Little Cottage in the Northwoods

I mentioned in my end of January post that I was working on two projects: a picture book and a short mystery story for kids. I’m proud to say I finished the picture book and sent it out. But I can’t say the same for the mystery. I typed up the cover letter and addressed the envelope. Then it hit me: an editor would be reading this story. So I decided not to send it out. I did another revision instead. The problem was the story kept getting worse with each revision. I read an article once that said if a writer revises too much they can edit the life out of a story. So I asked myself if I was editing the life out of the story. My answer was no. I couldn’t edit the life out of a story where there was no life to begin with. I figured at this point the only humane solution was to shoot the manuscript and put it out of it’s misery. It wasn’t such a bad idea. But then I remembered once I had a story that was over word count. I couldn’t figure out which words to cut. After I thought about committing literary homicide, I decided to rewrite the entire story. I stared at a blank sheet of paper. I thought only about the details that needed to be in the story and not about the previous draft. When I was finished with the blank page draft it was just under the word count. It was a perfect and much less dramatic solution. I decided to apply it to my mystery story. I thought only about the details that needed to be in the story and nothing about the previous draft. I found it much easier to write in the excitement that had been lacking in the previous draft. Then I mixed together the best parts of both drafts. The result was a perfect story.

Over Valentine’s Weekend I did exactly what I said I was going to do. I started a screenplay with a Valentine’s Day theme. I must be stopped! Maybe there’s some sort of screenwriter’s anonymous I could join. :=)

In March:
I’ll send out my mystery story
I’m going to take another stab at a Rebus story
I’m cutting 450 words out of a picture book in order to send to the next publisher on my list. (This project may take a blank page rewrite.) .
I’m “tweeting” now. Follow me on Twitter @northwoodswords

Rebus: A story where pictures represent nouns.

When I read the quote, “Rebuses look like they’d be easy because they’re short. But they can be some of the toughest writing you’ve ever tackled,” in Marianne Mitchell’s article, The Nuts and Bolts of Rebus Writing, I didn’t believe one word of it. Of course, that was before I tried to write my own rebus story.

The first problem was word count. I had too many words and had to cut some. After I cut what I thought were superfluous words the story started sounding choppy.

The second problem was nouns and verbs. In a rebus story the pictures represent nouns not verbs. I soon discovered that I had too many verbs and not enough nouns. I made several more revisions trying to remedy these problems. But the rebuses still weren’t making the cut.

So I’m going to try again. The rebus war is on! I never back down from a good writing challenge. I must pick up my best weapon (my purple gel pen) and prepare to do the battle with the worthy foe!

In a previous most I mentioned that I sent a “Status Inquiry” to a publisher. It was passed the response time they had specified on their website. I sent them the name of my manuscript and the date I submitted it on. I politely asked them to advise me as to the status of my submission. The editor replied with a very nice letter saying they had no record of my submission and that I should submit it again. The next day the manuscript was back in the mail and now I am waiting for a response, with my fingers crossed!

Last Christmas I started writing four screenplays, since then I’ve started three more. I justified the four screenplays last year by arguing that even though I was neglecting my real writing I was still sharpening my writing skills. Short stories, novels, screenplays, poetry. It’s all writing and it all keeps me active as a writer. I’m using the same argument this year. The problem is I think I’ve developed a little bit of a screenplay obsession by starting them and not finishing them. My goal for next Christmas really should be to finish some of the screenplays…If I’m not too busy writing a screenplay for a fabulous new idea!

What I submitted in January:
Two picture books.

What I was working on January:
A short mystery story for a kid’s magazine.
A picture book.

If you’re interested in stories with Valentine themes, check out my new post: “The Not-So-Perfect Valentine’s Day” a short story for kids.
Don’t forget the older posts:

Another Chance #3 Lauren a short romance for Valentine’s Day. SamSleuth solved the mystery of The Missing Valentines in the Case Files of SamSleuth #2.
I hope you enjoy them.
You know what would be a great way to spend Valentine’s Day? Writing a Valentine’s Day theme screenplay! Oooh, I better go and get started on that! Happy Valentine’s Day!

In July I sent out 5 manuscripts. 3 picture books, a short story, and after much searching found a publisher I felt my middle grade novel was suited for. I also wrote my first “Status Inquiry.” Normally writing and asking about the status of a manuscript is frowned upon by publishers, however, according to the Editorial Guidelines for Writers page on the Albert Whitman website, after a certain amount of time has passed status inquiries are allowed, and are responded to immediately. The letter was simple, after noting the title of manuscript, the month and the year in which it had been submitted, I requested the status of the manuscript, thanked them for their time and enclosed a SASE for their response.

I’m focusing on the last draft of my picture book(I’ve writing the last draft for months now.) It’s one of those stories that just isn’t ready to send out in the world yet. I know at some point I’m going to have do that last edit, close my eyes, hold my nose and get the manuscript in the mail. I just read a really great book, D Is for Dahl: A gloriumptious A-Z guide to the world of Roald Dahl. Dahl wrote one of my favorite books Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryand he wrote the screenplay based on it Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory(one of my favorite movies), and according to the book, he wasn’t satisfied with either of them. Maybe one day somebody might my best work is a story I’m not satisfied with. That means I’m going to have to let it go…but not until it’s perfect :=)

On April 20th it snowed in the Northwoods, by the night, most of the snow had melted off the ground and the trees. This morning I woke up to a beautiful and inspiring snowy wonderland scene outside my bedroom. Fresh powder replacing yesterday’s melted snow. Right now, there’s a blanket of white that covers the grass, and lays on the branches of the evergreen pines and the branches of the trees that lost their leaves last fall.

April is national poetry month. So I’m posting a poem I wrote called, The Kitten, I hope you’ll enjoy it.

I’ve been working on my Pockets entry, but I found out a couple days ago that the Pockets Fiction Contest is canceled for this year. I’ll continue to work on my story and hope they’ll bring the contest back next year.

I didn’t get any submissions out in March and I didn’t get my picture book finished. Thankfully, it doesn’t need a major rewrite, but a little tweaking here and there. Sometimes I’m not sure which is harder, a major rewrite, or fixing small things in a pretty much completed manuscript. Both can be easy sometimes and difficult at other times. I’m also working on my middle grade novel, trying to find a way to connect the beginning with the end.

Also, I have a finished middle grade novel that I’m trying to find a publisher for. I’ve spent several days researching publishers, but I can’t find one that’s a match for my book. So, I’m going to put the manuscript on the shelf for right now. As I focus on other writing activities, I’ll continue to keep an eye out for a publisher that would be a good match for manuscript.

Right now, I’m going to look out my window and see what the falling snowflakes will inspire.