Nancy I. Sanders's Blog, page 63

Nonfiction Picture Book: Writer’s Mini-Retreat Week 3

My three writer friends and I met again today for another fun time together of writing. Wow…I’ve never actually done this before where we meet regularly to spend time actually writing. Always before, my writing groups have been times of either critiquing or of instruction and learning.

It’s just so great to get together and WRITE. It has motivated me so much.

Today we just gathered around the table (doesn’t it look like we’re working hard?) and got to work. Each of us is in a different stage now of the writing process, so I’ll share where I’m at.

Today I worked on the middle scene. The exact midpoint of the whole book. On my plot chart it’s the second change, the change the separates the first half of the middle from the second half.

Once again, I followed my writing rhythm. First I wrote down my goal for the day: Write the middle scene.

Then I picked up my sample book I’m targeting: Those Rebels, John and Tom. I read the turning point in that book so I’d get the “voice” and word count back in my head.

Then I spent about half an hour researching that scene. I took notes and had to update my bibliography to include a new book I hadn’t used before.

And then I wrote that scene.

It’s too wordy. It doesn’t flow right. But that’s okay. It’s a first draft! At least I got it down on paper. I can work to fix it later.

Then, before my friends left, we all shared aloud what we had worked on that day. It was fun to hear everyone’s progress! Each step we take is a step in the right direction.

And then after they left, I was so motivated to keep on writing that I researched and wrote part of the next section. Wahoo! That’s one of the benefits of a group like this…it motivates us to keep on keeping on.

Nonfiction Picture Book: Word Count

As I’m meeting with my friends at the writers mini-retreats we’re having at my house, the topic of word count keeps coming up.

I’m also hearing from some of you about the word count.

So here are some thoughts about word count.

When I attended ABA last time, one editor told me she still likes to receive submissions of long nonfiction picture books of 3000 words or more.

Some current nonfiction picture books are around 1500 words in length.

My agent prefers me to turn in 800 words or less in a nonfiction picture book.

So the best thing for you to do is choose a particular publisher and look at their new nonfiction picture books being released and see what word count they’re putting out right now. CLICK HERE to learn one quick way to do this.

For now, if the word count is stressing you out, don’t worry about it. Just get the story out of you that you need to tell. You can fix the word count later. If you eventually decide to chop and cut, you can save those portions of text to put in the back of the picture book in the Author’s Note or on a website you’re building for your book.

Nonfiction Picture Book: Find Your Writing Rhythm

By this point in my career, I’ve learned a few things about myself. One of the things I’ve discovered is that I work better and have more productive writing days when I stay in tune with my very own personal writing rhythm.

In other words, there’s a pattern I follow on days of heavy-duty writing to really pump out solid content.

I wanted to share this with you in hopes that you can discover your own personal writing rhythm so that you can experience successful writing days, too.

Here’s the rhythm I follow when I’m working on a nonfiction article or book or a heavily researched manuscript such as the historical fiction chapter books I write for the popular Imagination Station series.

One: First I spend a few minutes reading my sample published book (or article if I’m working on an article). When I’m working on my next Imagination Station book, for example, as I’ll be doing in the month ahead since I just got the go-ahead from my editor this morning to start writing the next book, I sit down with one of the other published books in the series to read a chapter or a scene.

For this nonfiction picture book I’m currently working on, I start my writing session out by re-reading the picture book, Those Rebels, John and Tom. It doesn’t matter if I’ve read the same 4 pages twenty-eight times. Starting my writing session by re-reading my sample book helps get my brain focused on the writing task before me. It helps my brain get in gear for the word count and the voice and the target age. This is a crucial step to get started on the right foot for the day. And I tend to only re-read the section I’m currently writing. For example, if I’m working on the beginning section, I just read the beginning section of my sample book (I figured this out on my plot chart when I charted the book, so refer to the chart you made as you do this.)

Two: Next I pull up my manuscript and read over what I wrote the day before. Often I’m surprised to find out my brain has been working on it in my subconscious since then and has quick fixes for some of the problem spots. I try not to spend more than 15 or 20 minutes on this self-editing stage. My goal for the day, after all, is not to spend it in editing but to write fresh new content for the chunk that I’ve written down as my writing goal for the day.

Three: I then spend an hour or so in research, taking notes, keeping track of page numbers for facts I find and which sources I use.

Yes, before I write each day I usually spend about an hour in research. I’ve found this is the best way to destroy writer’s block because research gives me something to write about.

Once again, I try not to spend too much time in research. I’ve found that if I start spending more than an hour in research before I sit down to write, I forget what I’ve researched. So I try to limit my research to an hour, setting the kitchen timer if needs be to keep on tract with my writing rhythm.

Over the years I’ve done different methods of research. Currently my favorite one is to sit in a comfy chair with a stack of research books to read. I jot notes down in a spiral notebook. When my hour is up, I move to my desk and type up some of my notes on the computer and add footnotes with bibliographical sources to each page so I keep track of what I’ve researched and where.

Four: Now I sit down to write. For this project, I’m only writing 200 words in the beginning section, 200 words in the first half of the middle, and 200 words in the second half of the middle, and 200 words at the end. (All this is approximate, of course. I’ll talk more about our word count in the next post.) But 200 words is actually very do-able and I can usually write 200 words of a FIRST DRAFT in an hour or less.

As I write, if there is something I need to further research to fill in a gap, I just put XX in my manuscript or write my sentence in red. Either sign alerts me to know I have to go back in and research that section even further. But I try to keep writing and pushing past that spot to get my writing goal finished for this session.

Again, I’ve used different methods for writing over the years but currently I like to sit on the couch with my feet up and write my first draft by hand in a spiral notebook. This keeps my eyestrain and wrist strain to a minimum. When I’m done, I move to my computer and type out what I’ve written and add in footnotes to each page to track my research sources and page numbers where I found facts for each sentence I wrote.

Five: After I’ve met my writing goal, if I have time, I go back and flesh out spots that need 3 research sources if I’ve only had one. Or I research for facts I need to confirm.

There! That’s my typical writing rhythm each day as I’m working on a manuscript. Specifically, it’s the rhythm I’m working in as I work now to write the first draft of my 800-word nonfiction picture book.

If you don’t yet have a writing rhythm, try using mine. You just might like it! And if you have a writing rhythm for writing nonfiction that works well for you, I’d love to hear what it is! Let us know and we could try it too.

Nonfiction Picture Book: Writer’s Mini-Retreat Week 2

My writing friends and I met again yesterday for our special writer’s mini-retreat to work on our nonfiction picture books. It was just fun to see their smiling faces and share their excitement and talk shop about the working of creating our picture books.

Two of the gals are working together and they decided to switch gears and write a fiction picture book with lots of nonfiction in it. The other gal and I are still on course with straight nonfiction. One of the things you may discover as you’re researching and starting to write the actual manuscript is that it demands to switch from pure nonfiction to historic fiction or fiction with a huge dose of nonfiction. That’s okay! There’s a great market for picture books with informative text these days whichever angle you opt to take.

Here’s what we really did in real time to really roll up our sleeves and work on writing the first draft of our picture books!

1:00 The ladies arrived with armloads of research books and laptops and file folders of notes. We settled down at my dining room table and shared about the progress we’ve been making.

1:15 We spent 15 minutes updating our bibliographies with the intent of including footnotes in our manuscripts as we work on writing them. When I write a manuscript such as for a nonfiction picture book, I like to keep my bibliography file and my manuscript open at the same time so that when I state a fact or make a statement, I can easily click to insert a footnote, then copy and paste the bibliographical info from my bibliography into the footnote and add the page number I got that fact from. This little step saves me TONS of time and angst of forgetting what fact came from which source. So first we updated our bibliographies with any current resources we’ve been using.

1:30 Next we all pulled out our Basic Plot Worksheet and our Outline.

We reacquainted ourselves with these.

1:45 Then we wrote down our writing goal for the day.

Basically, this was our plan on what chunk of our manuscript we wanted to write during our time together. Since we were all pretty much at the same place, we all decided we wanted to write the first three points in the beginning part of our manuscript. (A manuscript is divided into 4 parts: the beginning, the first half of the middle, the second half of the middle, and the end.) We discussed the fact that since we want to aim for an 800-word manuscript, this first part should be 200 words. Less if you’ve already written the text for the first page of the published book.

A first draft of 200 words or less! We could do this!

2:00 Next we talked about finding our writing rhythm.

In my next post here on my blog, I’ll share how to do this. Basically, when I write, I fall into the same rhythm:

1) Read my sample target text (i.e. the published picture book you’d like your book to be like)

2) Self-edit what I wrote last time for 15 minutes or so.

3) Research for an hour or so.

3) Write the next chunk of text. In this case, the first 200 words of my manuscript.

2:15-3:30 Next came research and writing.

We spent time digging through our research resources and writing and researching some more and writing some more.

Around 3:30 we were all eager to share what we’d been working on. There was just one rule we had to follow…ONLY give feedback on someone else’s work by pointing out the strengths.

Why no critical input at this stage?

Because I’ve discovered that when I’m working on a picture book or one chapter of a chapter book, if I get too much critical feedback before that chunk is done, I shut down. I feel like I’m inadequate for the task. Sometimes I give up and quit altogether. So until our first draft is down on paper from beginning to end, we only point out our strengths in these mini-retreats.

After that, and only after that, will we roll up our sleeves and start to chop and cut and point out errors. But by then we’ll be ready to do that.

At 4:00 everyone packed up all their gear and headed out the door. We all wrote down dates to meet again next week and the next, with plans to continue meeting together to write, actually write, the first draft of these picture books from beginning to end.

And boy, are we having fun!!!

If you haven’t yet started writing your first draft, go ahead and hold your own writer’s mini-retreats! Meet with a writing buddy online if you can’t meet in person. And write your book!

Nonfiction Picture Book: The Pace

As we’ve been working on our nonfiction picture book manuscripts, we’ve now entered the writing stage. I’ve been going at a very slow pace, explaining each step of the process from ordering in our research books to brainstorming working titles to creating plot charts and outlines.

As I’ve mentioned before, three months is a nice time-frame to work on if you want to write a nonfiction picture book that is publishable in today’s market.

However, many times it’s unrealistic to expect to have three months to write a nonfiction picture book. For example, when I signed the contract to write four nonfiction picture books for Children’s Press, I had three months in which to write all four books! And some of the topics were topics I had not ever researched. Basically, I had three weeks to research and write and submit each one.

That was several years ago. Another example just happened this week. I heard from my agent regarding a nonfiction picture book she had submitted to an editor. The editor said she preferred slice of life biographies rather than a biography about a person’s whole life. So now I need to rewrite that book and I’m hoping to do it in one week.

I’m telling you all this because I want to give you a heads up on what’s coming here on my blog.

After we finish going through the process of writing the first draft of our 800-word nonfiction picture book here on my blog, I’ll be stepping up the pace and showing you how to write the first draft of your nonfiction picture book in just three weeks.

And after that, I’ll step up the pace even faster and show you how to write your first draft in just one week.

The key to successfully doing this, however, is to choose your topic and gather your research books FIRST before we start either of those upcoming projects. That’s one reason why I like to purchase my key research books on different topics that I write about. It allows me the luxury of quickening the pace because I already own all the books I need to research my topic.

So if you want to follow along and write a second nonfiction picture book in 3 weeks here with me on my blog and then a third nonfiction picture book in just one week, go ahead and start brainstorming ideas for your next two topics and gather in the research books you’ll plan to use.

And get ready for some fun!

Nonfiction Picture Book: Writer’s Mini-Retreat

Yesterday we had our first writer’s mini-retreat at my house for my sweet writing friends to join me as we worked on our nonfiction picture books.

We made the commitment to meet every week or so over the new few weeks as we write…actually write! the first draft of our 800 word nonfiction picture books from beginning to end.

Because we were all at different stages of this process, the four of us sat around my dining table, spread out all sorts of piles of research books (both adults’ and children’s), piles of file folders and notes, laptops, and even the occasional cat who hopped up on the table to join us.

First we each took a few moments to share which stage of the journey we were on. It was fun to hear about each one’s progress…mostly so far in researching and brainstorming! We decided to spend time working on our plot worksheets first to make sure we all had the strong structure it takes to compete in today’s market.

Once we all had our plots charted on these worksheets, we worked on our outlines. First we plugged in all the info from our plot worksheet onto our outline.

This left all the asterisks to fill in with 3 main points we wanted to cover in each of the four sections of our plot structure (beginning, first half of the middle, second half of the middle, and end).

Whew! It took a lot of work and brain power to finalize these charts, but we all felt very empowered afterwards because for each of us, our story gelled and took shape in our minds as never before.

And the last thing we did at our 3-hour writing retreat was we actually took time to write. Each of us wrote the first draft of a very short opening page, the first page of our picture book manuscript.

So how about it? Are you making good progress on the journey to write a nonfiction picture book? If not, invite a couple of writing buddies along on your journey and get together for writing mini-retreats until your first draft is done. You can follow along with me as I share in real time what we really do at my house in these retreats to really write the first draft from beginning to end.

Next Wednesday, we’re going to get together again for 3 hours and we’ll start writing the beginning section of the book. I’ll let you know what we do. So stay tuned!

Teleclass on Genre

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, picture books or children’s novels, genre matters. The genre you choose impacts the characters, setting, and plot you use.

As writers, it’s important for us to know the basics about different genres and how each one impacts the manuscripts we write in unique ways.

Join me this week for the LIVE teleclass on GENRE I’m teaching so you can get in the know about genre!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

1:00 to 2:00 Pacific Standard Time

For more information and to register, visit the Working Writers Club. You’ll also receive a 15-page handout on specific genres plus three blank templates for using in your Writer’s Notebook.

(If you’re not yet a member of the Working Writers Club, you can join for free and save $10 on this teleclass PLUS enjoy full membership benefits.)

Nonfiction Picture Book: Your Outline, The End

Now let’s spend time discussing the ending of your manuscript.

We’re going to take a closer look at each of our 3 picture book samples and focus on their endings.

For your own current project, just concentrate on the picture book you’ve chosen to follow for your format. But listen in on the other 2 books, too, so you can use this info in a future potential picture book project.

The Camping Trip That Changed America (slice of life)

On pages 26-27, Roosevelt asks how he can help. That’s the third change that signifies the close of the middle part of the story. It’s time for the ending of the story.

Pages 29-29 both men imagine a future where everyone owns the wilderness in America.

Page 30 Roosevelt passed laws to save the wilderness and created national parks.

Page 31 Both men lie underneath trees and their spirit protects our wilderness (inspirational ending)

Page 32 Back matter: Author’s note, quotes by both men, selected bibliography

Those Rebels, John & Tom (Compare and Contrast)

On page 39, everyone is finally ready to vote. This is the third change and it signifies the close of the middle part of the story. It’s time for the ending of the story.

Pages 40-41 Delegates fine-tuned the Declaration

Pages 42-43 People celebrated and cheered the delegates who met in Philadelphia

Pages 44-45 Those rebels, John and Tom (ending on an inspirational note)

Pages 46-48 Back matter: Author’s note. Image of Declaration. Sources cited for quotes (bibliography).

So You Want to Be President (Humorous Lists)

On page 42, the voice changes from “So you want to be president” to “There they are…the presidents.” This is the change in plot that concludes the middle. It’s time for the ending of the story.

Page 43 Anyone can be President even though no woman has yet become President.

Pages 44-45 Some say Presidents are greedy and proud but many wanted to serve their country and make the world a better place.

Pages 46-47 Inspirational ending saying each President has tried to do his best to fulfill the oath of office.

48-53 Back Matter: Explanation of illustrations, List of each President with short biography, selected bibliography

Now, get your short outline (the pdf file) and brainstorm three details you want to include to bring your story to an end (If you like to write out a lot of information, go ahead and use the document file.) If you’re following the format of these books, be sure to end your book on an inspirational note like they did. Educators and parents as well as kids (and editors!) often like to end on an upbeat note as these books demonstrate.

Once again, if your mind is a blank, pick up some of the children’s books or adult reference books you have on your topic. Read over the pages that tell about the parts you plan to include in your end. Spend a little bit of time digging around for ideas until you find at least three details you can add to your outline under the section for the end.

Regarding the back matter of your story. Many nonfiction picture books have a section for back matter. This is because a picture book, by nature, needs to use as few words as possible. At the minimum, an author’s note explaining some of the history behind the story is helpful to the reader. And these days with the adoption of Common Core State Standards, including a bibliography or even a glossary can be a big plus.

If you have ideas on what you’d like to include in your back matter, jot those down on your outline. But don’t worry if you don’t know yet what you’re going to say. There will be plenty of time to determine that after your first draft is done.

Nonfiction Picture Book: Your Outline, The Middle

Now let’s spend time discussing the middle of your manuscript.

We’re going to take a closer look at each of our 3 picture book samples and focus on their middles.

For you own current project, just concentrate on the picture book you’ve chosen to follow for your format. But listen in on the other 2 books, too, so you can use this info in a future potential picture book project.

The Camping Trip That Changed America (Slice of Life)

From page 7 to 13, they are getting ready to visit the forest

In other words, they are moving through the first half of the middle toward the second change that happens at the middle of the story.

Page 8 Roosevelt takes a train trip.

Page 10 The two men meet.

Pages 11-12 They ride off together on their horses.

Then on pages 14 and 15, there is the second change in the plot: they visit the forest.

On pages 16-25, they have their camping trip. This wraps up the second half of the middle and brings them to the third change.

Pages 16-17 They tell stories.

Pages 18-19 They visit Yosemite.

Pages 20-21 They tell more stories.

Pages 22-24 They visit more of Yosemite.

On pages 26-27, Roosevelt asks how he can help. That’s the third change that signifies the close of the middle part of the story.

Those Rebels, John & Tom (Compare and Contrast)

From page 12-23, John and Tom are upset about King George. They are getting ready to meet.

In other words, they are moving through the first half of the middle toward the second change that happens at the middle of the story.

Pages 14-15 They’re upset about the British troops.

Page 16 They’re upset about the taxes.

Pages 18-23 They both head to Philadelphia to join the Continental Congress.

Then on pages 24 and 25, they meet. This is the second change in the plot.

Then on pages 26-38, they are working together to write the Declaration of Independence. This takes them through the second half of the middle and brings them to the third change.

Pages 26-29 John argues with his voice and Tom argues with his pen.

Pages 30-33 They realize the time has come for action

Pages 34-38 John and Tom work on the Declaration until it is ready to take to Congress.

ON page 39, everyone is finally ready to vote. This is the third change and it signifies the close of the middle part of the story.

So You Want to Be President (Humorous Lists)

From pages 12-41, there are interesting lists of different presidents. There’s no real second change, but this does follow a loosely chronological type of order in that it goes from the birth of presidents to the death of presidents.

On page 42, the voice changes from “So you want to be president” to “There they are…the presidents.” This is the change in plot that concludes the middle.

Now, get your short outline (the pdf file) and brainstorm three details you want to include in the first half that support what you wrote on the line about what will happen in the first half of the middle. (If you like to write out a lot of information, go ahead and use the document file.)

Then brainstorm three details you want to include in the second half that support what you wrote on the line about what will happen in the second half of the middle.

Once again, if your mind is a blank, pick up some of the children’s books or adult reference books you have on your topic. Read over the pages that tell about that parts you plan to include in your middle. Spend a little bit of time digging around for ideas until you find at least three details you can add to your outline under the first half of the middle and three more details you can add under the second half of the middle.

In my next post, I’ll explain how to fill in the details on your outline for the ending.

Nonfiction Picture Book: Your Outline, The Beginning

Now let’s spend time discussing the beginning of your manuscript.

We’re going to take a closer look at each of our 3 picture book samples and focus on their beginnings.

For your own current project, just concentrate on the picture book you’ve chosen to follow for your format. But read the information on the other 2 books, too, so you can use this info in a future potential picture book project. And if you have your own sample picture book that you’re following for the format, hopefully you can adapt this to your unique project!

The Camping Trip That Changed America (Slice of Life)

Page 3: An introduction/overview of the 2 main characters, how they were different and had one thing in common and that’s what changed America (strong tie in to the theme).

Page 4: Introduces Roosevelt’s boyhood and family and his main accomplishment as an adult

Page 5: Introduces Muir’s boyhood and family and his main accomplishment as an adult

Page 6: The first change in the plot: Roosevelt reads one of Muir’s books and sees his plea for help to save the forests

Those Rebels, John & Tom (Compare and Contrast)

Page 3: An introduction/overview to the story that is exciting and focused on the theme: compares and contrasts.

Page 4-5: Introduces how 2 main characters are different

Page 6: Gives fun examples about John’s boyhood: skipped school to have fun. 2 sentences.

Page 7: Gives direct contrast of Tom’s boyhood: loved school, especially books! 3 sentences

Pages 8-9: Shows how John and Tom were different as adults: 1 talked, one was shy. 2 paragraphs about each one.

Page 10: Showed John loving to farm, and what he did when not in the courtroom.

Page 11: Showed Tom building his estate, and what he did when not in the courtroom.

Page 12: The first change in the plot: John and Tom were different but they had 2 things in common: They loved America and didn’t like George

So You Want to Be President (Humorous Lists)

Page 7: Introduction saying there are both good and bad things about being President

Page 9: Lists good things

Pages 10-11: Lists bad things

Page 12: The first change in the plot: Returns to theme: If YOU want to be President

Now, get your short outline (the pdf file) and brainstorm three details you want to include in your beginning that support what you wrote on the line about how the story will start. (If you like to write out a lot of information, go ahead and use the document file.)

If your mind is a blank, pick up some of the children’s books or adult reference books you have on your topic. Read over the pages that tell about that part you plan to include in your beginning. Spend a little bit of time digging around for ideas until you find at least three details you can add to your outline under the section for your beginning.

In my next post, I’ll explain how to fill in the details on your outline for the middle.