I’ve loved writing ever since I can remember—I wrote poems and stories at home, and it was my favorite part of school (and not just because I usually received A+ on my writing assignments). When I started writing middle grade novels, I was surprised that my talents weren’t enough. I think I do a great job of coming up with ideas, and creating fun, vivid characters, but I didn’t realize that most writers have at least one area they have to work on way harder than the rest. For me, that was plot. I kind of masked my problem, because I was able to add tension to my manuscripts by always considering the worst thing that could happen to my characters…but that wasn’t enough to create a full, exciting arc that could propel readers through an entire novel. I’m always working on finding ways to improve my writing, and am thrilled to see how much stronger my plotting is now.

I’ve never been a fan of outlines, but I realized that just knowing the beginning, ending and some possibilities for the middle, plus character sketches, wasn’t enough. After studying plotting, I found a method that works great for me. It’s a Plot Clock, created by writing coach and mentor, Joyce Sweeney, and breaks the novel up into four acts, starting in the normal world, which prevents me from jumping into the middle of a situation before readers care about my characters.

When I first started writing children’s books, I had no idea how deeply I’d have to dive into revisions. I love seeing characters come alive and watching all the wonderful layers evolve through revision after revision. I don’t remember having to revise my stories when I was in school. We’d get an assignment, hand it in, get a grade…end of story. I’ve really been impressed with the way I see writing taught now—with children as young as elementary school receiving feedback and being asked to revise their writing. I can’t even imagine writing children’s books without receiving critiques—feedback from peers and professionals really can help your writing grow!

Here are some things I’ve learned that I hope will help you, too:

• Take a good look at your strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to know what they are, so you can really focus on them! If you’ve had writing critiqued, what types of comments are there? I used to hear that some of my earlier manuscripts seemed episodic…it took me a while to realize it was because my plotting wasn’t strong enough to propel readers through the entire story.
• Try to swap critiques with people whose strengths are your weaknesses.
• Critique often—it helps the person who wrote the manuscript or story, but it also helps you a lot, too. It’s easier to spot areas that can be strengthened when you critique the work of others…and in time, you become better at finding those areas in your own manuscripts.
• Read as many books as you can, and stretch past your favorite genre to explore other types of books, too. Once you know your weaknesses, you can search for books that master those aspects.
• Read your story out loud. It’s easier to find places that need streamlining, dialogue that doesn’t feel natural, and where you can improve the pacing. Reading out loud often feels different with an audience, so even if you’re alone, you can record yourself, or read to your pets.

Teachers and parents—I’d love to know what you’ve noticed about the strengths and weaknesses of your students or children, and what you do to help them become stronger writers. And to all the writers out there—what are your strengths and weaknesses, and how have you overcome your weaknesses?

Mindy Alyse Weiss writes humorous middle-grade novels and quirky picture books. She’s constantly inspired by her twelve and fifteen year-old daughters, an adventurous Bullmasador adopted from The Humane Society, and an adorable Beagle/Pointer pup who was rescued from the Everglades. Visit Mindy’s blog or Twitter to read more about her writing life, conference experiences, and writing tips.

Debra Garfinkle is one of the funniest writers I’ve ever known or read. So, why would she be taking a stand-up comedy class? Debra — author the Zeke Meeks series (writing as D.L. Green), the Supernatural Rubber Chicken books and five YA novels — shares a bit about the intersection of stand-up comedy and reaching middle grade readers.

You’ve written about trying comedy for your “3/4 life crisis.“  What was the writer in you thinking about this venture?

Creative writing had always been my hobby, since I was a little kid writing poems and through my years as a lawyer when I wrote short stories to de-stress after work. After I sold my first novel, writing became more of a job than a hobby. I still enjoyed it and loved getting paid for my former hobby, but got stressed out about publishers, deadlines, promotion, etc. I wanted a hobby to do just for fun, so I turned to stand-up comedy.

I thought doing stand-up would suit me for several reasons: I’ve always loved going to stand-up comedy shows; most of my books are humorous and I write a humorous newspaper column, so I was used to writing humor; I had experience acting in high school and college plays and doing moot court in law school.

Stand-up comedy turned out a lot harder than I’d thought. I learned that good stand-up comics should make the audience laugh every 10 to 15 seconds. So in a six-minute set, that’s 24-36 jokes to write and perform. Also, what may seem funny in writing often fails in performance, so I’d have to write maybe ten jokes for every one that really worked. And it’s scary being on the stage by oneself, with no other actors, directors, or writers to blame when the set bombed. But when the set went well, it was wonderful to hear people laughing at jokes I wrote and performed.

How does comic timing on stage translate to on the page?

I think on the page, there’s more time to set up a joke. Readers can skim if they want. Stand-up audience are less patient. They don’t want to sit through a long set-up in order to hear the punchline.

Debra Garfinkle (D.L. Green) with a Zeke Meeks’ fan.

Bill Word, my stand-up comedy teacher, used to say, “Get to the funny faster.” I try to keep that in mind when I’m writing children’s books. I think child readers are similar to a stand-up comic’s audience in that they mostly want to laugh and have a good time. Sure, I can slip in some meaningful messages, but my main purpose is to entertain. With that in mind, I try hard to delete extraneous things in the set-ups to my jokes.

Stand-up also helped me value callbacks (a joke that references something that happened earlier in the set) and tags (a second punchline added to the first punchline, so that one set-up makes the audience laugh twice as long).

Bill Word constantly said, “There’s something there.” We used to make fun of him for saying it so much, but it was very helpful. Even if we told the worst joke ever, we were encouraged to work with and play with it to make it better. Sometimes the worst joke ever eventually led to funny stuff. So I try to keep an open mind when I’m conceptualizing or drafting books, telling myself that there may indeed by “something there.”

Debra is published under the names D.L. Garfinkle and D.L. Green. You can read more about her books, writing, and treadmill desk at her website. Check out her book reviews written in haiku on her blog, too. They’re fantastic.

No, I’m not talking computer viruses… I’m talking that other dreadful predicament that faces every writer at one point or another: the old brain freeze. Drawing a blank.

The bad kind of Writer’s Block.

Writer’s block.

Despite a mind that’s full of ideas, always mulling over something, I sat down at the computer to write this post and I had… nothing. Nothing, I tell you. This was doomed to be the Seinfeld of blog posts. So, like my old writing teacher used to say: write what you know! Which means, today I’ll look at some of my favorite ways to battle the Blank Screen of Death (before ending up like that unfortunate follow there on the right…).

• Step away from the Internet. I repeat, put down that mouse and back away slowly!
  Yeah, you know what I’m talking about, right? You flip open the laptop, chug back some coffee, fire up MS Word… and there’s that little Safari icon, beckoning. Like a junkie, you figure — just one click. One. That’s all. I’ll check my email, pop over to Twitter, maybe a quick Facebook status update (clearly I’m working if I tell everyone I am, right?!?). Next thing you know, you’ve fallen down the rabbit hole of Yahoo! News (Kim Kardashian wore what? where?) and you’re Googling how to make homemade body scrub (handful of coffee grounds, sea salt, brown sugar and some olive or coconut oil — total mess, but exfoliates like a dream!). Short of engaging in electro-shock therapy (or buying that software that shuts down your web connection entirely), I simply tell myself I’m not allowed to make that click until I’ve achieved some sort of objective. Nothing like the burning need to read yet another friend’s “Some eCard” to get me going, which leads me to…
• Reward yourself.
  Back in my corporate days, there were always little pats on the back for a job well done. Office parties. Performance reviews. Bonuses. Being self-employed doesn’t mean we stopped deserving recognition. In fact, we may need it even more now — cause if we don’t do it, who will? So I set goals for myself — finish one chapter, get a mocha at Starbucks; polish off a whole book, time for a pedicure and new shoes to show it off! Of course, if that doesn’t work, sometimes it’s necessary to…
• Change the scenery.
  Amazing how a good drive, walk, trip to the gym or nice hot shower can clear the mind and get those creative juices flowing. In fact, I often get my best ideas while in motion or surrounded by steam. (Needless to say, thanks to my writing endeavors, I’m quite fit. And clean. And lately, smelling an awful lot like a Frappuccino. The dog won’t stop licking me.) And when all else fails…
• Just Do It!
  I like to imagine whoever came up with that Nike slogan was some poor stumped advertising exec who, after staring at the Blank Screen of Death for too long, simply banged his or her head against the desk and yelled “Just DO IT already!!!” — and a legend was born. Because sometimes, just doing it is the only thing you can do. There comes a point when it’s time to stop over-thinking things and put a word on paper. Type something — anything. Getting that first word out is often like pulling your finger from the proverbial hole in the dam. Boom! The rest of the words start flowing. Suddenly, there’s an outline. A chapter. A story… A, ahem, blog post.

Yep, I think now I’ve earned one of these:

So, tell me — how do you battle writer’s block? Let me know in the comments below. And then, for Pete’s sake, quit procrastinating and get back to work… .

Jan Gangsei has become such a regular at her neighborhood Starbucks, the baristas not only have her coffee ready the minute she walks in — they’ve also been known to deliver it to her if she happens to be in the shop next door. She’s beginning to think perhaps she rewards herself a little too much…