John Micklos Jr. Writer

The Writing Life, Chapter 19: Looking Back, Looking Forward

It seems hard to believe that at this time last year I was entering my 33^rd year working as an editor for the International Reading Association. A lot has changed! On March 31 I took a company buyout to pursue a career as a full-time freelancer writer/editor and children’s book author.

My first nine months in my new career have been exciting, exhilarating, and sometimes a bit scary. I’ve had the opportunity to make progress on a couple of children’s books, write articles for National Geographic Kids, Teaching Tolerance magazine, and the News Journal. I’ve had the opportunity to interview 99-year-old cartoonist Martin Filchock, actress and Delaware native Aubrey Plaza, and a number of other interesting people. I’ve written educational white papers for the Association of Educational Publishers and CELT Corporation, a brochure for the Highlights Foundation, and news releases for the nonprofit organization Read to Them. In short, life has rarely been boring.

The year ahead looks exciting, too, with new assignments from Delaware Today, National Geographic Kids, and the News Journal already underway, along with some other intriguing projects under development. In addition, I hope to come out with two self-published books in 2012. I’ll write more about several of these projects in future posts as more details are available.

I had the opportunity to speak about poetry at three state reading association conferences in 2011 and to make an author visit to an elementary school in Tennessee. I am currently in the process of planning author visits to several schools in the spring and fall. I truly enjoy conducting writing workshops with students, and I hope more of these school visit opportunities present themselves in the year ahead.

Do I sometimes worry about making ends meet with my new freelance career? Sure I do. Am I excited and pleased about the prospects ahead? Sure I am. Do I regret leaving the safety of a job I largely loved for the unknown of my next “dream career”? Not one bit.

Best wishes to all of you for a happy, healthy, and prosperous year in 2012. I hope I’ll have interesting and positive news to share throughout the year.

Random Writing Thought of the Week: As someone who has interviewed literally hundreds of people over the years, I must admit that I still find asking questions of strangers to be a bit intimidating. Yet, once I actually get into the process, I find myself totally engrossed, and I feel truly blessed to get to talk with so many interesting people and hear so many interesting stories as a part of my work.

The Writing Life, Chapter 18: Tennessee Trek

I just returned from a hectic, but pleasant, weeklong trip to Tennessee, where I spoke at the Tennessee Reading Association conference in Murfreesboro and then did a two-day author visit to an elementary school.

It’s always fun to visit a state IRA conference and see old friends. In Tennessee, I had the chance to finally meet in person two contributors to Reading Today—Jacquie McTaggart and Madeleine Kuderick—with whom I had corresponded frequently over the years while I worked at IRA. It was a real treat to sit down and share “war stories” about life as a writer and public speaker. My breakout session on using “The Power of Poetry” with students in classrooms was well received. I enjoy talking with teachers and sharing ideas about how poetry can be integrated throughout the curriculum.

After the conference, I spent two days at Bradley Academy in Murfreesboro. With the younger students, I shared poems and discussed how a book gets put together. With the older students, I conducted writing workshops, and I was amazed at some of the creative poems the students wrote. I love watching groups of young people get excited about writing—especially students who initially enter the room looking suspicious about the prospect of “writing poetry.” After school one day I took some time to drive up to Nashville and visit the Country Music Hall of Fame.

As I worked my way back across Tennessee, I had dinner with my friend David Dotson of the Dollywood Foundation and then conducted an interview with 99-year-old cartoonist Martin Filchock (more about that in my next post). On my way home, I stopped in Blacksburg, Virginia, to visit longtime friend Judy Davis and her son, Ian. I visited Ian’s eighth-grade language arts class the next day to discuss the revision process with the students. I thank Judy and Ian for their hospitality in hosting me on both ends of my journey.

If this is a taste of life as a traveling speaker/author, I think I will enjoy it, even though I felt a bit drained after covering 1,700 miles in seven days. After nine months as a full-time freelancer, I feel extremely fortunate to be able to pursue this “dream career.” Many blessings to all of you this holiday season!

Random Writing Thought of the Week: Students are often amazed when I talk about how long the process of creating a book takes. I was a bit amazed myself when I realized last week that the book of beach poems I’m currently finalizing has been more than a decade in the making. I first drafted some of the poems back in 1999!

The Writing Life, Chapter 17: Star Struck

One of the pleasures of a long career in journalism is the opportunity to interview interesting people. During my years at the International Reading Association, I interviewed noted academics and researchers, award-winning classroom teachers, and U.S. government officials.

Some of my favorite interviews were with children’s authors, including top names such as Tomie dePaola, Katherine Paterson, Lois Lowry, Jon Scieszka, Jerry Pinkney, and Marc Brown, to name just a few. Although these people are celebrities in the children’s book field, I found most of them to be humble and genuinely interested in helping children through their books.

On occasion, I’ve interviewed more widely known celebrities. When he spoke at the IRA Annual Convention in 2010, I talked to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore about his book Our Choice: How We Can Solve the Climate Crisis. I found him to be passionate, knowledgeable, and personable. He even knew that I was an author myself and commented on my children’s books, which surprised me.

Some years ago, I interviewed country superstar and ardent literacy supporter Dolly Parton about her Imagination Library project, through which young children receive a personal library of free books. Her sincere interest in helping children develop an early love of reading showed clearly throughout our conversation. I always get a bit nervous when interviewing famous people, but she was so down-to-earth that I soon felt at ease.

Let me tell you how my latest celebrity interview came about. Last month while browsing through magazines at the Newark Public Library, I read Rolling Stone’s Hot List for 2011. One of the featured people was Aubrey Plaza, who plays April Ludgate on the popular TV show Parks and Recreation. When I read that she grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, I realized that an article about her might make a nice feature for Delaware Today magazine. I discovered that they had done a brief piece about her a couple of years ago, but I thought a follow-up might be appropriate now that she is even more famous.

When I pitched the idea to Delaware Today’s editor, Maria Hess, she said she was very interested—if I could get an interview. We both realized that might be challenging. I did a little research, found Aubrey Plaza’s management company, called them, and was a bit surprised to have a telephone interview scheduled within a week.

While Aubrey’s April Ludgate character thrives on sarcastic wit and deadpan humor, Aubrey herself was a delightful interviewee—warm and personable. She spoke with great fondness about growing up in Delaware and shared a few of her humorous exploits at Ursuline Academy, where she considered herself a bit of a class clown. I’m working on developing the article now and will keep you posted on when and where it will appear.

Random Writing Thought of the Week: Doing the interview with Aubrey Plaza reminded me of two things I have learned in dealing with famous people: 1) Celebrities may not be as inaccessible as you might think. You won’t know until you try. 2) Famous people (at least the ones I’ve encountered) are people first and famous second. They are much more like us regular folks than we realize.

The Writing Life, Chapter 16: A Ten-Year Project

Sometimes when I visit schools, students ask how long it takes for a book to get published. I tell them that the timeline varies greatly. A few of my books, such as some of the biographies published by Enslow, went from idea to print in just over a year, largely because they had been slotted into the publisher’s production schedule before work even began. A more typical timeline is two to three years, and Daddy Poems took nearly six years to pull together.

One of my current projects, a picture book of beach poems, has been more than a decade in the making. I first submitted a manuscript to Boyds Mills Press, which had just published my Daddy Poems book, back in 2001. The manuscript got rejected, and I decided that perhaps I wasn’t ready to do a poetry book based solely on my own original work. Instead, I continued to compile poetry collections to which I contributed just a few of my own poems. I also moved on to write biographies and history books.

Over the years my collection of beach poems continued to call out to me every now and then. Yet, with a full-time job, a busy family life, and a series of book contracts to fulfill, I never quite got around to answering that call.

About five years ago, a member of my writers and illustrators group, Lisa Goodman, showed us some wonderful beach-related photographs that she had taken. In my mind’s eye, I saw those photographs pairing with my poems to create a glorious picture book. Again, time constraints and other commitments prevented me from following up.

When I left my long-time job with the International Reading Association this past spring to pursue a freelance career, I suddenly found myself with enough time to pursue some projects that had long lain dormant. One of those projects was the poetry book. I contacted Lisa and found that she was excited about the idea of working together on the book.

Over the past few months, we have been hard at work. I have totally overhauled the poems, completely rewriting some of them, tweaking others, and replacing a few entirely. I am amazed at how much stronger the collection is this time around. Meanwhile, Lisa has taken some wonderful new photos, and we are both delighted at how well the text and photos complement one another. Lisa and I are exploring self-publishing options for the book, and we are excited about the prospects.

We are aiming to have a finished book available by spring of 2012. I will keep you posted on our progress.

Random Writing Thought of the Week: For me, the creative process for writing poetry is both different and the same from that for creating nonfiction. It’s different in terms of some of the thought processes involved and the same in terms of the drafting, editing, and rewriting processes.

The Writing Life, Chapter 15: Variety Is the Spice of Life

One of the joys of freelance writing is the variety of projects I get to do. Yesterday, for instance, I began my day by working on the first draft of this blog post, which I find a great way to get my creative juices flowing.

Next I spent a couple of hours working on a PowerPoint presentation pertaining to sentence structure for an educational publisher. I am refreshing a lot of knowledge that was for years buried deep in my subconscious. I know the difference between a dependent clause and an independent clause, but it’s been 35 years since I’ve had to try to explain it.

After that I shifted gears entirely and worked on my picture book of beach poems, which is nearing completion. At this point, I’m doing some final tweaks on the wording of a couple of poems and matching them with wonderful photographs taken by my friend Lisa Goodman. I have been exploring self-publishing this book through CreateSpace, an Amazon.com company.

At lunch came a trip to Newark Reservoir for a brisk walk and an opportunity to take a photograph of an airplane vapor trail to possibly accompany one of the beach poems. I noticed the last time I was walking up there that it was a great spot to see vapor trails, and I vowed to remember my camera the next time.

Yesterday afternoon found me focusing on sentence structure again, as today marks the deadline for turning in the first chunk of copy for that project. On the surface, such an assignment may sound dull, but it’s actually quite interesting and challenging to try to explain the concepts in kid-friendly terms and come up with interesting examples, exercises, and quizzes.

The day wound down with some research on AubreyPlaza, an actress from Parks and Recreation, who grew up in Delaware. I came across the reference to her Delaware roots in a Rolling Stone interview and thought that might make a good angle for an article for Delaware Today magazine. When I pitched the idea, editor Maria Hess told me she’d be very interested in such an article—if I can get an interview. So yesterday I watched a few video interviews with Aubrey and explored how best to make contact with her. I’ll keep you posted on what happens.

In the evening, I drafted a few letters to schools where I have contacts about the possibility of doing an author visit in 2012.

All in all, it was a pretty productive—and interesting—day!

Random Writing Thought of the Week: Several projects that I invested considerable time on are now turned in and awaiting final approval. There’s a real sense of pride and accomplishment when that happens.

The Writing Life, Chapter 14: Rhythm and Routine

As a poet, I spend a lot of time immersed in issues of rhythm as I try to get a series of lines to flow together in just the right way. The notion of rhythm also applies to my writing in a broader sense in that I am always trying to establish a rhythm for the act of writing as well as within my writing.

For me, writing is a process that is sometimes ridiculously easy, sometimes painfully difficult. Starting is generally the hardest part. Once I get going, the words usually begin to flow naturally as I find myself totally immersed in the process, my mind and fingers operating together in a kind of writing rhythm I can’t truly explain. That’s not to say the work is perfect; almost always I will have to go back and fix certain rough patches. But once I get into my writing rhythm, the process usually flows pretty smoothly.

To get into that rhythm, I also have to focus on establishing my writing routine. Like most people, I find I have times of day that are more productive than others. I’m finishing this blog post at 7:45 a.m., the quiet time after Debbie has gone to work and John has gone to school before I start focusing on what “has to be done” during the day. It’s a great time to focus on creative or “fun” projects such as a poem or this blog post.

Beyond that, I try to block out chunks of time to focus on various projects throughout the day. I try never to work on any one piece for more than two hours at a time. For me, that’s enough time to get into a rhythm for accomplishing a task but not so long that I lose interest or focus.

For years when I worked at a day job, I got into the routine of focusing on my creative writing in the evening. Even now that I am a freelancer and can write whenever I choose, I still find that my creative muse often operates best after dinner. After months of trying to wrestle it into a new daytime pattern, I have given in and simply planned to do some of my creative work at night. After all, just because I can write during the day now doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t still write in the evening as well.

And that is my advice to young or aspiring writers—seek the time when your mind is most alert and most creative and use that time to do your most creative work. When you establish a routine to capitalize on the rhythm of your writing, the words will flow.

Random Writing Thought of the Week: Actually, this is more of a postscript. Deadlines are another, although certainly less pleasant, way to create a rhythm. When deadlines loom, I simply apply my bottom to the chair and stay there until the task is finished. My rhythm may not be as smooth, but desperation has a way of breaking the logjam of words.

The Writing Life, Chapter 13: Old Friends and New Ideas

Earlier this week I spent a day in Rye, New York, where I presented a workshop on using poetry in the classroom to teachers attending the New York State Reading Association conference. While there, I had the opportunity to say hi to a number of old friends from NYSRA, the IRA staff and Board, and a few people who contributed to Reading Today while I was editor. I appreciated the opportunity to renew friendships, and I was reminded how much these relationships continue to mean to me during my life “after IRA.”

From a freelance point of view, one always questions the value of going to an event such as this in terms of balancing the cost of travel and registration versus the potential gains. All in all, I decided the event was a great success—and for reasons that went far beyond my workshop itself. Both in the workshop and outside, I met several people who expressed interest in possible author visits, and that’s always a good thing. Establishing personal contact with folks in the field is far better than simply sending out an author brochure or making a cold call.

Even better, I found myself recharged with many new ideas. After perusing the program and attending a few sessions, I got several ideas for articles to pitch to various publications, as well as some new ideas for marketing myself and my writing. Sometimes it’s helpful to step outside the normal routine for a day and just think about possibilities, and to do so in a conference center full of bright, talented educators is a perfect setting.

As I made the 3-hour drive home on Monday night, I felt physically tired but intellectually exhilarated. Once again I was reminded just how energizing it is for an author to work with engaged teachers in the critical process of developing students who not only know how to read and write effectively  but who also respect and appreciate the value and beauty of the written word. That’s why I enjoyed working for more than 30 years with the International Reading Association and why I enjoy my current role as an author and freelance writer/editor so very much.

Random Writing Thought of the Week: Ideas are all around us. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day’s activities and deadlines that we can’t really see them. Taking some time to step back and reflect can help us regain our focus.

The Writing Life, Chapter 12: Juggling

One of my favorite children’s books is Tomie dePaola’s The Clown of God, which tells the tale of a street urchin who achieves fame and fortune as a juggling clown. The book ends by describing his last and most special performance. I’ve always envied jugglers, mostly because I can barely handle one object at a time, let alone juggle three or four or more. But lately I’ve been practicing the art of juggling in my writing.

After a slow period this summer when I began to question whether this freelance writing career was really a good idea, I have recently found myself with as many projects as I can handle. The challenge has been to keep various stages of multiple projects moving forward while meeting all of my various deadlines and commitments along the way.

I’ve always preferred working on multiple projects each day rather than zeroing in on just one. I find that my attention stays sharper if I shift back and forth rather than spending hours upon hours focused on just one project. Lately, however, I’ve felt a little like a ping pong ball as I’ve bounced back and forth between speaking engagements, a white paper, several newspaper and magazine articles, marketing activities, trying to move two books forward, and more.

Sometimes the biggest challenge for the day is figuring out a schedule that will allow me to stay on top of everything. One night this week I did a telephone interview at 10 p.m. and then finished the article draft at midnight.

Don’t get me wrong—this is all GOOD! When you’re a freelancer, it’s always better to be too busy than not busy enough. So for right now I’ll just keep practicing my juggling.

Random Writing Thought of the Week: One of my theories of successful freelancing is to always have LOTS of queries and proposals circulating, realizing that many of them will never come to fruition. When several of them happen to come together at the same time, then I end up with the happy juggling situation I have now. I hope it continues!

The Writing Life, Chapter 11: Leftovers

When preparing a meal, cooks are always faced with the dilemma of what to do with leftover ingredients. These ingredients usually are perfectly good; they just didn’t make it into the recipe, or we bought more than we ended up using. We hate to throw them away, but sometimes it takes a bit of creativity to decide how best to use them.

The same holds true for writers. When researching an article on student activism, I learned about the remarkable story of 9-year-old Rachel Beckwith, who was trying to raise $300 to build wells in developing countries through a nonprofit organization called charity: water (www.charitywater.org) when she died following a tragic automobile accident. Word of her campaign spread, and now more than $1.2 million has been donated in her name. I wrote up a capsule summary of her story, got quotes from Rachel’s mom and the founder of charity: water, and used it as the lead for my longer article.

Then the editors decided they wanted a different slant for the article, emphasizing youngsters who were actively involved in projects rather than raising money for them. I found a new example and crafted a new lead, but I’ve still got this wonderful material about Rachel I’d like to use somehow. With that in mind, I’m looking at other markets for a separate article. Likewise, I have other recent instances where I’ve done interviews for an article and ended up using only a quote or two due to space constraints. I’m exploring ways to use some of that additional information in other ways as well.

Leftover food ingredients often can be combined and used in tasty ways we might never have imagined when we began preparing the original recipe. I hope the same thing may prove true for my writing leftovers!

Random Thought of the Week: Learning about the work of student activists gives me hope about the leadership this next generation may provide.

The Writing Life, Chapter 10: Wrapping Up

For many writers, the hardest thing about a project is getting started. When faced with a blank piece of paper or a blank Microsoft Word template and realizing they need to fill it with words that make sense, they panic.

Sometimes I find it hard to begin, too, but I can usually solve that problem by getting something down on screen, even if it’s not very good. Once I get started, the words begin to flow naturally. They may not all be the RIGHT words at first. But that’s OK. I can go back and edit again…and again…and again.

For me, the hardest part of a project is wrapping up. First of all, I’m almost never totally pleased with my writing. No matter how many times I’ve polished a piece, each time I read it I find new things to change and new ways to make it better. Thank goodness for deadlines. Without them, I’d probably never be able to let a piece of writing go.

The other challenge involved in wrapping up a project relates to the fact that when I’m preparing copy for outside clients, it isn’t done until they say it’s done. I may think the piece is perfect, but if the client doesn’t, it’s back to the drawing board.

I recently wrote an article that I thought had turned out really well. The client liked it, too—except for the lead, the sidebar, and one of the key examples. So now I’m wrapping up that project for a second time. When you’re a freelance writer, you have to curb your ego. It’s not about how you want something; it’s how the client wants it.

Isn’t that how life is as well? First, our parents and teachers tell us how they want things done. In college, our professors set the standards. In the work world, whether we are writers or engineers or lawyers, our bosses let us know when a project has been “wrapped up” to their satisfaction.

My only boss for this blog post is me. I’ve been through it a couple of times, rewording and reshaping it in places. If I let it sit for a few more days, I could probably make it even better. It’s time to post it, however, so I think I’ll “wrap up.”

Random Thought of the Week: We’ve all heard the phrase “snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.” After watching the Eagles and Phillies on Sunday, I think they’ve found a way to reverse that, with both teams “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.” Oh, well, such is the life of a Philadelphia sports fan. Fortunately, the Phillies turned it around yesterday, and perhaps the Eagles will do so on Sunday.