Posts Tagged #amwriting

Pack for Where You’re Going: How to Write with Intent

By on October 25, 2024   /   For Writers, Writing  

Sitting down to write a book without a plan is like going on vacation without deciding on a destination. An exciting new idea will tempt you to simply throw things in a bag and run to the airport. But, like a heavy backpack, the farther along you get into your first draft, the more you start to feel the weight of all the decisions you haven’t made. Doubt catches up to you in the terminal. Where is this story going? How do you know if the idea is strong? What should happen, and who should it happen to?

The best way to start writing is by setting intentions. Intent is the why that informs your story, and knowing that will help you with the what and how as you write. Intent will help you make decisions on everything from theme to plot to syntax. It tells you what needs to be in the story and what doesn’t. Put another way, if you know where you want to go, you’ll know exactly what you need to pack.

 

A traveler sitting on her colorful suitcase at the beach | Setting intent with writing

Photo by Anastasia Nelen on Unsplash.

Using Theme to Set Intent

When you sit down to start a new project, it’s vital to know what you want to say. Theme is a great way to begin. I always recommend approaching theme as a sentence rather than a word or phrase like friendship or coming of age. This way, the theme becomes more dynamic and engaging because it’s expressing what you want to say about that topic. Here are ways you could craft a theme:

Friendship → Friends help you find out who you are.

Coming of age → Growing up means taking responsibility for what you care about.

As you can see, these sentences go a lot farther in helping you decide what the story will be about. To find your own theme, consider the words or phrases you associate with your book. When you have a grasp of the topic, think about what you want to say about it. What perspective would you like to share with your readers?

Using Intent for Plot and Character

Once you’ve got your theme, you’ve set an intention for what you want to say. Now let’s look at the elements of the story itself: the plot and characters that will make it happen. How can you use these elements to support what you want to say? Let’s go back to the examples above to see how intention can help you decide what needs to be in your book.

In the first example, you might be looking at plot elements that touch on identity and the kinds of characters that will emphasize that thread:

Friends help you find out who you are.

→ Your main character is unsure where they fit into a new group, school, or neighborhood.

→ A talent show or contest is coming up, and everyone is expected to participate.

→ Something or someone has changed your main character’s perception of themselves for the worse.

In the second example, you might consider ways to show the difficulties kids face as they start becoming more independent.

Growing up means taking responsibility for what you care about.

→ Your main character is brainstorming ways to raise money.

→ Your character needs to help out with a younger sibling.

→ Maybe they plant a garden, start a club, or practice hard to make a sports team.

These are just a few ideas, but I hope you can see how intent can help you see ways to use your characters and plot to keep working towards your intention.

Using Intent for Tone and Mood

Intention can also help you make decisions on the scene and sentence level. If you want to write a scary story, for instance, you need to think about everything the story needs to make readers bite their fingernails and scooch to the edge of their chairs. That’s where word choice, imagery, and setting come into play. A scary story might emphasize light and dark, creepy noises, unusual smells, or bad tastes. On the other hand, if you’re writing a funny story, you might reach for brighter imagery, more playful narration, and breezier verbs.

Reach Your Destination

When you set your intention, you have everything you need to start writing. Now you can get to work choosing elements that will support the book; everything from characters to plot to the way it’s written. Intention will also help you finish and revise. You simply have to ask yourself, “Did I accomplish what I set out to do?” If the answer is no, you can revisit scenes or chapters that aren’t supporting the intention you set and make changes so the story can get back on track. Remember, only pack what you need for where you’re going!

Interested in how other writers get started? Check out this article from the Mixed-Up Files archives!

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How do you manage the muse?

By on January 25, 2024   /   Articles  

How do you manage the muse? That is a question that comes up a lot, and I admit I haven’t entirely figured it out. But I’ve muddled my way into strategies that work for me as a writer. And yes, there have been wrong turns, as well as bumps and moments when my motor wouldn’t turn on at all. But those dormant days aren’t so bad. Perennial plants during the winter focus on nourishing their roots. It’s a period of necessary restoration on a cellular level, so they can burst into spring. There is a big difference between productivity and creativity. And sometimes, in order to have a burst of creativity, we do need to winter our muse.

Still, there are ways, even during the dark and cold days of winter, you can coax the muse. The b.i.c. (butt in chair) method is certainly important. And yet that alone doesn’t always suffice. For me, it’s helpful to have an inspiring writing space. Above my desk, for example, is a lithograph of an eden of animals along a stream.  And sound is important. For the most part, I require soothing repetitive sounds that become white noise, where I stop paying attention to what I’m listening to and focus on my writing task at hand. This is because I’m easily distracted. In film, there’s diegetic and non-diabetic sound. Diegetic music, for example, means music that the characters in the film can hear. Where non-diegetic music would be the soundtrack that the viewer can hear but the characters can’t. I guess, in a sense, I’m character surrounded by non-diegetic music. If you stroll past my my office, you will hear the gush of a waterfall on Spotify, but I will be essentially unaware as I lean into a trance-like state. The sounds of waterfalls or rainwater soothe me as I can get very anxious while writing.

Being busy can help with anxiety. When I have a tight publishing deadline, I don’t have time to be self-critical. During those periods, I don’t even notice the clock. Yet sometimes the idea of too much b.i.c. is daunting, especially when I strive for balance. Time for friends, family, cooking, exercising, nature time. It can be easy to look at those with alleged free time with envy. But when I have too much unstructured time, I find that I read way too many newspapers, or scroll through Instagram Reels that just pop up about lots of random celebrities and animals. In other words, having “free” time doesn’t necessarily always give you an edge as a writer.

Some writers have busy work lives and find that they work a bit at a time. While others like to write for hours and hours and then recover for days and days. It just goes to show that there is no one way. For example, some writers love to write in cafes. Others can only do it at their desk. I have to confess that while I can write almost anywhere, I am easily distracted so if I write in a cafe, I absolutely need noise cancelling headphones.

This is all to say that there is no one writer’s bible for managing the muse. But you can create your own and see what works. But remember your life will change. Circumstances will change and your writing routine may change with it. And that’s okay.

Hillary Homzie is the author of the Ellie May chapter book series (Charlesbridge, 2018), Apple Pie Promises (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2018), Pumpkin Spice Secrets (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2017), Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009) as well as the Alien Clones From Outer Space (Simon & Schuster Aladdin 2002) chapter book series. She’s also a contributor to the Kate the Chemist middle grade series (Philomel Books/Penguin Random House). And her nonfiction picture book, If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders From Around the World is a look at historical and current princesses from many diverse lands who have made their mark (Simon & Schuster, August 2022). During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University. In the summer, she teaches in the graduate program in children’s literature, writing and illustration at Hollins University. 

She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on Instagram, her Facebook page as well as on Twitter

 

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Meet Literary Agent Dani Segelbaum

By on October 30, 2023   /   Articles, Editor / Agent Spotlight  

Dani Segelbaum agent headshot

Dani Segelbaum was born and raised in Minneapolis and grew up as a voracious reader. She’s a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication, where she studied journalism and political science. 

Early in her career, she worked with established and debut authors as a literary assistant at New Leaf Literary and Media. Her career in publishing began when she became an editorial assistant at HarperCollins Publishers, where she focused primarily on highly designed non-fiction titles. 

Now, Dani is Vice President, Literary Agent, and Subsidiary Rights Director at the Carol Mann Agency. And she’s stopping by the Mixed-Up Files to tell us a little bit about her journey, the work she currently represents, and the kind of manuscripts she wants to find in her inbox.

 

Hi Dani. Welcome to the Mixed Up Files! 

Hi, Susan! It’s great to join you today.

 

Can you tell us a little about your path to becoming an agent?

I started my career as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins. After a few years, I realized I wanted to be an agent instead of an editor. From there, I went on to work at New Leaf Literary as an agent’s assistant and slowly started to build my list. I then joined Carol Mann in 2021 and am now Vice President, Subsidiary Rights Director, and Literary Agent for the agency.

 

Please give us a little background on the Carol Mann Agency.

The Carol Mann Agency was established in 1977 and has long been home to highly-regarded writers of fiction and non-fiction. We are a boutique agency that prides itself on giving individual attention to all our clients and regularly placing projects with leading publishers both in the United States and overseas. Our broad range of tastes, our experience guiding authors and their manuscripts through the publication process, and our industry relationships make us on of New York’s top literary agencies. We are privileged to work with a number of bestselling and award-winning authors.

 

It sounds like you’ve found your niche in the publishing world. Tell us what you find to be the best and worst parts about being an agent.

Best: I’m always learning something new from my authors! Each book teaches me something exciting and different.

Worst: Rejections! Although, it is a regular part of the publishing process.

 

Can you describe what you look for in a query?

I want to see that the author has done some initial research on what I’m looking for and that they followed my submission guidelines.

 

What are the top reasons you pass on a submission?

The number one reason is that the query is not in the genre I work on.

 

Here at MUF, we’re all about middle grade. Can you tell us what you love most about middle grade literature?

Stephen Colbert said, “As far as I can tell, a young adult novel is a regular novel that people actually read.” I feel the same applies for middle-grade novels. They take real-life issues and make them understandable for all ages!

 

What kind of middle grade books do you enjoy?

The middle-grade landscape has changed drastically since I was a kid. Now, there are all types of middle-grade books available that weren’t around when I was young. It’s really incredible to see.

Matt Sprouts and The Curse of the Ten Broken Toes cover

My author Matt Eicheldinger’s book MATT SPROUTS AND THE CURSE OF THE TEN BROKEN TOES is such a delight. It’s funny, relatable, and entertaining. He’s fantastic to work with and has such a creative mind. Kids will absolutely love this book. I promise!

 

What types of queries would you like most to see in your inbox right now?

I’m interested in seeing both fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, I’d really like to see literary and upmarket adult fiction including debut, historical, rom-coms, and women’s fiction. In non-fiction, I’m looking for proposals with an emphasis on politics, women’s issues, popular culture, and current events. Oh, and I love memoir, narrative non-fiction, lifestyle, and cookbooks, too!

In both fiction and non-fiction, I hope to work with authors from diverse backgrounds to tell the stories that are important to them. Overall, I’m really drawn to compelling narrators and writing that is voice-driven, highly transporting, and features unique perspectives and marginalized voices.

 

Where can authors learn more about you? 

You can follow me on Twitter (X) and Instagram at @danisegelbaum and check out my MSWL.

 

Now that we know all about Dani the agent, tell us what you like to do when you’re not at work.

When I’m not working, you’ll most likely find me baking, making homemade ice cream, or walking my dog!

 

Thanks again for joining us, Dani.

Thanks for having me!

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