How I Became a Plotter: Goals

This is one off the most personally useful things I have learned to utilize as a plotter-in-training.
Part of the reason I became a plotter is because being a pantser made me crazy and not fun...or really even bearable.

I would obsess over writing enough each day, but "enough" as a panster meant writing until I was happy and satisfied with what I'd written. As many of you know, no one ever stops writing when they're are happy and satisfied. That's when we plow through on a rainbow sparkled writing high until we run out of steam and chug right up to "I'm a terrible writer" station.

It was usually at this point that I would need to stop. Either because I had to make dinner or do some other thing to maintain life OR because I hated my writing so much that I was too depressed to continue. If it was the latter, I would go days without writing and be unbearably grumpy in the interim.

So, now, every day I set a goal, usually around 1500 words. I write until I reach that goal and then I stop. When I am done, even if I end at a low point (boo!), I know I reached my goal (yay!). I put in the time and I produced something. I don't get depressed about it because my goal isn't mounds of gloriously written prose. It's 1,500 words. That's it.

Tips for daily word count goals:

1. Set your goal for whatever you have time for.
I can write about 1,500 in an hour on a good day and I almost always have at least an hour in my day so I know I can do it.

2. Allow yourself to NOT THINK ABOUT WRITING once you hit your goal.
I can actually be involved with my family rather than worrying about my story now.* Of course sometimes revelations will come to you and should be jotted down, but IT'S OKAY to clock in and clock out as a writer.  .

3. Really make yourself STOP once you reach your goal.
Or shortly after. Yes, it's awesome to outdo yourself, but when I come back to a story the next day with fresh eyes and renewed spirits I OFTEN find that the direction I was going in was good, but if I had gone much further in that particular direction it would have been boring and predictable. So I alter my course. I am not so absorbed and committed to a certain direction as I might have been the day before because I've had time to cool off.


Next Time: Mushy Middle
Previous Post: Crappy First Drafts

*Plotting in general has helped with this as well, because I'm not constantly trying to organize plot problems in my head, it's all already plotted out on paper

How I became a Plotter: Crappy First Draft

   I have a friend who recently came to me for advice because she is feeling a little lost about who she is and what she should be doing with her life. She had done a lot of thinking up to that point and journal writing and still felt stressed. My advice was simply:

There is only so much thinking and planning and list making you can do before you HAVE to get out there and test the waters. Try out some ideas and see if they work for you. If they don't move on to the next but TAKE ACTION! 

Little did I know, I was going to have to take my own advice.

Apparently, a problem with being a plotter is getting stuck in the plotting stage. I started thinking about all those little tips from writers/publishers/agents that all advised to “Write a crappy first draft.”

Their words nagged and irritated me because the "crappy first draft" feels completely counterintuitive to my new “I'm gonna be a plotter” approach. Just sit down and write out a stupid first draft? Even if my character decides to end a pointless argument with, You’re a stinky poo-poo head? Where is the method in that? Where is the strategy?!

 In my pantser days, I thought a crappy first draft was simply a reminder to not get distracted by editing as I write, but it’s not and it definitely is NOT in contradiction to Plotterism.* Here's why:

1. Getting stuck in plotting phase is such a plotter hazard it’s important to get started or else you never will. There are endless things to make lists about and research and post-it note. You could seriously do it forever. At some point you have to cut yourself off and just begin. You may not feel ready but that's okay, get started and allow yourself to write some crap. Pat yourself on the back when a scene is truly crappy, you got it down! You can mold it later.

2. You will not REALLY be able to see the shape of things (your story) and get a feel for the mood and the real creative stuff until you get the whole ball of clay (or crap) on the table.


So, here’s the deal. Some online friends started a NaNoWriMo NOT in November. Initially, I was like, “Yeah, no...I'm plotting (foreverrrrr).” But after so wisely advising the friend I mentioned above, I realized, I have to do it. This is a crucial step in the whole plotting procedure. And now that I view it as just another step - another thing to check off the plotting list - it's not such a big deal. Hooray for checklists!

Anyway, wish me luck. Crappy first draft, you're mine.


Next Time: Setting Goals
Previous Post: Surprise!(Just when you think you have it all plotted out)

*Yes, I made that word up.

Procrastination

I love this article by author, Andy Weir about the top reasons why writers procrastinate and how to stop. I often go back and reread it and thought it might be helpful to others.

Here's my favorite part:

2: Stories are always more awesome in your head than they are on paper

Your heroine, Susan, had neglectful and disinterested parents. This made her overwhelmingly driven to excel. She’s the youngest Vice President in the history of her Fortune 500 company. One day, while grabbing dinner with her wise-cracking gay friend Bob, she meets Joe. He’s a good man, and handsome, but not “successful”. He’s content to take life easy. Will Susan compromise her obsession with upward mobility to find happiness with Joe?

That’s the idea you had, anyway. But when you tried to write it, you got this:

“Susan first saw Joe at the diner. He looked good. Bob was there, too.”

Read the whole article here!!

How I became a Plotter: Surprises

The main complaint/argument/slap fight I see between pantsers and plotters seems to be: "Plotting is too formulaic and there are no surprises. I want to go on the journey and learn and grow and experience everything alongside my character."

As a former pantser I admit that this sounded a bit like me. While I have thoroughly enjoyed the planning and strategy and list making that comes with becoming a plotter (see intro post for my OCD tendancies), I also love experiencing a good story and feeling like what I am creating is alive and has a mind of it's own and I have to wrangle it, and tame it, and make it mine!!

Oo, the power got to me there for a minute.

Well, I want to finally and absolutely debunk this myth.

While sticky note plotting act three I had a fairly clear vision of what my MC was going to do. The choice he was going to make was solid and seemed to be the only choice available, really. As I picked up the sticky note to write down some of the details of this choice...I wrote something completely different! Something I had never even considered! Something that made everything So-Much-Cooler, and I got that tingly feeling writer's get* when their story really comes to life for the first time.

So, myth DEBUNKED. And I would also like to say that, as a pantser, if this epiphany had occurred in the third act -when I was actually writing - it would have been a serious pain in the hiney. Rather than having to rewrite earlier scenes so they would match up with my new epiphany, here was my method:

Write new sticky note.
Unstick old sticky note.
Crumple.
Throw in garbage.

Yep, plotting makes epiphanies easier. I'm putting that on a t-shirt.

*I'm not the only one, right?


Next Time: Crappy First Drafts
Previous Post: Getting Unstuck

How I Became a Plotter: Getting Unstuck

I thought the whole "plotting out with sticky notes" stage would be cake. It's simply plugging info into the appropriate slots and then happily fleshing out scenes until, boom: a novel!

Yeah, no.

Right around the second half of act two, I got stuck. Not while writing the book, while sticky note plotting. I just want to make that clear. So, fyi, meticulous plotting does NOT save you from writers block.

I repeat:  Meticulous plotting does NOT save you from writer's block.

It is an unavoidable hazard of the job, my friends. When I realized this it was all I could do to not fall into my old ways and curl up on the couch with Oreos and Pinterest and think through the block.

Instead, I squared my shoulders and jutted my chin and thought: "I am a plotter now! There's no more sitting around and waiting for inspiration! No more aimless writing until things get worked out. NO! I will find an exercise or a method for this!...Dangit."

And I totally did.

Flow charts. Here's my method:

1. Figure out the question that is blocking you from moving forward.
I have found that writer's block is almost always a question I can't answer. Once I realized this writer's block became a lot less obnoxious. It's not a big brick wall, it's a puzzle. It just needs to be solved. Sometimes it might be more than one question. I recommend breaking those up into separate, smaller questions and tackling them one at a time...for sanity reasons.

2. Write the question in the middle of a piece of paper.
I like to use good old fashioned pen and paper, although I have heard people rave about a program called Scapple. I've played with it a little bit, but eventually went back to the tried and true. Just personal preference.

3. Write every possible answer you can conceive of no matter how ridiculous.
I write all of the answers around the question and draw connector lines from the question to each answer like sun rays or bicycle spokes.

4. Off of each answer, using more 'sun ray' lines, answer the following:
What would need to happen for this to work with previous plot points?
How it would affect the future plot?
Does it feel right for the mood?
How does it tie in or add meaning/depth to other parts of the story?

Eventually it starts to look like this:

Usually, by the last step, I have found a path around my writers block. I will often start to elaborate on one particular answer and neglect the others. That one is always the most appropriate solution.

So there it is. Never get stuck again...at least not for long.

 Flow charts FTW.

Next Time: Getting surprised by plot twists as a plotter. Is it possible?
Previous Post: Sticky Note Plotting

How I Became a Plotter: Sticky Notes

This is a long one, people. You have been warned.

Actual image of my sticky note rainbow.

 

So can I just take a second to emphasize the absolute life-saving necessity of a good solid plot outline? Even as a pantser I scribbled out a basic plot outline because if I tried to hold all the ideas, subplots, character interactions, and chronology inside my brain I never would have been able to organize it all into something even remotely cohesive.

As a plotter-in-training, I had big plans to outline with so much detail that all I would have to do is add some descriptive words and dialogue and I'd have a first draft. Boom.

Once I got over that delusion, I worked up a more realistic approach:

1. I wrote three headings along the top of my white board: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3.
Now, there is some debate about the 3-Act Structure and whether it is the best way to go about writing a novel. I think, maybe, this argument stems from people not wanting to trap writing/creativity into any kind of formula - which I get - but, personally, I think it's nice to have guidelines to learn from and expand on. Anyway, there are plenty of other 'structures' you can follow, this is the one I picked.

2. Along the top of the white board - beneath the "Act" headings - I listed what should occur in each act.
I used the character arc exercise here and a 3-Act structure template I can't seem to find now* and plugged in the following:

Act 1
   Reveal M.C. flaws (character arc)
   The Call/Inciting Moment (plot structure)
   1st disaster (plot structure)
Act 2
   Introduce Moral opposite (character arc)
   Attempted Solution/2nd disaster (plot structure)
   Inward training (character arc)
   3rd disaster/internal failure (plot structure)
Act 3
   Big Choice (character arc)
   Solution/Resolution (plot structure)

3. Along the left side of my white board I listed every plot, subplot, relationship, behind-the-scenes plots, I thought was important.

Here is a generic list based on mine:

M.C. main goal
M.C. secondary goal
M.C. friendship with supporting character
M.C. relationship with other supporting character
Antagonists goal/plans
Supporting character's relationships with each other
Other subplots
Setting**


4. I drew vertical lines separating the plot moments and stuff, pulled out my sticky notes and a pen, and closed the door.

5. I pulled up the exercise from my previous post and started plugging the info I'd gathered there into the appropriate places on my white board outline/grid.

6.I took about three days to do this.
Partly because, kids. (Who knew they needed to eat and stuff, psht.) But also because I got stuck a couple times. The beauty of sticky notes is you can write whatever you like, see if it works, and if it doesn't: unstick, crumple, throw away. I have also become a big advocate of flow charts for working out questions/problems that arise. I may have to get into that in another post.


Whew! So that's my big outline. I refer to it just about every writing day. Just seeing it all laid out in a rainbow of sticky notes keeps me from getting discouraged because the whole story is already there, it just needs a little fattening up.


Does my method not quite work for you? Check out some more outlining gloriousness:

The many faces of plot structure - Beyond the three act structure.
Beat sheeting template - Screenwriter's method for laying out plot. Definitely trying this next time.
More beat sheeting info
All about mini plots - Breaking down each SCENE. Now we're getting crazy. Watch out.

*Google Image "plot structure" and you will find a bazillion templates
**I added setting after I was all done, but I think it's incredibly important. Yes, you can just throw your characters anywhere in the world that you've created for them, but why not have the setting reflect the mood of that moment. For instance: Your M.C. meets with a shady new character for unknown reasons. Could they meet in an alley? Sure. But what if they met in a foggy cemetery, playing up the mystery of the moment and foreshadowing a possible fatal outcome?

Previous Post: Working Out an initial Plot Outline
Next Time: Getting Unstuck (aka The Flow Chart)

Sketch Dailies

The other day I stumbled on a perfectly wonderful time-waster/procrastination-enabler called Sketch Dailies. The artists that contribute are waaaayyy out of my league, but anyone can participate.
Every weekday they give their followers a drawing prompt on Twitter. Here is my submission for #mermaid:

She's an angelfish!

Update: This image was so fun the first time I thought I would make a more complete piece of artwork!

How I Became a Plotter: Working out Plot

It's time to plot out PLOT!

I'm not talking about a plot outline exactly, more of just brainstorming and getting down on paper the crucial events and interactions that need to happen in the plot. Okay, I suppose it could be called an initial outline. I say "initial" because there is another more in depth outline that involves sticky notes and obsessive detail*.

I used this article from "How to Write a Book Now" pretty much exclusively to work out basic plot points, but before I send you off to glean everything you can, here are a couple tips I learned along the way:

1. The article wraps up your outline into a nice neat little paragraph that reads like back cover copy.
While this is fantastic for a query or synopsis I wanted more of a numbered/lettered outline that I could scan quickly for info. It's easy to do this by simply leaving the 8 different elements numbered and writing your info below each title.

2.The article suggests just plugging in one thing at a time.
For instance, number one is "Story Goal" and the article suggests you simply write one main goal. I think for the back-cover-copy result this is fine, but for a laying out all your plot details, not so much. Obviously, there will be a main goal (or problem to solve) in your story, but there may also be subplots or a secondary goal for your character. I added everything and my initial outline ended up laid out something like this:

Story Goal
1. (main goal)
2. (subplot)
Consequence
1. (consequence of not reaching main goal)
2. (consequence of not reaching subplot goal)
Requirements
1. Main goal
   a (requirement to reach main goal)
   b (another requirement to reach main goal)
   c "
2. Subplot
   a (requirement to reach subplot goal)
   b "
   c "
...ect.

*As a plotter-in-training I have may be approaching neurotic levels of plotting and planning but I don't care. Go big or go home, right?

Next time: Sticky Notes and the Big Outline!
Previous Post: Characters (part 2)

How I became a plotter: Characters (part 2)

As promised, HERE is the character sheet to end all character sheets.

So maybe that's a teensy exaggeration, but it is helpful. I created it to help establish ways that my MC could drive the plot while I was still in the novel idea stage. It is not full of things like height and eye color. Instead, it has questions about weaknesses, strengths, and backstory. Check it out and feel free to download.*

In addition to this, I'd like to touch on a couple things extra things in regards to plotting character:

1. Villians.
Give your villain a backstory. In my research, numerous articles and blog posts state that villains should not exist merely to stop/challenge your MC. If you take your MC out of the story, your villain should be able to fill his role. He must have strengths and weaknesses. He must have motivations that make sense. So while you are happily filling out character sheets (I've provided some more of my favorites below) fill one out for your villain as well.

2. Character Drives Plot.
Yes, I know I already harped on this last time but I found a fantastic article about this writing tip that you absolutely must read. It not only talks about how and why to make sure your MC drives the plot, but it gives a Plotter-in-Training a wonderful outline for how and WHEN to do this in a novel!

Here's my quick and dirty summary:

Act 1: MC's flaw.
Showcase your MC's major weakness in an early scene through his/her reaction to a situation.
Act 2 (early): Moral Opposite.
If your MC is logical, have him/her meet someone highly emotional. This will challenge your MC and force change.
Act 2 (middle): Training.
Have your MC start encountering situations where his weaknesses are challenged so he can start growing or 'training' for a new strength.
Act 2 (end): Fail.
Create a situation where the MC must choose to either stick with his newly learned strengths or fall back on his old weakness. Have him backslide into his old weakness.
Act 3: Final Choice.
This is the big scene when the stakes are high and your character must perform or all is lost. If you are writing a 'comedy' your character will stick to his new strengths and prevail.

Here is the article with the invaluable details for this glorious outline.

And here are links to a few of my favorite (and detailed) character sheets:
Character Traits on deviantArt
Categorized Characteristics
Character Interview
Perceptions of your Character


Next Time: Plotting out plot.
Previous Post: Characters (part 1)


*If you share, credit back to me? Thanks! *hugs*
 

How I became a Plotter: Characters

Art by Me

Protagonist drives Plot. NOT the other way around. Take note of the illustration. Memorize it.

In my recent quest to become a plotter, I have done a bit of online researching and learning. This character-driving-the-plot thing may be the single most important thing I've learned so far.

Sooo I may be a little late to the party on this crucial writing tip* but at least I'm here and I brought a party gift**. Apparently, many beginning writers (myself included) come up with a fantastic idea or situation and a likeable character and put that character into the situation like a game piece to be moved around, experiencing all sorts of interesting things.

While the character may indeed be interesting and the situations unique and entertaining, if your character is not in the driver's seat, your story will not be believable or keep your readers hooked.

Here's the big question: HOW do your get your character in the driver's seat??

Give your character weaknesses.
For serious. It's so simple I want to slap myself.

Your character's weakness give them reasons to be in specific plot situations. Situations that will challenge him and help him grow into the true hero you want him to be at the end of your story***.

So how does this apply to plotting? I found an exercise for you!

1. Because it is often easier to make a list of your hero's strengths, follow this link to a list of strengths.
2.Take those strengths and exaggerate them to the point that they become weaknesses.
3. Think up a few situations that might help a person overcome those weaknesses.
4.Map out ALL of your characters weaknesses in a mad plotting frenzy!
(Tip: Try this for your Antagonist too! Even villains have strengths, they are simply masked by how exaggerated they've become)

For a details about this exercise and to read more about why it's important for characters to have weaknesses, check out the blog post I learned from here.


Next Time: Tying your characters weaknesses into your plot. (Also - the character sheet to end all character sheets!)
Previous Post: Getting your Novel Idea

*As a pantser I kind of made this happen through lots of trial, error, and revising until a situation made sense for my character. This, of course, required much deleting of scenes that were 'cool' but served no purpose.

** Right-click approved. Save and share my illustration with your writerly friends!

***Unless you are writing a tragedy, in which case your MC will not grow and overcome his weaknesses.

How I Became a Plotter: Ideas



(art by me)

As a pantser I came across story ideas naturally: overhearing a conversation, through inspiring music lyrics, maybe from a vivid dream.

While these idea-harvesting methods can definitely produce, I am on a mission to become a full-fledged plotter. I intend to use as much strategy and planning and list-making as is humanly possible.*

I needed some way to come up with decent ideas quickly AND for when I am not feeling particularly creative. Enter Google. So I actually found several good idea generators but my favorite is one I had never heard of before. After trying it out, I couldn't stop playing around with it!

Here is a summary of the exercise:

1. Head on over to IMDB.
2. Try not to get distracted.
3. Click on their Top 250 list.
4. Pick a movie and view the Synopsis (It's easier if it's a movie you are not familiar with)
5. Use your imagination and think up alternate settings, types of characters, and situations for that synopsis. Tip: Don't think to hard, just have fun.
6. Open up a blank document, or pull out a sheet of paper, and plug your new setting, characters, situations into the corresponding areas of the IMDB synopsis.
7. BOOM! Instant (detailed) story idea!


For the full details on the IMDB exercise and to see more idea-getting goodies ("Enlist your Passion" is another favorite) Check out How to Write a Book Now's idea page!


Next Time: Characters (and how they relate to plot)
Previous Post: How I Became a Plotter - The Intro

*Consider yourself warned.

How I Became a Plotter: Intro

I used to be a pantser.

Ah. It feels good to get that out in the open.* Actually, technically I still am a pantser, I'm pantsing this post right now. What I should have said is I am learning to be a plotter.**

A little tidbit about me. I am...let's call it: genuinely-interested-in-being-organized-and-having-a-plan-for-everything. I am one of those weird people who gets excited about making lists, filling out forms, creating charts, and neatly ziplocking all of the outfits in my suitcase when I go on vacation.***  I am not OCD. I am also not in denial.

Anyway, why I thought I had ANY business being a pantser in the first place is beyond me. Maybe because, as an illustrator, I have had this image of a messy, paint splattered, eccentric artist burned into my brain since youth. But whatever the reason, pantsing is not for me.

Now, lucky you, I've decided to document my journey from lost pantser to full-fledged (successful?) plotter over the course of a single story. In other words, I plan to walk you through my plotting progress as I form a story idea, plot outline, polish a manuscript and everything in between. I hope someone finds it helpful.


To start off this plotting journey, I Googled.
Let me tell you, the plotting resources are nearly endless. Here are a few of my favorites:


Create a Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps
Omg, just take an afternoon a devour this entire site. I'm not even kidding.

Writers Write
Great tips all the time on a variety of writing related things.

Smooth Draft Editing
I love their tips on building characters.

PS Literary Pinterest Boards
Seriously, they pin some fantastic stuff. Everything from writing strategies to social media tips.

J.K. Rowling's Order of the Phoenix plotting notes
If this doesn't inspire the plotter in you, I don't know what will.


Next time on The Blog: Using planning and strategy to come up with a story idea.


*There is nothing wrong with pantsing if it works for you. It just didn't work for me...which I learned the hard way.

**For those who do not speak Writer, a plotter is NOT an evil villain who sits around twirling his curly moustaches and plotting evil plans. Neither is a pantser someone who runs around de-pantsing strangers. These terms refer to HOW a writer writes. The plotter lays out their story in detail so they know every twist and turn their story will take and how it will end. Whereas a pantser refers to the writer who sits in front of a blank screen or sheet of paper and writes as they are inspired. They let the story and the characters evolve as they will.

***Please tell me I'm not the only person who does this...it's is such a space saver.

Squash in Progress

Since many of you enjoyed seeing how I created "The Rebel", I decided to do another art-in-progress post. This one is of my sweet little creativity mascot, Squash. He recently wriggled his way into a new children's book story idea.

First, I sketch in Photoshop CS5. This one is fairly clean but without much detail:

 

Next I choose/refine my lines and add details. I usually do this traditionally, with ink and paper, but I've been trying to make the move over to digital. You can still see the sketchiness in the under layers here:

 

 

Now it's time to pick my colors and block them in. I really enjoy doing this part in Photoshop because if I'm not sure about a color (which is often) I can easily play around with them until I'm satisfied:

Finally, I shade and add highlights. I think many pro artists who understand Photoshop better than I have ways of using its lighting tools to make this step easier, but I pick my shadow and highlight colors using the trial and error experience I've gained creating art with colored pencils:

 

There he is! Such a sweet little guy! He's got nothing but love...and spikey tentacles.

 

 



"Disney" Eyes.

I've always wanted to work for Disney. *sigh* Have to practice the Disney Princess eyes first. ;)

Color Your World

This is why I love Fred (of my picture book Frigl and Fred Go to Bed); he creates his world without fear. He simply does his thing, making messes and art in the same stroke and loving every minute. 

How awesome would it be if we all gave in to creativity without holding back for fear of messes or mistakes?

It'd be beyond awesome. It'd be beawesome.

Daily Doodle

I stood and stared for quite a while

till a Lion sang to me and smiled...

...pretty soon I knew the tune

and I sat and sang under the moon

and the jungle rang in joyful harmony.

 

(If you can name that tune I will give you a gold star!)

 

How I Got My Agent

I can't even believe I finally get to write one of these posts.

Yes. It happened. I signed with an agent. Her name is Maria Vicente of PS literary and she is bomb- tastic. In honor of my previous post I plan to give you as many nitty, gritty details and background as possible. Ready?

Let's begin.

After several rejections on a YA novel I had been revising and rewriting for several years, (yes, years) I decided to refocus my energy back on illustrating for a while. That's when I found Underneath the Juniper Tree, a macabre children's lit magazine. I submitted a story. Rejected. Then I submitted an illustration for a contest and won!



Red Tide. The illustration that won.

I was immediately hooked.

For a couple of years now I have been submitting stories and illustrations to Underneath the Juniper Tree (UTJT) and building friendships with the other writers and artists, as well as learning from the brilliant co-founders: artist, Rebekah Joy Plett and agent, Bree Ogden.

(BTW the Winter Issue is out! I did the cover and illustrated John Lucas Hargis' brilliant story, Twixie's Wishbone!! Check it out!)

With a newfound confidence in my talents, I branched out and created illustrations for Anchor Group Publishing and -- thanks to UTJT alumni Soju Shots -- I ventured over to hitRECord.com.

Soju doesn't realize this but Frigl and Fred (the children's book manuscript that eventually won over Maria) was, in a way, inspired by Soju's tiny story. I created an illustration for his tiny story, and that illustration inspired a whole new story of my own.

I want to pause for a minute to emphasize the importance of making friendships with other creative people. They are impossibly inspiring and supportive. I love them.

Back to the story.

I had a good feeling about Frigl and Fred. Cah-razy good. So I edited. I created concept art. I shared with family and friends. I edited some more. And a little more. Then I queried.

I picked a handful of my most favorite, most desired agents to query. I got some rejections, but understood it was part of the process and expected to do several rounds of queries before I saw any positive responses...but then I came across a blog, Maria's blog.

You know when you see something at a store and you instantly love it. Or when you meet a person and you immediately know you want to be their friend. This was the exact feeling I got when I read her blog. Then -- as if that feeling wasn't enough -- I saw something that made my heart jump.

She had interned under Bree Ogden.

I knew then and there that I had to send her a query; not only did I have a sort of connection to mention in my query, but I pretty much adore anyone associated with Bree because she seems to surround herself with the most awesome of awesome people.

Anyway, after I sent Maria my query -- and against my normally reasonable nature -- I did that thing where you play out all the scenarios in your head of a particular agent going nut-so over your story and calling you immediately demanding to sign you.

Well, Maria didn't call demanding things, but I did receive an email relatively soon requesting to see more. I forced myself not to get too excited, sent the requested materials, and waited.

Pretty soon I got the email that made me do something I have NEVER done before.

I. Spazed. Out.

I spazed like a little child. I ran through the house kissing my children and shaking my husband by the shoulders. "She wants to call meeee!!!"

There were a couple moments when I worried it was simply one of those calls to let me down easy, (I've heard that some agents do this when they like something they can't take on), but it wasn't.

Maria offered rep. I'm pretty sure I giggled like a complete dork, but in the end I accepted and here I am.

Merry Christmas to me!

The Danger of Headlines.

Alright, people.

While it is completely awesome that the undeniably talented Elise Parsley was able to land a full-on book deal within a few days of emailing a query, I am slightly bothered by this recent -- and popular -- headline. Not because I am jealous. Not because I don't think she deserved it (she does). I am bothered because I fear it will reinforce the already unrealistic ideas writers and illustrators have about being published.

Rather than hearing/reading about another seemingly effortless success story...

I want to hear about the hard work behind the story.

I don't know Elise Parsley, but I don't think I'd be wrong in assuming that her success was earned with hard work and time. I want to hear about how many books she wrote before finally finding her voice. I want to know how long she's been honing her (truly) fantastic illustration skills. I want to hear about the uncertainty so many of us face at some point in the process and how she pushed forward anyway.

I know those things must be there.

So why do we just skip over all of it to have yet another sensational Cinderella-type story? It seems like a disservice to the author's efforts.

Maybe after so many years of being told to reach for our dreams we have become way too focused on said "Dream" and subsequently blinded to the often uphill, bumpy path to it. It's important to not only remember that path but to not get discouraged by it.

In other words, don't give up because things weren't handed to you, be proud of your hard work and know you are not alone no matter what the headlines read.


For a beautiful example of how hard work -- or as he calls it "pounding the pavement" -- paid off, check out James Dashner's (The Maze Runner), "How I Got Here" story.

Don't Feed the Krakken

Will someone please build a monster zoo. I would pay to see a Krakken. I would pay double to feed it ice cream.

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