Occupational Hazards Part Deux

There are so many quirky little things that go along with being a writer. Here are a few I discovered this weekend:

• Your neighbors aren't sure who you are and ask your husband who that lady is they occasionally see by the mailbox. He has to explain that you are an author so you don't get out much.
• Every aspect of your life takes a little trip through your head - like when you really need to talk to someone but can't right away so you have a complete conversation with them in your head before you actually talk to them (and sometimes you decide not to talk to them at all because the internal version didn't turn out so well)
• Your mother gives you cleaning tips, like "when you are walking around your house and you see something out of place, just pick it up and your house will stay clean." This is bad for two reasons - 1. your house is so messy your mother feels the need to give you cleaning tips and 2. You have to inform your mother that that tactic just won't work for you because you never actually leave your computer desk long enough to take a walk through your house. On the plus side, your mother has never laughed so hard in her life, so at least you made someone smile :D
What are some occupational hazards you've run into as a writer? :)

Post Title

→

Occupational Hazards Part Deux

Post URL

→

https://shortemohaircuts2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/occupational-hazards-part-deux.html

Visit short emo haircuts for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

Evolution of a Rhyming Picture Book

I just finished the manuscript for the picture book I'm working on with my amazing friend Lisa Amowitz, so I thought I'd share how I go about doing one of these babies.

First off, almost all of my picture books start out rhyming. I don't know why. I just like them that way LOL They don't always stay rhyming, but if they do, this is how I swing things.

1. I need an idea. I get most of these from watching my kids. But other things inspire me too. For this particular project, Lisa had the outline and a couple pictures and she asked me to write the manuscript. I was thrilled to agree :D

2. I sit down and write. Sometimes by hand, sometimes by key :D I'm not very structured when it comes to picture books. But for this one, since Lisa already had the outline, I tried to be very organized. I numbered all of the images we discussed and tried to write a line or two for each. I had a very difficult time. I finally just read through the outline, sat down, and wrote, referring back to it every now and then when needed. And I was able to finish. Lesson learned. When it comes to picture books I am anti-organized :D

3. Revision time. I go through and clean up the rhymes, the repeats, and anything else that needs to go (or get added). I send it to my sister and another crit partner or two and I read it to my kids and get their input.

4. Once I have a fairly clean manuscript, the real work begins. It's time to clean up the rhythm and meter. Rhyming picture books are a hard sell. They have to be as perfect as possible. So...I print it out and mark it up. I count the syllables in each stanza and line. It looks like this:





Then I mark the stressed and unstressed syllables. And then I change words and lines so it matches up as perfectly as possible with the meter I want to use. I do try to stick to the form I've chosen as closely as possible while writing, but I make mistakes, and sometimes I just use a filler word or two so I can move on. When revision time rolls around, I take a notebook and keep track of the syllable stress patterns while I read/rewrite. It ends up looking like this:




 And when I'm done, I have a rhyming picture book with a nice flowing rhythm and meter as perfect as I can get it. :D


Does anyone else out there write rhyming books or poetry? What is your process?

Post Title

→

Evolution of a Rhyming Picture Book

Post URL

→

https://shortemohaircuts2011.blogspot.com/2011/06/evolution-of-rhyming-picture-book.html

Visit short emo haircuts for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection

You Tell Me...

My mom gave me a little book called You Know You're a Writer When... by Adair Lara. It's HILARIOUS :D Quite a few of the entries will be making appearances in my Friday Funnies :D There was one that got me curious.


If you're not writing, you do something crazy, such as invest in uranium or weave a room-sized tapestry.

I do get into some odd projects sometimes when I'm not writing. I usually go for cross-stitching :D

Tell me - What do you do when you aren't writing?

Post Title

→

You Tell Me...

Post URL

→

https://shortemohaircuts2011.blogspot.com/2011/05/you-tell-me.html

Visit short emo haircuts for Daily Updated Wedding Dresses Collection