Last year in November, my dear friend Estelle Nadel passed away. She was about to turn eighty-nine-years-old. In January of 2024, only months after her death, her graphic novel memoir, THE GIRL WHO SANG, came out into the world. This saga of Estelle’s (Enia in Polish) traumatic childhood as a young Jewish girl in Borek, Poland during the Holocaust, is moving, heart-wrenching, and powerful. And the story is greatly enhanced by the drawings of illustrator and storyboard artist, Sammy Savos.

Estelle’s story is one of life-threatening events, narrow escapes, and compassionate neighbors. She told it many times – in schools, on the news, and ultimately for the Steven Spielberg’s Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. She cried during every presentation. She couldn’t help it. Her life had been so difficult. But she was driven to keep going and often said, “People need to know this really happened… and that it happened to me. I have to do it now because I won’t be around forever.”

I was so happy when Estelle told me she had found both an agent and a publisher. I also told her that publishing a book, especially one with illustrations, could take years. At first, she wasn’t sure about it being a graphic novel. She didn’t want the illustrations to minimize the seriousness of what had happened to her. But her agent and editor felt like this was the best format to use in order to get her story into the hands of young readers. And after seeing the final product, I totally agree.

Last month, Estelle’s illustrator, Sammy Savos, did a Zoom presentation for one of my critique groups. I had been communicating with Sammy via email for many months and trusted that she would give us a good sense of her process. I hadn’t met Sammy in person or even spoken to her on the phone. Still, her heartfelt and appreciative correspondence made me think we were in for a treat. And boy, was I was right. Sammy’s talk was INCREDIBLE.

For a group of mostly kidlit writers, seeing and hearing about Sammy’s illustration process was mind-boggling. Not only did it take four-and-a-half years to complete the book, Sammy’s attention to detail was unprecedented. She had a very personal story to tell with many emotional components. Estelle’s father, sister, and one of her brothers were taken to Auschwitz and murdered. Her mother was shot in front of their small farm house. Estelle (Enia) and her one of her surviving two brothers were put in a jail cell as young children. They miraculously escaped and found their way to a neighbor’s house. That neighbor not only took them in, she hid them for over two years in the attic of her barn. And even when the war was over and Estelle and her remaining family members were liberated by the Russians, she still wasn’t safe. She and her brothers were taken to a displaced persons’ camp in Austria. But after a soldier heard Estelle sing, she and her brothers were given passage on a ship to America.

Sammy did an amazing job capturing Estelle’s life in Poland, giving particular attention to the buildings, clothing, and facial expressions of family members. She took great care in choosing the proper color palette to give the story a realistic tone. She made sure all the characters were proportional to one another, wore the proper clothing, and kept detailed notes about the timeline of events. Many of her drawings were inspired by the few photographs Estelle had from her childhood, and from her subsequent trips to Poland. Other information was gleaned by Sammy’s own meticulous research.

But most importantly, Sammy wanted to get the story right. She wanted to honor Estelle and her family, by getting the emotional and factual information as true as possible. She wanted young readers to learn about what had happened to Jews during the Holocaust by learning about a real person who had experienced it. Estelle and Sammy never met, but Sammy would often confer with Estelle by phone. And through it all, they developed a close bond. Sammy is in her twenties, Estelle was in her eighties. But the two connected as if they were related. As it turns out, members of Sammy’s family lived about an hour away from Estelle’s hometown of Borek, Poland before they came to America.

Estelle loved to sing, and I had the privilege of singing with her in our synagogue’s choir for many years. Whenever we were together, she always made time to ask me about my family and how I was doing. Despite her traumatic childhood, Estelle remained positive, active, and compassionate. She went on yearly trips to Poland where she participated in The March of the Living. She, and the grandson of the neighbor who had hidden her, gave talks in Polish schools about what had happened during the war. But her biggest claim to fame, Estelle’s signature line was telling everyone she cared about that she loved them. She didn’t want those words to go unsaid.

I am so thrilled that THE GIRL WHO SANG is out in the world to honor her legacy. Thank you Estelle, for telling your story, and thank you, Sammy, for bringing it to life.

About a month ago, my son Noah asked me if I’d be interested in teaching a writing class for his friends. He lives in Montreal, and my husband I would be visiting him over Memorial Day weekend. Noah has been hosting “salon-type” evenings at his apartment ever since the pandemic. Montreal had an eight o’clock curfew back then,  and in response to this, Noah and his extremely creative friends, began gathering in small groups for events at their apartments. They offered everything from jazz jams to yoga stretching to candle-making. And if the session ran past curfew, many of them unrolled their sleeping bags and spent the night.

I told him I’d be happy to teach a class. After all, I am a teacher and I write almost every day. But my expertise was in elementary education. And I write children’s books. I needed to create an activity that would appeal to a group of international thirty-somethings, many of whom work in the tech field.  Hmm…

I thought about the variety of writing workshops I’d attended over the years. Most of them focused on plotting tools, character arcs, and world building. These were great, but I needed something with more universal appeal. Something that might inspire poetry, song-writing, or journaling. I thought about the prompt intensive I took with Andrea Wang: (https://inthewritersweb.com/2022/12/the-stories-hidden-inside-you/) and the revision workshop with Kate Messner: (https://inthewritersweb.com/2024/03/highlights-from-the-2024-scbwi-winter-conference/). Both of these classes had us tapping into childhood memories to spark the stories within us.

I went through my notes and came up with a variety of prompts, starting with childhood memories and moving to present day experiences. I asked my attendees to bring a blank notebook and their favorite writing implements. (I brought extra of both, knowing some people were rushing over from work to the event.) By 6:30, there were 17 people gathered in my son’s living room. They all settled in on couches, chairs, pillows, and the floor, and looked like they were ready to write.

The prompts would be five minutes in duration. I began by saying that some of the prompts would resonate, while others would not. I told them not to worry. This was not a school assignment. There would be no critique and no grades. I invited them to write poems, draw pictures, or make lists. I wanted them to enjoy themselves. I also told them the writing would get easier as we progressed.

We started with the question: “What is your earliest memory?” People stared at their notebooks. Others looked at the floor or the ceiling, while some got right to work. Eventually, the pens and pencils started moving. Everyone was slowly, but surely, getting into the flow. The teacher in me was thrilled to see my “students” scribbling away.

To be honest, an hour of writing by hand can be tedious. Some people were literally wiggling their fingers in between prompts to loosen up the muscles. I told them writing by hand was important for this fast-paced activity. It made it harder to edit and forced them to keep going. They understood this and before long, were immersed in their writing and flipping through pages in their notebooks. It was going well!

I had prepared twenty prompts and chose the following eleven because of our time constraints.

1. Describe the house or apartment and neighborhood you grew up in. Use your senses.
2. Tell us about a memorable family trip. Where did you go? Who was there? Include as many details as possible.
3. Who was your first real friend growing up? What did you do together? Are you still in touch with this person?
4. What is your favorite food and when was the last time you had it? Who prepared it?
5. First crushes: Who was it? Give us details!
6. Is there a story in your family that gets told over and over again? Tell us that story.
7. Write about an amazing trip you’ve taken as an adult. Where did you go? Who was with you? Try to include all the five senses in your writing.
8. Successes: Write about a time you achieved something extraordinary. How did it feel?
9. Failures: Describe the most devastating failure or disappointment in your life. What happened and how did you handle it?
10. What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? Write about it using lots of emotion.
11. Think about the most hilarious thing that has ever happened in your life. Write about this now and try to reignite those feelings of fun, laughter, and joy.

This took up the full hour because 12×5=60 minutes! We had twenty minutes to share before the next session, which was being taught by my husband. Each person was invited to read what they had written or tell the story in their own words. Only one person felt uncomfortable doing this, but at the end, she came over and said this was one of the most powerful experiences she’s ever had. She had no idea these events and feelings were lurking inside her brain, waiting to burst forth.

Can you guess which prompts were the most popular? Earliest childhood memories, favorite foods, and first crushes were the winners. Two people even had the same favorite food story – a sweet, buttery, stuffed pastry from India. One person described a crush she had on a boy in kindergarten. Another spoke about how his mother sang to him every night before he went to bed. And one women described the house she lived in as a child, which was so vivid, I told her it would be the perfect setting for a middle grade novel.

As writers, we enjoy creating a compelling plot. We rejoice in finding the perfect verb to convey a feeling. And we love the challenge of imagining a setting with lots of sensory details. Did any of these attendees feel this way? As it turned out, the answer as a resounding yes. One person told me she was now inspired to take a writing class Another said he had no idea these memories would be so emotional for him. A third said he needed to do more prompts when he taught his adult writing class for immigrants. I was elated. Telling our stories is the universal human language.

By the way, my husband’s class was about how to plan a multi-day bicycle trip. Perhaps when our “students” go on a bike trip, they’ll take some time to write about it!

2023 has been a tough year for me. It began in January when my 97-year-old father’s health began to seriously deteriorate. And after many trips back and forth from Denver to New York, it was clear that the end was near. He passed away on May 18. It was a long life well-lived, but still, a big loss for everyone who knew him.

Then on the day before the funeral, when we were flying from my son’s business school graduation in Washington DC to New York, my husband received the final diagnosis of his recent health problem. He had multiple myeloma, cancer of the plasma cells, which seriously affects the body’s immune system. After the funeral, three shivas, and a couple of days of cleaning out my dad’s condo, we flew back to Denver. My husband would begin treatment. This included a regimen of twice-a-week infusions of a targeted drug therapy for three months. It was supposed to be followed by a stem cell transplant in October. Only in September, he contracted West Nile virus.

I am not making this up. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with the disease, West Nile is no joke. You get it from a mosquito bite. And although Colorado is known for its dry climate and lack of bugs, this year was different. We had an unusually large amount of rain and much warmer fall temperatures. There were swarms of mosquitoes. Colorado actually had the most cases in the entire country! West Nile can cause a high fever, excruciating headache, tremors, brain fog, paralysis, meningitis or worse. My husband had the first four symptoms. And with his compromised immune system, the virus took hold in a big way. He was hospitalized for two days and sick for five weeks. The stem cell transplant was postponed.

And then in October, the world went crazy. Hamas attacked Israel and a violent war erupted. Anti-Semitism around the world and on college campuses, including my own college campus, reared its ugly head and shook us to the core. It was soul-crushing, complicated, terrifying.

But we had to keep going. My husband slowly recovered from West Nile. Family members flew in to help. Our friends baked and cooked. My morning dog-walking group provided an arena for venting and processing whatever was on my mind. But the biggest distraction of all, was my writing. It became my refuge, my emotional escape hatch, my joy.

Before my dad died and my husband was diagnosed, I serendipitously signed up for the Highlights Foundation online class, “Just Do It” in April. https://inthewritersweb.com/2023/06/. This class became a lifeline of structure and support during my most difficult months – May and June. It pushed me to get up and work on my novel. Every single day. I was moving along at a clip and decided to apply to the “The Whole Novel Workshop,” an in-person retreat at the idyllic Highlights campus in Pennsylvania. I wasn’t sure if this was going to work with my husband’s transplant schedule, but he really wanted me to go. He thought it would be good for me to do something for me. And as it turned out, the transplant was scheduled for the week after I returned from Highlights. The timing was perfect. Our sons flew home to be with my husband while I spent a week in the “Renee Watson cabin,” surrounded by talented writers, inspirational faculty, and the award-winning Highlights cuisine. Oh, and let’s not forget the pair of roosting bald eagles, the white-tailed deer meandering past my cabin, and a rusty red-colored forest right out my window! It was perfect.

There were other ways my writing supported me in a big way. I continued meeting with my always amazing critique group, The Story Spinners, twice a month. Members of my Tuesday writing group, The Nanos, stepped up to host, since I could no longer have people in my house because of my husband’s compromised immune system. I also joined two new online groups: an accountability group from my “Just Do It” class and a critique group of Jewish writers from around the world. I completed my nine years of being the PAL LIAISON for the RMC-SCBWI by moderating the industry panel at the annual Letters & Lines Conference in September and was asked to moderate two more panels at the Denver Festival of Stories, sponsored by Second Star to the Right Book Shop and the non-profit Books To Kids in October. I even got to introduce the keynote speaker, Bruce Cameron!

“Thinking about my writing” also relieved daily stress. I would take walks and ask myself: How can I strengthen my main character’s arc by throwing more obstacles in her way? Is there a better way to describe the setting? What plot twists will surprise my reader? Throwing myself into the world of my books gave me a constructive outlet when I felt overwhelmed, frustrated, or deflated. It was the best way to reflect, regroup, and recharge.

Despite the challenges of the past year, I do have some good news. After 18 days in the hospital, my husband is coming home. Today! The stem cell transplant was successful. He still has months of healing ahead, but we are moving forward. Our younger son earned his MBA and has started a new job. Our older son continues his humanitarian work around the world and is engaged to be married. One niece got married and another had a baby – the first child of the next generation of our family. One of my manuscripts was a finalist for the Golden Pen Award at the RMC-SCBWI Letters & Lines Fall Conference. And my latest novel, the one I workshopped at Highlights, received glowing feedback. It wasn’t easy, but I made it through 2023. And leaning into my life as a writer was a big part of this accomplishment.

How has writing helped you through a personal challenge? Please share your story in the comments.

In the middle of March, I began sending my middle-grade time-travel novel out to agents. And as all experienced writers know, the best thing to do when you are waiting for query responses is to work on something else. My “something else” was an idea I got from a friend after we attended Andrea Wang’s intensive at the RMC-SCBWI Letters and Lines conference last September. (https://www.rondibooks.com/the-stories-hidden-inside-you/) But even though I had a “Beat Sheet” outline from Save the Cat for the Novel by Jessica Brody, I hadn’t written a single word of the story. Luckily, after an animated conversation with my friend and teacher, award-winning author Sarah Aronson (https://saraharonson.com/), I decided to sign up for her eight-week online Highlights class, JUST DO IT – Your Collaborative Support Group for Finishing Your Draft. Sarah would be co-teaching this class with the incredibly articulate and inspirational author and coach, Chris Tebbetts. (https://christebbetts.com/). It sounded like the perfect way to get this book started.

If you have ever done NANOWRIMO (The National Novel Writing Month-long challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 days) you know the joy of writing fast. Just Do It! has a similar premise. It focuses on a creating a daily writing practice with many extra goodies thrown in. The formal part of the class is a one hour Zoom on Wednesday nights where Sarah and Chris give informative presentations on craft. Only there is so much more. Whether you are working on a picture book or a young adult novel, there are writing sprint sessions every day at a variety of times, morning prompts, and inspirational quotes. There are accountability groups, Discord channels for discussion and sharing, and OPEN MIKES! We also received videos and slides and oodles of handouts. But the best part of these two months was being part of a supportive writing community. Our class had over fifty participants from across North America, two guest speakers, and many Highlights staff members coordinating logistics behind the scenes. I felt like I was at a two-month writing retreat without leaving my house.

So, you may ask, after weeks of diligently sitting  at my computer, did I finish my draft? Unfortunately, the answer is no. A variety of expected, and unexpected, life cycle events collided right smack in the middle of the eight weeks. However, I did write 24,000 words, which is probably half the book, right? And more importantly, I am now totally immersed in the world of my new story. I wake up every morning with character traits, plot twists, and image systems rolling around in my brain. And after my recent critique with Sarah, I am considering all kinds of possibilities. I am in the zone!

But there’s more. The virtual writing sprints will continue through the summer which should help me pound out the next 24,000 words. Also, my accountability group is planning to keep meeting on a regular basis. We are committed to cheering each other on to the finish line. But here is my biggest takeaway – the greatest change in my writing process: I am way much more comfortable with integrating the concepts of “discovery and play” into my drafting. I have also found the courage to silence my internal editor. (One person in my accountability group has named her IE and repeatedly tells her to stop talking. I now do the same thing and it is phenomenal.) I am finally accepting the fact that plot changes happen when your characters come to life on the page. And although my “Beat Sheet” has been dramatically modified, my themes are stronger and my main character’s true wants and needs are clearer to me. It’s funny, but along with me just doing it, my characters are just doing it, too! And I can’t wait to see what they do next.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, another Just Do It! class is being offered by Sarah and Chris this fall. You can sign up here: https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshop/just-do-it-your-collaborative-support-group-for-finishing-your-draft-fall/

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Filed under 2023, craft advice, Main character, Middle Grade, Motivation, Persistence, Revision process, Rondi Frieder, WORD NERD

Tagged as Andrea Wang, Chris Tebbetts, classes on craft, finishing your draft, Highlights for Children, Revision, Sarah Aronson, Save The Cat, writing community

At this year’s RMC-SCBWI Letters and Lines Conference, I attended an afternoon intensive entitled “Generating Ideas From Your Own Experience.” It was led by the multi-award-winning-Colorado-rock star-author, Andrea Wang https://andreaywang.com/, and was filled with useful tips and strategies. The goal of this workshop was to uncover important moments in our lives that could inspire the development of our next story, while also enhancing our current projects. For me, it did both!

We began with lots of writing exercises. They were quick – less than five minutes for each prompt – and hand-written in notebooks. (I also brought a set of thin colored markers to make the writing more fun.) Apparently, this fast-paced format was crucial to unlocking the most visceral of memories; experiences that had a dynamic emotional impact on our lives and lurked just below the surface. I was amazed at what I remembered. Detailed anecdotes that had been buried inside me for years, even decades, were waiting to burst forth.

Many of the prompts Andrea used in the workshop came from the New York Times writing list “650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing”: https://static01.nyt.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/2016/650promptsnarrativewritingLearningNetwork.pdf. This list includes everything from Overcoming Adversity to Animals and Pets to Meals and Food and Friends and Family. It’s a fabulous resource for jump-starting your creativity.

So what gems did I uncover as I scribbled pages and pages of my memories in green, orange and turquoise? There were detailed descriptions of my family, my childhood neighborhood, the ins and outs of friendships over the years, favorite foods, games, family trips, toys, sports, hobbies, school experiences, and impactful teachers. Many memories focused on my mother who was the child of Hungarian-Jewish immigrants and a first-generation American. She was clearly determined to expose us to a myriad of experiences. These included a wide variety of sports, all the arts, warm family gatherings, musical holiday celebrations, delicious foods with a Hungarian twist, and a strong emphasis on doing well in school.

I also discovered hidden memories about summer camps I attended, concerts I went to, friendship issues, boyfriends, my biggest successes and failures, and why fall is my favorite season.  Details about broken bones, having my tonsils out, visiting my mother-in-law every week in a memory care facility for three years, and how upset I am about gun violence in this country came pouring out of me. There were also many stories that revolved around raising my two sons and two golden retrievers here in Colorado.

After each prompt, we took time to share what we had written. Some people felt comfortable reading their entire pieces aloud, while others shared a quick synopsis. One thing became obvious from the get-go. These untapped memories were deeply rooted inside us and filled with emotion. Some stories made us laugh, while others caused us to tear up. And some were not for sharing at all. Not yet. The memories were too raw. But Andrea encouraged us to use these emotional memories in our stories whenever possible. She told us how she used her own family stories to create two of her most recent books: WATERCRESS (Neal Porter Books) and THE MANY MEANINGS OF MEILAN (Kokila). Her honesty and vulnerability were inspirational. But she also said you don’t have to write an autobiography to utilize these memories. You can integrate them into your settings, your characters’ flaws and problems, and your plot points. It’s the use of the emotional component of your memories that counts. This is what will keep your reader turning the page.

For me, the sharing of our stories was the most powerful part of the workshop. Everyone was so passionate about what they had experienced. And that clearly included me. Because the next day, a fellow attendee emailed me, suggesting I consider using one of the stories I told as my next book idea. And guess what? I’ve already created a detailed outline and written three chapters! That story was in me all the time waiting to be told and I hadn’t even realized it.

So dig in, fellow writers. Mine your brain for memories and start working on your next project. You never know what you might discover.

Other places to find writing prompts:

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/

https://thinkwritten.com/365-creative-writing-prompts/

https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/500-writing-prompts-to-help-beat-writers-doubt/

https://www.writersdigest.com/prompts

https://thewritepractice.com/inspiration/writing-prompts/

“I love that part!”

“Really? It didn’t work for me.”

Last summer, I attended “The Whole Novel Workshop” on the idyllic campus of the Highlights Foundation in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. I brought along a middle-grade manuscript that had been revised numerous times, and got ready to make it sparkle and shine.

Before we got started, one of our faculty members gave us an introductory pep talk. “Just so you know,” she began. “All of you will have to rewrite your books. This is why you are here. But don’t worry, you can do it.” Most of us had to be thinking the same thing: “Maybe some people have to redo the entire thing, but my book is amazing. It just needs a few tweaks and a bit of trimming.” To this I now say, LOL!

Despite my over-confidence, I decided to open my mind to possibility. I listened to the suggestions of my Brain Trust partners and marveled at the insights of our well-published faculty. I threw myself into the writing exercises that revealed twists and turns I hadn’t considered. I reworked my plot. I played around with present vs past tense. And most importantly, I thought long and hard about the crucial themes in this story. What did my protagonist really want?

When I got home, I continued the work. I eliminated unnecessary characters (at least four), I changed the personalities of two of my secondaries, and enhanced components of the story that would make it funnier. Then, after months and months of revising, I gave this new draft to my always brilliant SCBWI critique group, The Story Spinners. My husband and son also volunteered to read the book, and I sent ten pages and a synopsis to an agent who was doing critiques at the RMC-SCBWI fall conference. The book was definitely stronger, but there were new elements that needed to be evaluated. I was too close to the story to know if they were working. While I waited for my readers to plow through the manuscript, I threw myself into another project.

 A month later, the feedback began to roll in. And while there was a great deal of consensus, my readers also had conflicting responses. This was when the “wrestling” part of the revision process set in. Who should I believe?

This is the nature of critique. Some comments will be subjective while others will be quite valid. Here’s the rule of thumb: if something in your manuscript is bothering three or four readers, you must consider making the changes. But, if you really want to keep this section in your book, you must make it stronger. For example, one of my critique partners loves when my main character hears his deceased great-grandfather’s voice in his head. But another reader said it didn’t add anything to the story and that I should cut it. I wrestled with the possibilities. Hmm, what to do? Well, I also love the voice of the great-grandfather. Only this feedback let me know that if I want it to stay in the book, I need to amp it up and make it a more integral part of the story.

There were also sections of the book that were flagged by a reader who had a particular expertise. My sporty son said one of the baseball scenes was unrealistic. Another said a parade would never be in the late afternoon. They both had very good points. I fixed both of these things immediately.

But the most important thing I did as I “wrestled with feedback” was to put the manuscript aside. I did not begin revising for two long weeks. I let my readers’ notes roam around in my subconscious and take shape. I also took a lot of deep breaths! Because getting feedback on your creative work can be extremely overwhelming and downright discouraging. Taking a break from the “noise” helped me get back to work with a new outlook. I was also more open to making the changes I was resistant to when I first heard them.

Eventually, I was ready to dig in. I pulled up the line edits and read each and every one. I considered all the possibilities and made choices. I finished the revision. Then I sent it off to one more trusted reader – a person who has not read the entire book. He will see it with fresh eyes. Some of his comments will resonate, some will not. I will wrestle with this. Because this is what writers do. We write, get feedback, and rewrite. And as the author who coached us at Highlights said, I CAN do this. And so can you.

Revising OUT LOUD!