Weekend Link: Jane Yolen, Jerdine Nolan and a Sparrow

Jane Yolen is a prolific writer--250 books worth! The following 10-minute interview is full of tidbits of wisdom worth every writer's time:

I fell in love with Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolan (the illustrator is Mark Buehner, another favorite picture book creator of mine). Ms. Nolan is a brilliant story teller. Since it is still the last day of Black History Month, I thought this 3-minute interview about her book, Eliza's Freedom Road was apropos. It's also a great way to learn how to use non-fiction elements to tell a compelling fiction story:

And the last video (4 minutes) has nothing, it may seem, to do with writing, but I'll let you be the judge after you watch it. You may need tissues--boxes of them:

Have a great weekend and happy writing.

Weekend Links: Peter Brown on Writing and Illustrating

Peter Brown has written or illustrated some of my favorite pictures books, including Children Make Terrible Pets and Creepy Carrots (written by Aaron Reynolds). 

The following videos all feature Peter Brown talking about the techniques, inspirations and tools he uses in writing or illustrating a picture book. They are ranged from shortest to longest, but certainly not by most valuable. If you have the time, each video is worth watching:

Weekend Links: It's All About Character

Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones, by Judy Schachner. Published by Dutton Children's Books/Scholastic. Copyright 2007. WordCount: 1,129.

Analyzing characters in picture books is a great way to see what works and how you can apply it to your own stories. For example, one of my favorite picture book characters is Skippyjon Jones. 

Skippyjon's character is what creates the story. His "inner chihuahua" becomes the driving force behind the mischief he gets into and the mischief he gets out of: plot, conflict and resolution all hinge on Skippyjon's personality. 

The dialogue in Skippyjon books is brilliant in relaying Skippyjon's personality instantly to the reader. Here's a fun passage from Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones:

"Oh, I'm Skippyjon Jones, and I bounce on my bed, cuz I love to eat pickles that tickle my head."

It's easy to see why Judy Schachner has had such success with Skippyjon. He's a memorable, relatable character who speaks to the heart of the child with a humor that speaks to the parent. 

The following videos, all around seven minutes or less, give further ideas on how to develop solid characters in your writing. Have a great weekend.

Weekend Links: Lane Smith and Molly Leach, Jon Scieszka and more

Here's a fun way to start your weekend with two of the funny guys of children's lit: Lane Smith and Molly Leach talk about cover design and other good stuff and Joh Scieszka...well, he's just Jon in his very fun, adorable way.

And on a more serious tone, here's a link to The Nuts and Bolt's Guide to Writing Children's Books (by Linda Ashman) that came highly recommended. I want to check it out myself: http://www.lindaashman.com/newsletter.htm


P.S. Here's one more by Jon. Well worth the 14 minutes. He discusses boys for books and his organization, Guys Read. Anyone who wants to write for boys...it's worth the time to watch this.

Weekend Link: Mercer Mayer and the Zippererumpazoo

Mercer Mayer's video of him (or rather Reginald) reading Professor Wormbog in Search For the Zipperumpazoo, is a great study in how to write and read a story.

Weekend Links: Nonfiction, Mentor Texts and Whimsy

I've had the pleasure of listening to the WOW-Nonfiction Webinars. Kristen Fulton is the brains behind WOW and her fantastic website has all the links and info you need to get started writing nonfiction. And best of all, the Week of Writing Nonfiction is coming up. Here's a brief blurb:

"Welcome to Week Of Writing also known as WOW. For one week you are challenged to perfect, hone and produce great Non-Fiction Picture Books. This includes True Non-Fiction (Biographies and Historical events as well as How-To books and information or reference books), Faction (Facts presented in a fictitious way), and of course Historical Fiction (totally fictitious story based on real people, real events or real places)."

For more information, click here:  http://www.kristenfulton.org/wow--nonficpic.html

In fact, it was through one of Kristen's webinars where I heard Marcie Atkins' presentation on using mentor texts. Using mentor texts is essentially a self-taught class on how to write. You chose books or authors you love, dissect what works and use that to improve your own writing. Click here for more links to Marcie's website including the link to her presentation: http://www.marcieatkins.com/making-time-to-write/mentor-texts-writers-resources/

And just for fun, see the video above. Everything you need to know about writing picture books and getting rich off it from the horses...I mean elephant's mouth. Thanks Mandy Yates for putting it together. 

Resistance and The War of Art

“It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”

Steven Pressfield

I just read The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. Ok, I confess, I didn’t read it. I listened to the audio book. Twice. (Warning: Don’t listen to this book when your children are around. He uses some profanity.) And then I bought the book so I could highlight stuff. It’s so good! It’s all about resistance. Really? I thought it was just me who insists that I really, really, really want to work on my books, but when I get an opportunity to do it, I decide I have to organize my closets or purge my email box or make homemade sauerkraut. You mean this happens to other people too? What a revelation.

One form of resistance he talks about is not finishing things. I do that! Right now I’m about 85% done with two projects, and I’m feeling that pull to walk away for a while. I don’t know what to do about the end of a story I’m writing, and I’m wrapped up so tightly about it that nothing I’ve written this week really works. But I’m going to win these battles. I’m not giving in to resistance.

Pressfield talks about the culture of healing that exists in places like Santa Fe, New Mexico. (I have some favorite gurus from that area.) If we accept the idea that we have to heal ourselves emotionally before we can do our work, we are giving in to resistance. He says:

 “The part of us that we imagine needs healing is not the part we create from. That part is far deeper and stronger. The part we create from can’t be touched by anything our parents did or society did. That part is unsullied, uncorrupted, soundproof, waterproof and bulletproof. In fact, the more troubles we’ve got, the better and richer that part becomes.”

He says it’s our personal lives that need healing, and that has nothing to do with our work. But it can be healing to our personal lives when we do our work. I have experienced this myself in a big way, but it still struck me as an epiphany.

He goes on to tell the difference between a professional and an amateur. If we really want to write books or make art, we have to turn pro. We have to show up every day no matter what.

The third part of The War of Art is about where our inspiration comes from. Pressfield calls it muses or angels. I believe angels whisper in our ears. I believe the stories I write exist before I write them, and I just have to let them come through me.

So now, every time I feel resistance coming back, I put this audio book on and listen for a while. If I know my enemy, I can win the battle.