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Avoidance or Therapy
I have been throwing myself into a new project. I have read several scholarly history texts, organized a bibliography, and written a proposal letter. I haven’t sent it. It’s not ready yet. Then, I realized that I still had some revisions that I had promised my editor I would make to the current manuscript. You know how sometimes you think that because you’ve thought about something a lot that you’ve actually done it. Well, not really. I decided that maybe all the energy for the new project was because I was avoiding the hard re-writing I had to do. So, I sat down tonight and tackled it. It was easier than I thought to come up with some different sentences. I didn’t have to make major changes, but I did have to alter meaning. It is hard to keep the writing simple when the changes in meaning are very subtle. I have sent the revisions off to my editor — the book itself should be with his colleague the art director (if I have the timing right). Hopefully, when the layout and design is ready, we’ll be ready to plug in the final text changes and keep on trucking.
That’s when I’ll really dive into the new project, right? Well, I do want to keep reading that history book beside my bed.
Book Bites for Kids — Blog Talk Radio
On Monday, I was a guest on Book Bites for Kids, a talk radio show hosted by Suzanne Lieurance, director of the National Writing for Children Center. During the half-hour interview, we talked about how I wrote Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator and how Richard and I took the photographs that illustrate it. You can hear the entire interview here. As soon as the new, improved website is ready to “go live,” I’ll post a link to the interview there. We had less than a minute to talk about Growing Patterns (the Fibonacci book); the half hour flew by.
Speaking of Growing Patterns, I checked in last week with my editor. We talked about a few small changes and then he sent the text on to copy editing. The art department has all the photographs. As soon as the copy editor finishes, the art director will design and layout the book. I can’t wait to see it! This flower is called a Spiderwort. I love the color of the petals and how it contrasts with the color of the stamens. This is my photo Tuesday offering; it’s from the new book.
Finally, an outline
I have never been the kind of writer who outlines. It’s probably no accident that up until now my longest published pieces have been around 3,000 words. Of course, it is not strictly true that I never used outlines. When I had long pieces to write for the newspaper, I would pull a clean reporter’s notebook from my drawer and copy over the quotes I planned to use in my longer newspaper pieces. I copied them in sections — a skeletal outline. I don’t think I’ll ever write another story without writing an outline. I became a convert over the course of revising Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator. Right after I sold my manuscript, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop session led by my editor called “Story in Nonviction.” He mentioned a book I had read many years before called Writing for Story by Jon Franklin. I re-read the book when I got home from the conference and I tried Franklin’s process. It includes outlining and it really helped. Today I needed to begin writing a new piece. I will be attending another conference in October (Writing and Illustrating for Kids 2007) and I need to get something ready for formal critique. I started with an outline. One of the best things about outlining is that it frees me to write sections out of order. (In fact, Franklin recommends writing them out of order.) I can also pick up where I left off more easily. Try it.
Jacket Copy
I should’ve known better than to declare the revisions finished before the text had been laid down with the photos. Today, my editor sent another set of proposed (though it must be said, minor) changes. I spent a few hours hunting up some more photos. At one point in the text, I draw attention to an anatomical difference between wolfsnails and common prey snails. I had to find a photo that showed the feature in the prey snail. Even with my handy Adobe Bridge, it took a while to go through nearly 1,000 (full resolution, raw) photographs. I’m sure we’re getting close — today I also cleared the copy edited version of the acknowledgments — but I’ll let my editor tell me when we’re done. I’m willing to keep writing until the presses run.
Still more revisions
I should’ve known better than to declare the revisions finished before the text had been laid down with the photos. Today, my editor sent another set of proposed (though it must be said, minor) changes. I spent a few hours hunting up some more photos. At one point in the text, I draw attention to an anotomical difference between wolfsnails and common prey snails. I had to find a photo that showed the feature in the prey snail. Even with my handy Adobe Bridge, it took a while to go through nearly 1,000 (full resolution, raw) photographs. I’m sure we’re getting close — today I also cleared the copyedited version of the acknowledgements — but I’ll let my editor tell me when we’re done. I’m willing to keep writing until the presses run.
Text Revisions Finished!
With the manuscript back from the copyeditor, my editor emailed it to me to consider the changes and comments. I sent him my suggestions; he sent me his responses. And we did it again. And again. (It made me wonder what writers and editors did before the advent of email and high-speed internet connections.) I sent the all-but-final text to my expert reviewer with a plea for a quick turnaround. He obliged, getting it back within the day. And, he liked it! I made some small changes where he thought we could describe the wolfsnail’s doings more accurately. I sent the proposed changes to my editor. He sent me a cleaned-up version — with one more suggested change from his end. I agreed with the suggestion, but thought the line should go on a different page. He agreed. (Actually, he had intended it for the place I proposed, but in his haste had pasted in the wrong place.) So, voila! We’re ready for the designer to drop the text into the design file.
With no more book stuff to do today, I turned my attention to the jungle of basil growing in one of the containers in my garden. My mother was by last week and suggested that if I wanted to get a fall crop I should trim it back mercilessly. I did exactly that. The kitchen smelled of basil for hours as I trimmed, washed, and pulverized what turned out to be about 10 cups of basil. We’re having pizza tonight — some with tomato sauce and some with pesto sauce. I took this shot with my Nikon 50 mm F 1.8D inside on my kitchen table using available light.
Revisions
The work on Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator shifted to the publisher Boyds Mills Press about two months ago. My editor worked his magic on the text and now it is in the hands of the copy editor. The designer came through with a lovely design. So far, I’ve only seen a low-resolution pdf and I’m a little nervous about how my photographs will print. My editor put me in touch with the head of production and I learned a little more about what will happen to my digital files between now and the final galleys. We agreed that I would send her a print that her photoshop wiz would try to color match. She promised to pull an Epson proof of the photographs only so I could see how they print before we get to the galley stage. Meanwhile, for lack of anything constructive to do on the book, I am turning my attention to marketing. I am working with my design partner (who also happens to be my husband) on getting my website and blog up and running.