2nd Blogiversary!

I wish I could give you all a chocolate covered doughnut. Heck, I wish I could give myself one!

So. As of today I’ve been blogging for 2 years. Thank you all for putting up with me hanging out with me and making this blog a pure joy to write.  I could write all day about what this blog has meant to me, but I’d rather make it a celebration of YOU – the reader.  So let’s start with a giveaway, shall we?

There are two items up for grabs (get it? The repetition of the “2” theme??).  First is a $25 Amazon gift certificate.  I figure as the holiday season rushes in, everyone could make use of this.  Second is a critique from yours truly – either a picture book manuscript or the first 10 pages of a work in any other genre.  For both I will provide a “big picture” analysis of what is working well in your manuscript and areas that need attention.  I will also provide line by line comments.  You should come away with some concrete steps you can take to improve your work.

So how do you win?  First, you must be a follower of the blog. If you are a new follower, please tell me how you follow – email, RSS, Networked Blogs, etc.  Second (see how we’re still on the “2” theme?), I have asked four questions in this post (Four being 2 x 2).  To enter the contest, you must you leave a comment and answer at least one of the questions.  For each question you answer, you will receive one point.  For those of you who are keeping track, that means you can earn a maximum of four points.  (I know, I know.  You’re all saying to yourselves: “Wow, she can write AND do advanced math!!!).  Please also tell me which of the two items you’d like.  I’d appreciate tweets but unfortunately I’m not going to count them as points this time because it’s Thanksgiving week and I’m trying to keep things simple for both you and me.  You have until next Wednesday, November 23rd to enter.  I’ll announce the winners on Thanksgiving Day! Now that’s something to be thankful for…

Last year, I asked four questions that came from a post entitled, 8 Critical Questions You Should Ask Yourself as a Blogger.  I only got 7 responses, so it didn’t give me much of a sense of what my blog readers really think.  Since my number of followers has grown quite a bit this year (woo hoo!), and the questions are still very relevant and important to me, I figured I’d try again. In order to gear up for the next year of blogging, I’d like to hear more about you and what you would like to see on this blog (and blogs in general).  So here goes:

1.  Are you blogging about your passion?

This is an easy yes for me.  I am passionate about writing, certainly, but I am also passionate about my family, my dog, nature, reading, cooking, traveling, etc.  I try to balance posts about writing and posts about my life.  This year, for example, I chronicled my family’s stay in Italy this summer as well as launching a series for writers – How I Got My Agent.  I enjoy writing about a range of topics and fear I’d get bored (and the blog would suffer) if I limited myself to writing.  BUT, I would like to know if you think the my passion comes through in my blog posts, regardless of the subject du jour.  Should I be putting more personality/passion in the posts or I am I already at risk of revealing TMI?

2.  Do you know your audience?

Some of the sub-questions here ask whether you know what your readers want and don’t want and whether they find your posts useful.  I believe my most active readers/followers are fellow writers, but I also know that I have quite a few non-writer followers who don’t comment as often but read most of the posts.  I try to serve both audiences without being schizophrenic.  So I ask you, if you are a writer, do you still enjoy the more personal posts?   If you are not a writer, do your eyes glaze over when you read the writing posts, or do I manage to make them interesting to you?

3.  Are you building a community?

I think so.  I try to ask thought-provoking questions at the end of most posts to get people excited to engage in a conversation.  I joined the third Writers’ Platform-Building Campaign, participated in a few blogfests and attended Kristen Lamb’s blogging course.  I’m on Twitter and Facebook.  I do giveaways here and there.  Are there other things I could do to “up” the community quotient of the blog?

4.  Are you solving your reader’s problems?

Let me be frank.  I can barely solve my own problems, so I doubt if I will be able to solve yours.  If I had all the answers, I’d probably be a multi-published author bringing money in hand over fist right now.  If I had all the answers, my kids would behave perfectly at all times, my cakes would never sag in the middle, I’d weigh about 20 lbs less and my house would be featured in Architectural Digest. In the meantime, I hope that as I flounder, learn, flounder some more, and then learn some more, that my posts about that process are helpful to you too.  It’s not so much “misery loves company” as “company alleviates misery,” so let’s stick together.  Do my posts provide help or inspiration to you, and what do you think would make them more helpful?

Now for some totally useless statistics.  Last year I posted my top five most-visited posts and my top five favorites and thought it would be fun to do it again.  It’s interesting how in both years there was no overlap between the two.

Top Posts (post with greatest number of hits)

1. 100 Random Things – every day I get at least one “random things to write about” search reference that brings someone to the blog.
2. Osama bin Laden’s Death – No surprise here.  I got more than 800 hits the day the post went live.  Controversy sells.
3. How I Got My Agent: Corey Schwartz – Go Corey! Not only is she a terrific writer, but she was the first brave soul to participate in this series.
4. How to Write a Winning Query
5. How I Got My Agent: Tara Lazar – Go Tara! Our own PiBoIdMo organizer and another fantastic writer.

Top Five Personal Favorites

1. On Impermanence
2. Here Piggy, Piggy
3. Adam Rex Rocks the House
4. Yes, I Do Believe in Miracles
5. The Long and Winding Road

Last, but not least, I have a public service announcement.  Fellow picture book author Susanna Leonard Hill has started a wonderful new Friday feature called, Perfect Picture Book Friday.  In the same vein as Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, folks passionate about picture books will choose one and provide a short synopsis and a note on what they like about the book.  So go visit her to find some amazing picture books.  I will be participating myself starting next Friday.

Whether you comment on this post or not, THANKS FOR READING!  I appreciate each and every one of you.

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Gratitude Sunday 61

Time for this week’s Gratitude Sunday post.

Quotes on Gratitude

“The point is not to pay back kindness but to pass it on.” — Julia Alvarez

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” — John Milton

“I have had friends who have acted kindly towards me, and it has been my good fortune to have it in my power to give them substantial proofs of my gratitude.” — Giacomo Casanova

Gratitude List for the week ending November 5

1. Phil helped me create a complex (at least to me) spreadsheet for a business plan.
2. Watching Rocky romp around in the virgin snow in the field near our house.  I doubt there is a creature on earth who loves the snow as much as he does.
3. Likewise, watching two dogs at the dog park play tug of war with a rope.  It is hard not to smile while watching dogs play.
4. A Happy Halloween with perfect weather.  It was the warmest Halloween evening since we moved to Colorado.  No coats and long underwear underneath the costumes this year!
5. The blogging/writing community – friends from PiBoIdMo, Writer’s Platform-Building Campaign, WANA 1011, Creative Leap Club, my critique group partners, etc.
6. The kids enjoyed their first week of basketball season.
7. I was the “Mystery Reader” in Em’s class on Friday. How I love reading to a group of eager kids. Can’t wait to do that with one of my own books one day.  I read, Blackie, The Horse Who Stood Still – one of our favorites.  None of the other kids had ever heard the (true!) story before, so that made it even more fun.
8. Reading in front of the first fire of the season.
9. Flannel pajamas
10. Getting a few more queries sent out.

What are you grateful for this week?

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For the Love of Picture Books

A little more than a year ago, The New York Times wrote an article making the erroneous claim that picture books were “dead.”  I’m not even going to link the article because I don’t want to give it credence.  Many authors, illustrators, agents, editors and others in the kidlit industry responded swiftly and decisively, myself included, to say, “It ain’t so!”

That’s why I was thrilled to see some of the best authors in the business pronounce November 2011 as the first annual international Picture Book Month.  I love what the founders say about the inspiration for Picture Book Month: “We are doing this because in this digital age where people are predicting the coming death of print books, picture books (the print kind) need love. And the world needs picture books. There’s nothing like the physical page turn of a beautifully crafted picture book.”  And that is so true.  Picture books that create a perfect marriage between the words and the illustrations are nothing short of magic.  To support the effort, I’ve become an Ambassador of PB Month per the badge on my blog’s sidebar.  You can too.  Just go to the website and you’ll find many ways to celebrate and spread the word.

Picture Book Month coincides so well with Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) which is now officially underway – woo hoo!  I’m glad to stir the cauldron of ideas swirling around in my head in order to scoop some out.  Don’t forget that after PiBoIdMo, I’ll make an official announcement of the 12 x 12 in 2012 challenge to take one PB idea per month and write a complete draft.  Sign-up will begin in December.

In the spirit of the month, I’ll mention three picture books that my kids have been enjoying in the lead-up to Halloween: ROOM ON THE BROOM, by Julia Donaldson, ALIENS LOVE UNDERPANTS, by Claire Freedman, and THE THREE LITTLE ALIENS AND THE BIG BAD ROBOT, by Margarent McNamara.

Which picture books have you enjoyed reading lately?  If you haven’t read any recently, what is one of your favorites?

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PiBoIdMo is Upon Us

It’s almost November, and that means it is time once again for picture book author Tara Lazar’s answer to NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  That’s right – it’s Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo).  The rules are simple.  Come up with one idea for a picture book every day for 30 days.  (The adorable firefly mascot, courtesy of Bonnie Adamson, is complimentary)

Participants are also asked to repeat this pledge 10 times:

I do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute
the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,
and will, to the best of my ability,
parlay my ideas into
picture book manuscripts
throughout the year.

So, I participated in PiBoIdMo last year, and when I saw the announcement for this year, I went back into my file of ideas from 2010.  Here is the sad fact: I only turned one of those ideas into a bona fide picture book draft.  Now, I am not saying I failed.  I had a goal to have three completed, submission-ready picture books by the end of this year, and I will meet that goal.  However, in looking at all of those shiny ideas, I realize I need to do better by them going forward.

So I’m taking the second part of Tara’s pledge — “[I] will, to the best of my ability, parlay my ideas into picture book manuscripts throughout the year” — to heart in 2012.  How, you ask??

I am creating new challenge for myself, and I invite all PiBoIdMo participants to consider taking it with me.  I am calling it 12 x 12 in 2012.  I will take one idea each month from my stockpile of what will soon be 59 ideas (the 29 left over from PiBo last year plus 30 from this year) and write a picture book draft from that idea.  At the end of 2012, I will have a minimum of 12 fully drafted PBs.  12 picture books in 12 months.  Not necessarily submission-ready PBs mind you, but, at a minimum, completed first drafts.  Those of us who also participate in National Picture Book Writing Week (NaPiBoWriWee) in May have the potential of completing 18 picture book drafts by the end of 2012.

Stay tuned, as I’ll be announcing particulars and sign-up in December so we’ll be ready to roll in January, 2012.

Anyone interested?  Or are you all suffering from “writing-challenge fatigue?”

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How I Got My Agent: Tara Lazar

Here to kick off the 2011 series of How I Got My Agent for picture book writers is none other than Tara Lazar, the generous founder of PiBoIdMo (or Picture Book Idea Month for the uninitiated).  Tara started PiBoIdMo as alternative to NaNoWriMo for picture book writers, and the event has grown exponentially each year.  I participated myself in 2010 and came up with some ideas that I can’t wait to work on.  Her debut picture book, THE MONSTORE, which will be published by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster in 2013, was an idea Tara got during her first PiBoIdMo (It works people!).  Thanks for coming by, Tara.  I’m so thrilled to have you.

“Thanks to you too, Julie.  I’m glad to be here.”

How long had you been writing picture books before seeking an agent, and what made you decide it was time to look for one?

I didn’t decide it was time to look for an agent! My friend Corey Rosen Schwartz did!

I met Corey about three years ago, when I first began to write picture books. She has long been a champion of my work. She encouraged me to query agents with THE MONSTORE–she was convinced it would sell. She was right!

What kind of research did you do before submitting?

I had been researching agents for years, keeping tabs on those I thought would be a good match for my style of writing. There are so many agent interviews available online, as well as the agents themselves! They keep blogs, writing about what they are (and aren’t) looking for. I encourage other writers to follow agents on Twitter, read their blogs, and read interviews. Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents and Casey McCormick’s blogs are excellent resources for agent information.

It’s a tough market for picture books in general these days.  Was it difficult to find an agent who wanted to represent an author focusing solely on picture books? 

My connection with my agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, was like kismet. My friend Corey had won a critique with author Jean Reidy and didn’t have a current manuscript to send, so she sent mine! Jean then tweeted that she loved my manuscript, and Joan, who is friends with Jean (they are both represented by Erin Murphy), asked what she was reading. So Jean and Corey gave me a referral to Joan. While Joan was hooked with my picture books, she also loved the first chapter of my middle-grade novel. So I can’t say that I’m focused solely on picture books, but Joan did comment that she had been looking for a picture book author to represent.

I also had a nice connection with Kelly Sonnack at Andrea Brown. Although Kelly did not offer representation, she was very interested in THE MONSTORE. And kismet struck again when her client James Burks was chosen to illustrate it.

I think it’s essential for picture book authors to have several manuscripts ready-to-go before querying agents. One book is not going to result in representation. It’s just too tough a market.

I have heard the same thing from several agents – be ready to share more than one manuscript. Thanks for bringing that up!

The dreaded questions: How many queries?  How many rejections?

I did not query agents until THE MONSTORE. And then it was just Ammi-Joan and four other agents.

I was very cautious with submitting to editors, too. I was waiting until I was good enough. I felt that submitting too early was a mistake. I didn’t want to use up my chances with particular editors by sending them an early manuscript and then not being able to send it again once I had revised successfully. I had submitted about 15 times with 15 rejections, a few personal.

How did you know your agent was “the one?”

While we clicked immediately on the telephone, I don’t think you truly know your agent is “the one” until you begin working with them. And working with Joan is a joy. I feel lucky to have her. She is very encouraging and she helps me to refine manuscripts. She loves nearly everything I produce, which I think is rare. If there’s a manuscript she’s not certain will sell, I know she’s right and I move onto something else.

Has your writing process changed since signing with an agent?

When I have a new idea, I ask Joan about it first. Should I write it? It’s great to have her feedback before I waste my time on a sub-par concept. I send her first drafts to ask if I’m going in the right direction and if it’s worth revising, or if I should try a different angle. This kind of early feedback is something I always wanted from an agent. Although picture books are short, they don’t take a short time to write. The process with Joan ensures that I’m not working on something that has no potential.

Sounds like bliss…

We sometimes hear that picture book writers don’t really need an agent.  What do you think the advantages are of having an agent?

I think I just answered that question! In addition, I don’t want to take time away from my writing to focus on sales. When I was submitting directly to editors, I spent weeks researching which ones would be a good fit. Then I spent weeks writing cover letters. I researched similar titles, the editor’s other books, and the publisher’s lists. It was a long process. And I couldn’t seem to change gears easily from the creative side to the business side and back again. When I was submitting, that’s all I was doing. Having Joan means I can spend more time on writing.

You are the host of the popular Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) event in November.  One of your own PiBoIdMo ideas became the book that is now being published.  Do you think the PiBoIdMo process made a big difference in helping you get that “winning” idea?

Truth be told, I get ideas almost every day. But PiBoIdMo did get me in the habit of writing down those ideas, of seeking out the magic around us every day. One of my favorite quotes is from Roald Dahl: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

The daily process of writing down ideas builds and becomes a habit. I think to be creative, you have to hone your creative sensibilities. You have to be creative every day. PiBoIdMo encourages the artist in us to be productive.

What’s up next/what are you working on now?

I am digging back into my middle grade novel. I just completed a new picture book manuscript that Joan loves, and I’m doing some revision on it. (I should note that Corey loves it, too. LOL!)

What advice would you give to picture book writers looking for agents today?

Be patient. Give yourself time to improve your craft. (I like Neil Gaiman’s story about THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. He came up with the concept years ago, but put it away until he was a better writer.) Take at least two years to write seriously before submitting. Join a critique group. A good one will honestly tell you if you’re ready to seek representation. Don’t query too early. Once an agent rejects a project, you can’t send it to them again (unless they specifically request a revision, which is rare). If you’ve been submitting the same manuscript with no interest, write something else. Move on. When you do query, be sure to have other projects ready to send. If an agent is interested, they will ask to see more work.

I have to say I love the advice of taking two years to write seriously before submitting.  I wish somebody had told me that when I was starting!  I could have avoided submitting projects that weren’t ready.

Last, but certainly not least: Johnny Depp or Ryan Reynolds?

Umm, Edward Norton. I think he’s one of the most talented actors working today. And I think he’s handsome, with a boyish charm.

Okay we agree to disagree. 🙂  Seriously though, thanks to Tara for this fabulous interview!  I hope you guys get as much out of it as I did.

If you are a picture book writer with an agent or an agent with picture book writer clients and would like to be featured in this series, please email me at jhedlund33 (at) yahoo (dot) com.

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PiBoIdMo: Day 30

Well, I made it.  I now have 30 shiny picture book ideas in an electronic folder on my computer.  Soon I’ll go through them, evaluate, and bump some to the top of the list for further development.  Many thanks to Tara Lazar for creating this challenge, and for the 30 inspirational posts on her blog throughout the month of November.  They really helped me think of new ways to develop ideas.  Here are a few other things I learned along the way.

1. Trust my instincts.  One day in the shower I started mulling over ideas for biographies.  For a picture book, a biography must be of someone younger kids can relate to in some way.  The first to pop in my mind was Dr. Seuss.  Then I thought, “Don’t be ridiculous.  Kids love the books, but it’s doubtful that you could fit his biography into an interesting picture book format.  The very next day I found this book — The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew up to Become Dr. Seuss — on display at Borders.   Face-out display even (as opposed to spine out).  Which leads me to my next lesson:
2. Stamp out censorship.  I’m my own worst enemy in that before I even write down an idea, I try to evaluate whether it is interesting enough, big enough, marketable enough, etc.  That kind of thinking has no place in the brainstorming phase.  ANY idea can turn into something original and special.  At first I stopped myself when I thought an idea wasn’t enough for a whole story.  Maybe not, but that same idea might turn out to be a critical part of another.  Let them all come and write them all down.  Otherwise you’ll probably discover a book written from that idea on a bookstore shelf someday – only written by someone else!
3. Be alert.  I paid extra attention to my kids and the world in general this month, as I was constantly on the lookout for material that might make a good picture book.  I want to keep that high state of attention going forward, because you just never know where your next big idea is going to come from.

Other PiBoIdMo participants: Any other lessons you want to share?

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Pie there,

Good to be back on the blog.  I’ve been discussing a certain kind of Pi – as in PiBoIdMo, and even some of the frustration/self-doubt that plagued me last

My first-ever homemade apple pie

week.

 

But this time I am writing about a different kind of pie – that is, apple pie.  Specifically an apple pie I made myself.  From scratch.  Even the crust.  With apples I picked that very day right from a tree in a field near our house.  From tree to pie in less than one day.  How’s that for the pioneer spirit?

This may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but believe me when I say I am not a baker.  I am a very good cook, and I love cooking, but baking?  Not so much.  This is the first time I have ever made a pie fully from scratch, all by myself without using a store-bought crust.  Can you sense that I am rather tickled with myself?  What’s more, making that pie helped my writing.

You may be wondering how spending four hours making a pie (including the time it took to hike down to the tree and back) is any help to writing.  Well, sometimes when you’re stuck on one thing, it can help to shift your attention somewhere else for a while.  Hiking in the fresh air, peeling lots of apples, rolling out the dough for the crust – all of those things forced me to slow down and to focus on the moment and the task at hand.  I accomplished something I had always been afraid to even try – making pie crust.  Pie crust is intimidating.  My own crust turned out far from perfect.  It was lopsided and had holes in it that needed repair before I could bake it.  I had to remove pieces from over-crusted parts and graft them onto the under-crusted parts.  I couldn’t master the fluted edge, so I renamed it the “bumpy” edge.  But despite its imperfections it tasted delicious when it came together with all the other ingredients.  I was proud.  It was mine.  It was edible.  If that’s not a metaphor for writing, I don’t know what is (minus, hopefully, the edible part).

My family came home to a warm house smelling of cinnamon, and I presented that pie like it was love itself.  Their accolades and requests for seconds did much to boost my flagging morale.

Call it a coincidence, but my PiBoIdMo ideas have been more free-flowing and interesting since then.  I plucked up the courage to send out another query letter.  I’ve resumed work on a stalled WiP.  Maybe there was a little bit of magic baked in that pie…

I will not, however, be using the pie as a PiBo idea, since there have been so many wonderful apple pie stories published already, including my favorite by Marjorie Priceman: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.  If you haven’t read it, do so.  It’s a perfect book for fall and includes a recipe.

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Gratitude Sunday 33

From Viewpoint Trail, Boulder

This week made it easy for me to write my Gratitude Sunday post since it was so fabulous.

Quotes on Gratitude

“People who live the most fulfilling lives are the ones who are always rejoicing at what they have.” — Richard Carlson

“So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done.” — Marion Wright Edelman

“But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine.” — Thomas Jefferson

Gratitude List for the week ending November 6

1. Farewell dinner with a friend who is moving to Portland
2. Watching the kids play and enjoy their basketball games
3. Michigan managed to (barely) win their football game
4. Finding an untouched apple tree in an open space field not far from our house.  Pie or cobbler anyone??
5. The writing community.  I officially thanked my critique partners on Tuesday, but I’m continually amazed by how generous and supportive my fellow writers are.  Especially as evidenced by all the comments on my earlier post about being temporarily stumped by PiBoIdMo.
6. I know I’ve said it and said it and said it, but I’ll say it again: I cannot believe the outstanding weather we have had this fall, which continues.
7. Sitting outside in an open-air restaurant with the kids yesterday, watching the game and them finding “secret passageways.”
8. Taking Em to see the movie Secretariat.
9. Walking in the open space fields with Rocky, enjoying sweeping views of the Front Range and cows grazing in their nearby pasture.
10. A beautiful hike with a friend (and Rocky) on a stunning trail I had never hiked before.

What are you grateful for this week?

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PiBoIdMo Day 5

I can’t believe it’s only Day 5 of PiBoIdMo and I’m finding myself a bit stumped already.  I think, if I’m honest with myself, it’s self-consciousness or fear or self-doubt or all of the above.  One of my goals for the challenge was to stretch myself beyond the surface ideas, to get into some truly unique and fantastical areas that I haven’t explored (my WIPs, thus far, are at least somewhat grounded in reality).

I was reading Monkey With a Tool Belt, by Chris Monroe, to my son a couple of nights ago, and this book is a perfect example of the kind of lunacy that can only work in picture books.  If you haven’t read it, DO.  Here, in my own words, is a brief summary.  Chico Bon Bon is a monkey with a tool belt.  He builds and fixes things for his friends and family.  One day, he spies a banana split in the distance.  He approaches; it turns out to be fake.  A box falls down over him and he finds himself kidnapped by an organ grinder whose previous monkey ran away.  The organ grinder takes him far away to the circus.  Lucky for Chico he’s wearing his tool belt.  He hatches an elaborate plan to escape from the box using all sorts of tools like a drill-bit extender, hacksaw, mini-file, lemon squeezer and of course – the water buffalo noise maker.  All ends up well when Chico tucks himself into bed that night at home, tool belt and all.

The book is outrageous and silly and has absolutely no point whatsoever (except, perhaps, ingenuity).  It’s just FUN.  Of course Chris Monroe is the only person who could write that story because, well, who else would come up with that idea?

THAT is what I am looking for.  An idea that is so totally mine that it couldn’t be anyone else’s.  And it’s hard.  Much harder than I thought.

Is it just me?  If so, please tell me what you all are doing to ignite the creative spark and come up with those awesome ideas.  I could use some inspiration right now. 🙂

 

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The Kick-Off

Today is Day One of PiBoIdMo (Picture book idea month), created by author Tara Lazar as a NaNoWriMo alternative for picture book writers.  One picture book idea per day for 30 days.

I just created my PiBoIdMo electronic folder.  That folder now has one sub-folder holding my Day One idea – yay!  It will be inspiring to see 30 sub-folders by the end of the month and be able to cherry-pick the best to work on.  Now, I am not planning to write full drafts of each idea.  That would be crazy!  It was hard enough to do that for a week during NaPiBoWriWee.  But I am making sure I have more than just a title.  I’m fleshing out the idea a bit with bullet points, particular lines I might want to use, links to research I might refer back to, etc.  That way when I go back months weeks from now, I’ll remember what the idea was all about in the first place.

But that’s just me.  I’m sure others will approach the task differently.  So I ask you, fellow PiBoIdMo-ers, what, if any, strategies are you employing to get your ideas down this month?  Anyone planning to write drafts as they go?  Anyone going with a title and that’s it? I’m curious to know how others are tackling the assignment. I’m glad to be taking this ride with others, that’s for sure!

Also, good luck to all you NaNo-ers.  I hope to be among your ranks next year.

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