Writer and Illustrator,
Kathy Temean blogged about my summer reading book review in the July 2013 issue of
Parenting. Kathy is very supportive of writers and illustrators. As RA of the NJSCBWI, she has organized countless workshops, conferences and networking opportunities for fellow writers and illustrators. Several years ago, I wrote about her infectious enthusiasm and wonderful workshop in a piece published in
Sprouts. You can read a reprint of that piece below:
TEARS AND TIPS IN TOMS
RIVER
I
cried all the way from Long Island to New
Jersey. It
was the first time I went away without my husband and children, and was on the
verge of turning around and coming home, several times.
Something,
however, kept propelling me onward. Perhaps it was the dream of publication. Perhaps it was my growing stack of
personalized rejection letters stating how much this-or-that particular editor
enjoyed my manuscript, but in the end “it just wasn’t right for me.” More likely, it was Kathy Temean’s infectious
enthusiasm about the mentor workshop.
Wiping
away tears, I mustered up the courage to enter the guest house of the Tom’s
River Country Club and was greeted with smiles, wine, great conversation and a
delicious dinner.
Over
the next two days, I was reinvigorated with all the writing axioms we’ve heard
before, but sometimes lose sight of through our many rewrites. Among the best tried and true tips that I
revisited in Toms
River were:
·
No set-up
without a payoff, no payoff without a set-up.
In other words, avoid any superfluous exposition. Unless the reader needs to know it for a climatic
event in the plot, cut it out.
Similarly, don’t pull unjustified plot twists out of thin air.
·
Be
fastidious with your words in picture books.
In picture book writing, make every word count. If it doesn’t further the plot, cut it.
·
Highlight
sensory information. After you’ve
revised and revised and revised, take your fifth/sixth/ twentieth draft and
highlight all your sensory images. Are
you just using visual images? Are you
engaging all senses?
·
!Viva la
vivid verbs! Avoid the passive
voice. Instead of “The car went by,” try
“The corvette raced away.”
·
Strengthen
your dialogue and say no more. If
the dialogue is strong enough, you only need the word said with no qualifiers.
·
Avoid adverbs. Again, vivid verbs and strong dialogue should
take care of this.
·
Don’t be
authorial. This tip came from the
first page session. Agent, Nadia Cornier
pointed out that an author’s voice was sneaking into the character’s voice,
making it seem inauthentic. It’s an
interesting distinction to make. To read
more on this topic, I would recommend James Wood’s book, How Fiction Works.
I
had time to reflect on these tips during my long drive home. As I crossed the Verrazano bridge and hit the
sea of brake lights on the Belt
Parkway, I smiled because I was home. Stuck in my own New York
traffic, I looked up at the sign that read Brooklyn, how sweet it is!
Sweetest of all, I
met fantastic women with whom I am still critiquing. We exchange manuscripts and comments via
email. So, would I go back to Toms River
in the future? ABSOLUTELY! - Only next time I would bring my family and
get a hotel room nearby, so I could snuggle my babies at night.
To read my current Parenting piece that Kathy so graciously blogged about, pick up a copy on newsstands now!
Happy reading,
Christine
