Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Newsie Tuesdie and a Tip

Well, we are still on schedule for October!  I have completed my last wave of content edits, and am about to pass my manuscript off to the editor who will be the last to touch it before it goes to print!  I know, October is coming so fast, and I am extremely excited!  Right now I am testing COBBOGOTH  out on a group of lovely YA readers who will tell me what they think.  My most recent editor thought this would be a good idea before really going for it, and as with all of her suggestions while editing my book, she is right.  If the YA group likes it--hopefully loves it--then I think I'm in good shape!

As for a tip this week, I've decided to post about one of the best writing books I've read.  The book is called Becoming a Writer by Dorthea Brande.  Seriously, this book was truly the best thing I could've read at the beginning of the writing process. 


Brande helped me to see that there isn't much about writing that is based on talent, and for someone who has struggled with dyslexia her entire life, this was stupendous news!   Brande says that 100% of writing technique can be learned with hard work and practice.  I think, because all we see is the finished product at the end of the writing process, it's easy to think that the whole thing came about simply by magic, but in actuality, writing a book is just like anything else in life; it can only be accomplished one step at a time.  Some have a bit of talent to help along, but even for them, it requires hard work, perseverance, and a willingness to continually learn and sharpen new skills.

Brande was also the first to introduce me to the two parts of a writer's mind.  She says that these two parts need to be kept separate for maximum effectiveness.  Let me explain: each writer has a "creative side" and an "editorial side."  When the creative side is working, the editorial side should be shut down, because the editorial side of our minds kills the flow of creativity.  Up to that point I was having the hardest time moving forward, because I felt like I had to have a perfect chapter before I could start work on the next one.  When I read Brande's book, and realized my problem was that these two parts of my writer-self were getting in the way of each other, everything really started to pick up.  Like my friend Sarah says, and perhaps I've quoted her here before: "Your writing has to be bad before it can be good," and I have found that to be absolutely right. 

Anyway, if you're serious about writing, this is a fantastic and short read written by an author who really makes you feel like she's cheering for you!  I love people like that! 

6 comments:

  1. I'm so happy you sent this book to me! Thank you Aunt Hannah(: I just started reading it and it's amazing! I guess I just never got around to it-I wish I had read it sooner! It's chalked full of wonderful tips and ideas. Oh! And my friend Shayla just started following your blog! I told her about you and showed her the blog yesterday...she was more than happy to follow! She's 17 and trying to write a trilogy. It sounds amazing(: We bounced ideas off each other for our books for 5 hours yesterday!! I was wondering if we'd be able to email you and ask questions so we could get a real author's point of view? Thanks for everything Aunt Hannah-and I can't wait to see you in a couple weeks!! *EEEKKK!!!*

    -aBBi giRL
    -trueblueabbi.blogspot.com

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  2. Oh course you can e-mail me with questions! And Thanks for following Shayla! Thats so great that the two of you have each other. My writing started getting so much better once I became a part of a writing group. It makes all the difference in the world to have someone to bounce ideas off of and someone who understands how tough writing can be sometimes. Good luck with your projects, both of you, and have fun with your writing!

    Love,
    Hannah

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  3. Thank you Aunt Hannah! And it is SO much nicer with Shayla to talk to. She will be so thrilled that we can email you! Love you(:

    -aBBi giRL
    -trueblueabbi.blogspot.com

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  4. Thank you so much Hannah!
    Abbi and I both are sooo excited to be working on our stuff together. It was great to have some one giving feedback and ideas (and constructive criticism of course)! I appreciate your willingness to help us out! I know that personally this will help me make my 'baby' what it needs to be.

    Thanks Again!

    Shayla

    Owners don't knock

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  5. You bet, Shayla! I'm excited to get out there and hear what you both are working on in a couple of weeks. There are some pretty exciting things happening in the publishing world right now--a revolution of sorts--and the more you know about it, the better off you'll be when you're ready to put your own stuff out there.

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