leave a comment anyway. 

Writing Snippets - Guest post by Melissa Gijsbers (plus a giveaway)! #ChaBooChaLite

My 10 year old son is a budding composer. He loves how different notes sound on the piano and putting them together to make a piece of music. He has an amazing ability to tell a story using music.

A couple of months ago, I sat and watched him with his piano teacher as they told the story of a train leaving the platform and a man who missed that train because he was caught in the toilet!

Most recently, he’s been playing around with Garage Band, an app on my iPad that helps with composing music. Right now, he’s working on a piece about feeling sick and recording snippets of music he plays on the piano ready to mix later. Often, he’ll hear them back and think they’re rubbish, but his piano teacher told him to never delete them. You never know when they’ll be perfect to put into a composition.

What does this have to do with writing chapter books? I hear you ask. Hang in there, it will become clear.

I find that there are some days I sit down to write and will write a snippet of a story. It may be a scene, or a paragraph or a single line. Sometimes I look at this snippet and think it’s rubbish and should be thrown away, but I keep it.

I’ve found that every now and again, I’ll stumble on that snippet and find it’s the basis for a story or will fit perfectly into something I’m already writing. That character name I jotted down on the back of a receipt while I was driving might be the perfect name for my next villain, or the paragraph I wrote as part of an exercise at writers group might be the perfect opening to a new story. That silly line I wrote while waiting to pick up kids from after school activities might even fit to help me get over a major bout of writer’s block.

Believe it or not, a snippet written while waiting for school pick-up formed the basis of Swallow Me, NOW! the manuscript I wrote during the March 2013 Chapter Book Challenge and is now due for release next month.

Hold on to those snippets of writing, just as my son holds on to his snippets of composition. You never know when they may be just the line of text you are looking for.

***** 

Melissa Gijsbers is an Australian author and blogger. She has had flash fiction stories feature in a number of anthologies and her first children’s book, Swallow Me, NOW! is due for release in October 2014. When she’s not writing or coming up with ideas for stories, she’s running around after two active boys and working in the family business. You can find her online at MelissaGijsbers.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/melissagijsbers.

LINK: Swallow Me, NOW!   

*****

Give-away

One person who comments on this post (and is signed-up for the challenge) will win a handmade charm bookmark made by me (Becky). Winner will be selected by a random number generator and announced on September 30th, 2014.

Getting Feedback from Kids by Melissa Gijsbers #ChaBooCha

A number of years ago, I remember reading a newspaper review for a kids TV show. This was a show that my kids loved at the time so I was familiar with it.

The reviewer, an adult, picked apart the scientific inconsistencies with the story – such as the fact it there was gravity on the moon. For kids aged 3 or 4, the location didn’t matter as much as the bright colours, fun stories and funny looking plants.

Writing for kids, I’ve found similar issues. I’ve had editors tell me the words I use wouldn’t be understood by children, or the language is too hard for children to understand.

This is where I’ve found giving my manuscript to children to read provides invaluable feedback.

I am lucky enough to have two children in my home who love to read, and they are usually my first readers. Aged 10 and 12, they are advanced readers, but I figure if they can’t understand something, then it needs changing. They are very good at asking what something means or telling me that something isn’t clear enough. They are also great at picking up typos.

Once they have read it, I have a number of other children who are happy to read my stories and give me feedback. They are average readers, rather than advanced readers, and again provide me with valuable comments on whether or not they can understand the story and the language.

I’ve found that children are often a better judge of what they can and can’t understand than adults are. This is one of the main reasons I ask children to read my chapter books before they are sent to my editor.

If you are looking at getting feedback from children, I recommend you print out your chapter book and have it bound so it feels like a book. This is often easier for children to read. I also give the children permission to write any corrections or questions on the print out so I can act on them when they have finished reading.

I find this feedback from children is invaluable in developing the story; after all, they are the people I want to read the stories once the books are published. 

*****

Melissa Gijsbers is an Australian author and blogger. She has had flash fiction stories feature in a number of anthologies, including "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales" and "Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from Around the World."  When she’s not writing or coming up with ideas for stories, she’s running around after two active boys and working in the family business. You can find her online at MelissaGijsbers.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/melissagijsbers.

*****

Give-away!

Leave a comment on this post in order to be entered to win a copy of "Writing Habit Mastery: How to Write 2,000 Words a Day and Forever Cure Writer's Block" by S. J. Scott. You must comment before noon GMT on March 31st as that is when the drawing will be done. Must be a signed-up member of ChaBooCha in order to qualify.

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Winner!

Amie Borst generously offered a copy of her book "Cinderskella" as a give-away on a previous post. (Residents of the US or Canada, if a winner, may choose either Kindle or paperback formats. All residents of other countries may only enter to win the Kindle format.) Today is the day the winner is to be announced. Rafflecopter randomly selected a winner, and the winner is:

Sharon Putnam

Congratulations, Sharon!

On Writing Badly and Redefining Failure by Becca Puglisi #ChaBooCha

When Becky contacted me about posting during this year’s Chapter Book Challenge, I was stoked. At the time, I was in the middle of my own NaNoWriMo, and I know how hard it is to plan and write an entire story in one month. So when Becky asked me to contribute, I jumped at the chance. And because I just went through my own process, I’d love to share some inspiration that got me through the month.

The thing that frustrated me the most when I started drafting was how blah the writing was. It was hard enough to get the words down, and once I did, I was completely underwhelmed by them. Then I stumbled across this quote by Shannon Hale:

I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.

Yes. Yes! By all that is holy, YES! This is what we do. We shovel words onto paper, as fast as we can, knowing—even expecting—them to be fairly crappy. Don’t worry about correct word choice, proper grammar, or flair. Just get the words down. That’s what you’re aiming for this month.

And that ties in to my second mantra, stolen from Dean Wesley Smith:

Dare to be bad.

I’m a little weird in that drafting is the most difficult part of the process for me. Every day when I sit down to write, it takes forever to get going. For me—and for a lot of writers, I’ve learned—it all comes down to fear. Fear of starting in the wrong place, of wasting time, of going through all this effort and the story not being any good—all of this stymies the writing. It wasn’t until I read Dean’s advice that I freed myself up to write badly. I realized that the only writers who do get it right the first time around are the ones who’ve been doing it for years and have written roughly a gajillion words. I’m not there yet. But I will be, if I keep writing. And so will you. So when you’re struggling through that first draft and you’re afraid that it totally sucks, don’t worry. Dare to be bad, and just finish the story. You’ll have plenty of time to pretty it up later. That’s what the revision process is for.

And that leads to a favorite quote—this one from Kristen Lamb—that we all need to remember from time to time:

Redefine Failure

When I started my NaNoWriMo, I aimed for the standard goal of 50,000 words. It became clear very quickly that I wasn’t going to make it. I wasn’t even going to come close. I had to revise my goal, and I ended up with 30,000 words— barely a third of my novel. At first I was disappointed that I had achieved so little. But then I realized, No. I had planned and outlined an entire novel. Wrote the first third of it with a preschooler underfoot. Wrote 30,000 words that I wouldn’t have had under my belt if I hadn’t tried. Mastered some new techniques that are getting me closer to being able to write those solid first drafts. I had to redefine my notions of success and failure to appreciate all that I’d accomplished in just thirty days.

And that’s my hope for each of you: Get the words down on paper. Don’t worry about the quality. And realize that what you’re doing is A-MAZING. This month is about more than just finishing a book. It’s also about the writing, whether that’s 2000 words or 20,000. With every word you write, you learn. As you learn, you improve. And as you improve, the process gets easier.

You’re doing great, ChaBooCha’ers! Keep up the good work!

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Becca Puglisi is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others. This is one of her reasons for writing The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, and The Negative Trait Thesaurus. A member of SCBWI, she leads workshops at regional conferences, teaches webinars through WANA International, and can be found online at Writers Helping Writers (formerly known as The Bookshelf Muse).

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Give-away!

Comment on this post by March 31st (noon GMT), to be entered into the drawing for a paperback copy of "The Negative Trait Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Attributes" by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator on March 31st at noon GMT. You must be signed up for the challenge to qualify. 

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Winners!

 

I am a day late announcing yesterday's winner of  a paperback copy of "The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters."  The drawing was done yesterday, but I decided to announce the winner today along with other winner announcements (to cut down on the number of blog posts and e-mails you get).

The winner is:

Laura Jenkins!

Congratulations, Laura!

And for the prize being awarded today:

Chapter book Challenge member Linda Schueler generously offered this next prize, a copy of The Observation Deck by Naomi Epel. The winner was drawn by a random number generator, and the winner is:

Ashley Willoughby!

Congratulations, Ashley!