Writing

Writing – Revision

sashikaufman

If there is one thing I have learned in the revision process it’s that you can’t hide your “problem areas”.  If you (meaning me) think there is a major issue or problem in your novel, there probably is.  I ignored two major issues in order to just finish writing a first draft of my YA novel and lo and behold at the end of the first draft there they still were.

Sometimes it is good to ignore problems in order to churn out that first rough draft, but you can’t ignore them forever.   Other people, in this case my very savy agent, will see them too.  On a positive note, these problems are good because they represent an opening, an opportunity to vastly improve your book, and the good news is, you already know what they are.

Nature

Camping

sashikaufman

I’m off for a long weekend of camping.  I think it will be good to get away from all technology for a few days.  Last week I took an amazing class at USM with Alice Barr.  It was all about how to incorporate web 2.0 tools and skills into your classroom.  I learned a ton, but also developed serious butt calluses from sitting in front of a screen for eight hours a day.  I’m ready to commune with mutha nature.

We’re heading north to the Cobscook Bay State Park which is a beautiful and under-visited campground near the Canadian border.  There are a ton of great hiking trails in the area.

School

September in July

sashikaufman

This is not a reference to the recent spate of rainy weather, but rather to the horrible dream I had last night.  I’m not normally a dream sharer but this kind of neuroses usually doesn’t strike me until late August or early September.  In the dream every single difficult student I’ve had in the last 5 years was in my class.  I was teaching math (not a strong point).  It was the first day of school, the power was out, I had neglected to give my homeroom kids their schedules and I was wearing my pajamas…tops only.