Elizabeth Rusch: Northwest Author Series

Northwest Author Series Presents: Children’s Author Elizabeth Rusch at the Wilsonville Public Library on Sunday, June 8th

Whether you love to read or wish to write children’s books, you’ll enjoy this two-hour presentation by Elizabeth Rusch on writing children’s books on Sunday, June 8th from 3:00-5:00 p.m. For just five dollars at the door, in the Oak Room at the Wilsonville Public Library, you’ll receive two hours of insights from an award-winning children’s author, do a group exercise with the author and have a chance to win two great door prizes from Writer’s Digest Books. Wilsonville author, Christina Katz will host.

This month’s topic is: Listen to the Children

"How I learned to write for children by listening to them and how you can, too."

Through her experience moving from writing for adults to writing for children, award-winning author, Elizabeth Rusch shows how to get meaningful feedback from children on your board books, picture books, and novels. Learn how to read aloud to toddlers and read their body language, how to nudge elementary-aged kids to do a meaningful mark-up, and how to start a fruitful dialogue with older kids about your work.

Elizabeth Rusch’s first children’ book, Generation Fix, was a Smithsonian magazine Notable Children’s Book and a finalist for the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award and the Oregon Book Award. She has four more children’s books coming out this year: Will It Blow?: Become a Volcano Detective at Mount St. Helens (Sasquatch, 2007), A Day with No Crayons (Rising Moon, 2007), The Planet Hunter: The story behind what happened to Pluto (Rising Moon, 2007), and Girl’s Tennis: Conquering the Court (Capstone Press, 2007).

As an award-winning freelance writer and former managing editor of Teacher magazine, editor-in-chief of PointsBeyond.com, and contributing editor to Child and Fit Pregnancy, Rusch has published more than 100 articles in numerous national magazines for children and adults. Her publishing credits include Muse, Read, American Girl, Harper’s, Mother Jones, Parenting, and Backpacker, among many others.

Her literary awards include the Kay Snow Literary Award, a Maggie Award, and an Oregon Literary Fellowship, among others. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two children.

This event is part of an ongoing series, the Northwest Author Series, created by Christina Katz and sponsored by Wilsonville Arts & Culture Council, the Wilsonville Public Library and the Friends of the Wilsonville Public Library.
This event concludes the series for the 07/08 season. The Northwest Author Series will resume in September with a how-to theme planned for 08/09.

The latest news on our authors is available at the Northwest Author Series blog: http://northwestauthorseries.wordpress.com/

For more information, please contact Christina Katz at 503-757-2404 or christinakatz@earthlink.net.
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Christina Katz
Northwest Author Series
christinakatz@earthlink.net
503-582-0259

June Writing Workshops

How to Write a Novel

Two-session class: June 4 and June 18 from 6:00–8:15 p.m.

This 2-session workshop will teach you everything you need to begin writing a novel: synopsis, plot, characters, character arcs, and a complete plot structure that you can follow as you work, plus how to create scenes that move. This is an introductory course to get you started, or to keep you going.
Price: $60

How to Market Your Writing

Two-session class: June 11 and June 25 from 6:00–8:15 p.m.

This 2-session workshop will teach you the step-by-step process to marketing your fiction, including determining your market, researching your competition, locating and attracting an agent, where to send materials, how to package/brand your materials, and much more. Sessions are spaced two weeks apart to allow for time to get your materials prepared. You will end up with everything you need to start sending out your fiction work.
Price: $60

How to Write a Short Story

Two-session class: July 9 and 23 from 6:00–8:15 p.m.

Learn basics on how to structure a memorably short story of five to ten pages, including theme, underlying meaning, imagery, symbolism, dialogue, time sequencing and more. You will write a short story during this class.
Price: $60

Please contact Sara Wiseman at Wiseman Creative if you would like to participate in one of these workshops.

4742 Liberty S #333
Salem, OR 97302
503.999.7650
www.sarawiseman.com

Call for Submissions

Share family memories and a recipe for CUPCAKES ON THE COUNTER: THE STOVES AND STORIES OF OUR FAMILIES collection to be published in 2009.
Send your story (500-1500 words) and recipe inside your email (no attachments) to sorrylittlesupper@bendbroadband.com before December 31, 2008. In the event your story and recipe become part of the final publication, you will receive an honorarium.

This announcement from Rae Ann Proost, via OWC newsletter.

The Secret Diary of Nikola Tesla: Gwynne Spencer

Good News from Gwynne!

The Secret Diary of Nikola Tesla is now available online as an ebook, and the first chapter is FREE! Go to www.cenotaphroad.com/store.

Spoken Word Event

May Meeting Pictures!

Thank you to Geoff Parks for graciously providing our May Meeting Photographs! Geoff is a freelance writer for the Statesman Journal ("West Salem Today") and a professional photographer.

Geoff can be contacted at gaparks@comcast.net.

Writing News from Gwynne

GUEST CHAT
Thursday, May 22 -- Harold Underdown "Down the Publishing Path" editor and writer of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books helps us understand all the steps along the publishing path and how to walk it more smoothly. To learn more about Harold, check out http://www.underdown.org/. Remember, to send any questions for Harold, just drop an email to jan.fields@forums.institutechildrenslit.com or WebEditor@institutechildrenslit.com. Come and hear Harold: Thursday evening, May 22, 2008 5-7 p.m. Pacific. In the chat room http://forums.institutechildrenslit.com:6080/chat/world/html/index.html

SUPPORT EACH OTHER
Sunday May 18th, noon to three, the fearless Monmouth Children's critique group meets at Rick's Place, 123 Main, Monmouth. We usually have six or seven people, if you want to bring copies for readers to mark up. It's free and it's incredibly helpful.

PLEIN AIR
Is there anybody out there interested in starting a Plein Air Writing for Kids group now that the weather has finally turned? If so, please email gwynnespencer@aol.com and we can figure it out. We could even bring our dogs! The park across from Rick's will have the fountain turned on any day now, and it just couldn't be much more archetypal. Except dogs are not welcome in that particular park but they do have a nifty gazebo with tables in case (yay) there is too much sunshine!

WRITING FOR YOUR SELF
If you're longing for a writing group to feed your adult soul, Joanne Scharer's AWA group is terrific. Contact her at Joanne@allwritingmatters.com for details and dates.

CHILDREN"S MAGAZINES
Found a great resource listing themes for children's magazines http://www.lianamahoney.com/8.html.

TIPS FOR WOMANS DAY
And if you have a great idea for Woman's Day ($50) send it to tiptalk@hfmus.com. It used to be you had to submit these on a postcard, so I guess the word count is about the same. Be sure to include your phone number and contact information, of course.

CHEERIOS
Something to consider: The Cheerios/Spoonful of Stories Contest -- Children's Story of 500 words or less ONLY unpublished writers may enter -- if you've been published for pay, you're disqualified. http://www.spoonfulofstoriescontest.com/. First prize is $1000 -- Deadline July 15, 2008

++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Hero Journey Workbook: The secret formula in a book!There is one enduring pattern to all great stories. Once you learn how to recognize it and use it in your writing, good plots become stunning and compelling. It's a distillation of Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces with a special emphasis on children's books and personal stories. To order, go to amazon.com, and put in "hero journey spencer" which ought to get you there. Change your life and your writing for only

Spoken Word Event

Miguel-Loredo will be presenting Spoken Word..."Poem Songs from the Moon," accompanied by his dear friend, Joesph Harchanko, on Cello at the Silverton Wine and Jazz Festival on May 10th at the Rolling Hill Bakery from 3:30pm-5:00pm.

This annual event promises to be the hit of spring. For more information on the festival, go to http://www.silvertonwineandjazz.com/

April Meeting Notes: Nancy Osa

Your Manuscript in Flight

An Aerial View

I. FIRST DRAFT MUST-HAVES

“TRUE CHARACTER is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure—the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.” Story by Robert McKee. Regan Books/HarperCollins, 1997

Young Adult Novels are tight, punchy, and to the point, but you don’t have a story until you have a main character.

There are two types of characters: Flat and Dimensional.

Flat characters have no depth and are more stereotypical (ie. greedy leprechaun, hero that doesn’t need anyone). Their qualities are solely seen by action and motivation. These types of characters make readers/editors put your book down.

Whereas, dimensional characters are well rounded and have the qualities of characterization, which can be defined as the sum of all the human qualities that make the human being or, in this case, your character. You should strive to make sure that your characters are fully dimensional as these are the types of characters that publishers want.

You cannot describe a dimensional character; their qualities are revealed in the observable choices they make.

When you are developing your character, who is this person? Are they loving/cruel? Generous/selfish? The readers will only know these qualities as they witness the choices your character makes in the story. When a character is making a choice, pressure is essential. Making a choice without risk means nothing and reveals nothing about your character.

To have a three-dimensional character, you must develop their back-stories. A back-story is everything that has happened to the character up until the point the story begins. This information is necessary for you, not the reader.

Keep in mind that in the course of your story, if you name a character then they must be integral to the story. If the character is not important, then don’t give them a name. For example, if the grocery clerk is named Mary, then we’re going to assume she’s important to the story. If she’s not, then just call her the grocery clerk.

Aside from your characters, other elements in a first draft you should consider are your premise and theme.

Your story should have a beginning, middle, and end. Your plot should thread each part of your novel to maintain tension, which will ultimately satisfy your reader to the very end. Change is a key element that keeps the reader turning the pages. Change gives the story momentum, but it is only meaningful if it happens to your main character. Story events/values cause meaningful change and are universal values of a story experience (ie positive/negative, truth/lie, and loyalty/betrayal).

There should be some foreshadowing in the first setting of the story to give your readers a hint of things to come. If you have a scene that doesn’t propel the story forward, then it isn’t necessary. Make sure that every act in your story is meaningful to your character’s experience.

Summary: Elements you’ll need in a first draft.

1. Characters, all used to good purpose, all with backstories
2. Premise, plot beginning point, overall theme
3. Layout, three acts

A Close Up

II. FINAL DRAFT NIT-PICKIES

“VOICE ... gives a choice. Too few writers take it, however, relying instead on the flaccid passive, which almost always takes more words. The active voice normally is shorter, livelier, and more direct—and so is usually preferred.” Edit Yourself by Bruce Ross-Larson. W.W. Norton, 1996

If you haven’t written your first draft yet, don’t worry about revising. In the first draft, you should let your words flow.

When you are ready to revise, start by cutting out all the fat from your manuscript. First draft writing is often full of lard. You want to direct your readers to important words and what words help drive the story. Excess words have a tendency to tire your readers. In addition to trimming the writing, take a close look at your dialogue tags because half of them can be cut without losing reading comprehension.

Stay clear of passive sentences, such as:

There is/there are
To be/ plus past participle
Have been/will be

And change them to active sentences!

Passive voice gives a choice. Active voice is shorter, livelier, and direct. For example, “This book was written by me” is a passive sentence. “I wrote this book” is an active sentence. If you’re having a hard time changing passive to active, try using precise, concrete, and specific words to add liveliness. For example, “my character has lower tract abominable pain” can be changed to “my character has diarrhea.”

Remember, you’re the one painting the picture for your reader.

Summary: Elements you’ll need to remember when you revise.

1. Fat becomes concise
2. Excessive dialogue tags
3. Passive or uninteresting language becomes active and precise

A Happy Landing

III. BUILDING A RESUME

To build your writing résumé, get started with short stories, articles, and contests. Use your current work as a stepping-stone towards your ultimate success. Every little step will eventually get you that writing contract. As you build your résumé, make sure you put all that information in your cover letter when you submit to editors.

Other avenues are grants, which will help you with time to write, travel, or research, and artist residencies, which will not only give you a place to get away and write but also offer networking possibilities.

Summary: Avenues to Pursue

Writing competitions = Kay Snow! http://www.willamettewriters.com/
Grants = Literary Arts, Inc., and Regional Arts & Culture Council
Residencies = Hedgebrook, Centrum, and Caldera

Nancy Osa is a young adult author and freelance editor. She can be reached at Editorisin@aol.com.