Whispering Pines Writing Retreat 2022 Recap with Chris Mihaly and Kathy Halsey

Whee! After two-plus years away from conferences, we (Kathy, from Ohio and Chris, from Vermont) met up at the wonderful Whispering Pines Writing Retreat in Dedham, Massachusetts this weekend, with forty-some other writers and illustrators and a crew of five magnificent mentors. Organized and run with panache by Pam Vaughan and Julia Boyce, this SCBWI-New England workshop is a gem. Here's a quick recap:

Words of Wisdom (from the mentors)

Each mentor shared an amazing presentation. From our copious notes we've distilled a single shining sentence from each ...

Jessica Anderson (editor, Christy Ottaviano Books) offered practical pointers on optimizing symbolism and plot devices, and weaving them organically into your writing.

 

❤ "Your opening pages will be more powerful and resonant if they include a nod to your most significant symbol or plot device."

Alex Aceves (author, associate editor, Holiday House) explained how to create compelling characters that readers will feel a connection to. 

❤ "Deploy character flaws strategically: readers don't connect with a perfect character, so write a protagonist whose flaws make us care about them and their success."

Sera Rivers (agent, Martin Literary Management) revealed the secret of "why THIS book!" -- what makes a work stand out from the slush pile.

❤ "Bring a fresh perspective to a universal theme, and make your work accurate and authentic."

Abby Mumford & Brent Taylor (Photo, Mary Cronin)

Brent Taylor (agent, Triada US) broke down the business of children's books. Even the seasoned authors learned a thing or three. (Territories: World, World English, North American) 

❤ Books like Prince & Knight  "would have meant the world" to Brent as a kid. Brent believes territory is just as important to negotiate as royalties."

Chris Krones (editor, Clarion Books) energized us to knock the socks off writer's block.  They suggested going to the bookstore for inspiration and what gaps your book could fill.

❤ For Chris, "interest in the Merriam-Webster Word of the Year. 'they,' and creating a simple list, led to The Pronoun Book. Create lists, look for simple yet compelling concepts. 

Applying the Lessons

L to R: Brent, Alex, Sera, Jessica, Chris (photo, Mary Cronin)

We applied mentors' suggested writing exercises and pointers to make fresh improvements to our WIPs. A couple of examples:

Chris: I used Jessica's insights into symbols and structure to review a picture book manuscript word by word, working to instill visual and other sensory expressions of my major theme. I think it's better!

Kathy: Thanks to Sera's writing exercise, I changed a problematic setting in my picture book manuscript which enabled me ramp up the conflict.

Parting Thoughts: Top Tips for Writing Workshops

We're each sharing a single top tip for workshop and conference-going. (What? Are they contradictory??) We also include a couple of pointers from other attendees -- because WPWR is all about learning from one another! 

Chris: My top tip is: Say yes! Even if your first reaction is that you don't want to play the silly picking-up-dice-with-cups-on-your-hands game with these people you just met ... just say yes. You'll (probably) be glad you did.

Sally is game! photo by Charlotte Sheer

Kathy: My top tip is: Say no! Know when you've reached your limit socially or mentally. Take a break. Nap, walk in nature, write in private and come back refreshed. 

Laura Renauld: Step outside your comfort zone and be receptive to new ideas. That's what it's all about!

Connie Smith: Ask questions. If you don't understand what a presenter is saying, ask for an explanation ... and if you forget other people's names, just keep asking!

Books by WPWR attendees (photo, Nancy Tupper Ling)

Is it time to break your pandemic-era isolation and congregate again? Thinking of brushing off your Lucky Scarf and signing up for a workshop or conference soon? 

If you're looking for a little help getting back into the swing of things, check out these GROG posts from the archives: 

Introverts attending conferences: words of advice 

Flying high with SCBWI Southern Breeze

Writing conference critiques

The write conference for you

Highlights: Nuts and Bolts of Science Writing

Leave a comment below about your favorite book gatherings. 

And good luck out there!

GROG Roundtable: Routines and Cues to Keep You Writing Consistently with Facilitator Kathy Halsey

Fall photo
by Author Chris Mihaly

We're on the final quarter of 2021 and the GROG team is circling back to goals to keep us writing in a season full of festivities. To make writing a consistent habit, it helps to have cues or prompts. We don't think about true habits - you brush your teeth every day, or may have coffee at the same time each morning. Generally, we have a cue that says "time to brush your teeth."

Today we'll share our tips on how writing becomes a TRUE habit. (Something we DO automatically!) Mark your calendars for Wednesday, November 10 for Part 2: Revision Routines and Cues.

Sue uses an assignment sheet as a visual cue

Kathy Halsey: Deadlines are my cues. They are self-imposed. I know to write a haiku every Saturday for #haikusaturday. I know I have a critique group  every Friday, so if I want feedback,  I need it done then. I also call a set of months by a theme, like Summer of Revision, Season of Submission. My focus for theme months is to make that theme my North Star. All other writing work comes after that.

Christy Mihaly: 

I've found that it's easier to get into the routine when I have a designated writing area. My designated area changes with the seasons (by the fire in winter, on the porch in summer), but once I set up my books, lists, computer, and notebooks, entering my writing area makes me feel compelled to write! 

For me the difficulty is making sure I spend enough time writing new work, in addition to the time spent critiquing, promoting, and keeping up with social media. For that, I agree with Kathy, deadlines can be magical.

Carol Coven Grannick:

For me, a habit comes from a decision, and then practice (which includes failure, then restarting). Although writing virtually every day has happened for years as I carry paper and pen or pencil with me, I established an early morning writing routine long ago. It took hold powerfully when I had a full time job that began at 7-ish, close to home. I wrote from 4:30-6 am—either work on a project, revision, or scribbles to keep my brain/hand memory functioning. 

I’d been an early riser for many years, but those seven years before I “retired” from a day job set the habit in stone. And I continue the habit of writing ideas, thoughts, phrases, poems down as they pop into my brain.

Sue Heavenrich: I use Morning Pages (thanks Julia Cameron!) as a way to kick off my daily writing - even when I don’t feel like writing. I sit with coffee and scribble anything from lists to responding to a prompt to working through a section of an article or book I’m working on. Other tools include an “assignment sheet” on a clipboard that I hang next to my desk, a bullet-journal where I break down monthly projects into do-able pieces, and a daily list of what I hope to accomplish that day. It might be one item: revise a picture book, or it might be 2 or 3 smaller things, such as outlining my next science column, or building a word bank for a story, or even searching for an answer to a friend’s question about woolly bears - a question ended up becoming a blog post over at Archimedes Notebook.

Suzy Leopold:  

Setting SMART Goals supports my writing. These goals are:

specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. 

Creating a set of short-term and long-term goals helps 

me to stay

focused, organized, and gives me a clear sense 

of direction with writing projects. After a goal is achieved, 

I often revise and adjust a set of SMART Goals for further 

success.

SMART Goals

I picked these flowers for you!

Goal Setting

Julie Phend

Every morning, I begin the day by writing down 3 things I am grateful for and 3 things I want to accomplish that day. Starting with gratitude puts me in a positive frame of mind, and setting only 3 goals ensures that I meet them. I make them very specific: Write Chapter X, or Revise next 3 chapters, or Query X. I set timers for each task, ensuring that I don’t get hung up or spend too much time on the easier tasks. When the timer rings, I can choose whether to spend more time on that task or not.

Thank you, Julie, for adding a note to include gratitude in our habits. Doing our work gladly with our readers in mind, makes our cues and routines easier.

Readers, share the cues and routines you have already have that might work others in the comments.

Celebrating WATER with Christy Mihaly

by Sue Heavenrich

Barefoot Books Water: A Deep Dive of Discovery 

by Christy Mihaly; illus. by Mariona Cabassa 

64 pages; ages 8-12

Barefoot Books, 2021

Kick off your shoes and roll up your pant legs, because exploring Christy Mihaly’s newest book is bound to get your feet wet. It will whet your appetite for learning more about our watery planet. And water world we are; water covers a titch over 70% of Earth’s surface. That’s 326 million trillion gallons of water. If you add all the zeroes it looks like this:

326,000,000,000,000,000,000. Looks like a lot, but (because most of Earth's water is ocean or ice) less than 1% of that is precious fresh water, good for drinking.

Filled with stories from around the world and hands-on STEM activities, this book introduces water as an ecosystem, a resource, a science lab, and a challenge for the future. Gate-folds allow extra room for annotated maps and provide an interactive component. A comic water droplet chimes in with commentary and the occasional fact ~ and every now and then you come across little invitations to DIVE DEEPER! 

Flip up the flap to reveal instructions for an experiment or activity.

There are so many things going on in the book, and I wanted to know how Chris was able to keep all the moving parts going in the right direction. So I picked up the phone and called her….

Chris: Barefoot Books is committed to publishing books that highlight environmental and social justice issues. In early 2020, the editorial staff was creating their fall 2021 list, and wanted to focus on conservation, community, and connectedness. They identified water as a theme they wanted to pursue. They wanted a book that would put water into a global context. Then they went looking for an author. They found me through a chain of connections: one of their authors knew an environmental activist who knew me. It was a little bit of serendipity and a bit about becoming known as an author who writes for kids.

Me: This book was a “pandemic project” for you, right?

Chris: Totally! Back in March 2020, I had a calendar full of bookstore and conference events for Free For You And Me, my book about the First Amendment that released that month. But with everything cancelled, I ended up with a lot of blank space on my calendar. So when Barefoot Books called, I had plenty of time to devote to a new project.

Me: Talk about doing research during a pandemic. Was it easy to locate resources?

Chris contemplating water...

Chris: Thankfully, I didn’t need to travel to visit archives. There was so much great information available online from reliable government and academic resources. And the book was reviewed by scientific experts. One thing I did was use footnotes during the drafting process. I love footnotes; they help me keep track of what sources which facts came from. That information helped as I went through the many revisions of this manuscript, and needed to check on facts. And the cool thing: footnotes are easy to insert while writing, and then you can take them out at the end.

Me (flipping through the pages): Water seems like such a huge topic… there’s salt water, fresh water, the water cycle, things that live in water...

Chris: It is! Even though the book is divided into sections, everything is related to everything else. I wanted to convey how wondrous water is, along with Earth and all its natural systems, to provide facts, share ideas, and give young readers a sense of hope. I want kids to come away from this book caring about water and feeling empowered to act.

Me: Often the writer has little opportunity to talk with the illustrator. What was your experience like?

Chris: Isn't the art amazing? I haven't talked directly with Mariona Cabassa, the illustrator, but I saw numerous rounds of her sketches and rough art and had plenty of opportunity to review it both for accuracy and for how concepts are presented. I did some educating, for example, about the shape of raindrops (round) versus the shape of water drops from a faucet (tear-shaped). (It has to do with surface tension and gravity.) And I had countless conversations with Emma Parkin, who did both editing and art directing, about not only the text but also the design of spreads, including where we might place gatefolds and the fold-up flaps for activities. The whole process was extremely collaborative, more than any other project I've worked on. 

Me: Opening the gatefolds and the Dive Deeper invitations created a nice interactive touch. Thanks for dropping by the GROG today. 

Check out the book trailer here. Chris is a member of #STEAMTeam2021. You can find out more about her and her wonderful books over at her website. Review copy provided the publisher.

We Love Bugs! a nonfiction author round-table

 My fellow GROGGER, Chris Mihaly and I both had recent bug-related releases. She has two poems in the anthology, The Bee is not Afraid of Me which buzzed off the press earlier this month, and my picture book, 13 Ways to Eat a Fly  buzzed out last month. Turns out that a few of our nonfiction writing friends also have buggy books hitting the shelves this year. 

So we invited them over for the First Ever GROG Roundtable on Arthropods. Imagine the five of us sitting around a table, our hands around mugs of hot beverages. Going around the table we have: Leslie Bulion, whose book Spi-ku: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs came out at the beginning of this month; Roberta Gibson, whose picture book  How To Build An Insect comes out next week; and Annette Whipple whose book  Scurry, The Truth About Spiders will hit the shelves in a few months.

While Roberta and I have studied entomology (she at Cornell, me at U of Colorado, Boulder) - all you need to write about arthropods is a passion for things with six or more legs. Chris, a former environmental lawyer, has written more than 25 books for kids on a range of topics, including entomophagy (eating insects). Fortunately, her love for insects extends beyond roasted crickets. 

Chris and her little "bug"

Chris: I was wonderstruck one night when a Luna moth landed outside my window. It was stunning: large and luminous, so otherworldly looking. Even though  there are no Luna moths in the UK, I went ahead and submitted my poem “Luna Moth” to Emma Press. When the editors called for more poems about beetles, I thought about beetle soup –  which I’d learned about from the research we did, Sue, for our book, Diet for a Changing Climate. Next to my soup poem, the editor added a note that more information about eating insects was available at The Bug Farm (in the UK). I also included a “poet’s note” with each poem, adding the factual background for kids. Did you know the adult Luna moth has no mouth?

Leslie: I’ve been an avid naturalist since I could peer under a rock, and fell in love with poetry in 4th grade. I studied oceanography, then social work, then inspired by a summer “bugs” course (and already writing for young readers), I combined my passions for poetry and science. Spi-Ku is my 7th science poetry collection. My research always includes “boots-on” exploration, and arachnologist Dr. Linda Rayor invited me to visit her lab at Cornell.  There I met critters I’d never even heard of (amblypygids…what?!?) and social spiders. I was hooked!

Roberta, by Cindy

Roberta: After getting my master’s degree in entomology, I worked as a research specialist at the University of Arizona. Nowadays, I’m either writing or gazing at an insect through the macro lens of my camera. With my passion for books and bugs, writing about insects seemed inevitable. To study insects, first a person needs to recognize what an insect is and how to identify the different kinds. The foundation of identification is an understanding of anatomy, so it seemed like the right place to start.

Annette: I love facts and enjoy learning about the people, places, and things in our world and celebrating my curiosity with young readers. My first “truth about” book was Whooo Knew? The Truth about Owls. When Reycraft Books chose to turn it into a series, I knew I wanted to include spiders because they are so often misunderstood. And they’re fascinating creatures. 

Sue: I am an accidental entomologist, though I will admit to a master’s degree on cockroach behavior. I’ve followed bumble bees, watched ants, tagged Monarchs. One summer day I was at an event and noticed people were avoiding the folding chairs. Small flower flies with iridescent wings perched on the warm metal, and people thought they were bees. That’s when I knew I wanted to write something about flies.

Sue ready to net more book ideas

I’ll kick off the last go-round with thoughts about writing. I have always been a list-keeper. When I was a kid I’d write down all the kinds of squirrels, lizards, trees … license plates, whatever. Now I count pollinators for the Great Sunflower Project. That makes me look closer: bee or fly? It also reminds me to be patient. Just as it takes many observations to learn to identify pollinators in my garden, it takes many drafts to understand the book I’m writing.

Chris: I particularly enjoy how poetry forces me to focus on word choice. And rhythm and rhyme! And I like how poems can engage young readers with playful language and bouncing beats. One of the best things a writer can do to improve their craft is to practice observing. Look closely, and then describe what you see. And insects are fun to watch!

Annette with Edna (exoskeleton)

Annette: Scurry, The Truth about Spiders is part of a series, so I knew it'd be in question-and-answer format like the other books. Even so, it took more than 20 drafts for me to find the right structure for Whooo Knew? The Truth About Owls! (check out her writing process here).  As for writing… we can certainly learn from the various ways spiders hunt. Some spiders build webs to catch prey. As writers, we need to trap any ideas we have by writing them down before they get away from us. Other spiders, such as jumping spiders hunt down their prey. We need to actively chase after our stories and pursue them until finished if we're going to be published. The trap-door spider creates a hole in the ground and disguises it with a trap door. It sits and waits patiently for its next meal. As writers, we must be patient with ourselves, the writing process, and certainly the publishing process. 

Roberta: Different writing ideas come to me in different formats.  How to Build an Insect arrived with an informal, conversational tone that I use during hands-on workshops for kids. (One idea for a book arrived as a graphic novel. That was scary!) I also love learning new things. With insects, so many aspects are unknown that I can discover something every single day. Writing is how I process that knowledge and find deeper understanding.

Leslie, looking for the next spider

Leslie: My books combine science poetry with short informational notes and extensive back matter. A poem can distill information into an elegant and memorable story. I organize each collection to inform at the “big idea,” topic level and explore on a more specific, “cool science story,” level. My spider observations are like patient contemplations of contextual clues. I paint a bigger picture, and also zoom in for tiny details – that may not help name the spider, but it helps me understand even more about spiders in general. 

We could talk bugs all day long… but I’m out of coffee. Check out our author websites, drop by our blogs, and remember to head outside and watch some bugs!

Find out more about Chris Mihaly at www.christymihaly.com
Check out Leslie Bulion at www.lesliebulion.com
Roberta Gibson's website is over at robertagibsonwrites.com
You can find Annette Whipple at www.annettewhipple.com
Sue Heavenrich hangs her bug net at www.sueheavenrich.com

13 Ways to Eat a Fly by Sue Heavenrich and Many Ways to Create Great NF with Kathy Halsey

 (updated Feb 12)

Author Sue Heavenrich with "fly catcher" and her newest book!

Book Review

When I  look at this image of Sue Heavenrich and her picture book 13 WAYS TO EAT A FLY, I know I'll experience an engaging read mixed with scientific facts. Sue delivers with a great story replete with lyrical language, poetry, and layered text. Young readers will delight in the "ick" factor of how flies can be eaten ( a wood frog swallows and use its eyeballs to push flies down the throat), while educators will eat up the back matter and layered text that expands the grade levels for read alouds and study. David Clark's fun illustrations lend added engagement to this STEM picture book for children PreK to third grade. Science, rhyme, humor, and math are all packed into this delightful book published by Charlesbridge.

Craft Chat with Sue and Kathy

Sue and I have known each other since 2015 when we met at a nonfiction writing retreat along with other members of our GROG blog team. We've shared stories and supported each other for years. Our conversation reveals what it truly takes to get a book published - the time, the revisions, the persistence. 

Kathy: 13 Ways to Eat a Fly had a long gestation period. Tell us how this book came to be.

Sue: Back in either 2012 or 2013, I began with the idea of an informational book while at the Falling Leaves Retreat. It was so informational, it was boring. At the 2015 retreat, agent Kendra Marcus (Bookstop Literary) helped me see it really wasn't a book yet. It lacked a narrative thread, she said.  I couldn't figure out how to revise it... but since I had a "revise and resubmit" with Charlesbridge Senior Editor Alassya Pusey, I got back to work.

I read, researched, and channeled the classic One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I added humor and  streamlined the manuscript. Eventually my critique partner Lisa Amstutz suggested I send it to her agent, Vicki Selvaggio (now at Storm Literary). Although she did not take me on as a client, Vicki offered encouragement and helpful comments. The book came full circle with Charlesbridge set to publish it February 16, 2021. My advice? Aim for rejections with feedback. Revise, resend, and see what happens!

Kathy: Like you, I love the research stage of writing nonfiction along with finding the right structure. Explain your research process and how you added the counting element and other hooks to the manuscript. (I define a "hook," as added layers that make a story unique.)

Sue: I began with a list of animals that eat flies but wanted to know what type they ate. This led me to introducing different families of flies. I wanted to write about the diversity of flies. I also created a spreadsheet of plants that eat flies and fungus that eats insects that turns them into zombies. 

Kathy: Yes, such fun to hook kids with an idea like"zombifying" a fly! Take a look. 

Sue: For the structure, I played with the "how-to" concept adding another layer to my original idea of a counting book, but then did a reverse structure so each spread has fewer flies. The ending arrived when I thought of flies as someone's "fast food." Chris Mihaly and I investigated field guides to eating flies when we wrote Diet for a Changing Climate, our middle grade book.

Kathy: I also enjoyed all the creative ways you employed back matter created for 2 audiences, adults and children.

Sue:  I say, "It isn't a book if it doesn't have back matter!" I researched the USDA website to design a nutritional analysis label for flies: how many flies make up a gram, how many calories, vitamin content, etc. Illustrator David Clark and I also added a "jokey" poster of the edible parts of a fly, too.

Kathy: Thanks Sue for the chat about craft, critique, commitment needed for the publishing journey. We'll end with sharing "Entomology Barbie" who suggests that you order an autographed copy of 13 Ways to Eat a Fly through Riverow Bookshop's website link:  https://riverow.com/

Sue Heavenrich is an educator and trained biologist turned children's author. Her recent books include Diet of A Changing Climate, with GROGger Chrisy Mihlay, Sky Spies and Are Ants Like Plants? and 13 Ways to Eat a Fly. (Feb. 16, 2021)You can find her exploring cool stuff right outside her back door, blogging for the GROG, and on her personal blog, Archimedes Notebook.  Click here for Sue's author Facebook page. 

Diving into the First Amendment with Chris Mihaly

by Sue Heavenrich

Free For You and Me: What our First Amendment Means
by Christy Mihaly; illus. by Manu Montoya
32 pages; ages 4-8
Albert Whitman, 2020

There are forty-five words to the First Amendment of our United States Constitution. In clear, unambiguous language those 45 words – about the length of an average sidebar in a kid’s nonfiction book – guarantee us the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. And yet…

“Adults are confused about the First Amendment,” says author (and fellow GROGger) Chris Mihaly. “I want to make sure young people understand what it is.” Using a combination of rhyming text and speech bubbles, she developed a contemporary story to show how kids might use the freedoms enumerated in A-1.

The first freedom: religion. “The constitution makes this clear: every faith is welcome here,” Chris writes. So simple a notion, even a child can understand it.

Freedom of speech is a big issue for people of all ages. The First Amendment allows us to speak out, share our point of view, disagree, discuss, argue. It even allows us to criticize our own government. Illustrations in the book depict an event in 1798, when Vermont congressman Matthew Lyon was arrested for criticizing President John Adams. Imagine being tossed in jail for criticizing your town’s mayor, the governor, the President of the United States. The First Amendment prevents that today. And yet, Chris notes, there are some countries where people are arrested for criticizing the government.

Chris addresses each part of the First Amendment, aka A-1, as they are listed in the Constitution, so next up is Freedom of the Press. Her main point: a democracy needs a free press so people can make informed decisions.

“That’s why reporters keep track of events,” she writes. Reporters ask “hard questions to help things make sense.” Parents and teachers tell children that knowledge is power, but how do you gain that knowledge? Chris wanted to depict a modern situation in which readers could recognize the importance of news in their lives, so she shows children discussing a news story that affects them: a potential closing of their playground.

The trick, Chris says, is to help young readers learn to read critically and to assess which media outlets are reliable. So when she visits classes, she talks about how to spot fake news.

Does freedom of the press include lies? I asked. It's complicated, Chris says. The Supreme Court has ruled that intentionally false statements may not be protected, depending on the circumstances. When a newspaper makes an honest mistake, they print a correction of the fact.

Freedom of assembly is specifically listed in A-1. That means people can hold marches and rallies, demonstrations, parades, and protests. “Regardless of your point of view, people have a right to assembly,” Chris says. “And our government should be helping to keep people safe when they are protesting.”

Chris chose to frame her story in rhyme because these freedoms have become complicated issues for people to discuss. And for those who want lots more details, she includes back matter where she explains each part of A-1 in detail. She also includes a timeline of examples when people exercised their First Amendment rights: petitioning for the right to vote (1913), marching for civil rights (1963) and more. There’s also a great bunch of resources for learning more about the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

You can find out more about Chris and her books and articles at her website.

Writing as a Team

by Sue Heavenrich and Christy Mihaly

You might not normally think of writing as a team sport. Usually it’s done one-on-one, author wrestling to pin ideas to the page. But a few years back, the two of us decided to team up. The result of our collaboration is Diet for a Changing Climate: Food for Thought (Twenty-First Century Books/Lerner, Oct. 1, 2018). The book, YA nonfiction, tells young readers how our dining choices can make a difference to the earth. Trying unexpected foods – weeds, invasive species, and insects – may help solve the global hunger crisis and, at the same time, reduce agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases.

We had been critique partners for a few years when, talking at a conference, we realized that we had each been developing a book (separately) about entomophagy—the practice of eating insects.  It occurred to us that we might have the perfect project for a collaborative effort. We both wanted something that was fun to read, and also gross enough to capture the interest of middle-schoolers. Being critique partners, we had a good feel for the quality of each other’s writing. More importantly, we trusted one another. So we felt confident that we could work as a team to pull off a book project.

From the beginning, we viewed this book as a joint project. As a biologist (Sue) and environmental lawyer (Christy), both of us were already familiar with collaboration. And we felt that our different backgrounds would enrich the project. It’s also important to note that we stuffed our egos in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet so we could focus on creating the best work we could.

When you think about writing with a colleague, there’s a good chance you’re visualizing meetings at the local café. Living 345 miles apart made that impossible, but we made good use of modern technology. We scheduled regular phone conversations to go over plans, set goals and deadlines, and keep the lines of communication clear. We divvied up tasks and then shared first drafts of chapter sections via email (rural internet still leaves a lot to be desired). Initially, one person would write a section, and we’d swap files and revise what the other wrote. This helped us develop a uniform voice for the entire book. Rubes that we were, somehow we thought that with two of us working on the project we would each do half the work. Ha! Christy calculates we did twice the amount. But the book is all the better for it.

Phone calls played another role, too. They gave us a chance to get to know each other on a more personal level. Drinking coffee and talking about the dog, the dishes, the kids… and then the BOOK. We did some of our best brainstorming over phone lines.

For more on collaborative writing, check out Tina Cho’s interview with STEM writers, Margaret Albertson and Paula Emick.

Here’s a list of tips for collaborative writing success.

Check out Christy’s website here, and Sue’s blog here.

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