Turn it upside down!

I have been painting for many years. I started out with oils and then moved into acrylics. I hated the way it took "years" for oils to dry. I would take oil paintings and place them in the car so that the heat would dry the paint. It worked.

I discovered something amazing. If you turn the painting upside down, walk away, and then turn and look at it, you see it in a new light. You can see what is not balanced and straight. It works. Why? You look at the painting so much that you get immune to seeing mistakes. Having the painting upside down forces you to see it in a new light.

Try this with your story. Chart the action. I am a visual person and often draw pictures to help me think. Sometimes, I start with the opening and chart the action of the story in order to see how it flows. I go from opening and move on up to the amazing-climax, then, I slowly come down to the ending. (I put amazing-climax just for fun.)

Speaking as a writer for children, try letting a child read it. Find a child that is on the reading level of your story. Listen to how the child reads it. Watch the face. See how the expressions are part of the story. It will change your writing. Let the child ask questions. They have a unique view that an adult can not grasp fully.

The other day, I went to a local elementary school for Read Across America. I read to around 120 first graders. They had a blast. I did, too. I read my story SleepyTown and shared the illustrations. Listening to them laugh at the right moments made my heart leap in my chest.

Before leaving, I showed them titles of works-in-progress and told them a little "tidbit" about it. When I came to a certain title, they gasped. I can not tell you how I felt. it made me get so excited about that story and made me want to bury myself knee-deep in writer's mud. I wanted to whip-out my notebook and work on the story right then and there. It made me realize how important two things really are to an idea: 1. Express the story in ONE good sentence. 2. Have a great attention getting title.

Whatever cranks your tractor! Go for it! You are a writer. You are an illustrator. You are a jewel. You are light. Shine people, shine!