Monday Moment #109: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

I want to use this Monday Moment time to remember and honor Lisa Wolfson, also know as L.K. Madigan .

I've started this post several times now. It continues to feel like the words just aren't coming out right. I think my struggle has been knowing exactly what to say. I've tried to say it in several different ways but think what I've been attempting to express is that she will be missed by so many.

I knew Lisa, but didn't know Lisa. I've read her blog. I've corresponded with her online. I've met her at a couple of different conference. She did nothing less than leave an unbelievable impression on me. Part of the sorrow I feel is knowing I won't have the chance to know her better.

Our writing community has lost a beautiful heart.

In lieu of a writing prompt I request, in honor of Lisa, that you write someone a message of love or appreciation. 

If you haven't done so already, you can read a message on Lisa's blog from her husband, and how you can contribute to a fund for her son's college education.

Monday Moment #108: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)

Happy President's Day!

Or Happy a-reason-to-have-a-day-off-from-school Day for the kiddos! Right? For us writer types, that means a non-day-off for us. Kids are home, which equals an added distraction.

What will you do with this day? Are you making the most of it? Or of the whole long weekend? Heading out for the day (or more) to do something fun? Sadly, I know some of you are getting even MORE snow. Or maybe, like me, you're staying home in your comfy clothes and plan to attempt to get the work done, even with the distraction of the kids.

If your main character had the day off from school, what would they be doing? And maybe more important, what would they want to be doing?

Monday Moment #107: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Will you be mine? (Well, at least for the next five minutes?)

You know, I'd love to ask you to be mine, but I do already have several special Valentines: my hubby and my girlies.

But, I think we can all have many Valentines. Yes?

My hubby has my heart, and I'll always be his Valentine, and he'll be mine. But my girls are also mine. I also always want to be my dad's special Valentine. I still remember as a kid the time my dad made me a handmade Valentine card with a poem he'd written inside. Now, I have to say, he also did the same for my mom and brother, but I that's a Valentine's Day that stands out.

Dad's take note: if you have little girls, you are their very first and most special Valentine. So spoil them with lots and lots of cheesiness each February 14. Truthfully, they'll remember it more than any teen crush's attempts at, BE MINE.

I don't know about you (we're all different creatures) but the most meaningful things for me are not gifts but things that really come from the heart, like a handmade card or a love letter. That will get me every time over flowers or candies or presents.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, FRIENDS! I hope your cuppa spills over with love today.

Thinking of your character this Valentine's Day, who are their Valentines? And what kinds of acts/gifts make them feel most loved (or do they most desire)?

Monday Moment #106: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my characters better just by answering the question. I hope you do too.)

"I like the taste of the Super Bowl."

That's what my ten-year-old girlie said to me yesterday.

My girls  have never been to a Super Bowl party, and actually, they still haven't. But we decided we wanted to watch the Super Bowl yesterday so we put out a spread (you can't Super Bowl without great munchies) and the food was a success.

But what about the actual game? How do you get two young girls, who know nothing about football, to hang out and watch for hours? Food alone won't do it.

But GAMBLING will. (Yes, call the mother-of-the-year board. This move was award worthy.)

Of course. Why not introduce my children to a little betting on the Bowl. We made up some Super Bowl Squares and each added our names to either 16 or 17 (it was a small gathering of six people). We each put $1.50 in the pot. Big bucks I know.  But a $1.50 is pretty big to a third and fifth grader. But they were in. We drew the numbers and plugged them in. Makes you sit up a pay attention a bit more when your watching the score to see if your numbers might be winners.

Although, I will say that it was almost a disaster when one kid won the first two quarters. I thought her little sister was going to come unglued. I won quarter number three. And, oh my! My eight-year old was watching that game with more energy than most big-time football fans at the end. And, guess what...she was the big winner. A whopping $4.50.

Made for a fun afternoon of football for all of  us.

Is there a time in your character's life when what would have been an ordinary day turned into something special and fun?

Monday Moment #105: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

Hey, all! I come to you live today from the Newark airport. Exciting, I know.

What truly was exciting was live blogging from the conference floor at the SCBWI Winter Conference, and what a conference it was.

I look forward to telling you more about the personal side of it, but if you haven't taken a the opportunity to get a little taste of the conference by visiting the Official Conference Blog , check it out. Team Blog covered it from A to Z. Great keynotes. Great editor/agent breakouts. Great panels. Great people.

As I stare at my computer screen, the clock currently says, 3:36 AM. Yes! Back home, that's what time it is, which means I was getting on a bus at 1:00 AM. This was NOT the flight I was supposed to be on. Nope. I booked this flight (as in we were on the phone booking at the exact same moment) with fellow Team Blogger, Martha Brockenbrough . We would take the 9:10 AM flight into Newark and fly the 6:30 PM back. Perfect. Well, perfect until I received my pre-flight information that said that I was not flying back at 6:30 PM, but rather 7:30 AM!

NOOOooooooooooooooo!

How could I have made such a horrible mistake?I tried to convince myself that it must have been somebody else's mistake. I check these things. I double check. I triple check. I DO NOT get it. What did I do? I tried to talk to the nice people at the airline. Surely they would understand my dilemma. I'm sure you know how far that got me.

Yeah. It got me right on the flight I didn't want to be on at 7:30 in the morning. But I can now say I have been on the streets of NYC at 4:00 AM. Although, I'm not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing. But let me say this, I was very happy to be hanging with NYC police officer who was on his way to St. Thomas as I waited for the bus.

What mistake has your character made that ruined his/her plans or another person's plans?

SCBWI TEAM Blog Pre-Conference Interview: Executive Editor Lisa Sandell

Lisa Ann Sandell is an executive editor at Scholastic Inc., where she focuses her attention on acquiring and editing middle grade and young adult hardcover novels for Scholastic Press, and she manages the Dear America series. Lisa is also the author of three young adult novels, The Weight of the Sky, Song of the Sparrow, and A Map of the Known World. She lives in New York City.

Lisa will be presenting during the breakout sessions at the upcoming 2011 SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC, and she took time from her busy day to answer some qestions for us here.

Do you have any suggestions for conference attendees when it comes to speaking to an editor while at the conference?

I would advise attendees to be prepared when meeting with an editor at the conference—figure out what you want to say ahead of time and rehearse it if you have to; know how to best and briefly describe your book project, and make it interesting. Finally, cornering editors in the bathroom is always a bad idea!


When you switch from your editor hat to your writing hat, do you have to completely turn off the editor?

It is extremely difficult for me to turn off the editor when I’m writing. I have a very hard time keeping myself from going back over each sentence as soon as it’s written and editing and re-editing and copyediting it. I can agonize over a single comma for ages, wondering if it needs to be there. So, yes, the editor voice is constantly creeping into my head, often taking over, as I write. Conversely, however, I hope that when I edit, the writer part of me sneaks in and contributes, too, helping me to be more sympathetic and empathetic and sensitive to the needs of the writers I work with as an editor.


Many conference attendees will be coming from out of town, many visiting NYC for the first time. Any must haves or must sees you can share?

The High Line is definitely a must-see when visiting the city. It is a park built on old elevated train tracks along Manhattan’s west side. It provides gorgeous cityscape and Hudson River views, running from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 20th Street on Tenth Avenue. It’s one of my favorite spots in New York!

THANKS, LISA!

SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC

The SCBWI Winter Conference in NYC is only days away. Mere days! Like TWO. Day after tomorrow.

Thought I'd piggyback on my fellow Team Bloggers' posts. Martha Brockenbrough has a great post on Getting Ready for a Manuscript Intensive and Lee Wind has The 2011 SCBWI Winter Conference - The Top 7 Things You Need to Know. Check 'em out!

I thought I'd add my own piece of advice for the Writers Intensive and a Number 8 to Lee's Top 7. Plus, read on and I'll tell you what you really want to know!

First the Intensive: Lee Wind and Sara Easterly shared great advice on Martha's blog regarding the experience. Since I wasn't quick enough to contribute, I'll add my own here.

I've had the opportunity to participate in three NY Intensives and had great experiences. That said, it can be a bit overwhelming. Expect  a very large ballroom with more tables that you can count and a couple hundred people. That's a WOW. I know how it is, you're already nervous about reading your work in front an editor/agent and your peers. But my advice is this: you've done all the preparing, so let it be what it's going to be. Don't get so caught up in the nerves of reading your work that you miss all there is to learn from the experience. Really tune into each manuscript being read and to the feedback being offered. Then when it's your turn to receive feedback, listen, take notes, and offer a thank you. Plus, make connections with the other writers at the table. I've developed dear friendships from my experiences.

Now to add a Number 8 to add to Lee's Top 7:

Okay, maybe this is more like a 4.3 and 4.7 because I'm going to add a couple of thoughts to Lee's number 4. First to build on Lee's thoughts about having your thrity-second pitch ready. I'd suggest you also have a one sentence (25-ish words) pitch, too. It will be even easier to rattle off should the opportunity present itself. Depending on the situation, you'll know which pitch to pull out. Now for suggestion 4.7, adding to the talking-to-editors-and-agents advice. Be yourself! Have a conversation with an editor/agent. Don't think about pitching your manuscript. They're really people just like us, and if they have a nice conversation with you, they're likely to ask you what you're working on, and remember you (in a good way).

Okay, moving on. I mentioned earlier knowing what you really want to know (at least for most of you, especially if this is your first conference). You want to know...

What to wear! Yes?

Well, let's start with this. It's flipping freezing in NYC. So packing smart is important.

So, clothing for the actual conference. My advice? When it comes to clothes, be yourself and be professional. You don't need to dress to the nines, but treat it like a day in the office minus any stuffiness. Jeans are fine, just dress 'em up a bit. You will be doing a bit of walking, so wear sensible shoes or realize your feet might be barking. Wear layers. You know how ballrooms are: air on, air off. Shed a layer, pull on layer. But this is NYC in January so you need a whole other wardrobe for heading outside. Think about how you can add to the clothes you are bringing so you don't suffer when you step out into the freezing cold air. My own personal outerwear tip for the trip: wear it all on the plane, including your bulky boots (if there's no room in the suitcase). They don't charge you to schlep warm things on the plane. So bring lots (warm coat, gloves, hat or earmuff, and a scarf). Okay, now I will stop talking to you like I'm your mother (but I just want you to be warm).

Can't wait to see many of you there. And for those of you who won't be there, I hope you'll be with us on the OFFICIAL SCBWI BLOG. TEAM BLOG will be providing LIVE blogging straight from the ballroom floor, and the breakout session. We'll also be tweeting with the official conference hashtag #NY11SCBWI.

Here's the crew (blogs and Twitter IDs):

Alice Pope - @alicepope

Jaime Temairik - @jaimetem

Lee Wind - @leewind

Martha Brockenbrough - @mbrockenbrough

Suzanne Young - @suzanne_young

and ME - @cuppajolie

and @scbwi.