Captain's Blog—It's a Hard Job

Stardate: Thursday

Being the captain is a hard job. When there's a spider on the ceiling, guess who they come to? When they can't find articles of clothing, guess who they come to? When the toilet overflows, guess who they come to?

I realized recently that the admiral of the fleet is evidently so awe-inspiring that the little people rarely approach him for anything, even if the captain is on the phone. Rarely, that is, unless they think they will obtain a more favorable answer, in which case they quickly go over the head of the captain.

(Beware, little people. This only works when communication systems are on the fritz. You could be court-martialed for less.)

Ensign! Where's my chocolate?

Captain's Blog—Shocking Discovery

Stardate: Sunday

High temperatures drove us below ground for the duration, since there is no air conditioning in this facility. The little people think this is a lot of fun since we ended up playing games like Uno, Dutch Blitz, and Mastermind. I held my own, but was shocked to discover that the 8-year-old is suddenly good at games she found challenging before. I'm pretty sure what she has in mind for me.

I'm toast.

Captain's Blog—Study Continues

Stardate: Friday

Rain drove the little people indoors today, looking for something to do. I find they are quite endearing most of the time. The instructional period they call "school" will arrive soon. I plan to study it in detail and report accordingly. I have heard rumors that during this "school" period the little people perform a ceremonial ritual which consists of getting up at an early hour and groaning strangely toward the rising sun.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the approaching meteor shower of the Perseids in mid-August. Hmmm.

Captain's Blog—Withdrawal

Stardate: Wednesday

Banned video games for a day to experiment with effects on the population. The little people took it well and have suffered little withdrawal.

Through consistent use of space and time anomaly called "book" I think the long term effects will be minimal.

Captain's Blog—Drastic Measures

Stardate: Tuesday

Once again, the little people surround me. Relations are becoming strained, however. Have assigned tasks for them to complete, but they lobby for video game training instead. Drastic measures may become necessary.

Am looking for escape pods.

Captain's Blog—Captive!

Stardate: Monday

Arose to find myself on a planet of many little people who have taken me captive. I hear them say the word "mom" frequently when they are around me, and I think it must be their name for me. They routinely make me cook their meals and pick up after them.

Reserves are running low: must have chocolate soon.

What's new?

I haven't contacted an agent.

Yet.

I think the problem with writing is that it takes quite a bit of time in itself. Actually looking for representation beyond that can be sort of tough to fit in. Take heart and know that at least I'm doing some research on agents. (Like anyone but me cares anyway.) Finding the right agent is a little like finding the right shoe, except that it's more of a mutual agreement between the foot and the shoe. It has to be the right fit for both.

In the mean time, I'm doing a self-study course on the book Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul, and I'm learning a lot. The latest, which has slowed me down in writing but should help eventually, is that character sketches are extremely important, even for picture books. If you don't know your character, you cannot write about him or her effectively. He will come off as shallow as a sidewalk puddle, and then where will you be? STUCK IN THE SLUSH PILE OF DESPAIR!

So I'm on something like rewrite 40 of Cluck Lays an Egg, but this time I'm going to explore the inner workings of Cluck. Who is Cluck? What are her likes and dislikes? How does Cluck think? When I'm done I'll give character treatments to my other manuscripts too, even though I feel happy with some of them already.

Here's a plug for Ann Whitford Paul. Her book is informative and insightful. Top notch and you can't get by without it if you're a picture book writer. And like many books on writing for a specific genre, the wisdom bleeds over and works in other genres also. Since it's set up like a class, you have writing assignments (thus the character sketch of Cluck) and reading assignments (one of the many picture books she recommends) at the end of each chapter. School was never so much fun! It's definitely my favorite writing book of the year.