See my blog entry on Pencil Tips Writing Workshop for advice about how to write interesting character descriptions.
From Jonah Lehrer’s book, Imagine: How Creativity Works “…the act of being stumped is an essential part of the creative process. Before we can find the answer–before we probably even know the question–we must be immersed in disappointment, convinced that a solution is beyond our reach…It’s often only at this point, after we’ve stopped searching for the answer, that the answer arrives.
So don’t despair if you’re stuck! It’s all part of imagination’s “wicked sense of irony.”
Got a letter yesterday from a boy in a residential juvenile detention facility, another word for jail. He wrote to say how much he enjoyed Invisible Lines, a book that deals with some of the tough issues that I’m sure this boy has had to face. The most touching part of the letter for me was his revelation of his favorite scene: the scene in the book where the science teacher takes the kids outside and has them get down on the grass and pretend to be mycelial threads in an ecosystem. This is my favorite scene in the book, too! It’s a scene that initially frustrated me because it was flat on the page in my early drafts. So in the revision process I actually went outside and stretched out on the grass and pretended that I was my main character. When I did this, I had some emotional revelations that gave me what I needed to really and truly see the scene through my character’s eyes.
I’m delighted to join children’s book writers and illustrators Jacqueline Jules, Alison Hart, Mary Quattlebaum, Laura Krauss Melmed,and Joan Waites as a co-blogger at the Pencil Tips Writing Workshop.My first entry, about the value of sharing mistakes, was just posted. Each blogger takes a turn posting a tip.
Please consider subscribing and/or pass along the link to teachers, parents, and everyone interested in writing for children and young adults.
Wrote a new song. Loved it. Well, most of it. I was having a little trouble with the bridge, which didn’t seem to lead anywhere. So, I played the song for my music partner Bill Williams, expecting him to suggest a little touch that would do the trick for the trouble spot. He floored me by saying that when he looked at my lyrics, he was hearing a completely different rhythm and tempo overall. I so wanted him to be wrong. “But I love this rhythm and tempo…” I kept thinking.
If I have learned one thing about writing it is this: Beware when you are saying to yourself, “But I love this…” Last night, I forced myself to try Bill’s suggested rhythm and tempo and the song came to life. As I was singing, new lyrics came to me for that troubled old bridge over which I had labored. I can’t even remember now what I loved so much about the old song.
I read an inspiring piece of advice for all writers and artists from Jack Brown in the January 2012 edition of the Songwriter’s Association of Washington’s newsletter.
“The best songwriting advice I ever got in my life was from a Nashville pro—even though my sound is
not a Nashville sound. He said, ‘You have to remember that it’s not your job to tell people your story.
After a few minutes at best, they’re bored with your story. What they want to hear in
your songs is THEIR story.’” –Jack Brown
So true. Failed first novels are often too focused on the autobiographical (”literal memory is your enemy” is a mantra I learned from Robert Olen Butler). I say this from personal experience. Learning to save my diary as the receptacle for my personal effusions has been a professional lifesaver for me.
Get over your own story, and embrace Story.
My son Max, an excellent songwriter, gave me a great tip. I had just finished a new song and I asked him for critical feedback. He said, “I’ve noticed that you pay a lot of attention to your lyrics. Why don’t you try playing the song all the way through without singing? Just focus on the way the guitar sounds, and make sure you play around with it until the music stands on its own.”
I am a writer first and a musician second, so I have developed a natural habit of being lyrics-centric. I tried Max’s suggestion, and it helped me to create a musically stronger chorus and bridge, as well as more interesting musical transitions between all the sections, and a lovely new opening and closing.
Spend some time in your work focusing on what you usually don’t.
Sometimes I get a letter from a reader that reminds me what this crazy effort to write books is all about. Stories are powerful. By allowing us a glimpse into the truth of another life, we can better see our own.
From my reader: “Nobody realizes the bad plots in their life story until they have witnessed them in someone else’s. As soon as I read The Naked Mole-Rat Letters I realized that my plots were the same as Frankie’s…these were not the plots I wanted to have in my life story. I didn’t want to have a poor relationship with my dad anymore; I wanted to build a new strong one, so I decided to make a change. I decided to go and have an open discussion with my dad. This changed my whole life story; in fact it changed my whole family. Families are like baskets, every piece has to be woven together just right, or it will all fall apart. Before reading The Naked Mole-Rat Letters my family was a collapsed basket, however it now stands strong and proud because of you.”
I’m so grateful that this reader shared her story with me. For all of you out there who are writing…remember that you never know who you might touch.