I Was a Wrimo Again

Hello writers, from Adair Heitmann. With the recent, tragic and unimaginable losses in the Sandy Hook community in Newtown, CT, I can barely focus on this post. Yet, writing helps me through grief, it has universal curative powers.

Kahlil Gibran wrote, ”When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” Much of our collective grief has to do with the senseless killing of innocent children. Children who were in a safe place, school. Children who were with teachers and administrators, loyal to the children’s welfare and capable of taking care of them, until, the unthinkable happens. Gibran’s quote helps me see that I cry because I love children, because I’m a mom, because I’m a teacher, and because I love teachers. All those things, when taken in the balanced order of life, bring delight. I mourn, with the rest of our country and the world. As a writer, I write, to help me get through this grief. So, I am going to continue with the essay I planned, an article about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

Dipping my toe in the NaNoWriMo seas again this year was truly delightful. This past November, I managed to participate in NaNoWriMo and still keep my job. Plus keep all my diverse professional and personal plates spinning. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to inspire writers of all ages to write 50,000 words in one month. I entered with my eyes wide open, knowing that reality prohibited me from having the spare time to write a 50,000 fictional novel. However, if I added up all the words that I wrote for work, I’m sure I’ve written several full-fledged novels during the month of November. I used NaNoWriMo as a way to fertilize my own writer’s platform, by playing in a national arena. I knew I couldn’t complete a new novel, but my day job gave me the opportunity to participate as part of a community outreach. (It’s nice to write for a living.)

To complete the participation in NaNoWriMo, I needed to look into my own resources of what I’d previously written. I brushed off a parable, for children of all ages, that I wrote 21 years ago. I re-worked some sections, and wrote some with fresh eyes. NaNoWriMo inspired me this year. I had to submit something to get the dandy “Participant 2012″ icon you see above. I submitted my children’s parable in a word document to the official NaNoWriMo word count counter on their website. The word count added up to a spanking 2,369! Like any good teacher who acknowledges an advancement that his or her student makes, I’m giving myself an A for effort.

Being involved in NaNoWriMo writing circles also gave me a chance to learn more about their Young Writers Program for kids and teens. It looks like an energizing and creative way to engage young writers. I’d encourage any teacher out there, reading this post, to incorporate this into next year’s Language Arts syllabus.

I end today’s piece in a dedication, with love, with compassion, and with inspiration to all the children and teachers of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT.

On a holiday note: All of us at the Fairfield Writer’s Blog wish you a peaceful season and a New Year filled with hope.

Until next time, keep on writing.

The Versatile Blogger Award Winner: Thank You!

Hello to all you writers out there, this is Adair Heitmann writing to you on this steamy summer day. Did you hear the bells and whistles? The Fairfield Writer’s Blog just received The Versatile Blogger Award! This is awarded to blogs that are considered helpful and excellent. Aw shucks. Both my colleague and fellow writing workshop leader, Alex McNab, and I currently keep The Fairfield Writer’s Blog going (along with our invited guest authors). We strive to be informative and always bring the blog back to its core mission of “literary connections.”

As writers we constantly hear about building our writing platforms. Part of building your platform includes creating and maintaining an online presence. Blogs are a great way to do that, and commenting on other people’s blogs can be invaluable. (See more about this in the list below.)

The Versatile Blogger Award was a connection that came put of the blue, thanks to blog reader Brooke Ryter.  Part of being nominated for the award is to select and share 15 blogs/bloggers that have been recently discovered or that we follow regularly. Here’s Alex and my edited and combined list, sorry we couldn’t put every blogger we know on it. The list is in no particular order, but we attempted to include blogs that are good resources for writers. Please check them out.

http://howtoplanwriteanddevelopabook.blogspot.com/
Mary Carroll Moore writes all about the book writing and creative writing process.

http://janefriedman.com/
Jane Friedman – Being human at electric speed: Exploring what it means to be a writer in the digital age.

http://ollinmorales.wordpress.com/
Ollin Morales Courage 2 Create inspires writers to do just that . . . write!

http://artistsroad.wordpress.com/
Patrick Ross: Travels of a MFA student and prolific writer.

http://writeconnexion.wordpress.com/
Gabi Coatsworth: writing about a writer’s life in Fairfield County, CT.

http://kimscraftblog.blogspot.com/
Kim Craft Fiction, Memoir, Creative Writing (from Top Ten Blogs for Writers list)

http://christinakatz.com/
Christina Katz: The Prosperous Writer. Her handle sums up her niche.

http://anneksmith.wordpress.com/blog/
Anne Kathryn Smith, writer at large. She recently commented on The Fairfield Writer’s Blog and I was drawn to a helpful link to her blog.

storyfix.com
Larry Brooks is one of many storytelling gurus online. He revisits the basics of structure from time to time in helpful ways.

the millions.com
Publishing news, author Q&As, plus a lot of links to pieces of interest on other sites.

mediabistro.com/galleycat/
Galleycat is a publishing news place. On the parent media bistro site, there are periodic interviews with authors and editors, under the heading What Do You Do?

plotwhisperer
The focus here is on plotting your story.

bloodredpencil.blogspot.com
A rotating group of book editors has something new up every weekday. There are a lot of helpful gems back in the archives.

dystel.com
Dystel & Goderich Literary Management posts essays and links from its agents. Again, lots of good stuff in the archives.

jenniferweiner.blogspot.com
She spoke at the Library a few years ago, and is currently doing the mega media circuit.

Thank you again to The Versatile Blogger Award for helping us here at The Fairfield Writer’s Blog continue to be a valuable resource to writers everywhere.

Until next time, stay cool, and keep on writing!

Writers — Use What You Have

Hello to all you writers out there, this is Adair Heitmann writing to you on this cold, rainy day in Connecticut. Are you snug, dry, and creating? Recently I had an eye-opening experience. Last year I signed up for The Sketchbook Project 2012. It is this really cool, world tour of contemporary artists’ books. To enter you must choose a theme to use as a take-off point. Silly me, last summer I thought I had all the time in the world to meet the January 31, 2012 deadline. Luckily, when I entered the project my intuition whispered in my ear, “Choose the theme Writing on the Wall.”

Well, last Monday came around with me staring down the blank sketchbook. It was my one day off from work and I had a book to fill. Not letting a time crunch deter me, I remembered waking up in the middle of the previous night with the answer. I’ve been working on a series of haikus for about three years. When I’m inspired, usually by the intersection of mother nature and human nature, I write one. Working on the haikus, on and off, as time allowed, I shared the poems periodically with my writing critique group. I’d re-work them, and place them in my familiar manilla folder labeled “Haiku,” and then file them under “Poems” in my filing cabinet. There they sat until a few days ago.

I brought the folder down to my kitchen table, grouped them by the four seasons of the year, and created an outline for the book. Needing to round out the book I wrote a brand, spanking new haiku, on the spot, and included that too. So the book really was three years in the making, an hour for the outline, and two hours for the artistic crafting of the book. Like a cook who invents a delicious meal based on what is in the cupboard, I used what I had. I parboiled my words, sautéed the right ingredients, set the table, and lit the candles. I completed the book, and mailed it, meeting their deadline.

The Sketchbook Project is all about process, and it sure reminded me that you never know where your words will end up. You just have to trust and believe they will find a home. Before The Sketchbook Project I never thought of grouping my haikus by season and publishing them as a collection. Now I am.

Until next time, keep on writing!

A NaNoWriMo Virgin No More

Hello to all you writers out there, this is Adair Heitmann writing today about my NaNoWriMo experience. Last October’s blog shared information about November being National Novel Writing Month. The contest is billed as “Thirty Days and Nights of Literary Abandon.” It hosted 337,618 writers from 45 countries this year. The purpose of the challenge was to complete a new 50,000 word novel in one month.

Imagine all those writers feverishly writing within the same erudite community during the same month. How could anyone not be psyched? I certainly was. Becoming a member of this intergenerational writing society was so cool! As authors we are often alone at our kitchen tables writing longhand on yellow legal-size pads, as our dishwashers churn away. Or, with open laptops, sitting isolated in a busy coffee shop, hammering out our stories, while blends of French Roast fill the air. Being an active participant in the NaNoWriMo literary adventure helped me feel a part of something larger and greater than just me.

However, I knew from the start that I only had time to brush the surface with NaNoWriMo this year. With my other professional deadlines and personal responsibilities, writing a new novel 2-3 hours a day would be out of the question. But I still wanted to play. I figured, I may as well enter and see what NaNoWriMo was all about from the inside. I had a ball, and the memories from my month are keeping me all a-flutter.

The entry form asked for a genre, which made me pause and think. As a mostly non-fiction author, how did I want to spend my infinitesimal NaNoWriMo fiction prose time? It was a toss-up between Satire, Humor & Parody or Erotic Fiction. Going into this with an open mind and a cavalier attitude helped free me up to recognize that I had nothing to lose. I may as well stretch my creative muscles, and write something outside my comfort-zone.

As November progressed I straddled my world of by day being a mild-mannered literary consultant and by night flying wildly in free expression. This lack of inhibition, however, caused me to be confronted with literary questions that I don’t ordinarily have to face.
1. As an author of non-fiction, my articles, books, essays, and blogs don’t require a disclaimer. But as I wrote in my chosen NaNoWriMo genre I started to realize that I may want to change my name. You see, I need my day job and wasn’t sure if the genre of my fictional piece would jeopardize it. Entering “NaNoWriMo-Land” had really inspired me to let my hair down, I’d become downright reckless.
2. As a parent of a budding teenager, I wondered if what I was writing might be an embarrassment.  I can mortify my child very easily on my own without intentionally adding to it.

Then, through a Facebook connection I learned of a writing contest in one of my genres of choice. Hmmmmmmm, could I be published and paid very nicely for my new novel? I wondered that I might be able to pay for my child’s college education by writing with such freedom and frivolity.  November found me juiced up every time I sat down and wrote.  I didn’t even need an oven; the heat coming off my pages cooked the Thanksgiving turkey. Then I got to wondering, with all the time and effort I’ve spent building my writer’s platform with my real name, if I had a nom de plume for this new genre I’d have to start creating an entirely new writer’s platform for my pen name. Oh, when would I find the time?

My NaNoWriMo month ended as I finished fleshing out tantalizing characters, entwined with moments of dizzying delights. At the end of the contest, I leaned back, inhaled deeply, and smoked a cigarette. My month was like a good one-night-stand, filled with tantalizing memories, but I didn’t end up marrying the man. Will I date him in 2012? You bet I will. Delving into fun fiction was like stroking my hand along luxurious silk. Could I wear it every day in my active life? No. But would I put it on for certain occasions? Yes, oh yes.

As 2011 draws to a close, all of us at the Fairfield Writer’s Blog wish you a very happy holiday season. May Santa fill your stocking with your heart’s desires, and may the New Year bring you ecstatic hours of literary abandon.

Until next year, keep on writing!

Write a Novel in a Month

Hello to all you writers out there, this is Adair Heitmann writing to you about NaNoWriMo. “What?” Have I started speaking in baby-talk? No, I’m talking about the growing sensation of National Novel Writing Month which starts on November 1, 2011. To quote from their website it is “Thirty days and nights of literary abandon.” What’s not to like about that?

Forget preparing the house for Thanksgiving guests, let your friends eat from tarnished silverware. Have to cook every night after work? Let your family eat frozen dinners for a month. Clean clothes, who needs them? Rides to school? Let the kids walk, it’s healthier for them. Spend time at the gym? What are a few extra pounds anyway? Sit down, claim your inner writer and focus on writing a draft of your entire novel in a month. Don’t edit, just write. I’ll bet you come out a different person, filled with more joy and passion, and a better writer after just thirty days.

A colleague shared with me the storyfix.com website which offers on-going day-by-day encouragement, information, and support for all NaNoWriMo veterans. Here’s another resource to check out it’s called Primer and shares information on how to survive writing your novel in a month. Some local libraries are posting daily hints and tips on their Facebook pages. There is a groundswell of interest in Fairfield County about NaNoWriMo. Why not join in the fun?

NaNoWriMo has even recruited an all-star team of contemporary, leading-edge published authors to give you pep talks, all through the NaNoWriMo website. What could be better than that? I’ll leave you with one last thing before I go and stock up on frozen dinners for the month . . . this quote by Teresa Jordan, “If we don’t tell our stories, they will be told by people who do not understand them at all.”

Until next time, keep on writing!

Connecting

Hello from Adair Heitmann. Are you finding ways to stay cool and focused this summer?

I’ll continue my ongoing blog about creating a writer’s website later in August, when I’ll post A Writer’s Website: Part Three. For now if you are new to this blog you can find parts one and two on June 3 and July 1, 2011.

For today’s post I’ll share a quote and let you know of some upcoming writing events.

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. ” -Helen Keller

I hope to see you on Tuesday night August 9 at 7pm at Darien Library where I’ll be presenting Create a Writer’s Platform: Why You Need One and How to Build It. The program is part of their Adult Reading You’re Connected series. We will have fun and I’ll share hints and tips on building your writing platform. You will walk away with clarity and useable information.

Then on November 1 and 8, (mark your calendars now!) I’ll be back at the Fairfield Public Library giving a two-part program, Write On! Hands-on Help in Building Your Writer’s Platform at 7pm both nights. Bring paper, pen (or your laptop) and an open mind, the programs will be part lecture, part inspiring writing exercises.

Until next time, stay cool, find new ways to connect with your readers, and keep on writing!

Creating Your Writer’s Platform

Hello to all you writers out there, it’s Adair Heitmann here writing to you on this snowy winter day about: Writer’s Platforms. If you are anything like I was a few years ago I was overwhelmed by the programs at writing conferences and articles in the press about “Literary Platforms.” At the time I didn’t think I had one, wasn’t sure exactly what one was, or even how to go about getting one. I took dubious notes, listened to keynote speakers and was still like a deer in the headlights.

Then it dawned on me, a writing platform is simply a tool you use to promote yourself and your writing. It can be in person, online or a combination of both. A writer’s platform is a marketing term to get known before you get published. This way agents, editors, publicists have more confidence that you have a following before they commit to your project.

After spending dedicated time and focus building my platform, now I think of my writing platform in metaphorical terms. It’s like a swimming platform. My writing platform is solid, I can go to it for safety, it’s out there working for me even as I rest. I can hang onto it or sunbathe, even dive and jump from it in joy and abandon. It’s a springboard for all my writing endeavors.

Basic First Steps in Creating Your Writer’s Platform:

1. Network, go to conferences and programs.

2. Have business cards printed up and use them. A cost-effective online solution is Vistaprint.

3. Create an effective and accurate email signature, this way your platform is always working for you every time you send an email.

4. Increase your online presence with a website, and with blogs and tweets.

5. Figure out your specialty or niche and build around that.

If you want more in-depth information about how to build a writer’s platform and have fun doing it, be sure to sign up for the Writer’s Platform program at the Fairfield Public Library on Tuesday February 15, 2011, 7pm. I will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about writing platforms and you will leave inspired.

Until then, keep on writing!

A Storyteller at Heart

Adair Heitmann here writing to you today about listening to Scott Simon speak at the Fairfield Theatre Company about his new book, Baby We Were Meant for Each Other. Simon was featured in the WSHU “Join the Conversation” series. Sharing stories about his book, to a packed house, Simon had all of us crying along with him.  I’ve heard Simon on NPR for years, but it wasn’t until the night of his talk that I realized his gift. He is a storyteller.

Simon’s book is about the journey of parenthood with his wife through the adoption of two little girls from China. In Baby We Were Meant  for Each Other Simon also tells stories about other adoptive families. I love Author Talks, I am the one riveted to my seat hanging onto every word an author utters. I always walk away inspired, yet, I don’t always walk away with a soundbite that resonates, this time I did.

“You become a parent out of joy,” Simon told the audience as he teared up. He revealed his vulnerabilities along with his triumphs in humorous, self-effacing descriptions of the smallest, most personal details of the adoptive process. He wrote the book he and his wife vowed he would never write.

Sitting in the theatre, listening to the rhythm of Simon’s words I was reminded of my Uncle Ed. Uncle Ed gave me my first Brownie camera and to this day I love photography. My uncle sent his family in Kentucky cartoons while he was in the Air Force during WWll and later had a strip in a local newspaper, and I became an artist. Uncle Ed was my favorite uncle, he was a member of my family who really understood me, and Uncle Ed was adopted.

My inspirational take-away from Simon’s Author Talk boils down to: Write about what matters to you the most, tell it in a good story, don’t be afraid to cry, and the rest will follow.

Until next time, keep on writing!

BookExpo America

Hello again from Adair Heitmann. On their day off from work most people play. Me? I went to NYC for the BEA. BookExpo America is the largest publishing show in North America with over 1,500 exhibitors displaying their upcoming titles in all formats and genres. The expo introduces the latest books, advanced read copies and galleys that will be buzzing for the summer and fall seasons. Both Library Journal and School Library Journal hosted the annual Day of Dialog on Tuesday, May 25. Each event was packed with panels and author presentations. Esteemed groups of international professionals met to discuss issues affecting both the book and library worlds. As a writer, and a Community Education Liaison at one library, and a writing workshop leader at another, I wear many hats. Immersing myself in forums for authors, librarians, publishers, educators and vendors was exhilarating.

Vendor tables were packed with information about audio books, library services, e-books and e-reading devices, downloading services, and much, much more. There were books, books, books everywhere! At midday I sat at a table with librarians, directors and educators from Japan, Washington, California, Maine, New York and Connecticut. Interesting to hear what is really on the minds of literary professionals today. The conversations covered two subjects . . . e-books and graphic novels. Everyone talked about the pros and cons of e-reading and how to incorporate it (or not) into their library offerings. A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art. Libraries once ignored comic books but graphic novels have gained increasing acceptance as desireable materials. This brings up the complicated question of where to shelve them.

Lively intellectual curiosity brought me into a panel discussion on the psychology and literature of tweens. I don’t write for the 8 – 12 year-old market but the panelists educated me to the fact that most authors, psychologists, and educators do not like the word “tween.” The consensus was that it demeans the child and implies that they are in-between, waiting for something, and that the term does not let children be children. The audience and panel agreed that it is Madison Avenue who coined the word to serve their own advertising purposes.

An Author Talk by Cornelia Funke who wrote Inkheart rounded out the day. I returned from BookExpo America lit up like a Christmas tree. Spending all day observing new trends in publishing  jump-started me to consider dusting off some old book ideas and possibly preparing them to see the light of day. Stay tuned.

Until next time, keep on writing.

Stop Writing, Go to Author Talks

Adair Heitmann here writing to you on this Spring day about getting out of your office. As writers we need to take breaks from our writing routines. I feel lucky today. It’s not that I can smell the lilacs, nor have I been picked yet for Oprah’s Book Club or won a MacArthur Fellowship. I’m thinking about how lucky we are as writers to live in an area with a plethora of libraries, all of which host visiting authors.

Recently two very different authors came to Connecticut. The fact that I hadn’t read their books didn’t stop me from leaving my writing studio and learning from them. As writers we need to study how other writers present their material. It’s professional research. Observing how much or how little an author reveals personal information, hearing if they read a passage from their recently published books or not, hones my skills as a presenting author.

Phyllis Theroux, author of The Journal Keeper, spoke about memoir writing at Fairfield Public Library. Her focus was the art of journal writing. My literary take-away was being reminded that any life can be filled with dark parts, yet “journal writing is a place to remember where the light is.” Theroux went on to say, “The more personal your writing is the more universal your application.”

Author of Sacred Hearts, Sarah Dunant, came to neighboring Pequot Library. Dunant is really a scholar of Renaissance history wearing fiction writer’s clothing. She is passionate about her subject matter and I heard how she can still get trapped within the book she is writing. While it is a difficult place for any writer to be in, Dunant knows that she has to write her way out. If she doesn’t allow herself to be boxed in, she can’t authentically experience the resolution that her characters need to feel.

After hearing an author speak, I come back to my own essays, articles, books and blogs with a bounce in my step and a gleam in eye. Armored with new knowledge about the art and craft of writing and speaking about writing.  Until next time, after you return from an Author Talk, keep on writing.