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The Break Your Writer Brain Needs

May 22, 2013

Cathy C. Hall 1 , , , 10 Comments

ImageMay is a busy month, isn’t it? End-of-school chaos, graduations (That’s Youngest Junior Hall, graduating college!), Mother’s Day, Memorial Day…whew! Time for a nice summer break.

And really, I am the Queen of Summer Breaks. But I also know that too long of a break from writing and my brain gets mushy. I can’t remember what my manuscript was all about, and my creative idea juices sort of dwindle to a trickle. So I work–but I break up my routine.

Which brings me to the topic I discussed over at the Muffin today: taking writing classes. Sometimes, a class is just what a writer needs to get excited, to get new ideas, to break old habits, to mix up the routine. And goodness, there are an awful lot of writing classes!

I came across this Write Now! Mastermind class the other day and had to read the details twice. Free? Really? That’s a pretty sweet deal. But honestly, there are sweet deals like that going on every day in the writing world. And maybe the summer is the perfect time to rev up your writing life with a fun class.

So do something for yourself this summer. I know it’s sounds crazy, but you’ll feel great, putting your brain to work during the break!

Writer Training: Write, Edit, Submit

May 16, 2013

Cathy C. Hall 1 , , , 8 Comments

3children_at_TybeeTomorrow is my mom’s birthday so I’m zipping through business and packing up cupcakes and clothes and cold cream (That’s what Mom asked for–I didn’t know you could still buy cold cream) for a little visit. But I don’t think I’m going to get my submission for Not Your Mother’s Book on Being a Mom finished before I go.

You remember the Not Your Mother’s Book series, right? There are so many of these titles–on moms, cats, golf, RV’s–well, it’s just a smorgasbord of subjects is what it is. If you can’t find a subject to write about then you’re not looking.

And if you’re not writing to submit, then you’re not going anywhere. So how about you pick a title and write a story? Whip out a first draft while you’re sitting in the van, waiting for baseball practice to end. Pen a story instead of watching TV. Make an outline in your head while you’re washing your hair.

Then edit and polish and submit. Make the time to work on it, little by little, till you have a story that’s good to go. It’s important that you write to submit because you’ll write better, knowing that someone else will be reading your work. Not the someone elses in your critique group (though a critique group can be tougher than an editor!). Not your loving mate. Not your friends. Not even your mother.

Send out your story to an editor. Because it’s the little steps along the way that train you up as a writer. Sort of like a mom training up a kid in the way she hopes that kid will go.

My mom did a pretty good job, training me up. Maybe I’ll finish that story before I go, after all.

Tuesday Tips on Writing and Publishing a Book

May 14, 2013

Cathy C. Hall 1 , , , , , 6 Comments

ImageIt’s finally here: Children’s Book Week! 

I don’t have a horse in this race, as the expression goes, but I’m still excited to hear about the Children’s Choice Book Awards, 2013. Any minute today, they’ll post those titles, and I’ll take a few minutes to dream about my books and the what ifs that might follow…

Of course, first I have to deal with a little sticky wicket I call “publishing.” So, Tip One:

Book Publishers Accepting Submissions by Location

I can’t say for sure if a regional publisher is an easier sell. But I can say that this list of publishers are accepting submissions (unlike bigger publishers who only accept agented submissions). A local publisher may be a perfect fit for your proposal or manuscript, particularly if your book has a regional bent.

And Tip Two comes from one of my very favorite authors, Margaret Atwood. She shared her Ten Rules of Writing Fiction. Because before I can get my book published, I have to write the best book my brain can bust out. So I particularly liked Rule Ten:

10. Prayer might work. Or reading ­something else. Or a constant visual­isation of the holy grail that is the finished, published version of your resplendent book.

So, yeah. We’re back to publishing. And if I’m going to write and pray and visualize, I might as well dream big.

Like the Children’s Choice Book Awards. (You get a trophy, right?)

 

 

 

Friday’s Fun Find: Taking Out The Trash

May 10, 2013

Cathy C. Hall 1 , , 12 Comments

ImageTechnically, taking out the trash is not Friday’s Fun Find. That today, May 10th, is Clean Up Your Room Day, makes this day kinda special. Mothers (and okay, three dads out there) are chasing after kids as I write, waving the calendar in their kids’ faces, yelling, “But it’s an official holiday!”

And even though I don’t have a clutch of kids hanging about my house these days, I do have the Beneficent Mr. Hall, who has been a muse for many a piece of writing. Including this (ridiculously appropriate for today) poem.

 

                                             Taking Out the Trash

 

                        It was just ‘round the time when kids fall asleep,

                        And fathers plop down in soft chairs.

                        With dishwashers running, and TVs a-humming,

                        As mothers tread soft on the stairs.

 

                        “Did you take out the trash?” she asked with a smile,

                        She doubted he’d gotten right to it.

                        “Ten minutes,” he said, never turning his head.

                        Why rush around now and do it?

 

                        She picked up the gym clothes, the games and the books.

                        She put everything back in its place.

                        He sprawled on his seat, with his two propped-up feet,

                        A look of sheer bliss on his face.

 

                        She packed all the lunches, wrote checks, stamped the bills,

                        Fed the dog, even cleaned the fish bowl.

                        He cheered on his team, with a whoop and a scream.

                        “The trash, please!” she begged. His eyes rolled.

 

                        “Okay,” he replied to the tone in her voice,

                        With a sidelong glance at the mother.

                         “I can never relax,” he said, stating the facts.

                         “It’s just one thing after another!”

 

 

 

 

 

How To Become a Writing Smartypants

May 8, 2013

Cathy C. Hall 1 , , , , , 4 Comments

ImageI finally cracked open Magazine Markets for Children’s Writers 2013 because–well, I’ll let you read all about it over at The Muffin.

And because I can never get enough of how-to-write books (as you know by now if you read my WOW! post), I’m adding Jessica Bell’s Adverbs and Cliches in a Nutshell to the queue. Partly because of this lovely review by Margo Dill. But also because there’s a special WOW! deal going on now.

But you already know that if you’re a subscriber to WOW! Women on Writing. And if you’re not subscribed then quit reading right now and do it.

(Did that come off a little bossypants? I felt like it might be a little bossypants. I’m not going to change it, mind you. Just wanted you to know that I know. And when I finish reading all these books, I’m going to know even more.

Wow. It’s kinda scary, right?)

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