Next week I’ll be in poetry school. Honest! I’ll be a non-MFA candidate in a poetry MFA program, sort of a guest, but I’ll be doing almost everything everyone else does. I don’t know if I’ll have time to post to the blog. If not, I’ll be back the following week, so please don’t desert me for another writing blog!
I’m going to answer two questions today, because I don’t have enough to say about either for a full post.
First, on May 26, 2010, F wrote, I always assumed most of the things I read in books – about a certain machine, or a process – are true, unless it’s obvious they can’t be. Do you think books have a duty to be correct in the facts they present?
F’s question followed my post of that day called “Fantastical Research,” and you may want to refer back to that post before or after you read this one.
I certainly think nonfiction has a duty to be accurate. Absolutely. Period. Of course, writers make mistakes, and even fact-checkers make mistakes, and I don’t think a jail sentence is warranted for a mistake. Still, errors in nonfiction are unfortunate. The lay reader is not going to be able to tell and will be left with an incorrect idea of the subject.
But, F, if you’re asking about fiction, I’m not sure. I also tend to believe the technical stuff in books. I used to enjoy Dick Francis’s mysteries more for the horse and racing information than for the mysteries. Same for Tony Hillerman’s mysteries, which offer insights into Native American life. Neither of them may have been strictly accurate, and who am I to know?
For as long as it lasted, I delighted in the television series, Boston Legal (adult content), but I often doubted that real-life lawyers would behave in court the way these crazy attorneys did. I’d say to my husband (also not a lawyer), “Can they do that?” If I asked the question, part of me did believe and part didn’t.
When I wrote my historical novel, Dave at Night, I tried to get my facts right, which involved extensive research, and so far no one has brought any errors to my attention. I used fictional stand-ins for real people and gave these stand-ins names similar to the actual monikers. For example, I changed the name of the heiress A’lelia Walker to Odelia Packer. Then I felt free to make Odelia say the words I gave her, whereas I never would have invented dialogue for A’lelia Walker. Also, I made up the orphanage and called it by a different name from the real orphanage my father grew up in. However, if I’d written a nonfiction history of an orphan living on the outskirts of Harlem in the 1920s, my research would have been more exhaustive.
The heroine of Ever is a talented weaver. Lucky for me, my copy editor knew something about weaving and advised me that I hadn’t gotten the details right. I had to go back and become more informed, because she definitely believed I had a duty to truth. However, I had another alternative: I might have tipped the reader off that this was a different kind of weaving, Hyte weaving, unlike any other sort. Then I could have launched into anything: looms shaped like ice cream cones, Hyte hyena-sheep whose wool is barbed and holds together on contact. The reader would understand that he wouldn’t find a rug woven in Hyte fashion in his local carpet store.
One way to clue the reader in that what’s coming is fanciful is to exaggerate, so here’s a prompt: Your main character is a carpenter who is building a cabinet for a king. Whenever His Majesty opens a drawer he will find something useful for his rule. When no one is looking, the shelves will refill themselves with new items relating to his realm. Show the carpenter going about her work. Invent the tools she uses to create the cabinet and to infuse it with magic.
Second question. On July 22, 2010, Rose wrote, What about the portrayal of parents in kids and YA lit today? I’ve read some about it on other blogs and . . . is it really necessary for the plot to have parents that aren’t there or don’t care? Just wondering what people think about this.
Dead parents are everywhere in children’s books. To name just a few: Oliver Twist, Anne of Anne of Green Gables, and Harry Potter are all orphans. My Dave in Dave at Night is one. Ella from Ella Enchanted and Addie and Meryl from The Two Princesses of Bamarre all have dead mothers and useless fathers. Aza in Fairest was abandoned by her parents.
In The Wish, Wilma’s parents are divorced. Her mother is fine and caring, but she isn’t there when the trouble happens. Which is the idea. Get the parents out of the way so the children can take center stage.
Remember the deus ex machina (god of the machine) of Greek theater? If you don’t, in Greek tragedy, a crane would lower an actor portraying a god onto the stage to save the characters from an impossible situation. Nowadays, we don’t want parents to be the deus ex machina. In traditional fairy tales the fairy is often the deus ex machina, and in contemporary revamps we don’t let the fairy fix everything either.
Sometimes the parents are the problem or part of it. In Joan Abelove’s Saying It Out Loud (middle school and up), Mindy’s mother has a brain tumor and her father is clueless about how to support his daughter through this crisis. Something similar happens in Karen Hesse’s Newbery winner Out of the Dust after Billie Jo’s mother dies. In The Birthday Room by Kevin Henkes, even though the parents are terrific, they give their son a gift that sets off the book’s major conflict.
A friend wrote a thesis about how mothers have been vilified (vilify, a great word – look it up if you need to) in children’s literature, which made me think guiltily of the stepmother in Dave at Night. When my pal discussed her paper with me I was writing Ever, and I was about to make Kezi’s mother the major villain. After we talked, I decided to go another way. So the parents do not have to be dead or uncaring; they just mustn’t solve the main character’s problems.
In fairy tales the mother is sometimes the chief baddie. Think of the mothers in “Hansel and Gretel” and “Toads and Diamonds” or the evil stepmother in “Cinderella.” (Sisters often don’t fare much better than mothers. Consider the sisters in “Beauty and the Beast” and “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.”) Here’s a prompt along these lines: Write a version of a bad-mother fairy tale in which the mother is actually terrific, but the heroine still has to endure the same sort of troubles she goes through in the original tale. A fascinating example of this is Donna Jo Napoli’s take on “Rapunzel” in her novel, Zel.
Have fun, and save what you write!
Jenna Royal says:
Thanks for the post, Ms. Levine! I hope you will be able to post next week, but if not, then don't worry . . . I won't abandon you for another blog, I promise! 🙂
About the whole accuracy thing . . . I tend to believe the things I read in books. When I was younger, one of my Mom's lines was "You can't believe everything you read in a book." How right she was.
I think that the importance probably depends on the genre of the book. A historical non-fiction needs more accuracy than a historical fiction, which requires more than a fantasy. I don't really have a problem with lack of accuracy, I guess, though is does depend on the situation. As a reader, you just have to be careful.
And about the parent thing . . . this one is hard, because all the inadequate parent scenes can be so cliche. People use the same ideas over and over, and I find that I want my situation be a little unique. But that's my weakness as a writer, I guess, wanting to make my stories unique.
In my NaNo novel, my MC's parents are divorced, and she's spending time with her grandmother, who's past has caused her to be very hard to connect with. So my MC is virtually alone. This post will help me to keep all the characters seem caring and supportive, but still not there for my MC when she needs them. It's a delicate balance to keep everyone there but not there at the same time.
F says:
Haha, there isn't any other blog as great as this, I won't go away, Ms. Levine. 😛
And thanks for the post. I guess I will have to learn to try and NOT believe everything I read…hehe.
As for the parents thing…it usually is very convenient for the parents not to be there, isn't it? Because then the kids can do what they want.
But that question has bugged me, too, though one of my characters was an orphan (kinda…it's complicated), and the other is kinda grown up, and has run away from home since…quite long ago. XD
Chicory says:
Hi. I'm a lurker whose finally speaking up. First, thank you, Gail Carson Levine for these lovely posts. Naturally I intend to keep checking, even if you have to miss a week. 🙂
On the subject of parents, I've noticed in my own work that I tend to write orphans then give my main character surrogate parents -and then I wonder why I didn't just let their parents live to begin with. I guess in the back of my mind I think parental figures don't have the authority to jump in and fix things as much as real parents do.
Grace says:
I hope you have fun at your poetry class!
Anyway, I agree about the accuracy thing, though writers make mistakes, they do need to do some research.
About the parents, this was useful. I excusively write MG and YA and so I always have to figure out what to do with the parents, sometimes it can be a real pain in the butt. Luckily for my Nano this year parents are not a problem.
Thanks for the post, Ms. Levine, and have fun with your poetry-ness.
Mya says:
I am actually compltely frightened of inaccuracy. I think that's why I feel comfortable with fantasy, where you can make up your kingdoms and their long history. Historical fiction is not to bad either, because none of us are living in it. But whenever I try to get on with a contemporary work, I start biting my nails.
Its the just the fact that I would really dislike getting a place, traditions and its culture wrong. In fact, there is an sparkling idea I have had, and keep under lock for a few years. Its based it in two real countries, which have been hard to research upon, and I am not even sure if they are independant countries.
My paranoia is so deep, I've decided the only way to write it is to travel there, just to get all the facts right. So really, I think I'll just stick with fantasy for a while.=)
I'm so glad the subject of parents came up. They certainly seem to be a non-presence in the YA novels. I think though, if the parents were not as ignorant as most books portray them, then the character would usually face far less problems. So really, the parents definitely do contribute to whatever conflict is taking place.
I am having a bit of trouble with my NaNo novel too. My MMC, I can't quite decide if his parents ought to be alive, or not. It seems good work to get them out of the way, and let his brother be King. (he's a prince lol) I think answered my own queries here.=D
All the best at poetry class!=) I don't think any of us will be deserting this blog, its too wonderful, I know I'll be reading it until the end, which I hope won't be too son.=D
Rose says:
Thanks for answering my question! I think that it's really tricky to do parents right in kids' and YA lit…and I'm always open to thinking of new ways to do it.
And best wishes on the poetry…
April says:
Enjoy the poetry class! We'll be here waiting when you're ready to return. 🙂
But before you go, I have a question. You may have answered it in the past, in which case, could you help me find the post(s)?
However, if you haven't… I'm about 18,000 words into my novel and I'm discovering that I might not be telling it in the best way. Right now, I have my MC as an 8 year old girl as I introduce her to the MC boy, and then later when she's 17/18 there will be more conflict (there is some when she's a kid, so it's not completely "back story").
I'm thinking now that either she needs to be a teen the whole time (less time jump), and/or changing it to a story that uses the boy's POV. My decision is made complicated by the fact that at first she doesn't know he's a werewolf (she thinks he's an ordinary pet dog). And he believes she's a werewolf but doesn't know it, so he has to protect her in the meantime… but when she's a teen she finds out about both of them being werewolves, and then they find out they were wrong and she's just human.
Augh. Maybe you can't help me and I need to work through this on my own. I've been Week Two'd, I guess. But basically, my question is how do you figure out what's the best way to tell your story (POV, as well as timing/pacing)? Once NaNo is over, will have have to rewrite the whole novel (particularly if decide I try his POV)? The thought stresses me out.
gailcarsonlevine says:
April–I'm a veteran of many POV changes, and the change can make all the difference. However, making her a teen straight through would simplify, and simplicity usually is the way to go. Or maybe you need to do both. I'm with you: Augh.
Maddie says:
Why would ANYONE want to abandon this blog for some other blog? I sure wouldn't… 😀
I loved this post… I totally agree with everyonhe's comment that YA literature is definitely parent-missing. I even noticed it in my own writing now that you mentioned it- it wasn't even very intentional! I guess that stories just aren't very interesting with loving, caring parents.
P.S. I love the word vilify!
Speaking of which, I have a little spell-checker on my computer. It also tells me the average reading level of the stuff that I'm writing, and it's not huge. Is it always necessary to add in bigger words, or is it ok to not use huge words as long as your plot is suitably twisted? (i.e., I don't want to be the next Dr. Seuss, although I do love his stuff… :D)
Maddie says:
Sorry I'm posting again, but I just got reminded…:D
I was thinking about how you can tell a lot about a writer by his/her first and last sentences. Like Rick Riordan, who always has amazing first sentences. (I think someone mentioned that before)
I know this is suitably random, I just wanted to point it out. One of my favorite parts of reading books is to read the first and last sentences!
gailcarsonlevine says:
Maddie–I'm adding your vocabulary-level question to my list. Thanks!
A'Lelia says:
Hello Ms. Levine,
I just happened upon this blog post about Dave at Night because you mentioned A'Lelia Walker, my great-grandmother, about whom I currently am writing a biography. I was able to read a few excerpts on Amazon.com and was delighted to see that you'd included a character based on her and her parties. Would love to correspond with you directly. My email address is abundles@aol.com
Best wishes,
A'Lelia Bundles
http://www.madamcjwalker.com
Marissa says:
I understand why the parents are slightly "banned" fro me helping the kids through their problems, but why is it that in most books the MC never has more than three friends that you really get to know? Just something that I have been wondering about.
By the way, I completely agree with Maddie on her statement about the first and last sentences of a book. I know that it is a terrible habbitt, but I occasionally read the last sentence of a book just to see if it is worth finishing (of course I never did that while reading and of your books Ms. Levine).
Jenna Royal says:
@ Marissa – I think that one of the reasons for few MC friends is because it gets rather confusing when you have lots of characters to keep straight. Also, it's a little more realistic than loads of close friends. I'll admit, though, that I often want to add way more characters to a story than necessary. I don't think it's necessary to have only a few characters, though. It's just better if the characters have purpose in the story, and aren't just there taking up space and time.
Bearcoon says:
:3 The first bit was spot on with where I am right now in my NaNo novel. I know hardly anything about how horse racing and being a jockey work, even if I am working in a fictional world with a ton of made up racing rules, still gets me that I know nothing. That really helped.
It's HARD writing parents into fantasy! I would totally love to try and write something in which my MC has both of his/her parents and they aren't rotten.
Maddie says:
Marissa- I think that each character in books only has three or so friends that you really get to know because it's probably close to impossible for an author to get deep inside the heads of more than three characters at a time without exploding or adding lots of meaningless chatter. I know I have issues with it! 😀
just a thought, though.
Mysterygirl123 says:
I have a bit of a weird fake-quiz-question-thing. Nothing to do with writing, just a bit of brain-lint.
Q: If you were in canada yesterday, what day would it be?
sorry, not telling yet, but if some people answer (or guess) I'll tell.
P.S. Does anyone here play chess?
Mysterygirl123 says:
sorry. ubsessed with the idea of chess as the base of a book. Also, I'm wondering if any one has heard of:
Turn Again Tales By Laurence Housman
Marissa says:
Thanks for answering, but was thinking more along the lines of just knowing that the MC has more than a couple friends.
Jenna Royal says:
@ Marissa – Oh,you mean that there are other friends that you don't really hear about but you know exist? I think that the whole keeping everyone straight thing applies to that too, as well as the reality factor. I mean, I think that it's common for people to just have a few close friends, not a lot. And it's easier on the writer :). But I don't think it's necessary to have just a few.
Chicory says:
Speaking of keeping characters strait, I have a question. In my current story, my first scene is a court function. There are tons of characters who are all going to be important later. How does one go about introducing a lot of characters without being confusing?
Mysterygirl123 says:
@ Chicory-Try doing one paragraph about each character, not nececeraly one after another, but give the main idea of who they are.
eg.
Mr. Smith looked at his wife. He knew that the time was coming to turn her in. It was all coming together perfectly. He would get rid of his wife and get rich at the same time. He smiled.
This example shows that 'Mr.Smith' obviously cares a great deal for money and very little for his wife. This paragraph portrays him as the 'Bad Guy' of the story.
Hope that helped!
Jenna Royal says:
@ Chicory – I agree with Mysterygirl. Showing that 'Mr. Smith' is the bad guy right from the start is really helpful. Also, if the characters are familiar with one another already, then you might make them glare at one another or support each other to portray their relationships.
One way to keep them straight is to try and introduce them slowly, and add just a small detail or two about each one. One thing I've found helpful in books when they introduce a lot of characters at once is repeating information. For example, just give a basic picture of them: "I glanced over at the blond man sitting across from me as he stood up and spoke. 'I second that'." Not only does that show that the blond man agrees with another character, but it gives a brief, easy to remember description that a reader will recognize when you mention it again at his next appearance "He pushed back his blond hair and nodded.".
I hope this helped!
Jenna Royal says:
BTW, I have a problem with a story I'm trying to plan out, and I was wondering if anyone can help me . . .
The story is about a family with six children, and each of the children (except for the littlest) has their own story to tell. It's confusing enough to get figured out, but my issue is the POV. Third person is fine for all the characters but one, the one that just happens to be my favorite and my main focus. For that one, first person seems most natural.
I obviously can't write first person for six different characters all at once and keep a reader interested. Should I go with the first person and write all the other stories from that one character's perspective, or should I sacrifice that one idea and go with the others? Or is there some way I can do both that I haven't thought of yet?
Chicory says:
Jenna, thanks. The `introduce them slowly' may be the way to go, if I can sort of do mini-scenes within the bigger scene. I'll have to think about it.
About the story with six children- I don't know if this helps, but some of Agitha Christie's mysteries will have chapters from a specific character's viewpoint in first-person and all the other chapters in third-person. She'll put Whoever Narrating at the start of the first-person chapters so it'll be less confusing. I think `The Man In the Brown Suit' is written that way, and so is `The Clocks'.
bluekiwii says:
I sometimes found it annoying how the parents and adults usually where nonexistent in the books. They usually where dead or the villains or mildly caring but unable to see the problem or help. It gets cliche after awhile actually and it doesn't seem believable that these kids are so resilient and lucky that their plans worked out.
On the other hand, the main character has to be the one to solve the story's problem. If they aren't the ones solving it, then that's not the story's main character. . .
I enjoyed the way you showed what kind of things we can do with parents in YA novels. Thanks for the post!
Angie says:
Ms. Levine,
Thank you for writing on the non-presence of parents in YA fiction! I had always taken it for granted, but as I am now attempting my own YA story and have found myself following the trend, it recently hit me that I didn't know WHY I was disabling the heroine's parents from much involvement in the story. I've been struggling with it…I knew that it served my story in a sense but I was bothered by the fact that I did not know why I had made the choice to begin with except that it seemed to be a tried and true formula.
Your response to the question is simple and clear. Thank you!
I have a question of my own:
Have you ever found yourself to be right in the thick of writing a novel and discover that your enthusiasm and confidence in the story you're creating is seriously dwindling? I am over 29,000 words into a story (the furthest I've ever gotten on one project in my writing) that I've put a LOT of time and thought into over the past few months. Nobody has read any of it (except my husband, who has read snatches). Unfortunately, I've now reached a point of doubt. (Out of nowhere, it seems) I have a harder time than ever continuing to write when my interest in the story is suddenly drifting and my confidence in myself as a writer is shaken. I don't know the reason behind it…I know I still want this story to be told, it's just that suddenly I feel as if I'm going about it all wrong, but I don't know how to fix it!
Anyway, do you have any advice on how to work through this?
(Thank you so much for your books, and for answering questions on writing in depth on this blog. It has been so motivational and helpful to me!)
Erin Edwards says:
@F – You might consider, while obviously there is a lot of leeway into whether or not facts in a novel have to be correct or not, if this problem is bothering you, it may be related to the book you are working on. And if it is bothering you, it will probably continue to bother you every time you read that portion of your manuscript until you research it. So you might as well give in and get to researching. 🙂
@Rose – I did some "research" reading trying to figure out how not to have dead parents in a MG novel, and I came across one method which is to have caring parents who are very busy or just busy at the important moment. Like the main character just gets the nerve up to ask her mom a very important question and her office calls, or she's about to ask and her little sister dumps a cup of milk on the floor.
The trend I see in YA that I *really* don't like is parents that are there that are always shown to be "wrong" by the end of the book.
@ Jenna – With the six kids, it might be possible that five of your siblings are just prewriting, stuff you have to know as the author to be able to write that one siblings story. I don't know what age you are writing for, but I was just unsuccessful at getting my own MG reader to read a book with more than one POV because she got annoyed with the POV change – she wanted to stick with the story she was in and keep going.
Mya says:
@Angie: I think I can help you with a bit of that.=D A lot of us here are doing NaNoWriMo, so we're facing the same problem as you.=) I've been receiving a lot of great advice from other contestants, so here are some suggestions.
The first thing reawaken your interest in the story. You can write random scenes involving them, or add details to their profiles. Think about why you were interested in the story in the first place. Perhaps you could alter the plot, throw a bombshell, or skip to an exciting scene. (Filli in the gap later of course)
There are a few posts here about this subject, or similar to it. The ones I can think of now are
-Wednesday, October 28, 2009, Playing with blocks
-Wednesday, July 28, 2010, Story Hopping
I remember some brilliant advice by Mrs Levine about this in Writing Magic, perhaps you could check that out. Hope this have been helpful.=)
Erin Edwards says:
@Angie – Have you thought about reading books on plot or on writing in general? You might find that as you read books about craft ideas occur to you for new characters, plot ideas, or motivations that need to be fleshed out.
All writers seem to suffer attacks from loss of confidence. Probably all you need to pull you out of it is one good idea!
gailcarsonlevine says:
Angie–Excellent suggestions from Mya and Erin Edwards. I'm feeling a lot like you right now in my book, as if my fingers are made of lead. All I can think to do is to keep slogging on and assume that the story will figure itself out.
To everyone–I'm having a great time at poetry school, and there will be no post tomorrow. They're keeping me too busy. But I'll continue to check on comments and maybe weigh in. I've been reading the great discussions.
Angie says:
@Mya, Erin Edwards, and Ms. Levine – Thank you for your advice and encouragement! I've read Writing Magic and think it might be time to re-read some chapters on the subject. I know it is part of the process to get stuck (the discouragement can be sudden!)…it is good to know I'm not alone.
Part of my problem was solved by a good conversation/ brainstorming session about one of my characters with my sister. It definitely helped to re-kindle some interest in that character.
Mya, it's a great idea to skip to a more exciting part for a change of scenery, thanks 🙂
MollyMom103 says:
Hi Gail, I really love your blog. So many intersting conversations, and I love a good conversation.
I'm a little more freewheeling than you on the non-fiction because of the trouble of point of view. That old adage that history is written by the victors comes to mind. I mean, water is blue and that is a fact, though I find many people believe it's not true. There are five states of matter but for practical purposes we can stick with three, and here's a kick, I'm sure someone is going to find another state someday. I'm just saying the non-fiction seems as fluid or even more so than fiction.
I wonder that perhaps there is just a little villian in everyone and that no matter who you are you resent something your parents have done. I wonder if in someway all parents are not there for their kids, and that's why they are often missing in children's stories. I think these two ideas are huge issues of childhood, stuff we all work through…
Just thinking.
Have a lovely day, Molly Blaisdell
F says:
@Angie: What Mya said. You just have to keep at it, change the pace a bit, keep on doing it NO MATTER WHAT! Insert something random, change the order of the scenes, write what interests you!
@Erin: Thanks for the advice! 🙂
And…I'm kinda sad to see no new blog post, but kinda not, since I don't really have enough time ti properly read one. I hope you're having one, Ms. Levine! 😀
Jenna Royal says:
Thanks for your thoughts on the six kids issue. I will play around with it when I start to write, but right now the one character's story is much more vivid than any of the others, so I might go with that one and have it from her point of view. But we'll see . . .
@Angie – I can sympathize with you! I have the same problem as you do way too often. I'd agree with everyone's advice. You've just got to keep at it. I'd have to agree with Mya's advice about skipping around. I've found it helps to have those fun scenes written and to then work towards them, though often I don't actually find myself using them in the end. There's a satisfaction in doing the best stuff first. 🙂 Also, try reading back over your piece a little and see if you've maybe gone in the wrong direction. I did that with one of my stories, when I felt like my writing was getting really poor. I took out a couple scenes and rewrote them, and it worked wonders!
@Ms. Levine – I'm glad you're having fun in poetry school! Don't worry about missing the post – I love reading them, but it's nice to have the extra writing time, too. 🙂 I'll look forward to reading next week's post!
Mysterygirl123 says:
@ Jenna Royal
I hope I'm not to late to give you an idea!
I just finished reading a book where each character would tell their story to the POV character. It would come along naturally, characters being reminded, or excited about their story.
I have a question: You know those signs that lots of teachers have that say "'JAIL WORDS'bad,good,red,yellow,blue,green,purple,orange,brown,black, white" and on with that kind of thing? Well, I have never in my life read a book that does not have a 'jail word' in it. How can they say that those words create bad writing, if every book has them?
April says:
@Mysterygirl123
I've never heard a teacher say/do that. But I would imagine it has to do with "rules are made to be broken, but they can only be broken if you know what the rules are." So, they're teaching you the "rules," so to speak, and the authors know these "rules" and purposely break them for the effect.
@Angie
That's common! In fact, in NaNoWriMo, that's called Week Two. That's when people start to doubt their stories and it gets harder to keep going. But if you push through that, it'll get better!
Read some of the pep talks on this page: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/peptalks2010 You'll find them under their names. Maybe you'll gain some encouragement. 🙂
@Gail
When you get back next week, let us know how it all went! 🙂
gailcarsonlevine says:
Mysterygirl123 and anyone else–Please tell me more about the JAIL words. I'm sure I'll have something to say about them. I don't think any particular words create bad writing.
Hi, Molly–Nice to hear from you! Thanks for just thinking!
Mysterygirl123 says:
@ Gail: The jail words thing really bugs me and I'm glad I'm not the only one! One teacher has a poster that says jail words at the top and then a list of basic words: good, bad, said, sad, mad, happy, grumpy, big, small, medium, love, calm, etc. this does not make sense to me.
@angie: I know how you feel. I always end up giving up on stories when I get like that. Do Not Give Up. My advice is is to ask someone who you know will love your story what they think of it. This gets you feeling better about it, usually. If that doesn't work, try leaving it for a couple of days. Usually, when I do that, I start to just feel like I NEED to write. Then I go and write.
Also, my story isn't going good right now. It's about a twelve year old(bellise) and an seventeen year old(victor) who move ilegally to canada from Venice, Italy. Victor gets into a car accident and has to stay in the hospital for a year. Obviously, since the government doesn't know they exist, this is a bit of a problem. I know I want them to get caught and have to run, but I don't know how I'll have it happen. Help!
Alexandra says:
I'd like to show someone my writing, but my friends aren't very interested in writing, and I'm uncomfortable showing it to my parents and sister. I'm writing in a thread of romance, and I'm afraid my parents won't like that I'm writing like that- who do I show it to?
About jail words- also easy, hard, nice, like, those sorts of words. Apparently they don't add nearly enough depth to writing- which could be true in English class, but I use those words in my novel and I think they sound fine.
April says:
When I was in elementary school I had a teacher who hated the word "nice." She'd never let us use it, and if it slipped out, she'd make us think of a better descriptor.
But I've never heard it called "jail" words. @Mysterygirl, have you asked your teacher about it? Maybe it's an acronym?
Marissa says:
My class used to have RIP words and I hated that because if they are used in a certain way they are perfectly fine. Also I had a teacher who never let us use the word 'said' which bugged my because I don't think I have read a single book without that word. My guess is that she just didn't want it to be over used, but it still frustrated me a some points in my writing.
gailcarsonlevine says:
Thanks, Alexandra, April, and Marissa! I've added disapproved words to my list.
Mya says:
Gosh, I can't wait for the post about disapproved words. -grins-
Anyway, I was suddenly struck with a question, which I know is probably not the best thing to ask of a professional writer, and others here, but I think I need help. Homework load seems to increase every year through high school, and though I badly want to write, sometimes I can't seem to find the time. So I was wondering, how do you organise your writing time? And there is also the fact real life can drain so much energy that makes you too tired to type a single word. How do you get inspired once more, and relax into the mood?
I hope I make sense, and hopefully not straying too far away from the topic here.=)
Megan says:
hi mya!
it's so impressive that you're only in high school and you're making such an effort to write regularly. i really understand your problem – i'm actually currently in law school, so the time i get to spend on writing is sadly pretty limited.
i guess my advice would be, for major progress and serious writing, use the holidays, and even the weekends, as much as you can. as for the rest of the time, try to make writing something pleasant and relaxing for you – a treat. decide to take an hour, or so, out of your day (when you'd otherwise be watching tv or facebooking or one of those other time-eaters) and dedicate it solely to writing. then treat it as a break from homework and a time to focus on something you really enjoy. if a work in progress is wearing you out, do some free writing, or poetry, or a short story.
maybe even go to a cafe near your house and do some writing there, where you won't get distracted by all the other stuff you have to do.
i realise it's really difficult to take time out of your day like that, but i feel like it's worth the sacrifice, and if you manage your time well enough it will become easier.
hello to everyone else! i love reading the posts here – i feel like i almost know the regular contributors, even if i don't write often myself.
gail, i'm impressed and jealous about poetry school, and it's great to know you're publishing some poetry! i'm looking forward to hearing how the week went.
gailcarsonlevine says:
Mya–I struggle with time too. I'm adding your question to my list.
Megan–Great advice!
Rachel says:
Dear Ms. Levine
For the past couple of months I've been reading your blog and love it! It's really encouraging to know there are other writers out there experiencing the same difficulties and joys I am.
In my current story chapter one is complete, and afterward nothing important happens to the main character for a couple of weeks. I don't want to just say something like—The next few weeks were uneventful–since it seems too much like telling, but I'm not sure what else to do. Any tips? Thanks!
gailcarsonlevine says:
Rachel–Sometimes – often – telling is the best way to move the story along. You might try embellishing that sentence a little to give a sense of time passing and then get into your next scene of showing.