Off to Research in Belgium Next Month!

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: May 10, 2012
Categories: Celebrations, Other Topics, Research
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The Ommegang reenactment in Brussels, Belgium

 

Earlier this month, I wrote about finding unusual ways to fund research for our novels-in-progress and about my experience using Kickstarter.com.  I’m happy to report that through the help of Kickstarter, I received over $1800 in pledges, and I will be able to go to Belgium at the end of June to research and attend the Ommegang- a  reenactment of Charles V’s progress into Brussels in 1549!

I am very excited about having the chance to really enrich my novel and humbled at the same time.  Through this fundraising experience, I’ve been able to connect and talk with some amazing astronomers and scientists, many of them female  (women and astronomy being one of the themes in my book), lovers of historical fiction, art enthusiasts, people of Flemish descent, other writers, and people who simply wish to help another struggling artist pursue his/her dream with either words of encouragement, a small pledge, offers of places to stay in Brussels and Bruges, translator services, tour guides, babysitting (from friends and family of course), etc.

Sometimes a writer can wonder what the point is to his/her work.  Will the world really care if this book ever gets finished and published?  I care, and my critique group definitely cares, but after that, sometimes I fall into the trap of feeling like maybe my story just isn’t needed in the world, especially when I have the pressing needs of being a mom, wife, and teacher burying my need to write my story.  But now, I have an additional 36 people who have actually given small donations (on and off Kickstarter.com) and something like an additional 40 + who have offered amazing words of encouragement and emotional support.

Add them together, plus my wonderful critique group, family, close friends, other supportive writers, and you get this blanket of support and encouragement surrounding me on all sides.  I feel like I have my own little cheerleading section, my own line of “story soldiers” ready to stand with me when the going gets tough, when the words won’t come, and life gets in the way.  Ready to say, “You can do it!  We believe in you!  We want this story to be told!”

Wow.

It’s an awesome feeling.  A humbling feeling.

I think we all as writers need our own “cheerleading section” and our own army of “story soldiers.” It doesn’t take many, just a few, to really help us keep going– to make us feel like our stories really matter, and that they deserve to be in the world.

I will try my hardest to make them proud.

The Hundred Languages of Children

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: May 1, 2012
Categories: Other Topics
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A few weeks ago I went to a teacher training workshop through the Portland Children’s Museum called, “Nurturing the Creative Capacity of Children with Lella Gandini.”  It is part of the “Wonder of Learning” exhibit at the museum which is an exhibition of the infant-toddler centers and preschools of the Instituzione Municipality of Reggio Emilia in Italy.

The work and learning displayed by the children of Reggio Emilia was awe-inspiring.  Here is a description of the philosophy from Wikipedia.

 

“The Reggio Emilia Approach is an educational philosophy focused on preschool and primary education. It was started by Loris Malaguzzi and the parents of the villages around Reggio Emilia in Italy after World War II. The destruction from the war, parents believed, necessitated a new, quick approach to teaching their children. They felt that it is in the early years of development that children form who they are as individuals. This led to creation of a program based on the principles of respect, responsibility, and community through exploration and discovery in a supportive and enriching environment based on the interests of the children through a self-guided curriculum.”

 

And here is more from Education.com:

 

“In Reggio Emilia they don’t lock their view on children, the pedagogue or the learning process. The world and its people are always changing and that’s why they are against set programs and methods. You can work Reggio Emilia-inspired. You cannot copy the way they work in Italy because you have to consider the people, the environment and culture.”

In Reggio Emilia they have a coined expression: “A child has a hundred languages”. They try to unite and develop all these languages; innovation, construction, fantasy, art, music, dance, building, writing, talking, signing, science, body and soul… The multiple languages are used to help children build knowledge and understand the world around them. The natural environment is incorporated as much as possible.”

 

Now you may be wondering, “What does this have to do with writing?”

 

For me, learning about this early childhood teaching approach is the first time when my “artist self” blended into my “teacher self” seamlessly.  When I am writing, I try to remember all of the senses in my scenes.  In Reggio-inspired teaching, one tries to nurture all of the senses in children.  ”Joy” and “Wonder” are key components in these classrooms, and I always want to convey a sense of joy and wonder in my writing.

Young children in these classrooms use the arts to express themselves, and in Reggio classrooms, the use of symbolic languages is encouraged.  As it says in Wikipedia:

 

“As children proceed in an investigation, generating and testing their hypotheses, they are encouraged to depict their understanding through one of many symbolic languages, including drawing, sculpture, dramatic play, and writing. They work together toward the resolution of problems that arise.”

 

I absolutely love how the arts in these classrooms are so central to the children’s learning. Sometimes, with today’s cuts in librarians, art teachers, music teachers, etc…, the arts are becoming virtually non-existent in children’s lives.  And children really do have “a hundred languages” that they express themselves with.  One of my languages is my writing, and one of my goals is to help children find their own languages to express themselves, too.

 

Here is a poem from Loris Malaguzzi that describes these languages, and I will be shocked if it doesn’t touch your soul reading it.  I know it touched mine.  It is something we as writers for young people should always remember about children, since they are our primary audience.

 

Enjoy.

 

The Hundred Languages of Children

This poem by the founder of the Reggio-Emilia approach beautifully conveys the important roles imagination and discovery play in early childhood learning. Much of Reggio-Emilia philosophy is based on protecting children from becoming subjected too early to institutionalized doctrines which often make learning a chore rather than an extension of natural curiosity.

The child is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.

A hundred.

Always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.

The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.

They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

-Loris Malaguzzi
Founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach

 

 

 

 

“Kickstarting” your Historical Novel- An Alternative Way to Fund Research

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: April 22, 2012
Categories: Business of Writing, Challenges, Other Topics, Research
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you blur my focus

Sometimes, a writer needs to “reach for the stars” and go outside her comfort zone in order to find the funds to research a book.

Most, if not all, novels demand some type of research. Whether it comes from mining your brain for memories of events or things that you have seen and wish to use in your story, feelings you have had that your characters need to feel, jobs that your characters have that you know nothing about or need more details about, settings that you want but either have never experienced or need more accurate details about, etc…

Historical Fiction is no exception.  Heck, it may very well be the queen of research novels.  (I know, non-fiction and fantasy and all other genres need a lot of research too, but they are another blog post.)

My middle grade novel, MERCURY’S DAUGHTER, tells the story of a Flemish girl with a love of science and the stars who struggles to find her place in her world, all while trying to free her astronomer father who has been arrested for heresy.   During this historical period of persecuting scientists and when women were not allowed to openly study science, the main character explores her fascination with the heavens in secret.   The story takes place in 16th century Bruges and Brussels in what is now modern-day Belgium, though at the time it was part of the Spanish Netherlands, and is the type of book that takes a lot of research to complete.

I know what it’s like to be knee deep in Dutch cookbooks of the 16th century just to see what my characters would eat, then actually attempt to make something and eat it just to experience it even more (Yes, I made a 16th century apple pie shaped like a fish, and it tasted surprisingly like the old McDonalds apple pies of my youth.).  I know what it’s like to read volumes about astronomical instruments and print color copies of art by Pieter Bruegel for inspiration about daily life in Flemish towns.  To contact scholars who can read and speak Middle Dutch to ask them how to say, “Good morning” and learn about the titles people of 16th century Flanders used for one another.  To really, really, really know the joys of Google Books, WorldCat, and universities that have actually scanned primary source documents so that I can print out a book about the constellations and planets written in the 16th century that my main character would have loved and read over and over and have it “in my hand” just the way she did– or the closest I can get to the way she did.

I am not a writer who waits for my research to be done before I begin to type.  I write as I go, always discovering more research that needs to be done.  Yet, after all of this, I find that in order to truly get the voice, the details, the daily life questions, and the rest of the novel finished to my satisfaction, I must take a journey to Belgium.  And that journey costs money that with the economy in a recession, my family does not have.

I know it is possible to write about a place you have never been to or have been very briefly to.  My visit to Bruges in November seven years ago was for one day, with a baby in tow and a story in its first inklings in my mind, with small amounts down on paper.  Brussels was three days—a little better—but not enough to see what I now know I needed to see for my novel.  I thought it could very well be enough, though.  Many writers do just fine having never set foot in their settings.  But I am a  “hands-on” type of writer, one who revels in the sensory details of a place and an event, and though I have researched tirelessly about my setting and the events that take place in my story, I know it would help my novel if I could actually walk in my characters’ shoes properly.  When I finally realized that I needed one more trip to Belgium by myself to focus on my research for a few days, the recession had hit my family hard, and I felt it was too late.

Last year, I attended an inspiring lecture about research from Oregon’s own YA author Emily Whitman (Radiant Darkness and Wildwing ) Together in small groups, Emily had us brainstorm about ways we could really do more “hands-on” type of research if money was no object.  I had heard about a 16th century historical reenactment in Brussels called the Ommegang that happened every year at the beginning of July and had dreamed of experiencing it.  Not only was it the largest historical reenactment in all of Europe, but it depicted Charles V and his court visiting Brussels in 1549, an event pivotal to my novel.  I knew attending this event as well as talking to some experts in person about daily life would really enhance my story, but money really was an object in the way. Emily had mentioned trying to “crowd source” the funds (asking friends, family, and others interested in your story to help fund with small donations), but I didn’t feel confident about that, so I hesitated to try it.

Grants can be a fabulous resource, if you can get one.  I had applied for a WIP grant from SCBWI previously and received a “Letter of Merit.”  Earlier this year I applied for a regional grant, only to be asked to definitely reapply the next quarter, which would be in October and three months after the Ommengang.

Maybe there was something to that “crowdsourcing” idea.  When I revisited the idea late this winter, I found the site Kickstarter.com, which is an online pledge system for funding creative projects.  It is a virtual platform where you can describe your project (my book and its research needs) using video, images, and text and ask for “pledges”.  You also must provide your “backers” with a gift that stems from or is inspired by your work.  A time limit must be allotted for a project to be funded as well.  If it is not funded, all monies go back to the original backer without any loss.

I decided to give it a try, and after creating a page, I allotted 35 days to fund the project.

I am an introvert when it comes to sharing about my writing projects when I am in the middle of them, so attempting Kickstarter is a HUGE leap for me.  So far, after writing to friends, family, and writing acquaintances about the project, I sent letters to mostly female and some male astronauts, members of the Belgian/Flemish, and Dutch groups around the world, and members of reenactment groups.  What has surprised me is how exciting it is to see letters from so many of them in my email box almost daily with good wishes and how my story touched them already in one way or another.  Yes, even over five hundred years later, female astronomers have it much harder over men!

So far, with 11 days left to fund my project, what I have learned the most is how much everyday people without big budgets or non-profits to work with really do care about keeping the arts alive.  In these recession days, they are really doing something about it.   And that is a good thing.

Today, my four-year-old said this while painting at his easel this afternoon.

“Look mommy!  I’m story paining!  You know, like the girl with the animals.  (Beatrix Potter)”

My hope is that an avenue like Kickstarter.com, a grant or fellowship, or whatever means necessary will help you to complete your research to give you the ability to “story paint” the heck out of your novel!

To check out my Kickstarter site, go to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1911476635/mercurys-daughter-a-middle-grade-historical-novel

 

Happy writing!

 

-Nicole Marie Schreiber

www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

www.nicolemarieschreiber.wordpress.com

 

Making Up With My W-I-P: A little time, love, and tenderness goes a long way

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: March 22, 2012
Categories: Basics, Challenges, Creativity, Inspiration, Other Topics, Writing Process
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I’ve recently had a fight with my Work-in-Progress, and it hasn’t been pretty.

You see, I’ve been neglecting it these past few months…well, since the end of October actually.  It doesn’t understand how I am a writer and a teacher and a mother and a wife and have only a certain amount of time in my life.  It doesn’t accept that I’ve had to apply and interview for overseas teaching jobs that start in the fall for the last four months, and to do that takes time, all of my writing time in fact, and there was little time for anything else except caring for my family and working at my school.  Even my sleep was neglected.

It’s been hard.  I’ve missed my W-I-P dreadfully– my characters and setting,  turning in new pages of my W-I-P at my Scriva meetings, and actually doing the writing.

“Those Scrivas really get me,” my W-I-P would whisper in my ear late into the night, when I was trying to get some much-needed sleep for a 5 am Skype interview with a school in Europe.  “They love seeing me, reading me, fixing me up and rearranging me so that I’m all shiny and polished.  They want the best for me!  And you…” My W-I-P would turn to me and grimace. “You just toss me aside.”

It’s true.  I did have to toss my W-I-P aside for a little while, but I always knew I would come back to it.  And at the end of February, it was time for us to get reacquainted.

This was easier said than done.  What helped, you ask?

Keeping my toes in the children’s book world during the time I wasn’t writing definitely helped.  I kept on reading other middle grade and YA, even while flying across the country to teacher recruitment conferences (the plane is a GREAT place to catch up on reading).  Critiquing Scriva manuscripts and attending some of our meetings all helped, too.  Yet, when the time came for me to come face to face with my W-I-P again, I was scared.

Really scared.

Questions bubbled from my brain, like a comic strip character with multiple thought clouds extending from her head.  What if I can’t get into my story again?  What if I don’t remember key details in my plot?  What if the story doesn’t make sense to me anymore?  What if I read it, and I end up not really caring about my W-I-P anymore?

What if we have to break up?

Luckily, none of that happened.  But I didn’t just open my laptop and dive right in, either.  I progressed slowly and took baby steps getting back into reconnecting with my W-I-P, starting with getting back into the mindset of being a “writer” instead of  a“teacher.” Four months is a long time for me to be away from my W-I-P.  I needed to reacquaint myself with what it felt like to be a “writer” again in order to do the writing.

I began by following my favorite writer/author/agent/editor/children’s book blogs again a little bit each day at home.  I wanted to know what I’d missed in the world of children’s books while I’d been out of touch.  I had known and cheered for Hugo while watching the Academy Awards after having read it to my two boys and seen it twice at the theatre, but that had been the extent of my knowledge of the children’s book world since November, so I had a lot to catch up on.

During my blog perusals, I came upon Nathan Bransford’s excellent post about the exact same topic that I was going through– I was thrilled and recommend it to anyone who has been away from a W-I-P for a time and needs help getting back into the swing of things.  I followed his advice about starting with writing something small, like a blog post or a journal entry, and then going from there.  To not get on yourself and expect too much the first time you go back to your W-I-P and really start to write something for it.

After commenting on a few blog posts, I really felt the need to get back to my story.  But a broken relationship needs some quality time, so I took my W-I-P on a date to our favorite place, a place where we have gone through thick and thin together, where I have fallen under its spell of forgetting all time and space, where I have become totally immersed in my story.

Starbucks.

Not just Starbucks, but Starbucks at 5 am, when maybe one or two elderly gentlemen are there reading the newspaper, when it is quiet and peaceful and smells of coffee beans and hot chocolate.  Every relationship has its special places—places you go on anniversaries to, places where promises were made and memories created—and, scary as it is, Starbucks is my place with my W-I-P.

Many a scene has been written there at the early morning hours, sans kiddos asking me to break apart Legos or cut a hole in a cardboard box so that they can make it a boxcar like in the Boxcar Children (both equally important and fun activities, but not when you want to dive back into your W-I-P) .  I still thankfully have many Starbucks gift cards from the holidays (thank you family, friends, and families of students!) and I decided to write there for two hours one Saturday morning—just my W-I-P and me.

But my W-I-P would not have it.

“What?  You think you can just open me up on your laptop and start writing?  After what you did to me?  Think again!”

So I did think again, and I followed some of Nathan Bransford’s advice about not being too hard on myself the first time.  I began with looking at old “photo albums” that I had created with my W-I-P in mind– research notebooks and art from the period of my story that I had collected to help immerse myself in my setting.

I listened to our favorite music of the period again that I had downloaded with my headphones.

I reread my story and did a bit of revising.  I reread and revised my synopsis.  I started giving my W-I-P the proper time and nurturing it needed and so desperately wanted.  And then, clicking down to the end of where I had left off four months earlier, I started writing new material.

I didn’t write much– maybe a couple of paragraphs, but it was something and, remembering Nathan Bradford’s comment about not being too hard on yourself the first time you go back to working on your W-I-P after a long break, it felt good.

I knew I had to treat my W-I-P again to another date AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to keep up the momentum, so a few days later I scheduled another early morning writing time at Starbucks and wrote again, this time a whole scene!

Then, serendipity followed, as it can so many times with artistic endeavors, and I found a fabulous research book at my local library’s used bookstore upon which, while reading it, flooded me with new ideas and areas to take my story.  I had nurtured my W-I-P with a gift, and it had paid me back two-fold with inspiration.

This weekend, a few weeks after reintroducing myself to my W-I-P, I have taken it to the beach with my Scrivas on a writing retreat, and I find myself writing again.  Writing and creating a novel can really be like a maintaining a human relationship.  It takes time, energy, nurturing, patience, persistence, and even love to keep the relationship going, and I am so glad that my W-I-P and I didn’t break up, but made up instead.

 

Here are some ideas that helped me make up with my W-I-P.

 

-       read Nathan Bransford’s blog post!

 

-       Feed your writer’s soul by going on an “artist date” or a “writer’s date” just like described in Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way”.  Go to a favorite park, the beach, the mountains, a bookstore, the library, a museum, anywhere you get inspiration.

 

-       Take your W-I-P on a date to where you can give it 100% of your attention.  If you can do that in your office at home, great.  Just make sure that there are no distractions.  I have many, many distractions at home, so I need to get away from the house.  A favorite coffee shop, the library, the park, anywhere you can.  Reread what you have written, if not all, but enough to remember where you’re going with the story.  Reread your synopsis.  Reread maybe comments from your critique group.  Peruse research and notes on your story, if you have any.

 

-       Take your W-I-P on a date AGAIN and very soon afterward, since I bet during the first time out after a long break putting words to paper didn’t come very easily.

 

-       Be easy on yourself the first time out, then keep on trying to give time to your W-I-P.  Try not to go away again from your W-I-P for some time, if you can. Make a schedule, even if it’s once a week for two hours.  Your story and your writer’s soul will thank you for it.

 

Happy Writing!

 

-Nicole Marie Schreiber

www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

www.nicolemarieschreiber.wordpress.com (blog)

Writer’s Groups Throughout History- Thoughts from Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: October 13, 2011
Categories: Critique Process, Inspiration, Other Topics
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Orchard House- where Louisa May Alcott wrote LITTLE WOMEN

During a recent family trip to Boston, Massachusetts, I was able to make my pilgrimage to Concord (yes, I’ve gone several times in my life already) to Orchard House, the home of Louisa May Alcott where she wrote one of my all-time favorite classic books, Little Women.

While I stood inside Louisa’s bedroom and stared at the half-moon wooden desk her father built for her where she wrote all 400-plus pages of what was at first two books, each called Little Women and Good Wives, it got me to wondering– Did she have a critique or a writer’s group?  Who did she share her early drafts with? Did she share them with members of Concord’s literary society, like her family’s friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson? Her own father, Amos Bronson Alcott, who was a writer and social/educational reformer in his own right?  Neighbor, Nathaniel Hawthorne?  Family friend, Henry David Thoreau?

I do know that Louisa shared her early writings (her “theatricals”) with her sisters, as they performed them when they were young and lived in the house next door to Orchard House, which is now known as The Wayside but was then known as Hillside to the Alcotts.  She also began Flower Fables here, which I can’t imagine her not sharing with her sisters.  In Little Women, Jo is seen reading her work quite a bit to her sisters.  I can’t help but wonder if they ever offered advice or critique to her.  It’s very possible that they, or some of the others mentioned above, did.

 

The Wayside- known as Hillside to the Alcott girls when they lived there from 1845-1848

 

The Wayside in 1845 when it was known as Hillside

 

 

I always feel a sense of kinship with famous writers of the  past whenever I learn about their writing processes, and knowing whether or not they were part of a writing group brings about that same feeling since I am a member of Viva Scriva.  Having a group to either critique with, bounce around ideas with, or just have a sense of artistic camaraderie with is such an important part of my writing career, and I am fascinated when I find other writers who were part of a group themselves.

After my visit to Orchard House an my thoughts about Louisa, I decided to Google famous writer’s groups, and here is a small list that I found.

 

 

 

The Eagle and Child pub- the meeting place for The Inklings

The Inklings

 (According to Wikipedia– “The more regular members of the Inklings, many of them academics at the University, included J. R. R. “Tollers” Tolkien, C. S. “Jack” Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Christopher Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien’s son), Warren “Warnie” Lewis (C. S. Lewis’s elder brother), Roger Lancelyn Green, Adam Fox, Hugo Dyson, R. A. “Humphrey” Havard, J. A. W. Bennett, Lord David Cecil, and Nevill Coghill. Other less frequent attenders at their meetings included Percy Bates, Charles Leslie Wrenn, Colin Hardie, James Dundas-Grant, John David Arnett, Jon Fromke[2] John Wain, R. B. McCallum, Gervase Mathew, and C. E. Stevens. Guests included author E. R. Eddison and South African poet Roy Campbell.”)

The Bloomsbury Group

 (According to Wikipedia– “This English collective of friends and relatives lived, worked or studied near Bloomsbury in London during the first half of the twentieth century. ‘Although its members denied being a group in any formal sense, they were united by an abiding belief in the importance of the arts’.[2] Their work deeply influenced literature, aesthetics, criticism, andeconomics as well as modern attitudes towards feminism, pacifism, and sexuality.[3] Its best known members were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strachey.”)

 

 

Algonquin Round Table

(According to Wikipedia– “Members and associates of the Algonquin Round Table: (l-r) Art Samuels, Charles MacArthur, Harpo Marx, Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott“)

 

 

Shakespeare And Company Writers

(According to Wikipedia– “Writers and artists of the “Lost Generation,” such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, George Antheil and Man Rayspent a great deal of time at Shakespeare and Company, and it was nicknamed “Stratford-on-Odéon” by James Joyce, who used it as his office.”)

 

Wow!  What a list!  And this is only the tip of the iceberg, I’m sure.  Yes, there are writers who really do work without other people’s input, but since writing is so solitary, having the right group to be a part of can really keep writers inspired, encouraged, and part of something greater than themselves as well as help their work be the best it can be.

I’m so thankful to my Scrivas for being my “sisters”and listening to my “theatricals,” just as Louisa’s listened to hers.  I definitely recommend joining a writer’s group, and if the first one doesn’t work out, try, try again.

 

 

 

 

Sharing Inspiration

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: September 8, 2011
Categories: Creativity, Inspiration
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Being a member of Viva Scriva means sharing things with one another that help to inspire us, whether they be interesting blog posts, special speakers that we hear at a conference, articles that we read, books on the writer’s craft, etc…  This past week I actually watched something on the dreaded “T” word that helped inspire me to write.

What is the “T” word, you ask?  It’s the ultimate time suck, of course (besides the internet).

Television.

I don’t watch a ton of T.V., but I do like certain shows, and one of them is “America’s Got Talent.”  I enjoy rooting for my favorites, and sometimes I actually do go online and on the phone and vote for them.  I was saddened this week by the magician Landon Swank getting the boot, since I really enjoyed his performances and appreciated his artistry.  My husband is a magician, and I have acted as his assistant on numerous occasions, so I always appreciate watching a good magician.

My other favorite act this season is a dance troupe named “Silhouettes.”  They are a mixed –age group, the youngest being three-years-old, and mix dance with shadow play that looks almost like puppetry at times.  What I love most about the group is the way they tell a story with their dance.  This week’s performance was no different.  It is a story about believing in your dreams, with a boy struggling with his studies in the beginning of the act and then thinking about all he can accomplish if only he finish his schooling.

Though the craft of writing fiction is never mentioned or shown throughout the performance, I couldn’t help but think about my dream of being a full-time author while watching it.  I know what that boy feels like when he is struggling while sitting at his desk at the very beginning of the act.  I picture myself sitting there, struggling with a line of dialogue or how my main character should feel in a particular scene or what the best word would be for an action I am trying to convey.  Writing is HARD, and it’s easy to want to give up.  Heck, it would be SO easy to give up.  I would only need to close my laptop, stand up, and walk away to the infinite number of other things that beg for my attention at all hours of the day and night—cleaning, children, teaching, husbands, dogs, errands, and everything else in the world that needs me besides my writing.

But as the act progresses, and the audience sees how the boy can accomplish his dreams if he only keeps to his work, it makes me know that I too need to keep my bum in my chair and stick with it.    I too can be an author—if I work hard enough, long enough, keep on dreaming, and always, always BELIEVE.

I hope that all of you keep your belief in your dreams alive, too.

 

(Click here to see the video of the Silhouettes on YouTube. Enjoy!)

 

-Nicole Marie Schreiber

www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

http://nicolemarieschreiber.wordpress.com

 

 

 

From the Files of Scriva Nicole

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: July 15, 2011
Categories: Critique Process, Other Topics
Tags:,
Comments: 1 Comment

My six –year-old son recently read the beginning of an early phonics reader to me, only to stop halfway through the book, look up at me, and say,

”You know, this story isn’t really any good.  I don’t think it’s very well written.  The author could have done better.  ”

This little “critique partner-in-training” went on to give me a full analysis of what this phonics reader truly needed in order to shine.

“Nothing’s happening, Mama.  I hate books like that.  Something needs to happen.”

He was absolutely right, of course.  The phonics reader had no plot, bad rhyme, and rudimentary illustrations.  But it was a book from his kindergarten class that he had to read, so read it we did.

Once again, he is six!

I realized then that my critique group had been rubbing off on him.  Now I am not only raising a boy and future man, but creating a “mini-Scriva,” or, since he is a boy, a “mini-Scrivo,” as well.  Not that there is anything wrong with this.  He has been forming quite an opinion about his book tastes lately, tending to gravitate toward fantasy (first Harry Potter, Roald Dahl books), friendship books with unlikely, opposite characters (Frog and Toad, Mr. Putter and Tabby, A Visitor for Bear, Dodsworth in New York, etc.), mysteries (Nate the Great and Magic Tree House), funny picture books like Yes Day by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, and science books like the Magic School Bus.  Favorite early readers are Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggie series.

Though my current WIP is not up his alley (upper mid-grade, coming-of-age historical with a female protagonist), he does cartwheels over Scriva Liz’s volcanoes and Mars Rovers and Scriva Sabina’s The Impudent Rooster. He has listened to me “talk books” with many a Scriva, has watched over my shoulder as I critique someone’s manuscript, and has asked me questions about what I look for in a manuscript when I am critiquing it.

What can you take away from all this?  A smile—a chuckle—and a reminder that a critique group can not only enhance your writing and your career, but also the literary life of your children as well.  And how great is that?

Happy critiquing!

 

- Nicole Marie Schreiber

www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

http://nicolemarieschreiber.wordpress.com

 

 

Hitting a Brick Wall (or When Life Gets in the Way)

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: June 9, 2011
Categories: Challenges, Other Topics, Writing Process
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This past weekend the Scrivas and I rented a beach house to use as a base for our writing retreat.   The setting was perfect.  The weather was gorgeous.  And my fingers were anxious to get typing on my WIP.  It would be an ideal way to get lots of pages done in one lump sum and be able to bond with the Scrivas, since we hadn’t ALL gotten together in quite a long time.

Then, life got in the way.

We were set to leave on Friday morning and come home on Monday afternoon, and I had taken off working at the preschool well in advance of the upcoming weekend.  But, my youngest son, age three, came down with high fevers and a cold.  I needed to stay home with him on Friday and be a mommy for a little longer.  A fellow Scriva came to the rescue and drove me on Saturday morning to the beach house, so all was not lost.  I still had plenty of writing time, right?

Then, life got in the way.

My husband left me a message telling me that my older son, age six, now had the high fevers and cold.  I was needed at home.  So, on Sunday afternoon, a fellow Scriva kindly drove me back home.  Add to this that while I was at the retreat, other hard family matters, not immediate but on my side of the family, came to light on my email, filling my brain with things far and away from my WIP.

Did I get any work done?  Yes.  But it wasn’t what I had planned or intended, yet what I have learned about being a writer, a mother, and a part-time teacher is that it’s best not to count on big “chunks” of time for my writing, but to make writing part of my daily “lifestyle.”

For the past few months I have tried to not go without writing for more than two days.  That means that I write for two hours in the late afternoon before dinner, after I am done with teaching at the preschool, and after the boys are home and my husband can watch them. Or, I go to Starbucks EARLY (5:00 am) to get in a couple of hours before the day begins. (Great on Saturdays and Sundays) The schedule has really been working for me, so missing a couple of days of my writing retreat didn’t hurt as much.  Writing is part of my life style now, so I knew I would be writing again in just a day or two.

What also always helps “when life gets in the way” is the constant support from my critique group.  They ask me about how my writing life is doing, as well as how my family is doing.  They check in with me and give me suggestions for different writing schedules.  And they were there to support me at the retreat when things weren’t going exactly as I wanted.  The best critique groups are supporters and cheerleaders as well as line editors for when “life gets in the way.”  Even if you don’t have a specific “critique” group, a good group of supporters from your writing life (agent, editor, writing partner, close writing friends) can help for those times when life trumps writing.

Happy writing!

 

 

PCSD (“Post-Critique Stress Disorder” and What to Do About It)

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: May 13, 2011
Categories: Basics, Challenges, Critique Process, Other Topics
Tags:, , ,
Comments: 2 Comments

stressed-out

 

You know you’ve felt it—the tensing up of the fingers as pools of sweat build at your temples, while your eyes stare blankly at the computer screen, moving from there to the many margin notes and cross-outs scrawled all over the freshly-critiqued manuscript you just received back the day before…

There’s no denying it.  You’ve come down with a case of PCSD, otherwise known as Post-Critique Stress Disorder.

But what can you do about it?  Never fear, because the Scrivas are here to help!

It’s very normal to feel bewildered and a little lost (or very, very lost) when you return to your story right after having it critiqued either by your critique group, an editor, agent, or published author at an SCBWI or other writing event, a paid critique person, or even your own editor or agent asking for revisions.  If you don’t happen to feel this way, that’s great!  You’ve bypassed the gauntlet of emotions that can sometimes happen, and you’re free and clear to whip that manuscript into shape.  But for many of us writers, rereading comments after a critique and applying them to our stories can be a daunting task that can sometimes make us feel like this:

  1. I’m a horrible writer and what am I wasting my time for?
  2. I’m not good enough to be among the other writers in my critique group and they probably wish that they could kick me out (or I’m not good enough to be at this writer’s conference and don’t belong here)
  3. I’m never going to make it (if you aren’t published yet)
  4. I’m finished and won’t ever publish again.  My other books were just a fluke. (Or I’ve lost my touch.)
  5. I’ll never be able to change genres, and I should just stick to non-fiction picture books (or whatever genre I’ve published in.)
  6. This story is terrible, and I should just give up.
  7. Oh, and did I say that I’m a horrible writer and what am I wasting my time for?

The list can go on and on, but you get the picture.  There are so many negative things that our “inner critic” can tell us, bringing us down.  Don’t listen to it!   Instead, you can try to overcome Post-Critique Stress Disorder with techniques such as these:

1.  Always think of THE WORK as a separate entity from YOURSELF.  Your manuscript is not you.  When it is being critiqued, don’t ever think of it as YOU being critiqued.  This is very hard for artists to do, but we must release our emotions over our manuscripts so that it can be shaped into the best piece of art it can be.

2.  Listen without speaking as your critique group, or whoever has critiqued your work, discusses your manuscript with you, and take all the comments in without judgment.  Now, hopefully you are having your manuscript critiqued by a professional who knows how to properly critique (bringing up what works and is positive about the piece as well as what could be improved).  If not, then the critique isn’t as meaningful, and you should get another opinion!

3.  Give yourself some “space” between you and your recent critique by waiting a few days before rereading over the comments given to you.  It’s amazing how you end up seeing the manuscript differently when you yourself haven’t read it in a while.

4.  Read your positive comments first (yes, there should ALWAYS be something positive about the piece) to give yourself courage to move on to what needs work.

5.  Write down all of your “inner critic’s” comments (like those negative ones mentioned above) and either burn them in the fireplace, throw them away, or stuff them into a box, never to be opened.  You are getting rid of them literally to free your mind up to the revisions ahead.  You don’t need all of that baggage.

6.  If you’ve had your work critiqued by a group, then when you do look over the critiques, notice where the comments “overlap.”  There is a reason why two or more people felt the same way about something.  This works for both positive comments and things that need improvement. “Overlapping comments” should be considered carefully and could be considered the beginning of a “revision roadmap” for you, helping to lessen the feeling of being “lost” when going back to your work.

7.  Be open to new ideas instead of fighting them.  It doesn’t hurt to try things a different way and then decide the best way for you. Remember, your work is your own, but always be open to new possibilities.  The best critique group (as well as other people critiquing your work) always want what is best for THE WORK, and are not out to hurt it or you.

8.  And finally, when all else fails, CHOCOLATE HELPS!  :-)

Happy revising!

-Nicole Marie Schreiber

http://www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

http://nicolemarieschreiber.wordpress.com

 

 

Finding the Right Venue for Critique Groups

by Nicole Marie Schreiber
Published on: April 26, 2011
Categories: Basics
Tags:No Tags
Comments: 1 Comment

I am a sucker for ambience when it comes to my writing.  I love to write in cafes reminiscent of Paris, where the smell of coffee and pastries are prevalent, and there is a hum of noisy conversation in the air.  I love libraries, both modern and historic, and surrounding myself with books as I write.  I love looking out a window at a pretty view while I write, whether it be looking at a garden, or the lights of a big city, or the spires of Prague from a hotel window (been there!), or the Pacific Ocean from a B & B.  I love sitting outside on my porch swing and writing among other historic homes while finches visit my bird feeders and children walk home from the school down the street.   I even have an antique Victorian desk in my bedroom that I have been writing at recently that is next to an Art Nouveau stained glass window (hung there over my regular window on a chain).

I want my writing space, wherever it may be, to feel and look a certain way.  Yes, I can write in the car (and I have) or while waiting at the doctor’s office (done that too), but my best writing never comes from that.   Luckily, I am not too, too picky about my ambience, and have it in abundance in numerous places around town and at home.

So it makes sense for me to talk about how to find the right venue for a critique group, since “place” is very important to me.  Is the perfect place the same for every critique group?  No.  Of course not.  But there are probably a few things to consider when deciding where the right venue is for your group to meet.

 

  1. What type of “ambience” is your group looking for?

Not everyone needs a certain artsy or “writer” ambience in a critique group meeting place, but I have to say that it certainly doesn’t hurt!  But if your group doesn’t care about such things, then anywhere with a big table, enough chairs or couches, a restroom, and preferably beverages (treats aren’t a bad idea either) would do the trick!

2.  How far is the meeting place from everyone?

This is an important factor to consider, especially when everyone lives in all different directions.  A most central and “middle” location is ideal, but if one person lives far and the rest live relatively close or in the same direction to one another, then one person may have to drive a bit farther.  I drive pretty far for our Scriva meetings (30 minutes in the suburbs), but I don’t mind since it gives me a chance to change from my “mommy” and “preschool teacher” persona to my “artist” and “writer” persona.  I also love the artsy vibe of the Portland city center very much, so I like going into the city once a month or so to be a part of it.

3.  Do you want a public establishment (café, restaurant, bookstore, library, etc…) as your meeting place or someone’s home?

Let’s face it, some people have better houses to have meetings in than others.  My house, though I love it, is small, and with two kids under the age of six, a crazy 2 year-old lab, stinky cats, and a lot of clutter and noise. My house is definitely not the best place for a critique group meeting.  But other Scrivas do have excellent spots in their home to have our group meet, such as a loft or an office within the home, or their kids are older and moved out, so the entire house is ours, or the kids are older and in school, so the entire house is ours yet again, etc…  I don’t mind going to another Scriva’s home for our meetings when we need to or we are having a different kind of meeting (we had a marketing series, for example, and met at ScrivaLiz’s house for a while once a month for a few months outside of our regular critique meetings).  I do love the vibe of a great artsy café, though, so I am glad that we meet at one for our critique meetings now.

Be sure that everyone feels comfortable with the choice, however.  Some may be uncomfortable at a person’s home when it comes to critiquing, and may want the neutral territory of a library or cafe.  What is most important is that everyone feels comfortable in the space, which leads me to number four…

4.  Be watchful of individual members’ noise thresholds.

My tolerance for noise is pretty high—it has to be!  I have two sons under six years-old, a crazy but loveable dog, and I teach two and three-year-olds.  Plus, my husband and I are kind of loud at home, too.  I do not live in a quiet household.

But that doesn’t mean that all of my beloved Scrivas can handle a lot of noise.  So it is best to take a poll and see how much background noise your group members can handle.  We Scrivas had to move from one café to another when it became too noisy for some of our members.  It all comes down to comfort again.  Everyone should feel like they are in a safe, comfortable environment, especially when they are being critiqued.  It’s hard enough to get your work critiqued.  Not being able to hear what works and what doesn’t work in a manuscript piece is a nightmare!

I hope my little bits of advice are helpful to anyone interested in forming the best critique group for you.  Happy critiquing!

-Nicole Marie Schreiber

www.nicolemarieschreiber.com

http://nicolemarieschreiber.wordpress.com

 

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