Real life experiences

My brother writes beautiful poetry. I write children's books. We've exchanged work and it's so fun to talk writing with him. As a good brother should, he pays my work high compliments. And I am in awe at how he can say so much with so few words. (He was kind enough not to remark that I could say so little with so many words.) In recent works, we both honored our father, a kind, gentle man who battled macular degeneration before his death. My brother's lyrical description brought tears to my eyes. In my middle grade novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, I relied on memories of Dad's experiences to create my grandpa character. Even my own words at times brought tears to my eyes, but that's when I knew I'd accurately captured pieces of my father's life. Real life is multifaceted, good and bad, pain and laughter, sorrow and joy. The trick in any artistic endeavor is to feel it deeply enough to recreate it, to relive it as you reproduce it, whether it's in a painting, a poem or a character.

Finishing a Novel

Authors express a variety of feelings upon completion of a novel: exhilaration, letdown, relief, anticipation...and the list goes on and on. I just completed my middle grade novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, and am going through a variety of emotions. Certainly I feel the exhilaration of writing the last chapter and typing the words "THE END." But I also miss working on it. My mentor, Claudia Mills, once paid me a wonderful compliment. She told me she loved my characters so much she wished they were real and she could go visit them. Her words were music to my ears. The truth of the matter is, I miss the characters myself. I loved creating their stories--their challenges, setbacks and accommplishments, and putting words in their mouths only they would say because that's how I created them. I've begun sending the manuscript out to literary agencies, and pray that someday I'll see that book in libraries and stores where children can meet my characters and hopefully love them, too. Now, it's time to shift my attention to a brand new story with brand new characters, all with their own gifts, faults and challenges. I can hardly wait to meet them!

Character Driven Novels

I'm drawn to character driven novels in which the plot and tension revolve around the main character. Some of my favorite character driven childrens authors are Sharon Creech (won the Newbury for Walk Two Moons), Katherine Paterson (author of Bridge of Teribithia and many other beautifully written award winning novels), and Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn Dixie among others). These authors skillfully develop incredible child protagonists with such wonderful detail to personality that you feel you've known them all your life. As I attempted to write my own character driven novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, I found myself developing tension through additional storylines rather than through the character herself, a flaw Claudia Mills (who has created her own delightfully dazzling characters in the 40+ books she's published) immediately honed in on. I could see it so clearly as we discussed it, and I'm now in the process of getting rid of one (and possibly two) entire storylines, and working on developing my character's personality more fully, down to her little habits and innermost feelings, and centering most of the tension around her motivation, goals, setbacks and growth. It's quite a challenge but so satisfying when it starts coming together. Character development is crucial in any novel, but when you're not writing a mystery or an action-packed sci-fi, and the tension in your story centers almost entirely on the character herself, it's imperative that the author know this character as if it were her own child, or maybe even herself, an incredible challenge since the character is actually a figment of her imagination.

My Mentee Experience So Far

I'm into my second month as a mentee in the Rocky Mountain SCBWI's new Mentoring Program. Claudia Mills is a terrific mentor. First she makes me feel like a Newberry winner by identifying the parts of my book she loves. Then she hones right in on problem spots and is so good at voicing what's wrong with them, I wonder why I ever wrote it that way in the first place. It's up to me to fix the problems, of course, but Claudia remains so positive that after our discussions I can hardly wait to tackle the changes. My first chapter is now 3 chapters. Many writers are told to do just the opposite and start the book at a later place, but my new beginning feels so much richer. My character and the setting came more alive in those earlier chapters. I'm about a third of the way through my novel, and even though I've revised this story several times, I'm excited to work on it again, almost as if it's a brand new book. I have some hard revisions coming, though, and it'll be interesting to see how these go.

To write what you know...or not?

Wow -- I can't believe it's already fall. I recently read a blurb emailed to me by one of my critique group members. It's on "writing demotivators" in the form of word definitions for writers. The one that applies most to me right now is the definition of Writing: the recording of life as it passes you by. (For more demotivators, check out http://101reasonstostopwriting.com/demotivators/ ) But instead of recording, I was immersed in revisions of two middle grade novels. Still, I couldn't help but lift my eyes from my manuscripts long enough to observe the world around me. This summer, life was filled with story ideas--happy, interesting and tragic--the breathtaking summer olympics, two horrific hurricanes, a mindboggling presidential (and vice presidential) campaign, and a heart-stopping economic crisis. If you're having trouble coming up with story ideas, stop and smell the roses, or manure, depending on the story you want to write.

The whole topic of finding story ideas is fascinating. The exotic topics I mentioned above are enticing, but are they really accessible to writers still trying to get their feet wet? I've found that the old adage "write what you know" is still a good idea for beginner writers. Once you have the craft down, then it might be fun to venture into unknown waters. I don't mean limit yourself to telling your own story in your own town and in your own neighborhood. There's a ton of information on other environments in travel books and on the internet. And creative minds can build incredible universes for fantasy novels. But when it comes to describing emotions, reactions and even the five senses, I've found that it's easier to do if you can draw upon your own experiences.

In my most recent middle grade novel, DON'T LOOK BACK, my setting is a fictional town in western Kansas (I've been through Kansas, but never lived there. I relied a lot on articles and travel guides.) The protagonist is a twelve year old girl on probation for stealing. I spent fifteen years as a researcher in youth corrections and I know a lot about the system. I've also visited numerous juvenile detention centers and talked with the kids. Another main character is an elderly man with failing eyesight. My father had macular degeneration and before he died (which prompted another emotion I'm painfully familiar with) we discussed it--what he can and can't see, what's hard, what he can't do anymore, etc. I incorporated real experiences and emotions in writing the book. Sometimes they made we laugh, other times they made me cry, because they were real. Reliving them through writing can be difficult, but if you're putting your characters in difficult situations, they need to have real reactions to them. What better resource than your own experiences?

Now, that said, I'm dying to delve into an exotic topic, like swimming for nine gold medals in the next Olympics, but that's a topic for another blog.