tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-172326702024-03-13T10:50:17.872-05:00Meg Miller Writer / Arts and Crafts EnthusiastWriter, artist, mother, wife, dog owner, chicken farmer, snowboarder, mountain biker, reader, crafter, snorkeler, boater!
MegMillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17153642746148170975noreply@blogger.comBlogger696125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-81338997846754035962020-07-18T19:53:00.004-05:002020-07-19T07:43:36.897-05:00Life! Crazy, wonderful life. Life has happened, things have changed. I'm not writing picture books (at the moment, at least-- Never say never!). I wasn't writing at all, except the occasional journaling for quite a while. In October of 2018, I read a novel I loved so much that when I finished it, I started over and read it again. I've only done this a few times in my life. It was <a href="https://www.cynthiaruchti.com/books/as-waters-gone-by" target="_blank">As Waters Gone By</a> by Cynthia Ruchti.<br />
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I've tried to write a novel before, but never got past writing a few short stories and a few random scenes that never turned into anything. It took me a while, but in January 2019, things started clicking together. I had a genre I liked. I had an idea germinating. I started to WRITE. I put it all in caps because for the first time I felt like I was going to finish the novel.<br />
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I had <i>one</i> great day of writing. Day two was a nonevent. Writing sounds so easy, but in actual practice, it's so hard. My story idea wasn't working. I didn't know what to write. All I had was a character and no plan for what might happen. I did some soul searching and some praying. I realized my story needed <i>trouble</i> to make it into something worth reading. And writing for that matter.<br />
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This is hard for me. I don't want people, even imaginary people to have problems. But in life we have difficulties, and while they aren't pleasant, they can be agents of growth if we allow them to be. "And not only <i>that,</i> but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope."<span class="p"></span> <i>(New King James Version </i>Romans 5:3-4<span class="p">)</span></div><div><span class="p"><br /></span></div><div><span class="p">Anyway, I will skip ahead to say, I've finished a draft of that novel and have started on a second and third book. I have a ways to go yet, but I hope to be published someday. <br /><br />I was fortunate enough to meet a book coach, <a href="https://www.thewritebookcoach.com/" target="_blank">Sam Tyler</a>. Her coaching was so helpful. If you're struggling with your writing or even if you think you're ready to submit (like I did, doh!) you should hire her. I have work to do on my first novel before submitting, but I now have the tools to do it! <br /></span></div><div><span class="p"><br /></span></div><div><span class="p">I'll be posting ideas and hints that I find helpful as I progress on my writing journey. Happy writing and happy reading! </span></div><div><span class="p"></span></div><div><span class="p"></span></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-53374937365296076812016-01-19T19:37:00.006-06:002023-12-08T20:49:40.500-06:00And Last, But Certainly Not Least, the Final Two ReviMo Prizes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8xuiK9lhyogfAfhdpTG2twykMBwaSgSZ8kEj1_S62D-95BLrIcAblbEkA2eyJlrj7nubfdMPEKzvWSAodT7fnJbMrB8R_mcAzk66hK3YJsDs-VYlCYenJVPlHf1xE_pNMED0Rn9xBuMXgKfIDNl0q9h8awaO749Q5ftrALb2vqkMwp7rFI5w6g/s360/frog%20snow%20fight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="360" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8xuiK9lhyogfAfhdpTG2twykMBwaSgSZ8kEj1_S62D-95BLrIcAblbEkA2eyJlrj7nubfdMPEKzvWSAodT7fnJbMrB8R_mcAzk66hK3YJsDs-VYlCYenJVPlHf1xE_pNMED0Rn9xBuMXgKfIDNl0q9h8awaO749Q5ftrALb2vqkMwp7rFI5w6g/s320/frog%20snow%20fight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Final ReviMo 2016 Prizes</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">:</span> </span></b>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Keila Dawson</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;"></span></b></span><b><span style="color: #674ea7;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></span></b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.alaynekaychristian.com/" target="_blank">Alayne Kay Christian</a><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">'s </span>writing
course ART OF ARC or Critique</span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #141923;"> </span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span></span><br />
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<b><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maria Marshall </span></span></b></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple;">*</span><b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Susanna Leonard Hill's <a href="http://susannahill.com/MAKING_PICTURE_BOOK_MAGIC.html">Making Picture Book Magic Class</a></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.lindaashman.com/newsletter.htm"></a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #141923;"></span><span style="color: purple;">*</span></div>
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Congratulations ladies! I will be in touch with you, via email, about collecting your
prize. If you don't see my email, check spam folder or contact me!<br />
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But wait!<br />
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Just when you think the fun is over.... Susanna Leonard Hill is hosting the <a href="http://susannahill.com/2016/01/18/oh-boy-were-going-to-have-some-fun-now/" target="_blank">First Annual Pretty Much World Famous Valentiny Contest</a>! Sounds like fun and a chance at more awesome prizes! Keep writing and having fun, everyone!<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-20575176842991634152016-01-19T17:51:00.001-06:002023-12-08T20:51:49.873-06:00Second Set of Winners!<div style="color: #222222; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXYl17QmUc-qsLr09o-KSRL81nx8DlvyeS-vOP9gEJQWtX0DAPtx9K3t96uOfQXhuHkxehwQC1i8WhmFnfAJ3-Btbxy4PDG2zY1dzNbSkTSkoznNdXdHR7QmCN4sg5VrNvbsqONKbAKwiy9iyAEaq3Bykx3QyG0BIK6k8TYjneVHdJ9wFtGh-Yg/s442/cowfrog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="442" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXYl17QmUc-qsLr09o-KSRL81nx8DlvyeS-vOP9gEJQWtX0DAPtx9K3t96uOfQXhuHkxehwQC1i8WhmFnfAJ3-Btbxy4PDG2zY1dzNbSkTSkoznNdXdHR7QmCN4sg5VrNvbsqONKbAKwiy9iyAEaq3Bykx3QyG0BIK6k8TYjneVHdJ9wFtGh-Yg/s320/cowfrog.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;">More ReviMo 2016 Prizes</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">:</span> </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Mona Pease</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;"></span></b> Skype Critique with <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.thisismarciecolleen.com/" target="_blank">Marcie Colleen</a></span></span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #141923;"> </span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span></span><br />
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<b><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Judy Rubin </span></span></b></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple;">*</span><b><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></b><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif">Linda Ashman's eBook <a href="http://www.lindaashman.com/newsletter.htm">The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books</a> </span><span face=""trebuchet ms" , sans-serif" style="color: #141923;"></span><span style="color: purple;">*</span></div>
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Congratulations ladies! I will be in touch with you, via email, about collecting your
prize. If you don't see my email, check spam folder or contact me!<br />
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Be sure to check out the <span style="color: purple;"><b>CafePress Shop!</b></span> All proceeds (through Fri. Jan. 22nd) will go to <a href="http://readingisfundamental.org/" style="color: #222222; text-decoration: none;">Reading is Fundamental</a>. <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist</a></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: small;">STAY TUNED! MORE PRIZES TO BE ANNOUNCED!</span></b></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-41223134621056447822016-01-19T13:10:00.005-06:002023-12-08T20:56:06.511-06:00First Two Winners!<div style="color: #222222; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EC2dWazg5YWbZvF_MpNPrso9sfRVrTV5cugI4gVJXZj5L_4evNAaUn9PFlEPN41d1TYHGdhkS_137JHIlzBU-8a-sVuqgsgrwHQFSmGOUX3d6Pcjp7yWv9-kE1c5rbiakubUqAIGlqW67c_DewxMtVwKYbLw0SXUA8JnR225spIbvtB7G2qTNg/s360/21956_278347523675_275656158675_3242712_4444569_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="360" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EC2dWazg5YWbZvF_MpNPrso9sfRVrTV5cugI4gVJXZj5L_4evNAaUn9PFlEPN41d1TYHGdhkS_137JHIlzBU-8a-sVuqgsgrwHQFSmGOUX3d6Pcjp7yWv9-kE1c5rbiakubUqAIGlqW67c_DewxMtVwKYbLw0SXUA8JnR225spIbvtB7G2qTNg/s320/21956_278347523675_275656158675_3242712_4444569_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: medium;">ReviMo 2016 Prizes</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">:</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Alayne Kay Christian</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span> </span><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #141923;"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;"></span></b>Critique from <a href="http://redfoxliterary.com/aboutus.html">Karen Grencik</a>, Red Fox Literary </span><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif"></span><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span></span></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Joanne Sher</span></span></b></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple;">*</span><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #141923;">Critique </span><span face="'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black;">from</span><span face="Trebuchet MS, sans-serif" style="color: #141923;"> <a href="http://www.eastwestliteraryagency.com/" target="_blank">Deborah Warren</a>, East West Literary Agency</span><span style="color: purple;">*</span></div>
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Congratulations ladies! I will be in touch with you, via email, about collecting your
prize. If you don't see my email, check spam folder or contact me!<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">I wish I had prizes for everyone! </span></div>
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Be sure to check out the <span style="color: purple;"><b>CafePress Shop!</b></span> All proceeds (through Fri. Jan. 23nd) will go to <a href="http://readingisfundamental.org/" style="color: #222222; text-decoration: none;">Reading is Fundamental</a>. <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist</a></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: small;">STAY TUNED! MORE PRIZES TO BE ANNOUNCED!</span></b></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-74425444781285299882016-01-16T23:59:00.000-06:002016-01-16T23:59:02.005-06:00We're Wrapping Up ReviMo - Rafflecopters for Prizes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RZYahMrd1pA/VLpjQq6AizI/AAAAAAAADEk/SK2Hc8uWD8s/s1600/Frog-revimo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="336" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RZYahMrd1pA/VLpjQq6AizI/AAAAAAAADEk/SK2Hc8uWD8s/s1600/Frog-revimo.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">First of all . . . </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A HUGE <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">T</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">H</span><span style="color: #e69138; font-size: large;">A</span><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">N</span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">K </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;">Y</span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">O</span><span style="color: #741b47; font-size: large;">U!</span><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">!</span> to ReviMo Guest Bloggers and Sponsors. I couldn't do this without you! </span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">WHAT a wonderful week! I hope you pushed through on some days when you didn't feel like revising and were empowered by it. I know it might also make you pull out a few hairs
or perhaps curse ReviMo and it's little creator too, but overall I hope
you had fun! <b>Thank you</b> for joining me in revising! :D</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">Please </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">Read Carefully, lots of info!</span></b></span><br />
<b style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="color: #222222; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To enter Giveaways, for those who have revised at least 4 days:</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 21px;">1.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 21px;"> Scroll down to the Rafflecopter widget(s) in this post </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 21px;"> You have until Sunday midnight CST
January 17th to enter. Each prize is in a separate Rafflecopter, enter all that you would like to win.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: red; line-height: 21px;">2.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"> Under the prize listings, </span><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;">CLICK</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"> on the “</span><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;">I Revised 4+ Days During ReviMo 2016</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;">” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;">button. If you <b>revised 6 or 7 days</b> you may also click to enter for the bonus points.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="background-color: white;">3</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"> Click </span><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 21px;">ENTER</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"> and you're entered. Remember you are on the honor system. :D</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: red; line-height: 21px;">4.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 21px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Be sure you commented to be eligible. (I know some peeps had trouble with the blog, so FB comments can count.)</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><b><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: cyan;"><span style="color: lime;">*</span>*</span>*<span style="color: red;">*</span><span style="color: orange;">*</span><span style="color: #674ea7;">*</span></span></b>Did you revise 4 or more days??</b></u></span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: yellow;">*</span></span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: cyan;">*</span>*<span style="color: red;">*</span><span style="color: orange;">*</span><span style="color: #674ea7;">*</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(If you've not used Rafflecopter before, you can check out a how-to <a href="http://blog.rafflecopter.com/2012/02/how-to-enter-rafflecopter-giveaways-updated/">here</a>). </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b>Repeat
after me, I pledge that I made significant revisions
to manuscripts for 4 or more days the week of January 10-16th.<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> Now enter away!</span></b></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="37f994b613" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/37f994b613/" id="rcwidget_2728jz6m" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
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<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="37f994b614" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/37f994b614/" id="rcwidget_ef16wa5w" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For everyone who revised this week, a winner badge for your website, blog
or wherever! 1 day or 7, you are all winners in my book! If you'll link it back to my blog, I'd appreciate it! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you want it
any ReviMo schwag, don’t forget to stop by the shop. Proceeds from this
week and the next few days will to go <a href="http://readingisfundamental.org/">Reading is Fundamental</a>. In 2014 and 2015 we donated $50!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thank you all! This week has been fun and productive! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Meg </span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-56866585275069505162016-01-15T21:18:00.001-06:002016-01-15T21:55:43.776-06:00ReviMo Day 7 with Pat Zietlow Miller<h3 style="text-align: center;">
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How I Revised My Manuscript Until It Became an Actual Book </h3>
by Pat Zietlow Miller<br />
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I think most people assume writers write their books in solitude, edit a bit and wait for a publishing offer to arrive. That’s usually not the case, although — because I may be the biggest introvert in the world — it sounds appealing.<br />
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My fourth picture book — <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Quickest-Kid-Clarksville-Zietlow-Miller/dp/1452129363/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445913558&sr=8-1-fkmr1&keywords=THE+Quickest+kid+in+clark" target="_blank">The Quickest Kid in Clarksville</a> — releases from Chronicle Books on Feb. 9th. Here’s how I got the idea and how a village helped me make the sale.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Step One</span></b></div>
I wrote a first draft at my kitchen table after being inspired by Jacqui Robbins’ and Matt Phelan’s picture book The New Girl … And Me. I thought its depiction of a beginning friendship and the pitfalls that can occur was spot-on. I wanted to see if I could take that theme in a new direction. I’d also been hanging around my daughter’s school, and the voices of some of the kids had gotten stuck in my head and made their way into my manuscript. The first draft was titled The Fastest Feet on Fleet Street and had two girls competing to see who was the better runner, jumper and double-dutch rope-skipper. The girls started out disliking each other, but ended up as friends. But, I knew I wasn’t done, I needed …<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Step Two</span></b><br />
I sent the draft through two critique groups. They made comments, and I made adjustments. Then, I won a picture book critique from esteemed picture book writer Dori Chaconas. She had great things to say about the voice and suggested that I have one of the girls be new to the neighborhood so she’d be more of a threat to the other, who had been reigning queen of the block. I thought this was a great idea, rewrote accordingly and proceeded to …<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Step Three</span></b><br />
I took the manuscript to the Rutgers One-on-One Plus writing conference (which is a wonderful experience if you get the chance to go). This conference pairs you with an editor, agent or writer. You spend 45 minutes with them digging into your manuscript and absorbing their knowledge. I was paired with Chelsea Eberly, then an associate editor at Random House. Not only did Chelsea explain the concept of a story hook better than I’d ever heard, she also turned on a light bulb for me by suggesting I set the story in the past and look for a historical angle to give the story a stronger identity. Almost instantly, I thought of setting the story in 1960, the year American sprinter Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Rome. I went home full of excitement and rewrote the story so both characters idolized Wilma and wanted to be just like her. That brought me to …<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Step Four</b></span><br />
I attended an Iowa SCBWI conference. I was paired with Brett Wright, then an assistant editor at Bloomsbury. He had lots of good things to say in his critique, but he also suggested amping up the tension between my two competing athletes so, as he put it, “They earn their happy ending.” This made sense to me, and was relatively easy to do, so I went at it and moved to …<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Step Five</span></b><br />
Now, the story seemed ready to submit. Ammi-Joan Paquette, my agent, agreed and sent it out. Some rejections arrived, which is inevitable, and then we received a nice note from Tamra Tuller at Chronicle Books. She liked the story, but said something didn’t seem quite right. Maybe there wasn’t enough Wilma Rudolph? She didn’t know how to fix things, but if I was willing to try, she’d be happy to look at it later. I was willing, so that led to …<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Step Six</span></b><br />
I was off work and alone in my house the week between Christmas and New Year’s, and I made revising the story my top priority. But I wasn’t exactly sure how to get started. So I sent the story to my critique group friends asking for ideas. They did not let me down. Norene Paulson sent a list of brainstormed thoughts about how to make Wilma more prominent. Lisa Morlock suggested using the story’s setting to add punch. And, Jill Esbaum offered character advice. So I pondered, and began …<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Step Seven</b></span><br />
I read Wilma’s autobiography and children’s books about her. And, I learned interesting things. Wilma grew up in Clarksville, Tenn. which was segregated in 1960. Blacks and whites went to separate schools, saw separate doctors and ate at separate restaurants. But after Wilma’s Olympic victories, Clarksville wanted to throw her a victory parade. Wilma agreed, but said the event had to be integrated. So that parade was the first integrated event in Clarksville history. Knowing that, I moved my story’s setting to Clarksville and had both girls planning to attend Wilma’s victory parade. I also removed the jumping and rope-skipping and had the girls’ competition focus on running events loosely patterned after Wilma’s three Olympic events. And the title changed to The Quickest Kid in Clarksville. I look a deep breath and advanced to …<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Step Eight</span></b><br />
I sent the story to Joan. She asked a few questions, I made a few alterations and Joan sent the story to Tamra, who took it to an editorial meeting and then to an acquisitions meeting and then, amazingly, bought it, resulting in …<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Step Nine</span></b><br />
Celebration! (And, awaiting Tamra’s editorial notes.)<br />
So here’s my advice. Get your idea, and write your story. But once you’ve gotten your manuscript as far as you individually can, send it out into your village. Listen to what they have to say and use the ideas that make sense to you. It will help.<br />
And, if you don’t have a village, find some like-minded people and create one. The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a good place to start.<br />
You and your book will be better for it.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Thank you Pat!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.patzietlowmiller.com/" target="_blank">Pat Zietlow Miller</a> has three picture books in print and seven more on the way. Her debut, SOPHIE’ S SQUASH, won the Golden Kite Award for best picture book text, an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor and a Charlotte Zolotow Honor. It also won the Midwest Region Crystal Kite Award and was a Cybils’ finalist. WHEREVER YOU GO briefly made Midwest Booksellers bestseller list, and SHARING THE BREAD was, at one point, the No. 1 Amazon.com release for new Thanksgiving books. Pat blogs about the craft of writing picture books at <a href="http://www.picturebookbuilders.com/">www.picturebookbuilders.com</a>. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with one wonderful husband, two delightful daughters and two particular cats. Find her on Twitter at @PatZMiller.</span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-68985881529468420342016-01-14T21:18:00.001-06:002016-01-15T19:24:41.363-06:00ReviMo Day 6 with Alayne Kay Christian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>REVISING YOUR WAY TO DREAMS COME TRUE</b><br />
by Alayne Kay Christian<br />
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Before I start, I’d like to thank Meg for inviting me to be a guest blogger for ReviMo 2016. When Meg asked me to be a guest, we bounced around the idea of me teaching a mini-lesson from my course Art of Arc: How to Analyze Your Picture Book Manuscript. Because the course is structured in a building-block style, I found it difficult to choose a portion to share. However, at the end of this post, I will share my list of questions for critiques, edits, and polishing (for picture books built around a traditional arc).<br />
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After much brainstorming, I’ve decided to let the wisdom of other authors guide me in writing this post. I hope their words will guide you (or at least entertain you) while revising your work. Comments in blue are yours truly.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">What do Michael Crichton, James Michener, and David Sedaris have in common with Ernest Hemingway? They all revise, revise, revise!</span><br />
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“Books aren’t written – they’re rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it.” <span style="color: #0b5394;">[Seven? Only seven?]</span></div>
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– Michael Crichton</div>
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“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.”</div>
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– James Michener</div>
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“I tend to write things seven times before I show them to my editor. I write them seven times, then I take them on tour, read them like a dozen times on tour, then go back to the room and rewrite, read and rewrite, and I try to learn as much as I can on my own before I show it to my editor at The New Yorker. I would never show him a first draft, because then he’s really going to be sick of it by the twelfth draft.”</div>
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– David Sedaris</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">David Sedaris’s method of writing is an important one to consider. Be patient. Don’t be in a hurry to submit. Some agents and editors have been quoted with variations of “I can only read a story for the first time once.” Make sure you are sending your absolute best. How do you do that? Revise.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Don’t be in a hurry with a request for revisions from an agent either. <a href="https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/22/too-soon/comment-page-1/">On her blog</a>, Heather Alexander gives some reasons why you should let revisions simmer for a while before resending a manuscript. </span><br />
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“When asked about rewriting, Ernest Hemingway said that he rewrote the ending to <i>A Farewell to Arms</i> thirty-nine times before he was satisfied. . . .” <span style="color: #0b5394;">[Thirty-nine – now that’s more my style!]</span></div>
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– Susan M. Tiberghein,</div>
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<i>One Year to a Writing Life: Twelve Lessons to Deepen Every Writer’s Art and Craft.</i></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Are you sick of revising? How many times have you felt like giving up? Do you have what Sophy Burnham said it takes to succeed? (below)</span><br />
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“There are so many different kinds of writing and so many ways to work that the only rule is this: do what works. Almost everything has been tried and found to succeed for somebody. The methods, even the ideas of successful writers contradict each other in a most heartening way, and the only element I find common to all successful writers is persistence – an overwhelming determination to succeed.” – Sophy Burnaham</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">As Sophy Burnham said, the methods and ideas of successful writers contradict each other. Following are some methods and ideas on revision from a few authors – sorry about the language.</span><br />
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“Revision means throwing out the boring crap and making what’s left sound natural.”</div>
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– Laurie Halse Anderson</div>
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“I’ve found the best way to revise your own work is to pretend that somebody else wrote it and then to rip the living shit out of it.”</div>
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– Don Roff</div>
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“My approach to revision hasn’t changed much over the years. I know there are writers who do it as they go along, but my method of attack has always been to plunge in and go as fast as I can, keeping the edge of my narrative blade as sharp as possible by constant use, and trying to outrun the novelist’s most insidious enemy, which is doubt.”</div>
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– Stephen King</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Wow, even Stephen King struggles with doubt. Outrunning and outsmarting doubt is one the best ways to overcome thoughts of giving up. How can you combat doubt as you move into this new year? I challenge you to come up with a strategy.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394;">Following are some fun quotes related to how revising puts the magic in writing.</span><br />
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“Writing a first draft is like groping one’s way into a dark room, or overhearing a faint conversation, or telling a joke whose punchline you’ve forgotten. As someone said, one writes mainly to rewrite, for rewriting and revising are how one’s mind comes to inhabit the material fully.” – Ted Solotaroff</div>
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“Fiction does not spring into the world fully grown, like Athena. It is the process of writing and rewriting that makes a fiction original, if not profound.”</div>
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– John Garnder</div>
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“Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.” – Patricia Fuller</div>
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“Editing is the very edge of your knowledge forced to grow – a test you can’t cheat on.”</div>
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– S. Kelley Harrell</div>
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“Editing is like pruning the rose bush you thought was so perfect and beautiful until</div>
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it overgrew the garden.” – Larry Enright</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Following are a couple common questions from writers: How do I know when my story is ready? How do I know when it’s time to stop revising? There are many answers to these questions. I think the following quote from Terry Brooks is one good answer</span>. <br />
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“If you are ever completely satisfied with something you have written, you are setting your sights too low. But if you can’t let go of your material even after you have done the best that you can with it, you are setting your sights too high.”</div>
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– Terry Brooks</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">The following quote from Jo Walton speaks for me regarding writing and revision. “There aren’t any rules, except to do what works for you.” I say learn all that you can possibly learn, and then take all that information and create your own recipe for getting the story written and polished. In the end, your best work will come from a natural process that flows from you authentically. </span><br />
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“I do everything they tell you not to. I go back and fix things as I go, otherwise I can’t move forward. I don’t write every day, I write in binges. I don’t write drafts, what I write, fixed as I go, is pretty much what gets published. Everybody writes differently, and there are a lot of people who want everybody to write in the same way, people who have a lot invested in telling people to write a whole crappy first draft and then revise it, and so on. That absolutely doesn’t work for me. I tell people there are things they can try, and things that might help, but there aren’t any rules, except to do what works for you, what gets the story on the page.”</div>
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– Jo Walton</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">REMEMBER . . . </span><br />
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“Rewriting is the crucible where books are born.”</div>
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– Cathryn Louis</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">As you revise and polish, you learn. And as you learn, something wonderful can happen. . . . </span><br />
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“There were days when I wondered if I was a glutton for punishment or simply delusional. <span style="color: #0b5394;">[Sound familiar?]</span> However, my writing must have been improving because one day I found myself with three agents interested in my latest manuscript.”</div>
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– Lois Winston</div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394;">Persistence and an overwhelming determination to succeed are common to all successful writers. In the writing community, we repeatedly see proof of writers who grew through the determination and desire to learn and keep going. We see proof of their growth in announcements of signing with an agent or receiving their first book contract and in some cases a fifth, sixth, twentieth! Keep writing, keep revising, and keep dreaming. Like the characters in our stories, we may have struggles or obstacles to overcome. Yet we will learn, grow, and change as we seek our desire and battle our obstacles. But also like our characters, we will find a way to achieve what we set out to do.</span><br />
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As promised, <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0dOLsfOB41LeDVnT2FaUWw1YU0/view?usp=sharing">here is the checklist</a> for critiques, edits, and polishing. <br />
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<i>The quotes in this post are from the book WRITING QUOTES: 1000+ Inspirational and Motivational Quotes about Writing by Great and Successful Writers. Researched and Compiled by Saeed Sikiru.</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Alayne is offering one lucky winner the choice of free enrollment
in her picture book writing course ART OF ARC: How to Analyze Your
Picture Book Manuscript (deepen your understanding of picture books
written with a classic arc) or a detailed analysis of a picture book
manuscript that is built around an arc – prose only, preferably fiction,
850 words or less. To learn more about the course and Alayne’s detailed
critiques visit her <a href="http://www.alaynekaychristian.com/page05.html">blog</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">A rafflecopter will be posted at the end of ReviMo, where you can enter to win!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Thank you thank you Alayne! </span></span><br />
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Alayne Kay Christian is the award-winning author of Butterfly Kisses for Grandma and Grandpa, a life coach, and teacher of Art of Arc: How to Analyze Your Picture Book Manuscript (deepen your understanding of picture books written with a classic arc).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">More about <a href="http://www.alaynekaychristian.com/" target="_blank">Alayne</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">More about the <a href="http://www.alaynekaychristian.com/page05.html" target="_blank">Art of Arc course</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Alayne’s <a href="http://alaynekaychristian.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Blog</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">More about <a href="http://www.butterflykissesgrandparents.com/" target="_blank">Butterfly Kisses for Grandma and Grandpa</a> </span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-23288704609622569702016-01-13T22:22:00.002-06:002016-01-13T22:23:04.186-06:00ReviMo Day 5 with Jenny Whitehead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Everyone, please welcome Jenny Whitehead for a ReviMo interview! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Jenny, why do you write picture books? </span></span><br />
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I truly believe that anyone passionate about this field is not writing solely “to get published" but has a genuine love of the process. I enjoy the challenge of getting every word right in a story or poem because we have a tough audience to please---not the editor or agent but the child reading the book. I try to never underestimate this sophisticated reader! They can sense when a story is confusing or dull, an ending is flat or a rhyme seems “off.” If they lose interest, they’ll simply close the book and find another one. It’s our job as writers to create stories that draw a reader in and stay. To write something that even my toughest critic will love, remember, memorize and pass on motivates me more than anything. <br />
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On a side note---for me, the love of writing doesn’t come from wrestling words on a computer or a pad of paper for several hours. It’s the collection of story parts and characters and dialogue I pick up from everyday life. I’ll jot down unusual names I hear at the doctor’s office or notice fun-to-say words on a menu. I look for story characters passing by me on the street. It’s a great way to keep the writing fresh and colorful and the writer’s-life only a scrap of scratch paper away. <br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">What keeps you writing through it all?</span></span><br />
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I just can’t let it go! I often think to myself how much easier it would be to focus only on my part-time preschool job, free-lance illustration and family…maybe have a little extra time to read books for people older than five. But I can’t give up the feeling I get when I settle into my spot on the couch with my laptop and story notes or the poem I struggled to resolve the night before. I know I’m in my element and for the next three to four hours I will get lost in the words. <br />
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It’s taken me twenty years to get four books published with Christy Ottaviano at Henry Holt Books for Young Readers (she is the most patient and talented editor ever!) and selling at book stores. Fortunately, my entire body of work incorporates much more than those four books. First, there are the 35 poems I wrote twenty years ago “to learn my craft” as my brother advised me to do before sending anything out. I have written 140 poems for both Lunch Box Mail and Holiday Stew in addition to dozens more in my file just for fun or self-expression or experimentation. I have one picture book story published and 8 more manuscripts in the files, as well as a half-written chapter book and a close-to-completed middle grade novel.<br />
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And then there are the 1000 ideas and story concepts jotted down in my journals and notebooks and Word Documents. Do I only feel successful because I’ve published four books? No. I feel successful because I kept writing regardless of whether something was bought or turned down. I kept going to SCBWI conferences and workshops. I kept doing school talks, hopefully inspiring kids to love writing. But this very uneven success rate can be frustrating at times without a doubt. But true writers keep writing because they are called to do it. Amateurs go to a critique group, get defensive about their work instead of motivated to fix it, mail it into a publisher and give up after the first rejection. I’ve seen it over and over again. <br />
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What keeps me going is learning more and more about my craft. It’s seeking out the counsel of those who know more than I do. It’s being open to critiques that are honest and constructive. It’s considering all feedback with the confidence that ultimately it is my work and I can make the final call about its content and structure. It’s writing smart. It’s writing creative. It’s writing that surprises and delights even myself sometimes. <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">What is your revision process? </span></span><br />
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When writing a rhyming poem, I add the rhyme words LAST and not as I go. Otherwise, it dictates the way a poem unfolds. <br />
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If you iron out the poem’s content and story arc first, then rhyme and meter bring the poem to a whole new level by enhancing the language and flow. Adding rhyme too early only flowers-up a flat and/or predictable poem.<br />
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If you can predict what rhyme word comes next in most of your text, it’s time to get the Rhyming Dictionary out and come up with some unexpected solutions: <br />
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<li>i.e. mix up syllables---lean, mean, gasoline, big green bean</li>
<li> throw in a name---instead, Fred, gingerbread, big bunk bed (alliteration)</li>
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Stop writing if you are falling asleep. Sometimes a good night sleep or nap gets my brain to work out the problems for me. <br />
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My friend, <a href="http://www.lauriekeller.com/" target="_blank">Laurie Keller</a> (author of Scrambled States of America and Arnie the Donut will often ask me (and vice versa) during a writing session “are you having fun?”. It’s a great way to remind me that if it feels like a chore, than the writing is going to feel labored, too. Switching that small gear to “having fun” lightens the mood and helps me address plot problems or poetry structure in a new and clever way…worth trying!<br />
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I prefer to figure out a middle grade book or chapter book story structure before I begin (others figure it out as they go). If I know where I’m heading with the story and feel reasonably secure that a solid plot solution exists, I can jump around and write the chapters I’m most in the mood to write. (It’s sort of like filming a movie out of sequence but still following a storyboard.) Working out the sub plots, the character development changes, the foreshadowing elements in advance chapter by chapter (with notes and diagrams on a large board in my studio), I can then let my left brain rest while my right brain has fun with the material. <br />
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Reading your work out loud to someone else will instantly show you what is awkward or redundant or needs reworking. If you have to explain your work in any way while you read it….it ain’t done!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">What is your favorite revision tip?</span></span><br />
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Think of a poem like a math problem---shift words and phrases around or substitute better words until the meter flows flawlessly. There is always another way to say the same thing. <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Any other thoughts for fellow writers? </span></span><br />
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There is a whole range of solutions when crafting a story so developing something really original doesn't happen until you are "half-way up the pencil". Most people go with the first thing that pops in their head. It’s usually something that’s been done before. I like to go with the stand-out idea…something different and unexpected. It takes more work to think harder and longer but it gives your story a stronger foundation on which to build.<br />
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In the beginning stages of my writing process, I literally use a pencil (and legal pad) to work out these ideas and story-lines, crossing out phrases, rewriting them, rereading them, rewriting them, replacing words and adding others. Trying to do this part on the computer is too "permanent" for me--once you back-space or delete, the words are gone. I like to go back and use lines and paragraphs I crossed off earlier. I doodle along the edges of the paper while I think. I use a rhyming dictionary and a thesaurus to help me broaden my word usage and keep my rhyming words from becoming too predictable. Typing the mostly finished story or poem on my computer is my reward after hours of revision. But who am I kidding? On the computer, I continue to revise until every word is in its perfect place!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">Thank you Jenny!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Jenny Whitehead is an author/illustrator who is published with Christy
Ottaviano at Henry Holt Inc. (a subsidiary of MacMillan). Her newest
book, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/youreacrab/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">You're A Crab</span></a>, is
on sale now! She majored in art at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
She has a husband who is an illustrator and two daughters, Bailey and
Chelsea. Besides making books, Jenny also freelances artwork for cards
and magazines and designs jewelry. She especially enjoys visiting
schools to talk about creative thinking, writing poetry and stories, and
illustrating. She uses a unique approach to her illustration style by
combining tissue paper, paint and Photoshop. <a href="http://jennywhitehead.com/" target="_blank">jennywhitehead.com</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/youreacrab/">www.facebook.com/youreacrab</a></span></span>MegMillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17153642746148170975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-51245891148316459822016-01-12T21:28:00.002-06:002016-01-12T21:28:33.678-06:00ReviMo Day 4 - The Annual Broccoli Hunt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today I'd like you to start your revisions by looking for your intuition, your "broccoli" as Anne Lamott calls it. That little voice inside you, <i>it</i> is how you "KNOW what your character will do. <br />
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Anne says we lose our intuition as kids. I think I misplaced mine in between to do lists and too little time spent daydreaming. <br />
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To reconnect with your intuition, quiet your mind and give your intuition some room to breathe. If you give it some space it "wafts up from the soul", but crowd it and it "becomes a fitful little flame." Too much "manic attention" and it will be blown out. [<i>Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird</i>]<br />
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So before you revise today, let your mind <i><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">wander</span></b></i> and <span style="color: #351c75;"><b><i>wonder</i></b></span> a while.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Happy intuitioning! </span></b><br />
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Meg <br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-20635037209637632952016-01-11T21:27:00.001-06:002016-01-12T08:55:11.124-06:00ReviMo Day 3 with Kevan Attebery<div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452530374140_4930">
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<span class="yiv4975956287Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452530374140_5039" style="color: black; font-size: large;"> </span><span class="yiv4975956287Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452530374140_5039" style="color: black; font-size: large;">Visual Revision</span><br />
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<span class="yiv4975956287Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452530374140_5039" style="color: black;">by Kevan Atteberry </span><br />
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When I wrote BUNNIES!!! on a cold but inspired late fall day in December 2012, I thought it was perfect. All 44 or 45 words of it. I couldn’t imagine how there could or would be any edits or revision. My critique group loved it but felt it needed some minor tweaks. I changed a few words for impact and added a word or two to improve the pacing. Then I was certain it was perfect. I dummied it and since I was in-between agents used it to get my amazing agent. She had interests from several publishers and sold it promptly after I signed with her in a two-book deal. <br />
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At 48 words I didn’t expect much in revision requests from my editor, and indeed, there was only one—the addition of a single word. It was a great edit and it really completed the story. So, just like that, revisions were complete. Unless you are the illustrator of the book, too.<br />
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It is not necessarily called revision, but illustrators face the same fluid scrutiny to their work as writers. They are called art edits. Though the text for BUNNIES!!! was easily and brilliantly revised, the art edits would be much more involved. It ranged from the look of the main character to the background palette to the page layouts.<br />
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Declan, the protagonist in the story, originally had a look like this:<br />
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He was a monster with some edge, yet not too scary. The dummy that sold the book was done with this version.<br />
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After some discussion with my editor and art director they asked me if I would consider some changes. Absolutely. I like to think I am pretty open to change especially to make a better product. The way I figure it, they want to sell as many books as I do, they are the experts, and as long as the character is not compromised, why not?<br />
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So they asked if we could see some different versions of the eyes.<br />
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And lose the lips.<br />
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And less pointy horns.<br />
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And maybe a puff ball for a tail. <br />
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Which were all pretty drastic changes. I was mostly fine with these request, only questioning the puffball for a tail. And I only questioned it momentarily. In the end, I think we got a much more endearing character. You can see we also changed color, added spots, and changed the spacing on his teeth. Not all of those were suggested by the editor and A.D. but things I executed in the process of making the other edits.</div>
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Another area there was revision was the background palette. Most notably was changing the sky from blue to more of an aqua. I love this. I tend to be more pragmatic in my coloring and would probably have not thought of, let alone tried this. But it really works.<br />
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Finally, there were page layouts. The changes they suggested here ended up with me creating an extra 6 illustrations but I think it really worked well. We went from two pages, each with one illustration to series of 4 illustrations to show Declan looking for the bunnies that were just there a minute ago.<br />
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This helped dramatically with the pacing of the story. Especially since this particular situation occurs three times in the book. More work, yes, but a much better story and mood setting experience.<br />
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There were a lot of other little things, like having his horns droop the sadder he got, etc. In the end, all revision is for the good of the book and the experience of the reader. I am happy with what my editor and my art director got me to rethink and come around to. I think BUNNIES!!! is a much better book because of it.<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Love getting an author/illustrator perspective! And something that stands out to me is how big an impact adding two more images of Declan had on the escalating tension. Too often when I am attempting to add tension to the middle of the story I just add a hot mess of confusion. Today I'm going to attempt to do it simply and elegantly, as you have illustrated here. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Thank you Kevan! </span></span><br />
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<span class="font_7"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452530374140_65318">Kevan is
an illustrator/writer of children’s books from the Seattle area. He has
designed and illustrated many things over the years, including award-winning
children's books. Among them are FRANKIE STEIN, by Lola Schaefer, TICKLE
MONSTER, by Josie Bisset, and HALLOWEEN HUSTLE by Charlotte Gunnaffson. His
first authored picture book, BUNNIES!!!, came out last year from Katherine
Tegen Books/HarperCollins. And yes, he illustrated it too. It is the first of
three books. This summer will see the release of PUDDLES!!!, a companion book
to BUNNIES!!! And I LOVE YOU MORE THAN THE SMELL OF SWAMP GAS comes out in
2017. But up till now, Kevan’s biggest claim to fame is creating Clippy the
paperclip helper in Microsoft Office, which, during its heyday was annoying hundreds
of millions of people every single day.</span> <a href="http://www.kevanatteberry.com/">www.kevanatteberry.com</a>.</span></span><br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-6134778501807337152016-01-10T21:05:00.000-06:002016-01-10T21:05:05.869-06:00ReviMo Day 2 with Marcie Colleen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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3 “Out of this World” Revision Tips</h3>
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Or…</h3>
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(what a little penguin and the moon taught me about the revision process)</h3>
by Marcie Colleen<br />
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In January 2012 I wrote a story about a penguin who longs to travel to the moon. <br />
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In September 2014, Scholastic acquired that story—The Adventure of the Penguinaut. It was my very first book sale and will be illustrated by the incredibly talented Emma Yarlett (Orion and the Dark). I couldn’t be happier…but sometimes I think getting to the moon would have been easier.<br />
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It took 39 drafts to get that manuscript into orbit. Here is what I learned along the way.<br />
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Every draft is like a mission. Writing is revision. Each draft should be viewed as exploration, with the spirit of curiosity. <br />
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Some drafts will feel like flight tests. Others might not even make it off the launch pad. Some will even veer entirely off course and lose direction…or find a totally new flight path that leads to brand new discoveries.<br />
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Is your manuscript in rhyme? Try it in prose. Have you written in first person point-of view? Give third person a try. Need more page-turning tension? Create another draft.<br />
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Do not worry. This is revision. Nothing is written in stone. Any changes you make can always be unmade if you want. In fact, to be sure each mission is not lost, take a cue from NASA’s Apollo missions and number them. Penguinaut v1, Penguinaut v2, Penguinaut v39. Therefore, every step in your journey will be fully documented. <br />
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Critiques are like Ground Control. Like being on a space mission in a tiny capsule, it’s easy to get consumed with a story and not be able to see the bigger picture. Therefore, you need to get other eyes on your manuscript from time to time to provide an outside viewpoint. <br />
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Find those who you trust to give honest feedback. Often, comments from fellow writing buddies or a critique from an editor or agent can be just what we need to get unstuck when calling out, “Houston, we have a problem.”<br />
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Writers are an elite crew. Not everyone that I know who started writing when I did is still writing.<br />
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Like the road to becoming an astronaut, becoming a writer is long and arduous. It’s a challenge. If it was easy, anyone and everyone would do it. But to put it into perspective, only 833 astronauts traveled to space as part of NASA’s space shuttle program. It’s an elite crew…and so are you! <br />
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The clean white sheet of paper is your frontier. A blank document is yours to fill with adventure. It’s a challenge. It can’t be rushed. Many give up before reaching their destination and with years to complete one sale-able picture book, it’s not surprising. However, the journey is amazing. The views along the way are breathtaking. Don’t lose heart.<br />
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Revision is how we learn. It’s how we navigate. It’s how we reach heights we never thought we would or could. <br />
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So in the words of the late Gene Roddenberry (with some creative liberty taken by yours truly):<br />
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“These are the voyages of the picture book writer. Its two (or five or ten or more)-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to create new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.” <br />
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Now reach for the stars, my fellow writers. It might not seem like it when you are in the thick of it, but revision will eventually end. It’s the accomplishment that will last forever.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5zNrJ10c4-c/VpMLrP-ANqI/AAAAAAAADOE/ANSPtl5UGqw/s1600/marciebug.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5zNrJ10c4-c/VpMLrP-ANqI/AAAAAAAADOE/ANSPtl5UGqw/s1600/marciebug.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Marcie Colleen is a former classroom teacher turned picture book author. In fact, she co-teaches the “Picture Book Revision from A-Z” class for <a href="http://www.kidlitwritingschool.com/">www.kidlitwritingschool.com</a> with author Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. Marcie’s forthcoming picture books include Love, Triangle illustrated by Bob Shea (Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins, 2017) and The Adventure of the Penguinaut illustrated by Emma Yarlett (Scholastic, 2018). After calling Brooklyn, New York home for many years, she recently located to San Diego, California with her husband—LEGO artist Jonathan Lopes—and their mischievous sock monkey. Marcie is represented by Susan Hawk at The Bent Agency. To learn more, visit her at <a href="http://www.thisismarciecolleen.com/">www.thisismarciecolleen.com</a> or follow her at @MarcieColleen1.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Marcie has generously donated a <a href="http://megmillerwrites.blogspot.com/p/revimo-2016-prizes-and-sponsors.html" target="_blank">prize</a> for ReviMo! A lucky winner will get a 1 hour Skype critique on a PB manuscript. Thank you Marcie! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">If anyone is on Facebook and would like to join us in the ReviMo group, click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1422553434641402/" target="_blank">here</a>! ReviMo swag shop is <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist" target="_blank">here</a> (all proceeds go to Reading is Fundamental!). If you haven't registered, registration closes tomorrow (1/11/2016) at 10 pm CST. </span></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-2718688259991135172016-01-09T21:26:00.000-06:002016-01-09T21:27:41.305-06:00ReviMo Day 1 with Lori Alexander<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Tinkering vs. Big Revision</b></h3>
by Lori Alexander<br />
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Nutty as it sounds, I love revising my picture book texts. Revision means the heavy lifting has been done. I have characters. I have a plot and a setting. For me, coming up with a unique and catchy premise is the tough part. A promising idea is like waiting to be struck by lightning. Revision is a sure-thing.<br />
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That said, in my early days of writing, I wasn’t always executing the right type of revision. My first picture manuscript, BACKHOE JOE, told the story of a boy who wanted a real backhoe for his birthday. It was written in epistolary format, with the boy hiding notes and letters to his parents all over the house, hinting at what he most desired.<br />
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Back then, I didn’t have an agent. I subbed BACKHOE JOE directly to editors. After the long, LONG wait, responses would trickle in. “This has some great bits of humor, but it’s not quite right for us,” or “Unfortunately, this is a pass for us. Keep writing!” or plainly, “Not a fit for our list.” I knew rejection was a writer’s middle name, so I would tweak a few sentences and mail it out to the next batch of editors.<br />
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It wasn’t until an editor pointed out the rather flat ending and asked if I would consider rewriting in a more traditional format, that I knew the story wasn’t working as-is. My problem was bigger than swapping around a few verbs.<br />
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At about the same time, I happened on a blog post from Mary Kole, former literary agent and current freelance editor. If you haven’t stopped by her site, <a href="http://kidlit.com/">kidlit.com</a>, run don’t walk. It’s brimming with golden nuggets of writerly advice. The post I read was called <a href="http://kidlit.com/2011/12/07/big-revision/" target="_blank">Big Revision</a>. It struck a chord with me. This is my favorite part (but go read the whole post, it’s worth your time):<br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><i>Let me say it here once and for all: unless you make <b>big changes</b>, a revision isn’t worth doing. If you go out on a submission round and get roundly rejected, you’re not going to solve your problem by going back to the page to tweak a few words here and there. I’ve said this before, but look at the word revision…it means “to see again.” To see your story in a whole new light. To make massive plot, character, and language changes. And having so much on the page already often lures us into a false complacency.</i></span><br />
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I went back to my manuscript with new eyes. I rewrote it in prose, taking my favorite bit from one of the boy’s letters (why a backhoe is better than a puppy) and scrapping the rest. I wrote an entirely new story. It had every bit of the humor as my first draft. And now, a much stronger (twist!) ending. It was this version that helped secure an agent. It was this version that sold in auction to HarperCollins. Yay for big revision!<br />
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If you’ve been tinkering with a text and getting the same types of comments from critique partners or the standard “Thanks, but no thanks” responses from editors, it might be time for a big revision. Easier said than done, right? Maybe revising your story from 3rd person to 1st person jogs something loose. Maybe your meandering middle can be cut down to increase the story’s pace and tension. Maybe you brainstorm a completely new and satisfying ending. There’s really no harm in tearing it down and building something new. You can always go back to your original version. But after your big revision, I bet you won’t want to. ☺<br />
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<span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Thank you Lori! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">LORI ALEXANDER writes for young children and their exhausted parents. Her debut picture book, BACKHOE JOE, rolled out in 2014 from Harper Children’s. FAMOUSLY PHOEBE will release with Sterling Children’s Books in 2017.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> <br />Lori resides in Tucson, Arizona, with her scientist husband and two book-loving kids. She runs when it’s cool (rarely) and swims when it’s hot (often). She grew up in San Diego, where she earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in psychology from UCSD and SDSU, respectively. More information can be found online at <a href="http://www.lorialexanderbooks.com/">www.lorialexanderbooks.com</a> or follow her on Twitter @LoriJAlexander</span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-1375158850132904712016-01-08T11:18:00.001-06:002016-01-09T12:57:00.690-06:00Third Annual ReviMo Starts Tomorrow!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aVI8vHflgq4/Vo_o5fpm5CI/AAAAAAAADLw/gLAb3-oYYkE/s1600/argyle-girl_ready_revimo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aVI8vHflgq4/Vo_o5fpm5CI/AAAAAAAADLw/gLAb3-oYYkE/s320/argyle-girl_ready_revimo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I hope you are all ready for some revision fun! I know I need it. :D I hope you'll all join us in the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1422553434641402/" target="_blank">Facebook group</a> or commenting on the blog (which you must do on the daily guest posts to be eligible for prizes!) and telling us how your revisions are going. The camaraderie makes ReviMo so much fun, in my humble opinion! And the awesome prizes don't hurt either! :D Register <a href="http://megmillerwrites.blogspot.com/p/revimo-2016.html" target="_blank">here</a>, if you haven't already! (Registration closes tomorrow night)<br />
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For those of you who don't already have it, a little gift... A Revision Inspiration sheet with wisdom from many sage writers! <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PmMpNoGAP98/VK9Cm7tZJII/AAAAAAAACzA/bcdrcKan7_I/s1600/Rev_Inspiration3_Fnl.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PmMpNoGAP98/VK9Cm7tZJII/AAAAAAAACzA/bcdrcKan7_I/s320/Rev_Inspiration3_Fnl.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Click to enlarge, then save or print!</td></tr>
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Wondering what you need for ReviMo? Check out the <a href="http://megmillerwrites.blogspot.com/p/revimo-2016.html" target="_blank">ReviMo page</a> and be sure to register! And get inspired by Linda Ashman's post below, reposted from 1/10/14. I reposted it last year and now it feels like a tradition!<br />
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<b>What You'll Need for Your Revision Journey</b><br />
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by <a href="http://www.lindaashman.com/">Linda Ashman</a><br />
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Happy New Year! First of all, kudos to
Meg for using ReviMo to focus attention on revision, often regarded
as the ugly stepsister of writing. Lots of people ask me, “Where do
you get your ideas?”—but rarely does someone say, “Tell me
about your revision process.”</div>
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That’s not surprising. After all,
ideas are glamorous (Inspired! Brilliant! Clever!). Revising, on the
other hand, is painstaking, repetitive, and—yes—sometimes
tedious. And yet, as one of my former bosses liked to say, ideas are
a dime a dozen. Sure, they’re essential. But turning ideas into
something tangible and usable, well, <i>that’s</i> where the
treasure is.</div>
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And where the real work begins. It’s
not easy to transform a scrap of an idea—no matter how
brilliant—into a compelling and marketable manuscript, so it’s
good to be prepared.
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I’m a big fan of lists (they make me
feel more organized than I am). So, as you tackle your revisions this
week—and beyond, I hope—here’s my list of things you’ll need
for the journey:</div>
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<b>1. Stamina</b>. Ideas often arrive
in a momentary flash of inspiration. Revisions, on the other hand,
require hours, weeks, months—sometimes years. Be patient with the
process—and yourself.</div>
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<b>2. A playful spirit</b>. Carl Jung
said, “The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”
Presumably, you’re a writer because you love stories, language and
words. So play with them! Experiment with voice, rhythm, structure,
point of view. What brings your story alive?
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<b>3. Openness</b>. Sometimes the story
you begin with isn’t the one that wants to be told. If your idea
starts taking you in a new direction, follow it. You can always go
back if it turns out to be a dead end (and don’t be afraid of dead
ends—sometimes they point us in the right direction).</div>
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<b>4. An objective eye.</b> If, like
me, you find that the revision process sometimes brings on a severe
case of brain fog, it helps to step back. Go for a walk, clear your
head, and ask: What is this story really about? What am I trying to
say? How can I say it more simply, clearly, and concisely?</div>
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<b>5. A sharp knife</b>. (A
metaphorical one, of course.) If you’re writing picture books, in
particular, be merciless with those long, rambling descriptions, and
anything that isn’t visual and doesn’t move your story forward.
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<b>6. Small rewards</b>. Writing is
hard work, so it helps to have some carrots to keep you motivated. My
own carrots? Cookies. Yep, a couple of cookies, or maybe a scone or
muffin—along with a good cup of joe—keep me going through the
afternoon lull. Walking, gardening, and trips to the library help
too.</div>
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<b>7. Commitment</b>. There’s always
a point in my revision process where my manuscript looks so messy,
convoluted, and ugly that I’m ready to abandon it and move on to
something “easier.” After many years of writing, I’ve come to
accept that it always gets worse before it gets better. And I know it
won’t <i>get</i> better unless I keep slogging through the morass.
If I’m not willing to do that, I’ll never finish anything.
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<b>8. A touch of perfectionism</b>.
Save this one for the end of the process, after you’ve gotten all
your ideas on paper, experimented, trimmed, and essentially completed
your story. Now is the time to be a little bit obsessive—to clarify
that slightly confusing passage, find <i>exactly</i> the right word,
trim anything extraneous, fix typos, make sure your meter is flawless
(if you write in verse), and polish, polish, polish.
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<b>9. Faith</b>. I’m not talking
higher powers here, although if you’ve got those connections, by
all means, use them. I’m talking about faith in yourself. It’s
tough when you’re struggling with a story. <i>What’s the point?
Who wants to read this? No one’s going to buy it.</i> Chances are,
no one’s pushing you to write this manuscript—or any manuscript,
for that matter—so the motivation’s got to come from within. No
one can guarantee that you’ll sell your story—but <i>you</i> can
guarantee that you’ll do your best work and finish it.</div>
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Above all, as you pull out those scraps
of ideas and half-finished manuscripts this week and beyond, remember
why you’re a writer. Because you love words, perhaps. Or love
stories, or art, or books, or writing as a form of self-expression.
When you’re struggling through your manuscript for the fiftieth
time, it’s good to remember the “love” part. Yes, revision can
be a slog. But, for me, it’s a joyful slog. Enjoy the process.
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Thanks for inviting me, Meg. And happy
revising to all!<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Thank you Linda! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389273546841_6857" style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="yiv4798579080Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389273546841_6856" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vdxwa96gOgg/Us7SHb_b-AI/AAAAAAAACOk/TbELog0XXuw/s1600/Final_Cover_1_inch-330.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vdxwa96gOgg/Us7SHb_b-AI/AAAAAAAACOk/TbELog0XXuw/s1600/Final_Cover_1_inch-330.jpg" /></a>Linda Ashman is the author of more than thirty picture books, including three new books in 2016: <i>Rock-a-Bye Romp</i>, <i>Henry Wants More!</i> and <i id="yui_3_16_0_1_1452261223740_24795">All We Know</i>. Her books have been named to the “Best of the Year” lists of </span><i style="font-size: 13px;">The New York Times</i><span class="yiv4798579080Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">, </span><i style="font-size: 13px;">Parenting</i><span class="yiv4798579080Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">, </span><i style="font-size: 13px;">Cookie</i><span class="yiv4798579080Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389273546841_6861" style="font-size: 13px;">, and <i>Child</i> magazines, New York Public Library, Bank Street College of Education, the IRA/CBC and others. She's also the author of </span></span><span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books</i></span><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389273546841_6869" style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">, a "how-to" handbook for writers. For more information, visit <a href="http://lindaashman.com/" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389273546841_6872" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank">lindaashman.com</a>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1389273546841_6869" style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">If you haven't read Linda Ashman's The Nuts & Bolts Guide to Picture Book Writing, I highly recommend it!</span> </span></span>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-21762673807438075982016-01-01T21:33:00.002-06:002016-01-01T21:38:13.933-06:00ReviMo 2016 coming soon!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />The 3rd Annual ReviMo - Revise More Picture Books Challenge is just around the corner! January 10th-16th, 2016. Are you ready??<br /><br />Dust off your picture book drafts. Get your story to your critique groups. Get ready to REVISE! <br /><br /> To register, comment on the <a href="http://megmillerwrites.blogspot.com/p/revimo-2016.html">ReviMo page</a> on this site (just once, please!). Read the instructions and let's do this! I'm excited to get busy revising. :D<br /><br /> Happy New Year everyone!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-33881313438597525772015-11-15T07:07:00.000-06:002015-11-16T21:16:09.255-06:00Petite ReviMo November with Carrie Finison and a Giveaway!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3rwn61V3sLc/VkiGFbk-OWI/AAAAAAAAAGE/WerP48Eb4OI/s1600/carrie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Welcome revisers<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">!!</span> The amazing Carrie Finison is our guest blogger for today with a post full of writing truth!
Carrie has kindly offered to do a giveaway, so comment on this post (before midnight Monday Nov 16th) and you'll be entered to win a picture book critique (rhyming or prose, under 1000 words). Welcome Carrie!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span></span>The Seven Stages of Revision<br />by Carrie Finison </h4>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">I did something scary recently. (Writer scary, that is.) After a great critique with an editor I met at a conference, I cracked open a manuscript I haven’t worked on in two years. </span></h4>
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Happily, she didn’t say it was terrible, or awful. It’s a good story. But could it be better? I decided it could. Mind you, it took me a while to come around to that decision. Getting a tough critique can spark something in me that is akin to grief. It’s grief for the loss of that dream version of the story – the one where it’s perfect just as it is, and the editor raves about it and offers me a contract on the spot. Letting go of that rosy vision and facing the tough reality is difficult.<br />
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Like grief, revision is something that must be worked through, and each stage comes with its own characteristics.<br />
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<b>THE SEVEN STAGES OF REVISION</b><br />
<b><br />Stage 1: Shock or Disbelief</b><br />
What? My story doesn’t hang together? My characters aren’t appealing? My prose isn’t perfect? My plot lacks surprise? That can’t be right!<br />
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<b>Stage 2: Denial</b><br />
Clearly, Ms. Fancy-Pants New York editor has no idea what she’s talking about. She must not have read my story carefully. She probably doesn’t work in this genre. What does she know?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5_WdUZMwqE/VkiANjyWXZI/AAAAAAAAAFs/4cLAtlQ9sks/s1600/snoopy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5_WdUZMwqE/VkiANjyWXZI/AAAAAAAAAFs/4cLAtlQ9sks/s1600/snoopy.jpg" /></a><br />
<b>Stage 3: Anger</b><br />
I’m not going to do it! I’m not going to make any changes. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it, period, the end! Someone else will probably love it just the way it is.<br />
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<b>Stage 4: Bargaining</b><br />
Maybe if I just change this one little thing, the whole story will work much better and I’ll be done revising. <br />
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<b>Stage 5: Depression</b><br />
She’s right. This story stinks. All my stories stink, and I won’t be able to sell any of them ever. Might as well give up this writing thing.<br />
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<b>Stage 6: Reconstruction</b><br />
Wait. <br />
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She might have a point.<br />
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OK, I can see that this character’s choices aren’t making much sense. I’ll try one of the things she suggested and see how it works….<br />
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Hey, that actually does make more sense. And that gives me a great idea for an even better ending.<br />
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Stage 7: Acceptance and Hope<br />
This revision stuff is hard work, but it’s actually kind of fun. My story is much stronger now. I can’t wait to send this to my critique group and see what they think!<br />
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Does this seem familiar?<br />
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For me, getting out of Stage 5 and into Stage 6 is the hardest part. I find that it works best to sidle up to a major revision, rather than trying to take it head on. For days, or weeks, I will collect ideas that I think might contribute to a stronger story. These might be suggestions from critique partners, new plot points to consider, words or phrases I’d like to include, or some way to twist one of the story elements into something else. When I finally do sit down to revise, I’m not starting from scratch. I also make sure I have coffee or tea and some baked goods on hand. There’s not much that can’t be made better by a cup of tea and a nice scone.<br />
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It takes a lot of mental energy to produce a good revision, one that goes deep and makes the story stronger, tighter, and better than ever before. But when you come through to the other side…it’s worth it!<br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So very true. Thank you Carrie!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><i> </i><br />
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Carrie Finison began her literary career at the age of seven with an idea, a box of markers, and her father’s typewriter. Some of her more recent work has appeared in Babybug, Ladybug, Highlights and High Five magazines, and in 2014 she won the SCBWI Barbara Karlin grant for picture book writing. In addition, she writes and develops content for educational publishers. Find her at www.carriefinison.com.<br />
<br />MegMillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17153642746148170975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-77303327442301367912015-06-17T07:57:00.000-05:002015-06-17T07:57:13.768-05:00Petite ReviMo June with Deb Lund plus a Giveaway!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Good morning revisers!! :D We've got a fabulous guest AND a giveaway! Comment on Deb's post today and you'll be entered to win a deck of Fiction Magic Cards!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />Revision Quest</b></span><br />
by Deb Lund<br />
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What’s the difference between people who dread revision and those who love it? Is it experience, or strategy, or (yikes) personality? <br />
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Characters head out on quests, and revision is a quest of its own.<br />
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When I talk about revision in school visits, I tell them how I can always tell the difference between little-kid writers and those who are a little more mature (obviously I don’t say this to the youngest audiences). Then I ask what little kids say when their teacher wants them to write more, and someone always answers correctly. “But I’m done!” <br />
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Writing is rewriting. You have to mine through lots of rock to get to the gems, and it’s in revision that you arrange those gems, polish them, and show them off in a setting you’ve designed. You might string them together like a necklace, revising the placement of each stone until it’s the perfect combination.<br />
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Two of my editors have told me I was their best reviser. I didn’t always fit that title. As writers (or creators of any art), we have these quirky voices in our heads that tell us we can’t do it, or it’s going to take too long, or it’s just too overwhelming to begin. And then those same voices have the audacity to tell us that we’re the only ones who struggle with revision. We look at the completed work of others and know it’s beyond us. We have a vision, but it doesn’t come out of our heads the way we see it before it lands on paper. <br />
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Guess what? That’s true for everyone! Nothing creative ever takes shape exactly the way it’s planned. We’re so busy judging others from the outside, not realizing that they may have the same insecurities as we do on the inside. We believe we’re doomed to fail the revision quest. Revision is where the line is drawn for some of us. We hand over our power, quaking, tiring as we near the finish line. We’re scared. We think this is where we find out if we are worthy or not. So we put it off until it becomes a big monster, a worse adversary than any villain we could create. It’s time to transform that monster.<br />
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Do you like jigsaw puzzles? Exploring new hiking trails? Are you a collector? Do you hit thrift stores looking for finds? When you read your favorite books, are you willing to go to the ends of the earth with those characters just to find out what happens? You need to kindle that same kind of passion when revising your own writing. <br />
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Revision doesn’t have to be the dirty work. Turn it into play! Host a revision party, dress up as your character, act out scenes, or dream up a handful of “What If…” questions for each scene that doesn’t trigger an emotion for you. Use your Fiction Magic card deck! Replace your judgment about revision with curiosity toward it. Tell yourself a new story about revision. <br />
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But yes, it’s true. People who like revision are neurotic. I know. I get downright obsessive with revision. And I love it—partly because of experience, maybe because of a few strategies I’ve learned, and (yikes) my quirky personality. But you can develop a love for revision, too. It just takes energy. A boost in passion. A willingness to let go of misbeliefs. And then you’re unstoppable.<br />
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The experience will come. There are strategies galore on this blog. Oh, and that personality thing? I lied. Personality has nothing to do with it. It’s something even quirkier than that. But it’s something you can change. <br />
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It’s attitude.<br />
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You’re a writer, and as I always say (and you can quote me on this), “Sometimes the stories writers most need to revise are not the ones they write, but the ones they tell themselves about their writing.”<br />
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Change your story = change your attitude = change your outcome.<br />
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Best wishes on your quest…<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ehTWr4Xgx0/VYFsV5BHTTI/AAAAAAAADKA/XJE4RQpSciA/s1600/deb.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4ehTWr4Xgx0/VYFsV5BHTTI/AAAAAAAADKA/XJE4RQpSciA/s1600/deb.png" /></a><br />
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Deb Lund is the creator of Fiction Magic: Card Tricks & Tips for Writers, a popular tool for revision, now 50% off. She just finished a wilderness quest to (among other things) help her revise her writing life. She knows her brain needs a little play and get-away time, and she knows yours does, too. That’s why she’s using her gifts as a teacher, author, and creativity coach to facilitate a Kidlit Creativity Camp at a New York state park where play will be your work as you transform your current stories—the ones you write, and the ones you tell yourself—and create new ones. Learn more from Deb at <a href="http://www.deblund.com/">www.deblund.com</a>.<br />
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Link for “Fiction Magic…”: <br />
<a href="http://deblund.com/debs-services/fiction-magic/">http://deblund.com/debs-services/fiction-magic/</a><br />
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Link for “Kidlit Creativity Camp”: <br />
<a href="http://deblund.com/debs-services/for-writers/sept-15-18-writers-retreat/">http://deblund.com/debs-services/for-writers/sept-15-18-writers-retreat/</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-89761244437208720212015-05-16T16:05:00.000-05:002015-05-16T16:23:53.536-05:00Petite ReviMo May - Marcie Flinchum Atkins<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Picture Book Refrains</b></span><br />
By Marcie Flinchum Atkins<br />
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What is it that gives a picture book that rereadability or allows for reader participation? What gives a picture book that remembering quality, like it's our favorite song?<br />
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Refrains can often give a picture book those qualities. Should every picture book have a refrain? Definitely not. But as you are revising, it is something you can try to see if it works for your particular manuscript. <br />
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A refrain in a picture book is a word or set of words that's repeated at various times throughout the text. <br />
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I looked at different examples of books with refrains and found a few common categories in the set of books. <br />
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<b>Reader Participation</b><br />
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Sometimes the refrain makes the readers want to chant and participate in reading the book. <br />
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Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli<br />
By Barbara Jean Hicks, illustrated by Sue Hendra<br />
Knopf, 2009<br />
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In Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli, the refrain is: <br />
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"Fum, foe, fie, fee, monsters don't eat broccoli!" <br />
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It is spoken by characters in the book who are actually children pretending to be monsters.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P01ndU9fcKQ/VVevmklJZXI/AAAAAAAAAEA/VxIbLjjcPLQ/s1600/wolfie%2Bthe%2Bbunny.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
Big Plans<br />
By Bob Shea and Lane Smith<br />
Hyperion, 2008<br />
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In Big Plans, the refrain varies throughout the book, but it is also chant-like. <br />
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"I got big plans, BIG PLANS, I say." <br />
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Each variation includes the words BIG PLANS in some form.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P01ndU9fcKQ/VVevmklJZXI/AAAAAAAAAEA/VxIbLjjcPLQ/s1600/wolfie%2Bthe%2Bbunny.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P01ndU9fcKQ/VVevmklJZXI/AAAAAAAAAEA/VxIbLjjcPLQ/s1600/wolfie%2Bthe%2Bbunny.jpeg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oOp-6fUaozk/VVevmVZsqLI/AAAAAAAAAD8/IUdKDCrgOxU/s1600/winter%2Bis%2Bcoming.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
Wolfie the Bunny<br />
By Ame Dyckman, illustrated by Zachariah O'Hara<br />
Little Brown, 2015<br />
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Varying the refrain makes it even stronger. While the reader anticipates what the refrain will be, changing it just slightly makes the story still surprising. Ame Dyckman doesn't this brilliantly in Wolfie the Bunny. <br />
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Dot, the child bunny, is afraid a new adopted wolf baby will eat them and repeats the refrain, "HE'S GOING TO EAT US ALL UP!" <br />
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At one point, Dot realizes she's not being heard and says, "HE'S GOING TO…oh, skip it!" <br />
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When Wolfie gets captured by a bear, Dot steps in and says, <br />
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"Let him go!" Dot demanded. "Or…I'LL EAT YOU ALL UP!" <br />
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Here we have a twist on her refrain and we see a character change. <br />
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Some commonalities I noticed among these texts:<br />
The refrain is spoken in dialogue. <br />
The refrain reveals character. Because it is a character that's speaking, we learn about the character's personality through their words. And in all three cases mentioned, the characters mirror larger-than-life preschoolers and their emotions. <br />
The refrain interjects humor. I can't help read these refrains without smiling or giggling. <br />
They make excellent read alouds. One of the hallmarks of a good picture book is rereadability. Can it stand up to repeated reads? Young listeners want to read these books and they get into the book, even picking up on the refrain and participating. <br />
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<b>Lyrical Refrains</b><br />
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I'm a big fan of lyrical picture books where the words are so beautiful you just want to melt into the page. But sometimes, these books need a little bit of oomph to pull the reader through the story.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oOp-6fUaozk/VVevmVZsqLI/AAAAAAAAAD8/IUdKDCrgOxU/s1600/winter%2Bis%2Bcoming.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oOp-6fUaozk/VVevmVZsqLI/AAAAAAAAAD8/IUdKDCrgOxU/s1600/winter%2Bis%2Bcoming.jpeg" /></a><br />
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Winter is Coming<br />
By Tony Johnston, illustrated by Jim LaMarche<br />
Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster, 2014<br />
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As nature prepares for winter, it has its own rhythm. In Winter is Coming, Johnston uses the refrain "winter is coming" to help pull the reader to the anticipated event: winter's arrival. The refrain leads to the climax. Once we have reached the anticipated event, the refrain changes to: "Winter is here." <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OlurOXGA3qk/VVevmpn90AI/AAAAAAAAAEE/G2sKcEfrZCE/s1600/you%2Bnest%2Bhere%2Bwith%2Bme.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OlurOXGA3qk/VVevmpn90AI/AAAAAAAAAEE/G2sKcEfrZCE/s1600/you%2Bnest%2Bhere%2Bwith%2Bme.jpeg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ejsAD5bItNY/VVevkkNnlhI/AAAAAAAAADs/-geWgxKzhlE/s1600/miss%2Bmoore.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
You Nest Here With Me<br />
By Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple, illustrated by Melissa Sweet<br />
Boyds Mill Press, 2015<br />
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You Nest Here With Me is a soothing bedtime story that rhymes. It follows different birds as they nest, but it is bookended with a mother and child. The refrain "You nest here with me" is at the end of each stanza. It does change slightly at the end to: "You'll nest right here in our house with me." The refrain mirrors the love of parents throughout and it contributes to the peacefulness of this bedtime book. <br />
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Nonfiction Refrains<br />
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I originally began my refrain study in nonfiction because I noticed several picture book biographies that I really loved had refrains. In three of the four nonfiction books that I looked at, the refrain focused on the person and what made them stand out. <br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ejsAD5bItNY/VVevkkNnlhI/AAAAAAAAADs/-geWgxKzhlE/s1600/miss%2Bmoore.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ejsAD5bItNY/VVevkkNnlhI/AAAAAAAAADs/-geWgxKzhlE/s1600/miss%2Bmoore.jpeg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wbo_BQ2R-I4/VVevmISAYZI/AAAAAAAAAD4/aK0z2iatuoE/s1600/the%2Btree%2Blady.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
Miss Moore Thought Otherwise<br />
By Jan Pinborough, illustrated by Debby Atwell<br />
Houghton Mifflin, 2013<br />
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The refrain in this book calls attention to what makes Annie Moore notable. When she is a child, the refrain says, "Annie thought otherwise." As she grows into adulthood, the refrain changes to, "Miss Moore thought otherwise." <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wbo_BQ2R-I4/VVevmISAYZI/AAAAAAAAAD4/aK0z2iatuoE/s1600/the%2Btree%2Blady.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wbo_BQ2R-I4/VVevmISAYZI/AAAAAAAAAD4/aK0z2iatuoE/s1600/the%2Btree%2Blady.jpeg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-erMddO1s3dA/VVevkc3SuTI/AAAAAAAAADY/2UO4yYwoXkA/s1600/george%2Bdid%2Bit.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
The Tree Lady<br />
By H. Joseph Hopkins, illustrated by Jill McElmurry<br />
Beach Lane, 2013<br />
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This picture book biography has a varying refrain. <br />
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"But Kate did."<br />
"But not Kate."<br />
"But she did." <br />
"But thanks to Kate, it did."<br />
"Katherine Olivia Sessions did." <br />
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All of these variations on the same refrain help pull the thread of the story through to the end. We follow Kate Sessions and her love for trees and how her actions impacted San Diego. <br />
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Just as in Miss Moore Thought Otherwise, the refrain points to a determination and "going against the grain" in these ladies' lives.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-erMddO1s3dA/VVevkc3SuTI/AAAAAAAAADY/2UO4yYwoXkA/s1600/george%2Bdid%2Bit.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-erMddO1s3dA/VVevkc3SuTI/AAAAAAAAADY/2UO4yYwoXkA/s1600/george%2Bdid%2Bit.jpeg" /></a><br />
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George Did It<br />
By Suzanne Tripp Jurmain, illustrated by Larry Day<br />
Dutton, 2006<br />
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George Did It talks about the difficulties George Washington faced as a leader. The refrain in the story is, "George Did It." Unlike the two previously mentioned picture book biographies, it doesn't have the refrain throughout the book. It is used in the beginning a few times and again the end. But it does share a similar purpose: to show a determined person who made a difference.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ajJN2YDwEf8/VVevleFzmxI/AAAAAAAAADk/8DDlEDUQVgw/s1600/one%2Bplastic%2Bbag.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ajJN2YDwEf8/VVevleFzmxI/AAAAAAAAADk/8DDlEDUQVgw/s1600/one%2Bplastic%2Bbag.jpeg" /></a><br />
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One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia<br />
By Miranda Paul, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon<br />
Millbrook Press, 2015<br />
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One of my favorite refrains is the one Miranda Paul uses in this book. Her refrain changes each time, but it shows the progression of the story and shows how a village was changed over time. <br />
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"One fruit tumbles.<br />
Then two.<br />
Then ten."<br />
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Later in the story…<br />
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"Holding her breath, <br />
she plucks one plastic bag from the pile.<br />
Then two.<br />
Then ten.<br />
Then a hundred." <br />
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There are seven different variations on the refrain. They each use numbers, but each time, it shows how the village is changing a little bit at a time. <br />
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One thing is for sure, refrains give cadence to a story. If the tone of your story is funny, then the refrain can romp and rollick through the book. If the tone is soft and lyrical, then the refrain can rock you gently as you read. <br />
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Here are some more books with refrains that I love. Read these too!<br />
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Mr. Duck Means Business by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Jeff Mack <br />
Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson, illustrated by Jane Chapman<br />
Banjo Granny by Sarah Martin Busse and Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Barry Root<br />
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Go explore some refrains! As you revise, ask yourself, does my story long for a refrain? Not every story needs one. But it's worth a try to do a revision with a refrain and see what happens. <br />
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If you have a favorite book that has a refrain, please leave the title in the comments. <br />
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Marcie Flinchum Atkins teaches fourth grade by day and writes in the wee hours of the morning. Her book-nerdiness shows through because she is a certified school librarian and also holds an MA and MFA in children's literature from Hollins University. She blogs about making time to write and how to use books as mentor texts at: www.marcieatkins.com. Her book, "Mentor Texts for Writers, Book 1" is available at: http://www.marcieatkins.com/books/MegMillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17153642746148170975noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-74591888796137309102015-03-18T19:25:00.001-05:002015-03-18T19:29:10.419-05:00Petite ReviMo March Day 2 - H. Joseph Hopkins Pt 2<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A big thanks to Joe for all his great revision information and inspiration! Can't wait to read more of your books, Joe!</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>TYPOS, GRAMMAR, ETC: </b></span><br /><br />One purpose for revising is to spot and eliminate typos, missing or excessive commas, missing periods, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />“Father” not “fat her”<br />“Farther” not “fart her”<br />“Friends” not “fiends” …but around Halloween you may want “fiends” not “friends.”<br />Typos and grammar errors distract the reader from the ideas. Words should convey images, not draw attention to themselves.<br /><br />As second problem with typos is that the editor has to correct them before loading your text into his/her document. If you include typos you make the editor’s work more difficult.<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Don’t make the editors’ life difficult.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">REVISE TO USE ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE LANGUAGE:</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;"> </span></b><br />Active voice helps picture the scene – it is easier for reader to see him/herself doing something.<br />Descriptive verbs help you stay in active voice<br />Active voice shortens your document, thus saving paper, time, effort, and money<br />Active voice is easier for children to comprehend<br /><br />The basic form for active voice is: subject+verb. For example:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The girl remembered…</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The children raced…</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The meat sauce bubbled…</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The Passive form <br />Often indicated by helping verbs combined w/ another verb, for example:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">is, </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"> am </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">are, </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">were, </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">was, </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">been</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> The word "by" is another clue to identifying passive voice.<br /> Examples:<br />"The house <b>is being built</b> by a family<br />"That call <b>was not made</b> by me.<br />"Our mail carrier <b>was bit</b> by the dog.<br />"My computer <b>has been fixed</b> twice already <br /><br />Sometimes passive is helpful. Consider my sentence “You may have to ask old uncle Jiggs what <span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“percolate”</span></b></span> means.” Here is a passive form of that sentence: “You may have to ask old uncle Jiggs what is meant by the word “percolate?” This passive sentence has the advantage of putting the key word “percolate” at the end of the sentence. Used sparingly, passive voice can be helpful.<br /><br />Passive voice is commonly used in scientific and academic writing. Active voice is preferred in newspaper, magazine, media, and popular writing<br /><br /><span style="color: blue;"><b>STRONG DESCRIPTIVE VERBS:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><b> </b></span><br />These words do double duty: they label action and describe the context in which the action occurred. Thus, they help you stay in active voice.<br /><br />For example, <br />“In the morning the children raced to the Christmas tree.”<br /><br />Or, two young adult sisters whisper to each other on Easter morning:<br />“Let’s catch up while the children search for eggs.”<br /><br />Or, describing a bright child’s response to school: <br />“She remembered the poems and stories she read.”<br /><br />In The Tree Lady, trees are said to have “reached” toward the sky; branches said to be “stretched wide” to “catch” the light; and Balboa Park is described as a place “where people grazed cattle and dumped garbage.”<br /><br /><span style="color: blue;"><b>RULE OF THREE:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><b> </b></span><br />Note that in the sentences above from The Tree Lady I gave three examples of strong descriptive verbs. Writers, painters, and other artists have learned that the human mind seems to prefer groups of three. So, it is helpful if you name items in threes, for example, <br /><br />During the Christmas season I enjoy the lights, the music, and the smiles.”<br /><br />Of course there are times when you must ignore the rule of three. For example,<br /><br />“Grandpa has lost his sight but he still enjoys holiday food with their delicious smells and tastes.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><i> </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>So helpful! Thank you thank you Joe!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>H. Joseph "Joe" Hopkins</b> lived for many years on a houseboat on the Columbia River in Portland OR. Joe came to writing through a series of happy accidents after retiring from life as a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). Joe's picture book, The Tree Lady, illustrated by Meg McElmurry, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2013 and has won numerous awards from librarians and groups interested in biography, sustainability, environmental science, and the lives of independent women. The Tree Lady is a picture book biography of Kate Sessions, an independently minded woman who spent her life bringing plant color to San Diego and Balboa Park in Southern California. Reactions by reviewers children and parents have been uniformly positive and passionate. Sales have been brisk and <a href="http://authors.simonandschuster.com/H-Joseph-Hopkins/74652364">The Tree Lady</a> has reprinted three times. Contact Joe at <a href="mailto:Josephhopkins65@gmail.com">Josephhopkins65@gmail.com</a></span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-56276667998931504952015-03-18T07:13:00.002-05:002015-03-18T07:13:25.949-05:00Petite ReviMo March Day 1 - H. Joseph Hopkins Pt 1.<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thank you for joining us again Joe!! I still wanna hear more about living on a boat! :)</i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><b>SENSORY WORDS:</b></span></div>
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<br />Use sensory words to describe the pictures in your head: words that trigger memories of </div>
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<br /><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: blue;">sights, <br />sounds, <br />touches, <br />tastes, and smells. </span></span></b></div>
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<br />We know our world through our senses: what we see, hear, feel, taste and smell. Use sensory images to help the reader picture in his/her head what you have pictured in your head.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Sight:</b></span></span> use words that tell what the reader might see in the scene. For example, imagine a night in which the electrical power gone out and the main character is enveloped in blackness. Describe how he/she keeps lighting matches to search for candles. Does he/she keep glancing out the window hoping to see lights from neighboring houses?<br />Sound: what is the soundscape in the scene? Is there an unexpected silence because the TV and stereo no longer play and the refrigerator no longer hums? There is no whirring sound from the electric washer.</div>
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<br /><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Touch:</span></b></span> what might one feel in the scene? One summer morning I awoke on a sailboat. I felt dewy wetness on my sleeping bag. My fingers came away wet from the cabin wall. Water dripped the shrouds that hold the mast in place and pooled on the deck. The wet anchor line glistened in the morning sunlight. Dew covered every surface. What a pleasure to finally grip a steaming cup of coffee. </div>
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<br /><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Taste:</span></b></span> As a college student drives back to campus after Thanksgiving weekend, what does she remember: the thick creamy mashed potatoes smothered with too much butter? The combination of savory ham and sweet turkey swimming in brown gravy? The pudding creaminess of pumpkin pie and whipped cream? </div>
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<br /><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Smell:</span></b></span> As the homicide detective steps into the empty apartment, what assaults his nose? Unattended dog or cat droppings? The repulsive scent of stale beer and cigarettes? The burning sensation in the nose that goes with smelling blood?<br /><br /><b>Useful Resource: </b></div>
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<br /><a href="http://www.writersdigestshop.com/childrens-writers-word-book?r=ppc&utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=wds&cid=4&CAPCID=5086470783&CADEVICE=c&CA_6C15C=1685130996">Children’s Writer’s Word Book</a>, by Alijandra Mogilner & Tayopa Mogilner, published by Writer’s Digest Books. Cincinnati, Ohio. Now in it's second edition. You can locate the Word Book at www.writersdigest.com [Or link above].<br /><br />Next to my MacBook computer, the <a href="http://www.writersdigestshop.com/childrens-writers-word-book?r=ppc&utm_source=msn&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=wds&cid=4&CAPCID=5086470783&CADEVICE=c&CA_6C15C=1685130996">Word Book</a> is the tool I use most when writing for children. It is studded with useful information and it is easily gripped in the hand and used.<br /><br />The <b>Word Book</b> contains:<br />Word lists grouped by grade, Kindergarten through grade 6 and middle school (more than 50 pages)<br />Thesaurus of listed words, plus synonyms (232 pages)<br />Reading levels for synonyms<br />Alphabetical list of words (50 pages)<br />Plus extensive advice & tips on word usage<br /><br />For example: In your story of Mrs. Readighrin’s kindergarten class field trip to the desert museum on the hottest day of the year, one of the coolers slips out of place and it’s lid falls open. Glancing inside Mrs. Mrs. Readighrin discovers that the ice cream treats are beginning to melt. <br /><br />Time for a change of plan. Perhaps the ice cream should be eaten immediately and the sandwiches saved for later<br /><br />But you want to picture Mrs. Readighrin as a teacher who wants her class to discuss ideas and agree on a course of action. She will not make such a decision without consulting the children.<br /><br />Your next sentence is “Mrs. Readighrin wonders, ‘will the kids agree to eat the ice cream first?’ ”<br /><br />But is the word “agree” one that kindergarteners would understand and read?<br /><br />You snatch up your Word Book and look at the alphabetical word list in the back at. Oops, “agree” is listed as a second grade word. Too high for even Mrs. Readighrin’s precocious kinders.<br /><br />Next you find “agree” in the thesaurus and discover that “like” and “love” are kindergarten level synonyms for “agree.” You also look up “same” and find that it is also a kindergarten level word.<br /><br />So now you could revise your sentence using either “like,” “love,” or “same,” to indicate that the children agreed to eat the ice cream first.<br /><br />You might write, “The kids would like eating the ice cream first.<br /><br />You could even write, “The kids would love eating the ice cream first,” because “love” is also a kindergarten word.<br /><div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><i>Thank you Joe, you're a fount of great revision information/inspiration! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>H. Joseph "Joe" Hopkins</b> lived for many years on a houseboat on the Columbia River in Portland OR. Joe came to writing through a series of happy accidents after retiring from life as a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). Joe's picture book, The Tree Lady, illustrated by Meg McElmurry, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2013 and has won numerous awards from librarians and groups interested in biography, sustainability, environmental science, and the lives of independent women. The Tree Lady is a picture book biography of Kate Sessions, an independently minded woman who spent her life bringing plant color to San Diego and Balboa Park in Southern California. Reactions by reviewers children and parents have been uniformly positive and passionate. Sales have been brisk and <a href="http://authors.simonandschuster.com/H-Joseph-Hopkins/74652364">The Tree Lady</a> has reprinted three times. Contact Joe at <a href="mailto:Josephhopkins65@gmail.com">Josephhopkins65@gmail.com</a></span></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-49015846571280292002015-02-16T10:09:00.001-06:002015-02-16T10:09:56.791-06:00And the winner is . . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Rebecca Sheraton!!! </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Congratulations Rebecca, you've won a critique from <a href="http://jenniferswansonbooks.com/">Jennifer Swanson</a> - <span class="null">Picture book critique - fiction (up to 800 words) or nonfiction (up to 1100 words.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="null">But as always, anyone who revised yesterday is a winner in my book! :D</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span class="null">The next Petite ReviMo will be Wednesday, March 18th, with guest blogger <a href="http://deblund.com/">Deb Lund</a>! </span></span></b> </div>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-49082008783745189072015-02-14T20:47:00.000-06:002015-02-14T20:57:46.986-06:00Petite ReviMo February with Jennifer Swanson AND a Giveaway!<h3>
<b>Lights, Camera… ACTION!</b></h3>
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How does your book idea first appear to you? Do you see an image which kicks off an idea? Do you read something that flashes across your brain?<br />
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For me, my fiction stories appear in my head as a slow motion movie. I see the characters move, interact, and speak. I can describe every bit of the background, setting, and dialogue. It’s as if I’m the director of my very own movie!<br />
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When the movie begins, I race to my computer and to get it down. I sit transfixed watching my story play across my brain.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LTKKKTVEqQw/VN63PJWPWPI/AAAAAAAADH8/QTkj3UwGN-g/s1600/movie_watch.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LTKKKTVEqQw/VN63PJWPWPI/AAAAAAAADH8/QTkj3UwGN-g/s1600/movie_watch.png" height="178" width="320" /></a><br />
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Then I start typing furiously.<br />
I am convinced that the words I’m writing are as vivid as the images I’m seeing.<br />
Filled with excitement, I read them.<br />
Ugh.<br />
What happened? How can the images be so vivid and the words so flat? <br />
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Should I panic?<br />
No.<br />
First drafts are supposed to be, well . . . UGH. <br />
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Now comes the fun part: Revising. <br />
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Wait? Revising is fun? <br />
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Believe it or not my favorite part about writing is revising. I know. That seems weird. Most people hate revising. Not me. It gives me a chance to watch the movie over and over in my head until I get it just right. <br />
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Where do you start?<br />
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I like to pretend that I am a brilliant cinematographer and I am out to create an Oscar-winning movie. (Yes. . . I know. But it is my dream, right?)<br />
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So as I pick up my pen, or in this case, hunker down in front of my keyboard, I focus on molding my writing to the image in my head.<br />
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<b>I ask myself the following:</b><br />
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<b>1. What is the mood of this piece? </b><br />
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--Will it be “shot” in black and white? Meaning does the story have drama, intrigue, mystery? Maybe a film noir like Casablanca?<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QfnmEzGTNq0/VN6vfCndOtI/AAAAAAAADGU/_f5RhZQFjmY/s1600/Casablanca-Two-Shot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QfnmEzGTNq0/VN6vfCndOtI/AAAAAAAADGU/_f5RhZQFjmY/s1600/Casablanca-Two-Shot.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a><br />
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--Is this story to be in color with vivid characters that leap off the page? Will it be chock full of excitement, action-adventure, and danger, like Indiana Jones? <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h5cpkD7SiDs/VN6vkGWu49I/AAAAAAAADHQ/oHHPc0Dejps/s1600/idol2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-h5cpkD7SiDs/VN6vkGWu49I/AAAAAAAADHQ/oHHPc0Dejps/s1600/idol2.jpg" height="211" width="400" /></a><br />
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<b>2. How will my manuscript focus on the characters?</b><br />
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-- Will there be a close-up of just one character throughout – like first person or third person limited?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEaHZmSd63c/VN6vo1vIzDI/AAAAAAAADHs/lJ3cAcTUg98/s1600/untitled.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PEaHZmSd63c/VN6vo1vIzDI/AAAAAAAADHs/lJ3cAcTUg98/s1600/untitled.png" height="186" width="320" /></a><br />
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-- Will there be a narrator who is omniscient? Like Ralphie in The Christmas Story<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--JC-WV3lR88/VN6vjSnRw9I/AAAAAAAADHI/BE27c04-2z8/s1600/christmas-story_12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--JC-WV3lR88/VN6vjSnRw9I/AAAAAAAADHI/BE27c04-2z8/s1600/christmas-story_12.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a><br />
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-- Will the focus be on a group of people – second person or third person objective? Like the astronauts in The Right Stuff<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W8m9r6azmVc/VN6vcOTt7BI/AAAAAAAADFw/lyNwFNU0oSc/s1600/220px-Right_stuff_ver1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W8m9r6azmVc/VN6vcOTt7BI/AAAAAAAADFw/lyNwFNU0oSc/s1600/220px-Right_stuff_ver1.jpg" height="320" width="206" /></a><br />
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<b>3. How will the scenes flow?</b><br />
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-- Will they be fast and furious like an action movie?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--0r3ALOC6Zs/VN6viS3ij8I/AAAAAAAADGw/CHYEDF5K6NY/s1600/Marvel-Avengers-Movie-Universe-Discussion.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--0r3ALOC6Zs/VN6viS3ij8I/AAAAAAAADGw/CHYEDF5K6NY/s1600/Marvel-Avengers-Movie-Universe-Discussion.jpg" height="172" width="320" /></a><br />
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-- Or slower and more descriptive like in a drama?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Hal-3dFH3Y/VN6vkIZPwKI/AAAAAAAADHY/tBRddzkdNfQ/s1600/images.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9Hal-3dFH3Y/VN6vkIZPwKI/AAAAAAAADHY/tBRddzkdNfQ/s1600/images.jpg" /></a><br />
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-- Will it take place all at once or be drawn out over time?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fVb-8gWzGKE/VN6vb71d4NI/AAAAAAAADFs/pdce4hAJXpw/s1600/220px-Forrest_Gump_poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fVb-8gWzGKE/VN6vb71d4NI/AAAAAAAADFs/pdce4hAJXpw/s1600/220px-Forrest_Gump_poster.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>4. What is the sequence or flow of the manuscript?</b><br />
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--Will there be long introduction of characters?<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lJx1Hs-VvWM/VN6vhXqKCEI/AAAAAAAADGg/I8hY5xiHmWE/s1600/DowntonAbbey1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lJx1Hs-VvWM/VN6vhXqKCEI/AAAAAAAADGg/I8hY5xiHmWE/s1600/DowntonAbbey1.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a><br />
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-- Or will you just jump right into the action?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWhw4hQJuLk/VN6veoQxh_I/AAAAAAAADGM/ZBTQ4vDSO5s/s1600/BOND-007Com-Sky-movies-650px.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fWhw4hQJuLk/VN6veoQxh_I/AAAAAAAADGM/ZBTQ4vDSO5s/s1600/BOND-007Com-Sky-movies-650px.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a><br />
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-- How long will the sequence be? Each sequence has a beginning, middle and end, so they are like subplots. They need to move the story along but not spend too much time with each one. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OSbdoSQXxYA/VN6vcTpD9KI/AAAAAAAADF0/NQRvfe8P8k8/s1600/250px-Star_Wars_Logo_svg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OSbdoSQXxYA/VN6vcTpD9KI/AAAAAAAADF0/NQRvfe8P8k8/s1600/250px-Star_Wars_Logo_svg.png" /></a><br />
<b><br /> 5. Will there be a sequel and how will you handle the overall plot line? </b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NW4BhX_4Duo/VN6vhoaC_CI/AAAAAAAADG4/yM8onswmtP4/s1600/MV5BMTYwNTM5NDkzNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwODQ4MzY5__V1__SY209_CR6%2C0%2C140%2C209_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NW4BhX_4Duo/VN6vhoaC_CI/AAAAAAAADG4/yM8onswmtP4/s1600/MV5BMTYwNTM5NDkzNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwODQ4MzY5__V1__SY209_CR6%2C0%2C140%2C209_.jpg" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dtaWFuO9WO8/VN6vhzps9sI/AAAAAAAADGo/nsjOE_Qkiv0/s1600/MV5BMTcxODgwMDkxNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMDk2MDg3__V1__SY209_CR0%2C0%2C140%2C209_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dtaWFuO9WO8/VN6vhzps9sI/AAAAAAAADGo/nsjOE_Qkiv0/s1600/MV5BMTcxODgwMDkxNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMDk2MDg3__V1__SY209_CR0%2C0%2C140%2C209_.jpg" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lkkJI8BZpGQ/VN6vhAWgyOI/AAAAAAAADGc/kuuS47bAPlg/s1600/MV5BMTY4NTIwODg0N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTc0MjEzMw%40%40__V1__SY209_CR0%2C0%2C140%2C209_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lkkJI8BZpGQ/VN6vhAWgyOI/AAAAAAAADGc/kuuS47bAPlg/s1600/MV5BMTY4NTIwODg0N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTc0MjEzMw%40%40__V1__SY209_CR0%2C0%2C140%2C209_.jpg" /></a><br />
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As I revise, I go over and over my copy, layering in each of the above items. <br />
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Yes. Over and over. <br />
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Revision takes time. <br />
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Sometimes lots of it. <br />
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The first couple of revisions may still not look at all like the movie in my head.<br />
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But eventually, the images become words on the page. <br />
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Finally, what I’m reading invokes the same dramatic images that are in my head. <br />
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And as they say in show business, That’s a wrap!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Thank you Jen!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jen is giving away a picture book critique to one lucky ReviMo'er! </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Comment </b>on this blog post for a chance to win. Happy revising everyone!</span><span class="null"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OI0dpxO9RdI/VOAFJN-stbI/AAAAAAAADIM/-6yhHV2LcC4/s1600/jennifer2015.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OI0dpxO9RdI/VOAFJN-stbI/AAAAAAAADIM/-6yhHV2LcC4/s1600/jennifer2015.png" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jennifer is an award winning author of over 20 nonfiction and fiction books for children. Her books in the “How Things Work” series by The Child’s World were named to the 2012 Booklist’s Top 10 Books for Youth: Series Nonfiction. She has received awards from the Pennsylvania TriState Young Adult Review Committee, The Moms Choice Awards, and The Dove Foundation. Top reviews include a starred review in Booklist, and recommended reviews from School Librarians Workshop, Library Media Connection, and the National Science Teacher Association.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <a href="http://jenniferswansonbooks.com/">http://jenniferswansonbooks.com/</a></span></span></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com69tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-53624446958729903932015-01-23T14:40:00.001-06:002015-01-23T14:40:57.581-06:00AND Finally... A winner... And that wraps up ReviMo 2015!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Thank you ReviMo'ers! What an amazing week of revisions!!! </span></b></span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-WKhi2nG6I/VL6FSfah0QI/AAAAAAAADFE/1MHYzBxeaOE/s1600/smallfrogbnner.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-WKhi2nG6I/VL6FSfah0QI/AAAAAAAADFE/1MHYzBxeaOE/s1600/smallfrogbnner.png" height="93" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 19px;">And now...</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 19px;">The final prize goes to:</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Lauren Kerstein</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">Linda Ashman's ebook </span></span></span>THE NUTS AND BOLTS GUIDE TO WRITING PICTURE BOOKS<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today is the last day to purchase from the </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: orange;">CafePress Shop </span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and have proceeds go to </span><a href="http://readingisfundamental.org/" style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Reading is Fundamental</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span><a href="http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist" style="color: #888888; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-decoration: none;">http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist</a></div>
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<b style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">That's all for now folks! </span></b></div>
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<b style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">See you for Petite ReviMo, February 15th!</span></b></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-52084597065034845572015-01-21T20:45:00.000-06:002015-01-21T20:45:38.160-06:00Even more winners AND A PRIZE GIVEAWAY!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">One more prize up for grabs! </span></b></span></div>
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<b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">The winner of Linda's book already had it, so I'm opening it up a bit. <span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;">If </span></b><b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">you revised </b><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">1 day or more</span></b><b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;">, you are eligible to enter to win</b><b style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 19px;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://www.lindaashman.com/newsletter.htm" style="text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books</a>! Scroll down to the bottom of this post to find the Rafflecopter for today's prize! Open until Thursday midnight, CST.</b></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-WKhi2nG6I/VL6FSfah0QI/AAAAAAAADFE/1MHYzBxeaOE/s1600/smallfrogbnner.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-WKhi2nG6I/VL6FSfah0QI/AAAAAAAADFE/1MHYzBxeaOE/s1600/smallfrogbnner.png" height="93" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 19px;">And now...</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; line-height: 19px;">Winners of the ReviMo 2015 Prizes for revising 4+ days:</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Carrie Finison</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">Picture Book Critique from </span><a href="https://alaynekaychristian.wordpress.com/" style="color: #888888; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Alayne Kay Christian</a><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Janie Reinart</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">P</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">icture Book </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">Critique from </span><a href="http://pennyklostermann.com/" style="color: #888888; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Penny Parker Klostermann</a><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Gabi Snyder</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">*P</span></b></span><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38710" style="color: #663366; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38709"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38708"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38707"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38706"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38705"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38704"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38703"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38702"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38701"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38700"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38699"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38698"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38697"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38696" style="color: #5040ae;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1420489355238_38692" style="color: black;">icture book manuscript critique from </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.carriecharleybrown.com/" style="color: #888888; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Carrie Charley Brown</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">You are all winners in my book!</span><b style="color: #222222;"> </b><span style="color: #222222;">Hope you'll join us for </span><b><span style="color: red;">Petite ReviMo, February 15th. Jen Swanson</span> </b><span style="color: #222222;">will be our guest blogger and she's kindly offered a prize. </span>1 <span style="background-color: #f6f7f8; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Picture book critique - fiction (up to 800 words) or nonfiction (up to 1100 words.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">Be sure to check out the </span><b><span style="color: orange;">CafePress Shop!</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"> All proceeds (through Fri. Jan. 23nd) will go to </span><a href="http://readingisfundamental.org/" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">Reading is Fundamental</a><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">. </span><a href="http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist" style="color: #888888; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist</a></span><br />
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<a class="rcptr" data-raflid="37f994b611" data-template="" data-theme="classic" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/37f994b611/" id="rcwidget_bhdtv1h9" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-35412376038530079232015-01-21T00:01:00.000-06:002015-01-21T09:45:01.993-06:00More Winners!!<div style="color: #222222; line-height: 19px; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">ReviMo 2015 </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Prizes for 6+ days revised:</span></b></div>
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(congrats to all who revised 6 days (like moi!) that was tough, but so rewarding!)</div>
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><b>Yvonne Mes</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="color: purple;">*</span> One Video Production (or collaboration) from <a href="http://www.carriecharleybrown.com/">Carrie Charley Brown</a><span style="color: purple;">*</span></span></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Kimberly Sprinkles Cowger</span></b></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple;">*</span>Renee LaTulippe's <a href="http://www.nowaterriver.com/the-lyrical-language-lab/">Lyrical Language Lab</a> Online Writing Course<span style="color: purple;">*</span></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Sydney O'Neill</span></b></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple;">*</span>Susanna Leonard Hill's <a href="http://susannahill.com/MAKING_PICTURE_BOOK_MAGIC.html">Making Picture Book Magic Class</a><span style="color: purple;">*</span></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Manju Gulati Howard</span></b></b></div>
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<span style="color: purple;">*</span>Critique from <a href="http://www.sudipta.com/Home.html">Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen</a><span style="color: purple;">*</span></div>
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Winners I will be in touch with you, via email, about collecting your prize. If you don't see my email, check spam folder or contact me!<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">I wish I had prizes for everyone! But don't forget about the special offers from our lovely sponsors! Contact me if you can't find the details on the website or the Facebook group!</span></div>
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Be sure to check out the <span style="color: purple;"><b>CafePress Shop!</b></span> All proceeds (through Fri. Jan. 23nd) will go to <a href="http://readingisfundamental.org/" style="color: #222222; text-decoration: none;">Reading is Fundamental</a>. <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist</a></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: medium;">STAY TUNED! MORE PRIZES TO BE ANNOUNCED!</span></b></div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232670.post-72703380642016532882015-01-20T10:13:00.000-06:002015-01-27T19:36:57.821-06:00Winner winner, chicken dinner!!!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Winners of the ReviMo 2015 Prizes for revising 7 days:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">(which </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 19px;">is awesome and every one who did it should be celebrating 'cuz that was hard!)</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">Lori Mozdzierz</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></span><span style="color: #141923; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Critique from <a href="http://redfoxliterary.com/aboutus.html" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">Karen Grencik</a>, Red Fox Literary</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><b>Nicole Popel</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b><span style="color: #141923; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;">Critique </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', 'Segoe UI', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; text-align: left;">from</span><span style="color: #141923; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: left;"> <a href="http://www.andreabrownlit.com/agents.html" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">Jennifer Mattson</a>, Andrea Brown Literary Agency</span><b><span style="color: purple;">*</span></b></div>
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Winners I will be in touch with you, via email, about collecting your prize. If you don't see my email, check spam folder or contact me! </div>
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<b>Thank you all for participating in ReviMo!!! I had a revision and fun-filled (albeit some staring and swearing) week. The very BEST prizes are the revisions you've made and the camaraderie of our great group!</b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">Be sure to check out the </span><span style="color: purple;"><b>CafePress Shop!</b></span><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;"> All proceeds (through Fri. Jan. 23nd) will go to </span><a href="http://readingisfundamental.org/" style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">Reading is Fundamental</a><span style="color: #222222; font-weight: normal;">. </span><a href="http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist" style="color: #888888; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">http://www.cafepress.com/megmillerwriterartist</a></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;">STAY TUNED! MORE PRIZES TO BE ANNOUNCED!</span></b></div>
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