Not, not, not a box!
August 26th, 2008 by Sara
*First off, apologies to Antoinette Portis and her modern classic picture book, Not a Box for leaning on her wonderful pictures and themes. Go buy Not a Box! *
A box is a cozy place to be. It’s dark and quiet, with plenty of corners to curl up in. You can touch the walls around you and make certain they are there. You can make up all kinds of stories in your box in complete safety.
The box can be very important for stories just starting out life. The kind that will be vaporized under the hot sun. But if you stay in the box, that’s all they’ll ever be. Never sizzling, incredible, best-selling novels. Just stories.
Right now, I’m working hard on revising my young adult novel. I’m digging deeper to find my character’s voice. I’m pushing harder to make the world a scarier and more rewarding place for my characters. And it’s working. But when I’m try to get those characters from Point A to Point B, I’m still relying on my box.
I just keep doing it over and over. Moving my pawns around efficiently, but without regards to what builds tension or plays better for the reader. I’m just making making my story happen and working around my obstacles the easiest way possible. And easy does not make a good read.
So, I’ve started to keep a few things in mind, hoping that these tricks will help me cut some holes in my box so I can see my way out of it. One of these tricks I learned in Julie Strauss-Gabel’s revision class at the SCBWI summer conference (Thanks Julie and the class for your excellent advice!) and it was a big Aha! moment for me. Obstacles can be solutions.
Often, when I come up against a plot point that doesn’t make sense, I’ll ignore it… hoping maybe the readers won’t notice. An example: My main character, Faye climbs up to a roof to escape. A security guard is standing nearby, so she has to be quiet. Later, a roof tile breaks free and smashes on the ground. Problem: Why doesn’t the security guard react?
I came up with all kinds of rationale for this in my mind. Was he rocking out to his favorite Britney Spears song? Were the clouds so interesting that he got distracted? Did a venomous scorpion sting him, plunging him into a coma? Come on, these are very realistic scenarios! But for some reason my readers weren’t buying it.
Solution: The scene actually works better with the security guard noticing. It gives Faye someone to interact with. It builds tension. And it grounds the scene in reality. And voila! The obstacle is the solution.
I guess in the same way, the box is the solution. If you get yourself out of it, flip it over, and stand on top, you can reach higher or use it to go farther than you have before. Then it’s not, not, not a box! Vroom! Vroom!
Posted in Conference, Authors, SCBWI, Revision, Books, Writing
September 6th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Awesome epiphany, Sara!
I love that you’re making such progress, and you’re so good at sharing the clarity you’re achieving!
Hurray for obstacles that are their own solutions!
Hurray for Faye!
Hurray for Sara!
Lee
Paul Fleischman responds!
February 15th, 2008 by SaraI snailmailed Paul Fleischman’s Valentine to him and this is what he had to say! Hooray!
Posted in Authors, Valentines, Nifty happenings
February 18th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
What!! Was this snail mail you got back??
Wow!!!! TOO COOL!!!!!!!
Our Roots…
February 14th, 2008 by Sara
Posted in Authors, Valentines, I heart this book, Books
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Valentine hearts for Roald Dahl
February 7th, 2008 by Sara
Posted in Authors, Valentines, Haiku review, Books
February 8th, 2008 at 5:34 am
Hahahaha. Matilda is one of my favorite books in the world. Danny, Champion of the World and Fantastic Mr. Fox and, and, and . . .
And, and.
February 8th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
And don’t forget “The Boy Who Talked to Animals” from Henry Sugar and 6 More. It’s my absolute favorite of his writing.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Ooh, there is one moment in the title story, of Henry Sugar, that just knocks. Me. Out.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:52 am
okay you have to tell me how you are making the candy hearts?
Meg
ps. I think he ROCKS too!
February 12th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Isn’t it cool?!???! If you click the original heart (BOOK LOVE) it’ll actually take you to the link or go to
http://www.acme.com/heartmaker/
February 13th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Okay,
And James and the Giant Peach was amazing - I so identified with James, and wished I could munch on that juicy huge peach as it rolled right over the mean people in my life!
Sara, I’m lovin’ your fan-gush valentines -
thanks for sharing with us all,
(and the candies ROCK!)
Lee
Adam Rex answers!
February 7th, 2008 by SaraA email response from Adam Rex! Hooray!
Well, this made my day. I’m going to have it tattooed on my head. Thanks so much Sara!
-Adam
Posted in Authors, Valentines, Writing
February 8th, 2008 at 5:32 am
That is sweet. You should tattoo his reply on your body, and blog about it! Then he could tattoo that, and you could . . .
February 8th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
It’s be like looking into 2 mirrors at once…. the infinite compliment!
Violets are Blue, Diana Wynne Jones is Faboo
February 6th, 2008 by Sara
Posted in Authors, Valentines, Haiku review, Books
February 7th, 2008 at 2:46 am
Ahh . . . It’s amazing it even took six days to get to this amazing author. How I love Howl’s Moving Castle!! And the Chrestomanci books. ANd, and . . .
Yeti loves Adam Rex
February 5th, 2008 by Sara
Posted in Authors, Valentines, Haiku review, Books
February 7th, 2008 at 11:00 am
The hilarious Adam Rex says in an email response:
“Well, this made my day. I’m going to have it tattooed on my head. Thanks so much Sara!
- Adam”
My heart sings with Lizard Music!
February 5th, 2008 by SaraThe Great Daniel Pinkwater has responded to my Valentine! He likes me! He really likes me!
Posted in Authors, Valentines, Nifty happenings
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Roses are red, Ellen Raskin is AWESOME!
February 4th, 2008 by Sara
*t-shirt found here
Posted in Authors, Valentines, Haiku review, Books
February 6th, 2008 at 3:57 am
The Westing Game is one of the most incredible, well-crafted books ever. I would like to join you in sending this valentine out to Ellen Raskin!!
February 6th, 2008 at 10:53 am
I’m actually surprised when I meet people who KNOW about the book. For whatever reason, I totally fell in love with it, but I learned about it completely on my own. As a small child at the age of 10, I picked up a random book at the library called THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF LEON (I MEAN NOEL). I remember reading it, fascinated by the 70’s illustrations and listening to the very first cassette tapes that I had purchased (Irene Cara - What a Feeling, and Cyndi Lauper - She’s So Unusual).
The book fascinated me, and led me to read all of the books by the author Ellen Raskin. THE WESTING GAME was the third or fourth book I read by her, and I remember as a child realizing that this was definitely her best one (right after The Mysterious Disappearance book. I didn’t care for the Figgs & Phantoms, but I enjoyed the Tattooed Potato and other clues.
I recently revisited Ellen Raskin’s oeuvre because our friend Rita told me that they were doing a sequel to THE WESTING GAME called THE WESTING QUEST! How they are going to do that, I haven’t a clue, but I was pleased that the book up held up over time, and that I found it just as enjoyable as an adult as I did when I was a kid (and teen).
February 6th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I would also like to comment, that the link to the Wisconsin site featuring the info from Ellen Raskin is great. I’ve been to the site before, but somehow I missed the working notes images of “Turtle” and “Angela” and can I just say that those images are EXACTLY what I had imagine those characters to look like! AMAZING!
February 7th, 2008 at 3:07 am
During one of the first times you and I ever hung out, a fan-gush session about Ellen Raskin totally broke out in our group. I remember you turned to Tony afterward and were like, “Did you hear what just happened? I have found my tribe!”
I was like, That’s funny. Fan-gush sessions about Ellen Raskin seem to break out fairly frequently in my life.
I have quality friends! ;)
That t-shirt rocks!!
February 29th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I love this book the character Turtle or T.R. I could really relate to her. I love this book it is a real masterpiece…..
Happy Valentine’s Day, Paul Fleischman
February 3rd, 2008 by Sara
Posted in Authors, Valentines, I heart this book, Haiku review, Books
February 15th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Here’s Paul Fleischman’s response!
http://www.sarawilsonetienne.com/paul-fleischman-responds.htm
