Have you had trouble following through on magazine theme lists or editorial calendars? If you’re like me, the answer is a big YES!
I’d request theme lists and, sometimes when they arrived, they’d spark an idea or fit a story I’d already written. But, too often I left them to look at later. By the time “later” came, I had missed deadlines. I’d wail, “but I had an idea for that topic!” Sometimes in my stack, I found editorial calendars and theme lists that were months or even a year out of date.
One day I decided I’d had enough. There had to be a better way. So I gathered together all my theme lists and began organizing. Here’s what I devised:
For each magazine/take home paper, I record the name of the magazine, audience age, word length, topic deadlines, and a summary of the topics. I use a table in my word processor and have the computer sort the information by deadline date, but it could also be done on 3×5 cards or on separate pages of a notebook. Each magazine in my table has an entry for every deadline date on the theme list. This could mean one topic per entry or many topics. The final entry for each magazine is a reminder to order the next theme list. (And, I still file my theme lists–I might need more detail than what’s in my table.)
Here’s a selection from my original chart:
*those marked with an asterisk buy all rights
When a deadline is past, I delete the entry. And, of course, when new theme lists arrive, I add the new information and resort the table.
I knew organizing would help me focus on topics with earlier deadlines, but what I didn’t realize, was that looking at all the topics together would have other benefits.
First off, it was easy to see which magazines were looking for similar material. Ah ha, maybe that story on will work for two or three or four editors.
Secondly, I now have a reminder to write for a new theme list. It’s nice to get new theme lists before half of the deadlines are passed!
But perhaps most important was how it freed me up for inspiration. For at least a year, I’d had a note hanging around my desk that said “a story on mailbox bashing.” I knew I wanted to write something on this form of vandalism, but each time I looked at the note, it got reshuffled into the stack. But the day I organized my theme lists, one of the topic suggestions combined with my mailbox idea and immediately I wrote the first draft of the story. The very same day another theme list topic jumped out and I knew I could use my daughter’s recent fear for a springboard for that story.
I still don’t always meet theme list deadlines with this method, but now that lists don’t just gather dust on my desk–or stay in some forgotten directory in my computer–my chances have improved tremendously.
Anyone else have methods they’d like to share?
Category: The Nitty Gritty of Children’s Writing
What Would Sue Do?
My dear friend and writer buddy (1) just gave me this shirt. Isn’t it a crack up? Jenn has called me her writing mentor and comes to me with questions. She’s my social media mentor and got me started on twitter. When I have twitter and tweetdeck questions, I go to her. We encourage each other in our writing as you can tell by this gift. Thanks again, Jenn!
What Would Maggie Do?
A former critique partner (2) recently gave me this testimonial: “I worked with her on a picture book draft that she suggested I make into a chapter book based on the voice and age of the character. When the manuscript was complete, she helped me with my query and final revisions. I just sent it out and I am already getting requests from agents!!” So we’ve joked, “You should listen to Sue.”
What Would Lorie Ann/Joan/Sue Do?
Years ago I was in a critique group with two great writers and friends (3). We met every three weeks and got each other’s voices in our heads. I remember once during a critique when one of us commented on a manuscript, the writer said, “I knew you were going to say that.” The gal spoken to responded, “If you knew I was going to say that, why didn’t you fix it.” We all laughed.
What Would Dan Do?
I hear a current critique partner (4) when I see sentences like this in my own or in my student’s writing: She heard the cat meow. Dan would say, “Don’t distance your reader.” From him I learned to write: The cat meowed. It’s more active and more immediate. One of his other sayings is, “What’s the purpose of this chapter?”
What Would Lisha Do?
Pursue her goals and learn the writing craft. I met Lisha (5) when she was a writing newbie. Not only had she come to our Kansas SCBWI workshop, but when she heard we were looking for volunteers, Lisha raised her hand. She has grown so much over the years by going to conferences and workshops, participating in two critique groups, researching agents, etc., etc. On top of that she’s a terrific hardworking volunteer doing the fabulous Sunflower Scoop, our region’s list serve.
What Would Donna Do?
When I first became a Regional Advisor for SCBWI in Washington state, I used the conference notebook my predecessor (6) provided and followed her advice on handling volunteers. Still used same info when I did a stint as RA in Kansas.
What Would NAME Do?
Sometimes my What Would NAME Do is something I learned from a speaker. One I recalled recently from 20 years ago was Peg Kehret, mystery author saying, “Give the kid the good lines.” Another of her recommendations that has stuck with me is to use the terms from whatever the main character’s hobby or interest. For example, a baseball fanatic not only will talk about baseball itself, but can use baseball terminology in other areas, too. That character might say something like “foul ball” when someone makes a mistake at school.
What Would Dorothy Do?
Most of us need support in our writing. We all need others in our lives in other areas, too. One of my life long heroes is my aunt (7). She sees something that needs to be done and quietly does it. She’s not afraid to tell you something you should do either.
What Would Kathy Do?
It was my sister (8) who got me started many many years ago on a laundry process that didn’t leave my family with baskets and baskets of clean clothes to fold. Now it’s a good habit–hang them up and fold them from dryer–but at first it was hard and I’d have to remind myself to do what she’d do.
So in life and writing who are your inspirations? Feel free to share about them in the comments, and/or tell them yourself how they’ve inspired you.
(1) Jenn Bailey
(2) Maggie Viles
(3) Lorie Ann Grover and Joan Holub
(4) Dan Schwabauer
(5) Lisha Cauthen
(6) Donna Bergman
(7) Dorothy Uhlig, missionary to Thailand since 1951! (Facebook)
(8) Kathy Bender
Attribution or Action?
photo courtesy of Mary R. Vogt
In a discussion of dialogue punctuation, someone recently asked me, “But where is the line drawn between an attribution and an action? For example: she laughed, she promised, she sighed, she groaned, etc. Are those treated as attributions or actions?”
Laughter, sighing, groaning are actions. We can’t laugh words. We sigh before or after we say a word(s). The more I think about it, groan is a tricky one. I can groan one word, “Mom!” or “Oh!,” but I couldn’t groan a whole sentence of words. I can simply groan. So another way to think about it, does the action stand alone or make sense without the words the character said? She laughed, groaned, sighed can stand alone. “She said” leaves us wanting to know what she said.
Promised is another tricky one. You make a promise and you state a promise. So when it is used with dialogue, I would consider it an attribution. Perhaps the simple rule would be if you can replace said with the verb without changing the meaning, it’s an attribution.
After reading my article on “Perfecting Dialogue Punctuation” on the Institute for Literature’s website, someone else asked, “What about when the dialogue is broken by an attribution? How do you punctuate it then?” It’s easiest to show with examples.
“Dad,” I said, “that was a lame joke.” Here the attribution interrupts the sentence at a natural pause. The punctuation is commas.
“Janie, that was so stupid,” he said. “I can’t believe you said that.” Here the attribution is at the end of one sentence before another begins. The punctuation is a comma at the end of the dialogue and a period at the end of the sentence.
Either way, you want your attribution at a natural place. You’ll probably hear where a good break is when you read it aloud.
What about interruptions to dialogue? That is usually indicated with an “em dash”–type in double dashes and your computer usually will convert.
“Stop kicking my seat, Jo–”
“I’m not!” Jonah said. “It’s Liam.”
This works with either dialogue that interrupts or with action.
“Mom, how come Willy gets to–OW!” Leslie grabbed her arm. “Hey, no punching!” She glared at her brother.
or
“Hey, let’s go to the movie and th–”
Katie put her hand over my mouth. “Shh, Mrs. Wilson’s coming.”
Pauses in the speaker’s dialogue are another issue. If he interrupts his own words or deliberately leaves something out, use an ellipses.
“I wanted to ask her, but . . .” He shrugged.
Or
“Did you get problem six . . . omg, there he is!” Tanya clutched her shirt somewhere near her heart.
If in doubt about punctuating attributions or actions, you can always looks at dialogue in published books or short stories. A resource I like is the book Errors in English and Ways to Correct Them by Harry Shaw. My 25-year-old copy is so well-used it’s falling apart!
If you have more questions or comments, use the comment box.
Don’t Throw in the Towel
I just read a fantastic kids book! You know the ones–unforgettable, award winning, really really good. Will I ever write like that? Can I ever write like that? My first reaction is: NOT LIKELY! The book was so real, so powerful that I just want to give up. Yet, I can’t stop writing–the ideas and characters in my mind won’t let me. “Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what,” Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, said. If she feels that way, then it is okay for me to as well.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” author Marilyn Singer said. “Don’t throw in the towel, use it.” She’s seen what she calls the TOWEL principal in her successful career. “TOWEL stands for talent, optimism, widespread interests, endurance, and luck.” I can’t change talent and luck, though I can definitely work on craft so that when a chance comes my work is the best I can make it. But I can work on the other three.
(Image courtesy of Michael J. Connor)
Optimism
This is where it is helpful to have a good support group. It might be your family, your critique group, or as Jenn Bailey, Social Media Expert, calls them: your Jedi Council, aka writing partners. I get encouragement from all three. Let them know when you’re down and want to quit.
Read an inspirational book where someone succeeded because they worked hard and endured.
Remember you aren’t alone; many authors had many many struggles and rejections on the road to publication.
• Margaret Mitchell rewrote the first chapter of Gone With the Wind 70 times.
• Madeline L’Engle had a ten year dry spell before she sold A Wrinkle in Time.
• Dr. Seuss received the following rejection: “…too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”
Widespread Interests
Shake yourself up. Don’t just read in your genre. Maybe you should try writing a picture book or a magazine piece for a change. Learn something new. Maybe you need to learn more about a hobby or career that someday you’ll give to one of your characters. C.S. Lewis said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” What other dreams do you have? Can you follow up on them?
At a conference author Lorie Ann Grover used the analogy of filling a soup pot. Before you can scoop out any stew, you have to put in some ingredients and let them simmer. Live some life and you’ll have more to write about or more breadth to add to your writing. “Writing tends to spring from what you know, what you think, what you imagine, and you can build on those by reading and being actively involved in life and remaining curious about things you see, hear, read, etc.” – Victoria Sherrow, author
Endurance
Elizabeth George in Write Away: One Novelist’s Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life said, “You will be published if you possess three qualities: talent, passion and discipline. You will probably be published if you possess two of the three qualities in either combination–either talent and discipline or, passion and discipline. You will likely be published if you possess neither talent nor passion but still have discipline. But, if all you possess is talent or passion, if all you possess is talent and passion, you will not be published.”
Discipline goes hand in hand with endurance. Keep on keeping on. Two things that keep me going are my critique group and my writing partners. If they’re going to endure, so am I. And one last quote from Harper Lee: “To be a serious writer requires discipline that is iron fisted. It’s sitting down and doing it whether you think you have it in you or not. Every day.”
So I shouldn’t give up. And neither should you.
Do You Remember?
Do you remember? The agony of that boy or girl not “liking” you? Arguments with your parents about homework, or who you were going with, or curfew? Zits and feeling awkward? The joy of getting your driver’s license? If you answered yes to any of these questions, perhaps you should consider writing short stories for teens.
Teenagers still have the same basic problems: wanting acceptance, striving for independence, peer pressure, etc. The trappings may have changed, but it doesn’t take much to get up-to-date.
The first important thing to do is: hang around with some teens. 
If you have teenagers living in your home, this should be easy. But if you don’t, there are many places you can observe and listen to teenagers:
– Organizations such as clubs, associations and church youth groups
– A local middle school or high school
– The mall or a local fast food restaurant
– Sporting events
Making friends with teenagers, will get you an even closer look at the problems in their lives. In addition, talk to adults who have teens in their lives: your neighbor, a school counselor, a youth pastor, etc.
Next step, check out the magazines written for teens. There are high paying ones such as “Seventeen” and “Boys’ Life” and ones like “International Gymnast” and “Thrasher” aimed at a specific audience. Religious publications for teens vary from glossy magazines to skinny church take-home papers. Read the magazines, get their guidelines and, for some, request theme lists.
When you look at these magazines, notice the following:
– The audience.
Is this magazine for younger teens or older teens? For boys only? Or girls? Is it for sports enthusiasts?
– Does it do fiction? If so, how might you need to tailor a story for this market?
A teen magazine may want an inner city setting. Another wants no reference to dating. Let sample copies, the market book and guidelines be your guides.
– Morals.
Is this magazine avant-garde or conservative? In the religious market, be aware of how much “Godly living” or “religion” each magazine shows. In any case, don’t preach.
– Rights each one buys.
Some magazines purchase “all rights,” but many buy “first” or “reprint rights” and others buy “one-time rights” or “simultaneous rights.” A story written for one place may be salable to another and another depending on rights purchased.
– Themes and deadlines.
Some theme lists are very specific; others are more general. Either way they can kick off story ideas for you. Just remember, stories to fit an entry on a theme list must make the magazine’s deadline to be considered.
After you’ve finished your research, your mind will probably be brimming with story ideas. Choose one and get down to writing.
Keep focused on one problem per story. I have to ask myself, “what is the major issue I want to deal with in this story?” And then not let myself get side-tracked.
As you write, think teenagers! Is this a problem a teen would have? Is this a place a teenager would be? Is this how they would say this? If you get stuck, ask a teen for help. Ask them what they would say or do. If you want to use slang, either use what’s current–and know what it means–or use something that sounds slangy but doesn’t come from any specific generation.
Also, as you write, think which youth magazines might like this story. Make yourself a list of the potential markets for each individual story.
A lot of work writing short stories for teens? Yes. But there are opportunities for sales and satisfaction in doing the job well. The ultimate reward though is teenagers reading your stories.