Links for Young Writers

If you attended one of my writing sessions for 5th to 8th graders at the Soar with Your Dreams Conference today, thanks so much for signing up to hear what I had to say. Welcome to my website!

As I mentioned during my talk, my love of writing started in childhood, so I completely understand the need to express yourself creatively at a young age. I'm even including a picture of me at thirteen, the age when I started submitting my work to publications and won my first writing award. No, I definitely wasn't the most popular kid in my school (not even close!), but I was able to release all my fears and hopes and frustrations through my poetry and stories.

The good news for young authors these days is that there are numerous places where you can submit your work. For starters, check out the following links:

Young Willamette Writers
Young Willamette Writers List of Contests and Publications
Kay Snow Writing Awards
"Be a Famous Writer" Contest
Teen Ink 
Merlyn's Pen

Jump on some of these opportunities to submit your writing if you can, but please be very careful to avoid places charging fees. Kids should not be paying anything to get their work into print.

If you have any questions regarding writing or my upcoming novel, please drop me a note in my comments section or find out how to email me through my contact page. I'd be more than happy to send you a reply when I have the chance. The only thing I'm unable to do is provide feedback on your work. Check with friends, family members, and teachers for help in that department, or join a group like Young Willamette Writers. If you know other writers your age, start a critique group of your own. That's what adult authors do.

If you've arrived at this page for a reason besides the Soar with Your Dreams Conference, please pass along these links to the young writers in your life. With budget cuts trimming more and more creative classes in schools, our student authors need encouragement and support.

Happy writing!

Seduced by the Siren Call of Pinterest

Through fellow members of The Lucky 13s, I learned about Pinterest.com, a new social networking site where you create virtual "pin boards" filled with images from around the web. Because Pinterest is so visual compared to other networking sites, it's probably easier to show you a sample board instead of describing one. Here's a collection of inspirational photos and artwork for In the Shadow of Blackbirds:

http://pinterest.com/catwinters/in-the-shadow-of-blackbirds

Basically, the board is what the novel looks like to me. I've also created an In the Shadow of Blackbirds fashion page to show examples of 1918 clothing, as well as boards for recommended ghost tales and historical reads.

Pinterest is highly entertaining, and if you're an author, it's another great way to let people know about upcoming releases. You attract Twitter-like followers, and people seem to find boards rather quickly.

But... the site is ADDICTIVE. If you're having enough trouble focusing on a project without the siren call of Twitter and Facebook luring you away from your work, don't get started over at Pinterest just yet. Once you've created one board, you'll more than likely feel compelled to create another and another and another...

Now that I've dipped my toes into Pinterest's seductive waters, I'm struggling to resist the temptation to keep returning. My boards are there, people are following them, and I've had my fun, but I know I need to refrain from checking in with the site on a constant basis if I want to get anything else done.

The bottom line: Use the site if you absolutely have the time. Otherwise, skip it.

Are you already on Pinterest? Leave your URL in the comments section so my readers and I can find you. Have questions about the site? Ask away.

My Pinterest profile page: Pinterest.com/catwinters.

ADDENDUM: One more pro and con to mention...

Pro: The boards can be extremely useful for gathering research material in one place. This morning, I was digging up info about 1880s clothing for a book project, and I realized I could pin all the useful images to a board specifically for fashion research. The links to the source material always appear below the images.

Con: The issue of copyright. Because I've been hunting down licensing info for images used in In the Shadow of Blackbirds, I've become especially sensitive to the problem of pirated images. There's some controversy over Pinterest and copyright violation. Here are a few articles that discuss the debate: blog.hubpages.com, greekgeek.hubpages.com, and seanlockephotography.com. Truthfully, the copyright issue has me tempted to pull my boards down.

Any thoughts from artists worried about their images appearing on the site?

When to stop revising a manuscript

This afternoon I finished the revisions my agent requested.  To celebrate, I took myself out to lunch at Arby's and read the Golden Globes wrap-up report in today's Entertainment Weekly (cue Puddy from Seinfeld saying, "Feels like an Arby's night").

Here are the telltales signs I'm ready to submit a draft: 

1. When I read the scenes that don't require heavy revisions, my mind starts to drift.  I find myself heading over to Twitter to see what's going on with people I don't even know, checking in with IMDB for new movie trailers, and snickering at viral videos I'd normally ignore when I'm submerged in a writing project.

2. The wording that's been bugging me finally sounds right to my ear.  I spent over an hour working on three short paragraphs in a scene the other night, fussing and polishing, and by the next morning the section finally read the way I'd hoped.  Typically, when I reach the later stage of revisions, there will be about five or so key scenes that bug me until I pick at them and get them just right.

3. I finally stop rewriting sentences in my head in the shower and instead remember that I did indeed use the shampoo before I applied the conditioner.

4. I feel like I've fully endured my characters' journeys with them and physically experience their emotions.  Yesterday, I felt queasy when I read a newer scene in which my protagonist vomits.  I had been struggling with the sentence mechanics, but when I finally got the scene right, I honestly felt sick to my stomach.  Today I also teared up in a place where I've never done so before.

5. I get the tingly sensation in my stomach that's telling me it's time to submit.  The possibilities are wide open; optimism is high. You reach a point where you have to force yourself to stop obsessing over phrases and send that puppy out the door.

My new JacketFlap site

An author in my local chapter of The Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators urged writers to start a JacketFlap site, saying editors live on it. I checked it out and found it really easy (and free) to start an account, so today I've launched www.jacketflap.com/catwinters.

My blog's feed now appears over there, plus I just uploaded some pictures from the setting of Blackbirds--which I've been meaning to do here.  Writers/booksellers/publishers/designers/teachers: It wouldn't hurt to start an account to connect with others in the publishing field.  Readers: It's another place to check out authors you haven't yet discovered.