I've decided
to divide this page into two topics. All too often, people get 'writing'
and 'publishing' mixed up in their heads. Writing is a worthwhile
endeavor for anyone who feels the impulse to put their thoughts
on paper.
Getting published is a separate issue entirely, and folks who want to do both should
never lose sight of that!
(For those of you who have visited here before, the items entitled "Critique and Submission," "How I write queries and cover letters," and "Understanding Editorese" are now on the Getting published page.)
The
Read. That's the single best thing an aspiring writer can do for
his or her work. I once heard an editor say, "Read a thousand
books of the genre you're interested in. THEN write yours."
I was astonished and pleased to hear her say this--because that's
exactly what I did. During the years when I had no thought of writing
for children (see About the Author),
I read and read and read. Middle-grade novels. Hundreds of them--easily
more than a thousand. Then I wrote mine--and it sold on its first
submission. Luck? Coincidence? Maybe...but I doubt it.
My personal reading list draws from a wide variety of genres. I
love middle-grade novels best, but I also read Young Adult novels
and picture books. I read adult literary fiction, mysteries and
nonfiction. I read poetry. I love books on food and travel. Whether
a wondrous story or a hilarious passage of dialogue or a beautiful
sentence or a memorable image, every bit of reading I do helps my
own writing. The rhythm of language and the way words combine to
communicate more than their dictionary meanings infuse the serious
reader's mind and emerge transformed when that reader sits down
to write.
That's really
the best possible advice I could give any writer--read. But I find
that folks are often disappointed with this advice, so I'll offer
a few more basic tips.
Writing is a highly personal, idiosyncratic endeavor. Advice that
works for one writer may not work for another. Still, I love reading
about how other writers work, and in doing so I found the two
most important tools I use in my own writing. (Please note that
these are probably more relevant for those who write novels or other
longer works.)
Discipline
This tip I gleaned from author Katherine Paterson. Her books The Spying Heart and The
Gates of Excellence are wonderful collections of essays on
writing for children. Ms. Paterson explains that her method is to
write two pages per day, every day. I adapted this as follows:
· I don't write every day because I also teach part-time. But on my writing days, I sit down at the keyboard in the morning and I don't get up until I've written at least two pages.
· Ms. Paterson doesn't say if she means single- or double-spaced--so I decided on double-spacing! That's about 500 words, which works well for me. Others may find a page count or an amount of time more useful. Still others write when the muse strikes them (but I'd be waiting until doomsday if I tried that approach). Find what works for you.
· On bad days, I might get 480 words written and throw them all away the next day. (My theory there is, I figure I'm getting all the awful stuff out of me...) On good days, two pages becomes twenty. But--and this is key--when I sit down to write I never know for sure which kind of day it's going to become. I do my two pages no matter how crummy I feel about writing that day...and when I'm lucky, the act of writing itself turns the day into a good one.
Novel
structure
My outline for novel structure comes from author (I'm a strong believer in learning from the best!).
I read about how she builds her stories:
· Character
· Quest
· Complications and choices
· Climax
· Conclusion
· Change
Once again,
I've adapted another writer's advice to suit the way I work. I divide
"Quest" into two sections: Internal and External. In every
scene I write, the character must either make progress toward or
face impediments to the quest(s). As a corollary, it follows that
the greatest number of words is spent on "Complications and
Choices."
Here's an example of how I used this outline when writing my first
book, Seesaw Girl:
· Character: Jade Blossom, a 12-year-old girl, daughter of a wealthy family, living in 17th-century Korea. Extended family? grandparents?
· Quest (external): To discover what lies beyond the walls of her home.
· Quest (internal): To find her place in a world that severely restricts the activities of girls and women.
· Complications and choices: Depiction of Inner Court life. Possible escape? Friendship with someone who leaves home? Sees French missionaries on the road. Wants to paint what she has seen. Second escape?
· Climax: Idea for seesaw
· Conclusion: Sacrifice (what?) to accomplish goal.
· Change: character growth, but how? acceptance?
As you can see,
it's quite a rough outline and it's also the full extent of my planning
before I begin writing; a detailed chapter-by-chapter plan doesn't
work for me. I find the act of writing itself triggers creativity,
and I want to leave myself lots of room to follow the story where
it goes as I'm writing it. The final version of the manuscript differs
in several ways from this initial outline, especially the "Complications
and Choices," but using it as a blueprint keeps me from wandering
too far off track.
What I like best about Ms. Lowry's outline is that there is NO step
labeled "Theme." I think she believes as I do: That theme
should grow out of the character and the story. If a writer begins
with theme, the story is likely to be heavy-handed and messagey...the
kind of book kids run away from. And I'm running right beside them!
--Linda Sue Park, December 2000
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