As a “working writer”, I’m learning that it isn’t always about the craft. It isn’t always about the joy of creativity, much as we’d like it to be.

Sometimes it’s about how to manage being creative in the face of all those other things on the to-do list.

If there’s one lesson I’ve learned after opening my coaching business in 2020, it’s that I have to have systems and processes. Things to keep me organized. Ways to keep my writing hours sacrosanct, and ways to keep my clients happy and moving forward, and ways to balance those things with family, down time, daily life chores. Plus…in these times, there’s a heavy load of marketing that goes with both the writing and the coaching.

By the way, systems do work for creativity too – and I’ll talk about that in an upcoming post.

Systems That Work for Everything

I think the number one thing that is essential, whether you have another business/job besides writing, or not, is a calendar.

My image made with Canva

I happen to use iCal – I like that I can color-code it, I like that it syncs easily with my other systems, I like that I can easily print it out. Google calendar is another option. And of course there’s always good old paper or whiteboard.

I’ve learned to sort out my “marketing” on my calendar – noting what I want to create on this blog, or in my newsletter, and when; what to post on social media and when. Suddenly marketing seems more manageable.

In addition to iCal, I could not do without my Acuity scheduling app. For my business, this allows me to set up boundaries, such as only meeting with clients Tuesday through Thursday, and blocking 30 minutes before and after meetings. Then I can send clients a link (it automatically links to my Zoom account and my iCal) and they can choose from my available times, and it reminds them again before we meet.

And of course, Zoom. How brilliant that Zoom came along just when we really needed it. I use it for personal as well as business, for friendly chats and book club meets, and watch untold numbers of webinars, make school visits, etc.

See my list below for more of my favorite systems.

Processes That Help with Creativity

It’s really hard to be creative when a thousand little things are yammering in your brain. Here’s what I’m doing to give myself creative space.

Every Sunday evening I look at the week ahead. I make sure that if something has changed or popped up, I know it. I make notes. I check the calendar. I print it out. I plan when I’m going to write and when I’m going to do marketing and when I’m going to spend time on life.

At the end of every month, I do the same thing but with that monthly overview. What’s coming up? Do I have a book coming out in six months and if so, what can I do about that now? What I do doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be planned. Do I have a vacation with some free time, when I could visit a bookstore and sign stock, or slip in a school visit?

And thinking 3 months ahead, too, helps with a quarterly overview. Do I want to get that manuscript to my agent by a certain date? If so, how much do I need to work on it each week? Do I have the room to take on another coaching client? If so, when?

My Favorite “Office” Tools

Here’s a list of tools, some of which I couldn’t live without. (In a future post, I’ll talk about some tools for the right side of your brain – the creative tools.)

• Calendar: iCal, Google calendar, Acuity scheduling, Calendly scheduling, Doodle polls for group meets
• Meeting: Zoom
• For small business organization: 17Hats, a customer service management system that automatically organizes my clients, sends bills and receipts, catalogues everything I need from calendar to emails to bookkeeping. Dubsado is another CSM people like.
• For file storage/sharing: Dropbox, Google docs
• For backing up everything: Carbonite
• For making nice-looking graphics for social media, websites, or anything else: Canva
• For helping me with everything: my virtual assistant (and I can recommend Terri LeBlanc to help you set up any of these systems and make them play nicely together)

Life today is busy, complicated, and demanding of our time and energy. Let systems work for you!

If you have favorite office tools, I’d love to hear about them.

I’m a fan of the Marvel Universe.

I find the dialogue snappy, I love the embedded humor, I enjoy the ridiculous costumes and sets, and even the not terribly well-hidden messages.

But these mindless movies beg one serious writerly question: is the plot or the characters? Do we create plot-driven or character-driven stories and why? (For some of my earlier posts on this, see this one on character, and this one on plot, and then link through to other posts I’ve written on these topics.)

Plot-driven Stories

We know them when we see them. The plots are almost always the same.

• Bad guy wants to take over the universe.
• Good guys team up to defeat bad guy.
• There might be a little spark of romance here and there.
• There are amazing toys that do amazing/impossible things.
• The good and bad guys do amazing/impossible things.
• Usually only the bad guy dies. (If the good guy dies, he/she is resurrected in the next movie.)

These plots are formulaic, which is why I think they resonate – we don’t have to do much thinking to make sense of what’s going on. They are purely plot-driven stories. If we compare them to books, these are they murder mystery series, the spy series, the pulpy romances. They are the James Patterson clones. They often dominate the best-seller lists because they’re like candy – we can devour them happily, with a lasting sugar high. They make their authors a ton of money.

Notice the featuring of characters in these posters.

Character-driven Stories

Character-driven stories are more plot-complex. That’s because when we are really resonating with the character, we find those internal monologues, those changing and conflicting arcs, the nuances and mistakes and foibles of characters intriguing.

The complexity of character requires complexity of plot.

Now, I happen to think the Marvel Universe movies do a great job of character-building, too. Take Thor. He’s super-cute, but he’s super obnoxious (he really can’t die – he’s a god). He lords it over the other strong guys in the room in an offhand but irritating way. And when he falls apart (spoiler alert! – in Avengers: Endgame) Thor gains a ton of weight, drinks himself silly, gives up his throne, and generally feels so sorry for himself that he’s ridiculous but still loveable.

Or Tony Stark. Also obnoxious but that’s because he’s a genius and he knows it. He’s got snappy dialogue and a happy-sappy romance. He’s a hero because he comes up with the most brilliant solutions (in the most annoying ways). He rises to the occasion in monumental fashion in Endgame (no spoiler!)

There are lots of plot-driven movies out there that are just noisy trigger-happy drive-bys. I don’t find these very entertaining in the end. The Marvel movies, in my view, rise above because they have actiony plots but also employ great characters.

Take Lessons From Marvel: Write For Character

Whatever you are writing, you’ll have a protagonist and an antagonist, so even if it’s plot-driven, aspire to be like Marvel. Here is my checklist for your most important characters:

Protagonist:

• Does your main character have true agency?
• Are their actions driving the plot forward?
• Do they make mistakes?
• Do they make sacrifices?
• Can you make them both larger-than-life and make their mistakes larger than their triumphs?
• Can they struggle and suffer even as they aspire to be heroic?

Antagonist:

• Does your antagonist look/act like a mindless rock monster, or do they believe they are the true hero of the story? (Think Thanos here – he really believes he’s saving the universe from overpopulation by eliminating half the beings in the universe. That is a noble idea, albeit warped.)
• Can your antagonist outgun and outthink your protagonist until the bitter end?
• Can we like your antagonist and/or feel sorry for them, even if it’s only for a moment?

Marvel does these character things so well that there are now (count ‘em!) 33 movies, many mega-hits, and still more to come. The next time you watch a plot-driven movie, look too at the characters. I’m betting the more complex the characters, the bigger your enjoyment.

Do you like Marvel movies?

This week I’m featuring a giveaway to help our teachers, who are right now facing such difficulties across the board. This is the one thing I can do to say, “thanks for all you do”.

I have three (yes, three!) full classroom sets of paperbacks of my picture book Volcano Dreams to give away. That’s 25 copies of the book in each set. I’ll add copies up to 30 if you have more kiddos in your classroom.

Volcano Dreams: A Story of Yellowstone is my nonfiction picture book for ages 5-9, illustrated by Marlo Garnsworthy, published by Web of Life Children’s Books. It tells the story of the Yellowstone super volcano with scientific accuracy (I have a Master’s degree in geology) and is bookended by images of the myriad animals that live in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Here’s a short video about the book:

If you are a teacher with plans to teach earth sciences and/or natural history and/or western ecosystems, Volcano Dreams can form a part of your curriculum. I’m putting together a text set for the book, which should be available by mid-April, to help you create lesson plans. Additional ideas can be found here, in the exercises I’ve already developed for this book.

To enter the giveaway, please comment below with your name and school. You can also enter this giveaway on Twitter. Extra points for subscribing to my mailing list (where you’ll hear other teacher-friendly information; just click the link at the bottom of the page) and for Title 1 schools, so please let me know if that’s you. Giveaway ends April 8 at midnight.

A special note: my second picture book, Wintergarden, will be out from Neal Porter Books in the fall of 2023, illustrated by Jasu Hu.

And again – thanks for all YOU do.

I was listening to a writing discussion with Jennie Nash and Allison Williams the other night and Allison made a comment that the writers who succeed are the ones who can put the work down and come back to it with a fresh eye.

I know from personal experience how important that fresh eye can be. I’m working now on a book that I struggled with five years ago – and it broke my heart to put it aside when I couldn’t make it work. I’ve just picked it up again and – lo! – I’m loving every page, every sentence. Now I can see what the book means to me and what I want it to mean for the reader.

Neil Gaiman has said that when he first tried to write The Graveyard Book he struggled, and had to put it aside, and he did – for ten years. He admitted that he didn’t know how to write it, that he didn’t have the chops, until ten years later.

I’m not advocating for a ten year hiatus, or even five, but a break is essential to really get a grip on your work.

When To Take a Break

• After that terrible first draft – and trust me, all first drafts are terrible, like it or not – is the first time to take that break.
• Take a break whenever you stop truly loving the story. You’ll be fighting with your spirit if you try to muscle through.
• Take a break as soon as you hit send to your critique partner, agent, editor, book coach. You’ll be better able to take their edits if you’ve stepped back.

And how long to take that break? I think three weeks minimum, six weeks maximum – unless like me and Neil you are just not ready to write that particular story. Some books are harder to master than others.

When To Find an Editor

If you feel that you can’t leave the story behind, and you know something isn’t working but you can’t put your finger on what it is, and if you don’t have a critique partner or you aren’t getting enough feedback or getting confusing/mixed feedback, that’s the time to find an outside editor.

An entire industry has grown up in the past three-four years around editing. I’ve got a book coaching business in which it’s my job to help a writer write, finish, and polish their book. There are dozens and dozens of fine book coaches and editors who will help you polish your work. I’ve hired one myself, so I truly know how invaluable a service it can be.

Here’s where you can start looking for that perfect-fit book coach (plus lots of writing support): Author Accelerator

What’s Happening on Page 50

Allison said something else that I found particularly interesting, and though it doesn’t bear directly on the subject of setting the work aside, it does bear on editing.

So many writers begin their story too early, with a lot of what we call “throat-clearing”. We writers think the reader needs to know all sorts of stuff so we pad it in there up front, in the opening pages.

Allison suggested that you hand your manuscript to a trusted reader and ask them to start reading on page 50. Are they confused? Are they lost? Is there information they need that they don’t have? If the answer to these questions is yes, then your earlier pages may be needed. But if not…

Revision is my favorite part of writing. Put your work aside, start something new, take a break, and come back fresh. You’ll be glad you did.

Yes! I’d like to learn about working with Janet Fox, Book Coach

I listened to an excellent lecture today, and with acknowledgement to Eric Castleman, who gave the lecture, I’d love to share with you – reinterpreted for writers – his wise advice.

He didn’t know that he was an artist from the jump. He liked art and dove in – he is entirely self-taught. You can find his work here – and check it out because it’s wonderful, and he has a couple of lovely images available for sale. By being self-taught and deciding that this was his chosen path, he made his own plan for how to become a working artist/illustrator, so here are his reinterpreted “rules”.

By the way, Eric gave his permission for me to display his images – aren’t they amazing?

Eric’s Plan For Becoming a Pro (Reinterpreted for Writers)

1. Write for one hour each day for a year.

That’s pretty reasonable, right? One hour, carved out of each day, is not a lot. But here’s the thing: I know from experience that if I set out to write for an hour, that (unless there are monumental things happening) that hour will turn in two or three or…

Courtesy Eric Castleman

And it’s the dedication to even an hour of working time that creates space for growth and inspiration.

2. Share one thing you’ve written each week, with someone.

Critique partner. Teacher. Friend. Family member. If you know you’ll share it, you’ll work harder on it to avoid feeling embarrassed. In Eric’s case, he shared his art online (which I don’t recommend for writing), but find someone to share with. I have two critique partners I trust for feedback, and with them in mind, I keep my hand on the tiller.

3. Study writing as if you know nothing about writing.

We can always learn something new, and if we have open minds about it, there’s always a craft technique or new approach that can blow our skillset wide open.

4. Finish one full novel within one year.

Eric made himself finish 15 portfolio-ready illustrations in a year. Maybe you can write even more than one novel. Or finish and revise one novel. Or write ten short stories. Or 15 picture books. Challenge yourself. Make deadlines to keep yourself going.

5. DO NOT QUIT.
   

   Courtesy Eric Castleman

More than talent, in my opinion, is staying with the work. Perseverance and persistence are the two qualities any artist needs in order to succeed.

Bonus Lesson(s)

Eric also said that he has tried to find his own style. Everyone’s style is unique. So Eric’s reinterpreted advice I would give to writers –

Lean into what you are good at. If you love romance, go all in for love. If science fiction, bring on the warp speed. Find your writing voice, and the subject matter that stirs your heart, and lean in.

And finally, Eric suggested that there is nothing new under the sun (so true) including no new stories, no new ideas. So go ahead – “steal”. No artist creates in a vacuum; we are all products of history. When I started out, I faithfully retyped full pages of other writers’ work. Not to steal it but to feel it – the cadence, the rhythm, the voice, the tone, the diction and syntax. Study the work of masters, see how they handle the difficult things. If you need writing inspiration or are feeling stuck, read someone else’s work.

So thanks, Eric, for letting me “steal” your terrific ideas.

I think we can all agree that the times we are living in – really, for the past 6 years now – are traumatic. From polarization in politics, to the pandemic, to the increasing deleterious effects of climate change, and now to the very real threat of global war, we have the misfortune to be experiencing a unique set of stressors.

It’s hard to be creative when you wake up at 3 AM with the thought that the human race might realistically be facing extinction.

I believe that it is the role of the artist to crack open the barriers that create conflict. In order to get through these times we need to reinterpret them and express what is happening through a different lens, one that is accessible, one that may mirror events but with a flipped reflection.

To see a thing true, sometimes we need to see that thing from another direction.

By Example

[note: All the books I mention here, plus more, can be purchased at my Bookshop store here: https://bookshop.org/lists/books-for-tough-times You can read more about Bookshop here.]

Certain books have become classics precisely because they satirized or exaggerated the prevailing fears of the time: Fahrenheit 451 (book banning/burning); 1984 (brainwashing); Animal Farm (corruption in politics). Ironically, those books have themselves been subject repeatedly to book bans.

Other books have revealed the true horrors of war or of racial injustice (The Diary of Anne Frank; The Hate U Give – both also subject to book bans.)

Regardless of the controversy these books have engendered, they are much needed reflections of the terrible things, as well as the beautiful things, we humans can do to one another. They don’t preach, but show the reader how hatred, prejudice, and the lust for power all corrupt, while acceptance, openness, and knowledge elevate.

To Be an Artist

I believe that to be an artist is, at some level, to assume the responsibility of addressing the expressions of our human nature, bad and good. That by revealing both our beauty and our foibles we are honestly representing our need to listen to our “better angels”.

Try thinking about your work this way:

• Metaphor. Removing the “thing” you want to say from direct expression can make it more accessible, especially to younger readers. (Animal Farm; Charlotte’s Web)
• History. Historical perspectives shed light on today’s actions. (Between Shades of Gray; The Diary of Anne Frank)
• Fantasy/science fiction/spec fiction. Fantasies can be relevant mirrors, albeit distorted. And science fiction and speculative fiction have long been the home for representation of human behavior, good and bad. (Lord of the Rings; The Broken Earth Series; Station Eleven)

Getting through traumatic times, for the artist, is a challenge. But if we think of ways to express the emotions that drive humans in ways both abhorrent and heroic we are not only shining a bright light into darkness, we are opening our own hearts to that light as well.

Publishing. The ugly part of the writing life.

We writers love what we do. We sleep, eat, breathe our characters and plot lines, our worlds and our words. We spend years mastering craft, and more years digging deeper to try and tell the best possible story in the best possible way.

And then, of course, we want to see our work out in the world. We want to inspire and amaze and confound. We want our books in bookstores, in libraries, in reader’s hands. And we also would love to be rewarded for our efforts with a few nice (or glorious) reviews, maybe being on some lists, maybe even winning some awards.

Being a writer is great, until it comes to hawking our wares, because getting a book published through a traditional house at the moment is not easy. Not. At. All.

But I have some concrete suggestions for you, if you are an author frustrated by today’s industry.

Not Too Long Ago…

The way to get books into print was to find a publisher by submitting “over the transom” into a slush pile. When I started out, I attended conferences only to see editors posting pictures of themselves standing next to a pile of towering paper that made the editor look tiny. The deluge, spawned by the birth of the personal computer and the ease of printing multiple copies, had begun.

Soon after, publishers began to close their doors to unsolicited submissions and agents became the gatekeepers, until they, too, were overwhelmed with submissions and closed except to recommendations or requests.

At the Moment…

I’m hearing from industry experts that publishing is overwhelmed. A whole lot of people are writing, and a lot of those books are really good, and many are also justly serving under-represented voices, and many of these excellent books are getting published, and maybe everyone who wasn’t already writing wrote a pandemic book or two, and suddenly it’s really, really hard for a new author to break in. It’s even hard for a veteran author to sell a manuscript through their agent (take my word for it).

Further confounding new authors is the recent demise of #PitchWars and #PitMad, a Twitter forum allowing authors to pitch directly to agents, a practice that became a victim of its huge success.

What’s a New Author To Do?

First, persistence and determination are essential if you really want to land an agent and a major publisher. But there’s good news: the alternatives are actually getting better.

Again, when I started out, the only books being self-published were through “vanity presses” that charged an arm and a leg for a few copies that you might persuade your mom to buy, but they wouldn’t show up in libraries or bookstores. And usually those books were poorly written, badly edited, and sported icky covers.

Now self-publishing (“indie”) is not only acceptable, it’s a place where authors can find an audience and gain recognition. Companies have sprung up specializing in helping get books into the indie marketplace, do-it-yourself options are plentiful, and cover design has become very affordable.

And often overlooked smaller presses are still open to unsolicited submissions.

Here are some industry helpers that I can recommend:

• Smaller presses: Albert Whitman, Tanglewood Press, Charlesbridge, and Boyds Mills are 4 of the small presses that still accept submissions and also publish high quality work.
• Dedicated presses: Some presses are dedicated to particular genres and still accept submissions, such as Free Spirit Publishing, Chicken Scratch, Web of Life Children’s Books, and see this link for several spec fiction houses: https://www.mythosink.com/5-indie-publishers-that-accept-sci-fi-and-fantasy-submissions/
• Hybrid publishing: These publishers do vet the submissions, and will suggest further edits/coaching to strengthen a book’s chances in the marketplace. This is a viable option if the author can pay fairly hefty sums, has a book in a specific genre, and has a solid manuscript that may not appeal to a broad audience (examples: She Writes Press, Spark Press).
• Book covers: If you decide to self-publish, I recommend this resource for covers: https://100covers.com/
• Setting up for self-publishing: for Mac users, Vellum is an easy software to use (I’ve used it for my self-pubbed scifi ARK.)
• Copyediting: To find a qualified copyeditor, try this: https://aceseditors.org/resources/for-hire
• Help with self-publishing: Carla Green does everything from cover design to layout to setting up a book on Amazon. https://claritydesignworks.com/
• Book Coaching: To whip your manuscript into shape before you send it anywhere, hire a book coach. Here’s my resource: https://www.authoraccelerator.com/

If you have suggestions to add to my list, please let me know!

I’d like to discuss book coaching with Janet

If you are looking for a gift for the writer in your life – spouse, partner, dear friend, child, parent, or for yourself – I have a “gift” for you!

My targeted coaching package, Discover Your Story Heart, is already a sweet deal but I’m making it sweeter – for one week.

Discover Your Story Heart is a short but robust package designed to get you (or your Valentine) thinking about your story in a new way. Once you sign up, I’ll send you my unique Story Heart Workbook which poses a number of probing questions for you to answer about your work in progress. You’ll return the answers to those questions together with pages from your work. Then I’ll respond with a brief edit letter and we’ll have a 15 minute chat about where you hope to go next.

If you purchase the package as a gift, let me know and I’ll include a Happy Valentine’s Day ecard.

Whether you purchase it for yourself or for someone else, for one week only I am reducing the cost of the package from $220 to $190!

This price reduction expires at midnight, February 14. And the number of spots I hold for this package is limited, so when they fill up, the offer is gone.

If you’d like to take advantage of this special offer, please click the link below. There’s a place for you to let me know if this is a gift, and I’ll include the ecard when I send the instructions to your recipient.

Yes! I want to book your Story Heart Special Offer!