NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Day Six – Bedtime Blog!
My eyes hurt.
No, really, my eyes are KILLING me. I don’t think I’ve blinked in the past six days. Usually around now I kick myself and bang my head against the wall, bemoaning, “Why did I create NaPiBoWriWee? Am I INSANE?”
Turns out, yup. I’m nuts. 🙂 LOL! How is everyone doing? Did you survive Day 6?
For those of you keeping count, I have written FIVE picture books so far. I’m hoping I can get the last two done tomorrow because it’s Saturday and I don’t have to be at work! 🙂 This has been the toughest NaPiBoWriWee for me because I have had to work full-time while running this event, so it’s been EXHAUSTING. Plus, I’m learning how to navigate around my brand new redesigned website that features TWO WordPress blogs (this NaPiBoWriWee one and my regular Paula Yoo blog at https://paulayoo.com/blog).
In addition, I usually prepare for NaPiBoWriWee. Before May 1st, I’ve usually figured out my 7 picture book ideas and done the necessary research and brainstorming of plots. Then I just write starting May 1st. But this time, I was writing all these books from scratch – from the idea to the research to the plot brainstorming to the actual writing.
So that’s why I chose to do 7 focused picture books aimed at younger readers and all about cats. LOL. 🙂 I have embraced my inner Crazy Cat Lady! I found focusing like this really helped me. So let’s hope I can write 7 before midnight tomorrow!
Tonight’s Bedtime Blog is just a quick recap of what’s on schedule for the next 48 hours. Below is our schedule plus information on the May 8th prize giveaway random drawing!
(Keep reading after the jump for info on our final day plus the May 8th Contest Winners Announcement…)
NaPiBoWriWee Schedule for May 7-8, 2011
Saturday May 7:
9 AM (PST): Guest Author/Artist blog with DAN SANTAT
12 PM (PST): Extra Guest Author/Artist blog with JANIE BYNUM
11:59 PM (PST): Bedtime Blog! NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Ends!
Sunday May 8:
9 AM (PST): Guest Author blog with LISA WHEELER
12 PM (PST): Extra Guest Author blog with SUDIPTA BARDHAN-QUALLEN
5 PM (PST): Announcement of winners for the NaPiBoWriWee prize giveaway random drawing contest!
PRIZE DRAWING INFO: The prize drawing announcement of the winners will be posted by 5 PM (PST) on Sunday May 8th. Please come back to see if you won! I will be drawing names from a hat at random. The prizes will include autographed copies of my two picture books, the IRA Notable Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story (Lee & Low 2005) and Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story (Lee & Low 2009) and goodies from our NaPiBoWriWee store (http://cafepress.com/napibowriwee). Other prizes will include signed books from all the authors who were interviewed for NaPiBoWriWee (Erin Eitter Kono, Ken Min, Katie Davis, Hope Vestergaard, Don Tate, Carolyn Crimi, Dan Santat, Janie Bynum, Lisa Wheeler, and Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen) plus a free manuscript critique from author Tara Lazar and a copy of Ann Whitford Paul’s WRITING PICTURE BOOKS.
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I now leave you with a quote from Nancy Lamb’s book, The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children (Writers Digest Books ’01) about how to end a book because I’ve seen so many comments about how hard it is to end your drafts! I hope this advice helps!
From Nancy Lamb’s book, The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children (Writers Digest Books ’01)
The Ending P. 42: “Keeping Your Promise”
“Critical to the understanding of the ending is the understanding that if you’ve made a promise to the reader, it’s your obligation to deliver on it. Anything less than a full pay-off is a violation of the author-reader contract…. The ending of your story should be the inescapable outcome of the plot lines you have woven together throughout the book and the promises you have made. And it should be played out onstage in full dramatic regalia.” (from p. 81): “The Ending As Beginning: As certain and inevitable as the ending of a book should be, this does not mean the story stops there. You should do everything you can to convey a sense that the story will continue after the reader closes the book. A believability in the future of the characters is one of the primary elements that makes a book memorable.”
Until tomorrow… Happy Writing! WRITE LIKE YOU MEAN IT!
I have four solid beginning-middle-end drafts as of tonight. Then draft five today… well, I really don’t know what happened there. Something along the lines of it turned out to only really be a beginning, because it wasn’t a very good beginning-middle-end and spawned an outline for something longer when I rather foolishly said, let’s just see where this goes. A couple hours later I was looking up at a clock and wondering where the time went because I was then running late and the plan had been draft 5 & 6 because yesterday with a migraine and still working a full 8 hours was not conducive to writing and not today spawning some new weird project that would be appropriate for NaNoWriMo not NaPiBoWriWee… [gasp]
But…I actually kind of like the idea. So maybe running with it wasn’t all bad. Even if I look at my work schedule tomorrow (blargh, who decided on THAT?!) and know that three drafts won’t happen. But I am still shooting for one more tomorrow… possibly just for the sake of getting to glare at people while I have lunch. I’m rather enjoying that part of it too.
Until then, goodnight, and happy writing tomorrow!
P.S. My first PiBo has a cat main character. Theme for 2011? 😉
Wow. What a great weekend you have planned for us, Paula. I hope you get some sleep soon. Thanks again for all these blogposts. They are so helpful. You’re doing our homework for us!
I love that quote from Nancy Lamb’s book. I have to make a note to get that one.
And I am going to finish strong. Seven PiBo first drafts finished. Revisions to come after a rest. 🙂