KidLit Quote of the Week #6

This quote, a lyric from the song "Your Life Is Now," has been running through my mind:

"This is your time here . . .
to do what you will do."

—John Mellencamp

The former John Cougar Mellencamp makes a good point. It's that kind of so-obvious-we-often-miss-it fact we all "get" with a sharp gasp of deep understanding from time to time.

I'm in the midst of acting on my own most recent gasp, and because "what I will do" involves writing for children, it hit me that the very heart of any good story is characters doing what they will do, understanding (or coming to the understanding) that life is happening — and acting on the "Now what?"

Breaking news this is not.  But it's good to remember that life is art and art is life and now is IT.

KidLit Quote of the Week #5: Halloween Edition

I thought about quoting the full tale (it's in the public domain, after all) because the entire thing is such a gorgeous example of the art of atmospheric writing — but time- and space-saving heads prevailed. So now I give you the final paragraph in Washington Irving's supernatural masterpiece The Legend of Sleepy Hollow:

 "The old country wives, however, who are the best judges of these matters, maintain to this day that Ichabod was spirited away by supernatural means; and it is a favorite story often told about the neighborhood round the winter evening fire. The bridge became more than ever an object of superstitious awe; and that may be the reason why the road has been altered of late years, so as to approach the church by the border of the millpond. The schoolhouse being deserted soon fell to decay, and was reported to be haunted by the ghost of the unfortunate pedagogue — and the plowboy, loitering homeward of a still summer evening, has often fancied his voice at a distance, chanting a melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow."

KidLit Quote of the Week #4

"Who's big fat bright idea was it to do a weekly quote feature on this blog?"

—Lisa L. Owens

That's funny, right?

I'm around. Handling some pressing workaday deadlines and spending spare moments prepping for a writers retreat I'm attending in a few short weeks.

Also: The holidays seem to be here already. I know because I just ordered some Christmas lights and have urgently realized I need to book my holiday travel plans A-sap.

And: Work on the big site-blog merger continues!

KidLit Quote of the Week #3

As I continue working on my YA historical novel, this quote speaks to me:

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."

—Scott Adams

I've been in full-on flow several times with this book, writing down a path I didn't mean to take — a luxury I don't normally indulge in during write-for-hire work. (NO time in that process for anything but 1-2-3 get it done.) And often I worry as I go that I will have to completely scrap whatever detour passage I've written.

This is not in the outline, I tell myself. It doesn't fit in and I shouldn't be writing this knowing I'll delete it later. Or worse, I realize, Aackk, this is better than what I'd planned and now I'll have to reshape everything else (deleting other baby passages) to accommodate it.

It's so tempting to think of text swaths you change or cut as mistakes. But one of the most important thing I've tried to internalize in surrendering to the "vomit draft" process this year is that whatever you're writing — good crap, bad crap, ugly crap, crap-crap — the THING is *that* you are writing. The rest will take care of itself if you let it (aka doing more writing + careful revising).

It can be hard to look at a first draft and especially to show parts of it even to the most supportive of readers without wanting to shake everyone (read in this case: wanting to shake myself) until you know they know this is your early writing, that you intend to get it all "right" during revisions. But once you do it, the looking at it turns into one of the most satisfying steps — with the fixing-it part probably more more fun than anything else.

So, while I see and agree with Adams's POV, I do take issue with calling anything (or any part of anything) you create a mistake. There are no creative mistakes, people!

Is it a mistake to add too many stems to the vase? No. You can't tell exactly how many flowers fit just so until you throw some into the arrangement and step back for a look-see. You can't determine the perfect way to display the ready-made art you bought until you slap a few configurations onto the wall and take a few distanced ganders. You can't make a satisfying pot of soup without tasting and reseasoning . . .

And you can't really craft your story until you write what wants to come out and let all the pieces show you — by being on point, off track, or seamlessly fitted — what to pitch and what to keep.

Now, off I go to write some stuff I might just end up trashing later. (And, reminder note to self: You will trash it, and you will like it.)

KidLit Quote of the Week #2

Time again for a KidLit Quote of the Week! Last week's entry was on the practical side (the funny one, too), while this week's is all about inspiration — and motivation.

"Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."

 —Louisa May Alcott

I consider raising the bar for yourself one of the most important guiding principles a person can embrace, and because I am a writer with ever-expanding writerly aspirations, I feel Alcott's articulation of it directly applies to my work. And, yes, to my sense of self, too.

It can be hard to walk that talk some days (and, no need to pretend — it's difficult some several years at a time), but I know that when I do "look up," the beauty is right there for the seeing and helps light the path I need to travel.

KidLit Quote of the Week #1

I've decided to do a weekly post in which I share one of the countless quotes I've collected about writing and books. I'll focus on quotes by children's authors, quotes by others about writing/creativity that I think can apply to writing for kids, and passages from children's books.

Why start this now? How about "Because it's Tuesday." It'll be fun!

This inaugural KLQOTW is by an author I admire for his versatility and inspirational personal story. I saw him speak at either an IRA or NCTE conference in the 1990s (ah, the books* he signed for me say the year was 1997), and his advice on finding success as a children's writer is timeless:

"Stay out of the refrigerator, read good books, steal good ideas, develop good writing habits, and marry wealthy."

—Jack Gantos

Good one, huh. And in a Universe-is-funny COMPLETE coincidence, I saw after I wrote this post that Mr. Gantos's latest book, Dead End in Norvelt, releases in hardcover today.** I will be buying that soon!


*Jack's New Power and Desire Lines
**A little synchronicity report for Artist's Way lovers.