Busy Month

April has been incredibly busy for me, including several school visits in Houston and Indiana and a week long librarian’s conference. I haven’t had time to write a meaningful blog with useful information, so I’ll just recap some of the highlights of the past month.

I had a wonderful time visiting schools in Indiana.   I especially loved the cold weather – down to freezing and even 29 degrees one night.  What a refreshing change from the weather in Texas when I left home — upper 80s. I decided to drive to Indiana from Central Texas — 2200 miles round trip — because I do not like to fly and have so many props and materials that it is difficult to carry them onto a plane.  The trip to Indiana was pleasant, loved the rolling mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky, but the trip back was filled with disaster, including me taking a tumble at a road side rest stop. Wrenched arm, bruises, busted knee, busted chin, having to chomp on aspirin every four hours and a fifteen hour drive on the last day made me rethink ever driving that far again.

Here is a great bulletin board that one of the elementary schools in Connersville, IN created for me. I signed each of the posters so the creators would have a souvenir. The students were fantastic –some of the best behaved I’ve ever spoken to.

After returning from Indiana, I immediately packed up for the week long Texas Library Association (TLA) conference in Houston. I shared a booth with fellow Texas author, Melanie Chrismer, for five days — what a week! Over 5,000 librarians attended and quite a few stopped by the booth to buy books and take brochures advertising author visits. The booths are expensive, but hopefully will generate author visits. I have been attending TLA since 1992 and have manned booths for at least ten of those years. You never know what might happen. This year the booth across from us had a live parrot and tiny monkey. Very interesting!

Layne Johnson, the illustrator for my next book, Voices of Pearl Harbor, was at the conference painting one of the illustrations. He dressed like a WWII sailor for effect. He created quite a buzz and many people stopped by to look at his gorgeous work. He brought two finished paintings — fantastic! I especially like the one of the Japanese women.

LET’S TALK — CREATING GREAT DIALOG

Let’s Talk — Creating Great Dialog

copyright 2012 by Sherry Garland

Dialog is one of the most fundamental, powerful tools authors have at their command. Dialog serves many purposes; it moves the story forward; reveals past events and develops character. Here are some tips for writing powerful dialog:

1) Dialog is not conversation. Placing words in quotation marks does not make dialog. Eavesdrop on a group of children or teens and you will hear them interrupting each other, talking at the same time, cursing, laughing, using incomplete sentences and incorrect grammar, going off on tangents, changing the subject and sometimes talking with their mouths full. That is real life. That is real conversation. And if your novel used that sort of material, the reader would throw it down in frustration. Don’t fill the page with pointless dialog talking about the weather and the neighbor’s cat, unless of course, a tornado is approaching and the cat is stuck up a tree!!

2) Use dialog to reveal character. Compare the words of a loud, boisterous, joking person to a withdrawn, shy person or a nerd-like genius. Their word usage will be as different as their actions, looks and clothes. Dialog can reveal the character’s educational level, where he was raised (Southern dialect versus Scottish brogue, for example) or even his age (compare swell to groovy to awesome). It can reveal his inner most feelings and how he feels about someone or some place. Dialog can also be used to describe the character of someone not in the room. Betty said, “That MaryLou thinks she’s something special now, doesn’t she? She won’t even talk to me in the hall anymore.” Tina added: “Yeah, time was, she wasn’t so picky who she hung out with.”

3) Use dialog to reveal background. Dialog can get across background material a lot faster than a long piece of exposition or a long flashback. A girl might say: “My mother was born and raised here in Paducah, but she ran away at fourteen and never came back” instead of spending a hundred works talking about her mother’s childhood.

4) Use dialog to convey information and facts. We’ve all seen the TV show or read a novel where one of the characters is a nerdy genius type who is a walking encyclopedia and speaks up when facts are needed — “Ted Bundy drove a VW Beetle and had an IQ of 126.” But avoid too much information in your dialog. Nothing stilts a story more than ridiculously long dialog that is obviously being used for the sole purpose of relaying facts. Even when dialog is relaying information, it still must sound like real dialog and be interesting.

5) Use dialog to convey setting. Dialog is a shortcut that eliminates the need for long passages of description.  Personally, I love description, but many of today’s young readers do not. They are used to the instant gratification of video games and television.  Here’s an example of how dialog can take the place of a setting description: “Oh, Sam, look at the mountains.  I never dreamed they would be so breathtaking. And the smell!!  It’s like a Christmas tree lot.”  If your setting is in a foreign land, a sprinkling of foreign words in the dialog helps to establish the locale.

6) Use dialog to describe people. In addition to conveying a character’s personality, dialog is also one of the quickest ways to relay physical descriptions of characters. You could spend a hundred words explaining how a girl’s appearance had changed since the last time the hero saw her or you could have him say to a friend: “Did you see MaryLou?  She must have lost fifty pounds over the summer.  And that new hairstyle–wow!”

7) Use dialog to develop plot.  This is one of the most important uses of dialog.  Remember this famous line: “Papa, where are you going with that axe?” or this line “The British are coming!!” or something like this: “If I can just reach my brother’s house across the river, everything will be all right. He’ll know what to do.” All of them are developing the plot, moving the story along.

8) Use dialog to make transitions. The purpose of transition is to change scenes or chapters with as little disruption to the reader as possible. Let’s say that a scene ended with Henry, saying: “I’ve got to find that missing necklace or my sister will skin me alive.” Instead of spending lots of words showing him looking for the necklace all day, the next scene starts with his friend saying: “Henry!  Where have you been all day?  I’ve been calling you since nine o’clock. I was afraid you’d miss tonight’s game.”  And Henry replies: “I was looking for that stupid necklace I lost.  I couldn’t find it.  Guess I’ll have to buy another one.”

9) Use dialog to foreshadow. Foreshadowing is the delicate art of hinting at the future without giving it away. Dialog is often more subtle than narrative, since the character speaking may not know he is predicting the future. George said: “This time tomorrow, who knows, I could be dead.”

10) Make dialog strong. Read your dialog out loud. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking without relying too heavily on tags such as “he said.” Do this by giving each character a distinct voice. Boys talk differently than girls, old differently than young, foreign differently than local. Avoid excessive slang — that dates your novel and makes it go out of style really fast. Don’t ramble or have too many throat-clearing and uhs and umms, even though this happens in real life. Use only speaking verbs such as: said, spoke, replied, shout, called out, screamed, whispered, cried, shrieked, etc.  You cannot laugh words, or grimace words, or frown words.

11) Make dialog appropriate for the age level of the readers.  This means no profanity in MG novels or lower YA novels. The higher YA novels do include profanity, but just keep in mind that even one “cuss word,” can be enough to get your book banned or removed from a state reading list.

WRITER’S BLOCK

Writer’s Block

Copyright 2012 by Sherry Garland

Someone once asked me what I did to prevent writer’s block and I said I never had that ailment.  But later I began to think about it and realized that there are really two kinds of writer’s block.  The first kind is what I call “True” writer’s block.  The writer sits in front of the computer/typewriter/notepad all ready to work, but nothing comes out.  The page stays blank. That kind of writer’s block I have never had.  In fact, I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head that it would be impossible to write novels or picture books about all of them.  I have never had a “blank page” incident.

Then it occurred to me that there is a second kind of writer’s block, one in which the author wants to work on the project, but a million and one things get in the way.  Procrastination of the project, distraction by things like cleaning house, kids’ school projects, reading research books, checking e-mails, checking Facebook, making bookmarks or promotional items, revising your website, writing a blog and on and on.  Now, this is the kind of writer’s block that affects me every day.  Right now I am cleaning my office under the excuse that some distant relative may be in town next week and may actually peek into my room here. All I really need to do is close the door, but I’ve convinced myself that a clean office is more important than working on that novel.  I’m not exactly “blocked” but the end result is the same — a blank page.

Thirty-five years ago when I first started writing all I had to do was sit at the typewriter and write.  It was pure joy!  My only interruptions were phone calls and there was always the option of letting the answering machine take the call.  Computers are a great invention, but I swear, it now takes me three times longer to write a novel.  As soon as I turn on the computer I have to check e-mails, many of which are spam. Then I have to respond to crucial ones related to work, fan mail, author visit queries, check my website, work on the blog, etc.  This can take hours. Of course, I have to play a few video games to loosen up my fingers, right?

So, what can you do about writer’s block of either variety?  Here are some suggestions:

1) Acknowledge that you have a problem. If you are just dabbling at being a writer, it’s a part-time hobby, or you don’t really care if you ever get a book published, then you’re okay, you’ll write when you feel like it.  But if you are serious about having your book published or if you are already a published author, not being able to complete your manuscript is a serious problem.

2) Define the source for your writer’s block.  Depression is one of the most common causes. If you are severely depressed, everything you write looks like a piece of crap, you lose the ability to judge good from bad, you lose interest, have a fear of failure and the inability to concentrate.  Experts say that writers and artists in general are more prone to mental health issues than any other occupational group.  Even if you can’t seek professional care, don’t hold it in, talk to someone.  That’s why writers’ groups are great.

3) Correct your goals.  Some writers set unrealistic goals and when they can’t achieve them, they give up.  Writing a novel is hard, tedious work. It takes me one year or more to research and write a typical YA novel.  Most authors only write a few hours a day before the brain goes numb.   Several pages a day is a good output, especially if you have short chapters.  But fifty pages a day or three long chapters a day is almost impossible.   Yes, some authors are lean, mean writing machines, but others are slow plodders.  Allow yourself to work at your own pace, not that of some other author you’ve heard about. Maybe one page a day works best for you.  Start by making yourself sit down and write on your work in progress for five minutes a day at first, then build it up to a comfortable level. And when I say write, I do not include e-mails, blogs, or any other non-writing projects.

4) Correct your attitude.  You may feel that your first draft has to be perfect.  Wrong!  The first draft has been called “vomit on paper” for a good reason. It’s okay to spew out garbage for the first draft, knowing that it will be fixed with later revisions.  You may get stuck because you want your novel to win the next Pulitzer prize.  Nothing wrong with that goal, but be realistic.  Ask yourself if it’s better to write a good, readable novel that may not win major awards or whether it’s better to stare at the blank page because you don’t have “greatness” in you.

5) Change your plot or characters.  This is a true story: I started my career writing novels for adults.  After two published novels, I realized that I was not happy with the genre, so I quit writing about four years.  When I got back into writing, I rewrote one of my adult novel projects as a YA and it sold.  I switched to the YA and children’s genre and never looked back.  It was a much better fit for me.  So, if you’ve really lost interest in what you’re writing, try telling the same story from a different character’s point of view, from a different age category.  Make it a mystery or a thriller — do something to shake it up.  If you still can’t draw yourself into the story, maybe it’s time to put it aside and start something new.

Now stop reading blogs, and get back to your great American novel!!

STRETCHING YOUR RESEARCH

Stretching Your Research   copyright 2012 by Sherry Garland

Before I became an author, my concept of the profession was banging on a typewriter creating stories out of my head. When I actually started writing seriously, I discovered that no matter what the subject of the book, from historical novels to picture books about kittens, I had to do research.

I enjoy research; in fact, sometimes I like it better than the actual writing, but I’m the first to admit that it takes a lot of time and effort to do a thorough job. Just when you think you are finished and will never have to step inside the 900 section of the library again, in the middle of a thrilling scene, you realize you don’t know how men held up their pants in 1776. So back to the library you go.

I’m a waste-not-want-not kinda gal, so after I’ve spent many months on researching a specific topic I always look for ways to write several projects on the same topic. Since most book contracts have a “conflicting work” clause that prevents you from selling a similar book to another publisher, you have to find creative ways to make each project different and non-conflicting.

My first bit of advice: when you sign the contract, make the description of your book in the “non-conflicting” clause as specific as possible. For example, let’s say you sold a fictional picture book about Texas cattle trails to a publisher. The conflict clause will be very generic, saying you can’t write a book on that topic for another publisher. However, if you change the description of your work to ”fictional picture book on Texas cattle trails,”  that still allows you to write a non-fiction book or novels on the same topic without breaking the clause.

Here are several other ways to create books that don’t conflict:

1) Fiction vs. non-fiction:   Most publishers consider these non-conflicting.

2) Different age levels:  Picture book, an early reader, a MG novel, a YA novel, an adult book — all non-conflicting.

3) Book vs. magazine:  A magazine article or story does not conflict with your published book.

4) Different tone (humor vs. serious): One year I had two picture books about Vietnam released at the same time by different publishers. One was a humorous folk tale with lighthearted watercolor illustrations. The other was a serious work with somber oil paintings. Each editor knew about the other and both agreed there was no conflict.

5) Boy vs. girl: A chick-lit YA novel about a girl visiting the Galveston seashore on Spring break would not conflict with a YA novel about the son of a poor shrimper living on Galveston island.

6) Different time period: A modern day novel set in Gonzales, TX would not conflict with a novel set in Gonzales, during the Texas Revolution in 1836.

To give an example of how this works, I have seven published books about Vietnam: 1 non-fiction; 3 picture books; 1 folk tale collection; 2 YA novels, plus 2 magazine stories. Several of these also appeared in textbooks. I have six books about Texas history and three books on American Indians. Non of these created problems with the “conflicting work” clause.

So, remember, when you are finished delving into those dusty tomes, don’t throw your research materials away. Get busy writing on book number two!

WHERE IDEAS COME FROM

Copyright 2011 by Sherry Garland

One of the most popular questions asked by students is: “Where do you get your ideas?”  For some reason most people think that getting an idea is the most difficult part of being an author.  In fact, that is the easiest part.  Ideas are everywhere — everything you see, do, hear, read about, watch on TV — all these are sources for fiction. 

I get many of my ideas from real events that happened in the news.  For example, I was inspired to write SHADOW OF THE DRAGON, because a Vietnamese teenager was killed by a gang of skinheads in Houston.  I wrote LETTERS FROM THE MOUNTAIN after reading a news story about a teenager who died after “huffing” paint thinner. And, a good many of my books are inspired by historical events.                                                                                                        

Many authors use events from their own lives to create scenes.  I have worked events into all my novels that originated from my own childhood or teen years.  For example, in my chapter book, BEST HORSE ON THE FORCE, the main character is visiting his grandparents’ farm.  While picking blackberries for a blackberry cobbler, he tricks his sister by pretending to see a snake in the berry vines.  My older brothers used to do that to me when we picked blackberries at our grandparents’ farm.  My fear of snakes in vines and buses never subsided over the years.

Most authors keep an idea folder or drawer.  Every time they get an idea, they jot it down and file it away. I keep pencils and notebooks in the TV room and on the nightstand, in case one of those ideas hits me out of the blue. When I have finished a project and need to start another one, the magical idea folder is waiting.  These ideas are like seeds.  Some will never get planted at all; some will be planted but will wither away and die; others will grow and blossom into a full blown work of fiction, whether it be picture book or novel.

So don’t worry about where the ideas will come from.  Most authors have many more ideas than they will ever have the time to develop.

As we say goodbye to 2011,  may everyone have a creative, productive 2012 with lots of stories and lots of sales!!

 

WORKING WITH ILLUSTRATORS

 

Copyright 2011 by Sherry Garland

 

 

Voices of the Dust Bowl

A picture book is a unique art form. Neither the  words by themselves nor the artwork by itself  will evoke the same emotions as the two combined. The two together become one of the most beautiful, moving experiences a child (or adult) can have.

I am often approached by budding picture book authors who ask the procedure for getting an illustrator for the books they are writing. From these conversations, it becomes obvious that there are several basic misconceptions by new PB authors: 1) that the author must also know how to illustrate; 2) that the author is responsible for finding an illustrator for the project before the manuscript is even submitted; 3) that the author will need to give detailed instructions to the artist, maybe even submit rough sketches; 4)that the author will have an up and personal experience working directly with the illustrator; 5) the artist just creates images from his/her head.

Here are my responses to each of these points, assuming that the picture book is being submitted to regular publishers and not being self-published.

1) No, the author does not have to also be an artist.  It does happen, of course, and some of the most famous picture book creators are both author and illustrator. The average author, however, is not also the artist.  So, do not let that be a deterrent to writing a picture book. 

2) No, the author is not responsible for finding an illustrator.  As the writer, you submit only the text for the picture book.  If the publisher agrees to publish the manuscript, the editor will be responsible for locating and hiring the illustrator. The editor has contacts with many illustrators and is usually looking for a specific style to match your words. Sometimes a manuscript is turned down by several artists for various reasons before the editor locates the right one. That is not to say that you cannot make recommendations — I do that all the time. Sometimes the editors listen to me, sometimes not. One thing you never want to do is mention that you have a friend or relative who would love to illustrate the book.  Unless that person is already a well-established, professional artist, it will make you appear very amateurish.

3) No, you are not expected to turn in “rough sketches” or make suggestions for the artwork. Your text should be written in such a way that the illustrator will interpret your words in an acceptable manner. There are exceptions, of course.  For example, if you have a wordless book, then you do have to explain the context. Or, if you have a book that only has one word per page, you have to explain the “plot.” These exceptions are mostly for concept books. When the age of a character is not found in the text and if it makes a difference, it is okay to mention that.

4) No, you probably will never have a one-on-one dialog with the illustrator.  In fact, you will probably never meet the artist at all.  Of the 30 books I’ve had published, I’ve only met two of the artists in person and spoke to one on the phone long after the book was published. The editor serves as a buffer between the artist and the author. Let’s face it, both are creative types who can get emotionally attached to their ideas.  This is difficult, but you have to sit back and let the artist do his/her job. Once you see the sketches, if there is something you really disagree with, let the editor know.  She in turn will talk to the artist about making changes. In my case, many of my picture books are about other cultures or about historical events, so I do have more hands-on involvement that the average PB author.

5) Picture book illustrators are a hard-working lot. They will burn many more hours doing the artwork than you did writing the text. There are some exceptions, for example historical picture books that require many months of research, but in general your work pales in comparison to the artist’s work. Many of them use models and take photos of them to get realistic perspectives; they do tons of research to make sure the clothes, houses, trees, toys and everything imaginable are accurate. They interpret your words and bring them to life.

If you are lucky, the end creation will be a thing of beauty to all.

 

 

CREATIVE NONFICTION

Voices of Gettysburg

CREATIVE NONFICTION

copyrighted 2012 by Sherry Garland

There has long been a battle raging in the world of writers.  Fiction writers often think nonfiction writers lack imagination, that their books are stuffy and boring.  On the other hand, nonfiction authors may think that fiction writers are loose and sloppy with research, that they sacrifice facts for the sake of  a good story. It seemed the two opposing teams would never unite.  Maybe not.

I have always considered myself a writer of fiction. Of my thirty books, only two are what I would call pure nonfiction.  However, I write a lot of “realistic” historical fiction, fiction that adheres strictly to the facts, even though the characters themselves are fictitious.  Since I never take literary license with the facts, my research is intense, typically one year for a novel or picture book.  All these years, I was sure I knew the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Fiction had fictitious characters or events, no matter if it was based on real events.  And nonfiction was purely facts with no fiction interjected.  That means that my historical picture books were fiction. And, further sealing the deal, they are written in blank verse, not your typical nonfiction format.

So I was a bit surprised when some of my historical picture books won nonfiction awards. I was also surprised when the publisher decided to write “juvenile nonfiction/history” on the back cover of a book about the Battle of Gettysburg, even though the Library of Congress card catalog description inside the book calls it “fiction.”   I began to think: what am I writing?  This identity crisis came to a head recently when an expert in the field read the manuscript of my forthcoming picture book, Voices of Pearl Harbor [it uses the format of 16 first person narratives, some real, some fictitious, to relay historical events]. The expert suggested I include a disclaimer and that I obtain permission from the descendants of the historical figures that I mention in my book.  Say what? That’s crazy talk. Afterall I am writing fiction.  Or am I?

The Buffalo Soldier

Then I remembered back in the 1990s that someone coined the term “faction” [facts + fiction] and someone had suggested that was what I wrote.  This got me to thinking about fiction vs. nonfiction.  After doing some on-line research, it became obvious that I’m not the only one who has had difficulty deciding what to call the kind of work  we write.  Then I found this wonderful website http://www.creativenonfiction.org/  (Lee Gutkind).  Voila!  Suddenly I have a niche.  My historical picture books are works of Creative Nonfiction.  No longer do I have to hem and haw and look befuddled when someone asks me what category my historical picture books are.

Here, in a nutshell is that website’s definition of Creative Nonfiction (by Lee Gutkind): ”A genre which presents or treats information using the tools of the fiction writer while maintaining allegiance to fact… That is, factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid manner. To put it another way, creative nonfiction writers do not make things up; they make ideas and information that already exist more interesting and, often, more accessible.”

At last, the offspring of fiction and nonfiction has a name and face.  And it is a beautiful child, indeed.

Links to more websites about Creative Nonfiction.

http://www.class.uidaho.edu/druker/nonfic.html

http://davidharrisgershon.suite101.com/what-is-creative-nonfiction-a154315

http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/newsgathering-storytelling/chip-on-your-shoulde

 http://www.enotes.com/topic/Faction_(literature)

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fiction_novel