Art and Activism, by Chris Eboch

For most of the last year, I've been hearing a lot of angst in the writing community. The political situation – especially shocking events like the Nazi rally in Charlottesville – can leave people feeling angry, depressed, and discouraged. This can interfere with our ability to write.

A few months ago, Janet Lee Carey and I had a great online conversation about Art and Activism. I'm excerpting and adapting some of those thoughts here.

A lot of people have been suffering in recent months because of the political situation. Hate crimes and bullying seem to be increasing, as kids learn from what they see adults doing. On the bright side, many people have been inspired to fight for social justice. That’s wonderful, but the challenge is using your time in the most effective way. You could make a full-time job out of signing petitions and sending messages to politicians.

Political activism is important, whether that means marching, calling/writing your representatives, donating to good causes, or attending town hall meetings – or even running for office. But it’s physically and financially impossible to do everything, and trying leads to burnout. We need to use our time wisely.

Using Writing

As creative people, we have something special to offer the world. Young people need to see themselves in our stories. They need to see children who are different from them, to build empathy. They need to see people acting with kindness and integrity, or making mistakes and then making amends.

A child can be inspired by a fictional or nonfiction hero who works to make the world a better place. One of my favorite letters from a young reader was about my Mayan historical drama, The Well of Sacrifice. She said, “The book helped me think to never give up, even in the worst of times, just like what happened to Eveningstar.” Maybe that inspiration will fade, but hopefully, she’ll read another book, and then another, that will inspire her in the same way.

Kids also need strong nonfiction that recognizes what’s happening in this world, such as global climate change. And they need books that help them understand the difference between fact, opinion, and fiction. (Many adults could use these lessons as well.)

Finally, children and adults need books that are beautiful and funny, books that make them feel wonderful. Writing something silly and playful might seem frivolous, but some days you need to ease the pain, you need laughter. Those can be the books that help a child fall in love with reading, which is life-altering power.

Supporting Diversity

Diversity is a big topic in children's literature today, with good reason. We need diverse books, and more #OwnVoices books – books featuring diverse characters written by authors from that same group. Sadly, there aren’t enough publishing slots available for all the great books being written, and it’s hard enough for each of us to build and maintain our own career. Still, we can combine our kidlit camaraderie with social justice by supporting diverse writers and stories: Make sure those writers feel welcome at writing group meetings. Find someone to mentor. Share news about publishers, agents, awards, grants and so forth. And of course, buy, read, and recommend diverse books.

Supporting authors from diverse backgrounds is key in making sure everyone is represented and heard. Writing our own diverse characters – with appropriate research and vetting from people in the community – is also important. We may not have lived those lives – or the lives of any of our characters – but we can draw on our own empathy (and research) to create authentic characters.

We take risks when we bring diversity into our work when we are not from that group ourselves. Sometimes people make mistakes, and it’s healthy to discuss the problems and encourage people to do better in creating honest, non-stereotypical diverse characters. But if we become too critical, people become afraid to take chances, and that won’t increase the number of wonderful, diverse topics and characters available.

Diverse History

I’ve written historical fiction set in ancient times, which makes it a little easier. No one really knows how people thought in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala, or in ancient Egypt, so I have more leeway. (And I assume that most people, throughout history, were motivated by the same things that motivate us today. It’s not like the seven deadly sins have gone out of style.)

I hope these stories can inspire kids today by valuing those cultures and showing nonwhite characters having fantastic adventures. My Mayan and Egyptian books also show those kids as the majority, the people in power – a reminder that white American/European culture has not always been the standard against which others are judged.

Of course, in The Eyes of Pharaoh, the Egyptians feel like they are the best, and therefore could never be overthrown by the hordes of barbarians who might want what they have…. And The Well of Sacrifice opens with the main character meeting a scary “outsider” in the jungle (but then befriending him). So contemporary issues do come up, just in a different format. That distance allows readers to see today’s issue from a different angle.

There is value in our writing, whether we directly address social justice, or show characters behaving honorably, or get a child laughing so they’re more likely to pick up another book. We shouldn’t use this as an excuse to ignore all other forms of activism, but we do need to save time for our writing and honor the value of writing and books. They make our world a better place.

What's Your Strength?

Take time to decide how you can best spend your time, instead of chasing the “do it now” demands on social media. Is it worth driving three hours to the state capital to attend a rally? Should you spend an hour signing petitions? Is there equal value in spending your time writing?

How much diversity, social justice, and inspiration do your books include? There's no right or wrong answer here. Books can do many things, and it's important to avoid coming across as "preachy." Still, review your works in progress. How are they going to make the world a better place?

Giving Back

In our conversation, Janet said, "Over the years, I’ve made it a practice to connect each novel to a charity that somehow relates to the story theme, encouraging readers to Read and Reach Out. I began doing that before joining readergirlz, but it became obvious that we all had that connecting literature and charity in common and it became a big part of what we did with the online presence. The Giving Back page of my website like Save the Rainforest shows the books/charity connection for In the Time of Dragon Moon.”

What a great way to celebrate success by giving back! 

How else can we support our communities and the values we believe in? Do you think writing children's literature is as important as other social justice action? Does it make a difference if you don't know whether you'll ever get the book published? Is there value in supporting ourselves through following a regular writing practice, whether or not it leads to publication?

Additional Resources:

Check out the entire Art and Activism conversation between Janet and me

When Picture Book People Get Political by K-Fai Steele on Kidlit Artists

Publishers Hiring Book Readers to Flag Sensitivity by Everdeen Mason, The Washington Post

Write a Book, Save the World by Bryn Greenwood at Writer Unboxed

How to Stay Sane if Trump is Driving You Insane: Advice From a Therapist by Robin Chancer at Politics Means Politics

Anne Lamott Shares All That She Knows, by Anne Lamott at Salon

Why Write During Difficult Times by Monica Bhide  at Writer Unboxed

Chris Eboch is the author of over 40 books for children, including nonfiction and fiction, early reader through teen. Her writing craft books include Advanced Plotting, and You Can Write for Children: How to Write Great Stories, Articles, and Books for Kids and Teenagers.

Website Chris Eboch
Amazon page
Blog: Write Like a Pro!

Chris also writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. Kris Bock writes action-packed romantic suspense involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Read excerpts at Kris Bock or visit her Amazon page.

THE POWER OF A GOOD WRITING CONFERENCE, by Hilda Eunice Burgos

On Saturday, April 8, I caught a 7:19 am train from Philadelphia to New York City to attend the annual The Color of Children’s Literature conference hosted by Kweli Journal.  According to Kweli’s website, the all-day conference promised to be “an excellent opportunity for writers and illustrators of color to learn, get inspired, and network with others in the industry.”  Kweli delivered on this promise.

The first person I met when I arrived was the publisher of Tu Books (the imprint of Lee & Low Books that is publishing my first middle grade novel).  I learned from her that my publication date has been moved up, so that was exciting news.  We later had lunch together, where she introduced me to a number of writers and editors, including my editor.  So, networking with others in the industry: check.

Three authors and one author-illustrator started off the day by speaking on a panel entitled “Why We Create Now.”  While their experiences were varied — for example, Karuna Riazi shared that she has encountered Islamophobia her whole life and wants her books to help those who are discriminated against feel welcome; Traci Sorell explained that there are many different Native American tribes with different cultures and beliefs, and she hopes her books show that Native Americans should not be put in a box — they were also universal.  Every community has families, and everyone is ashamed of something.  The speakers (in addition to Riazi and Sorell, the panel included Cozbi Cabrera and Zoraida Cordova) encouraged us to tap into those universal themes when we write our specific stories.  Later in the day, keynote speaker Cynthia Leitich Smith spoke about the need for “authentic diversity” in children’s books, the fact that “silence speaks” when certain communities are underrepresented in literature and in history books, and how any kid can be a hero everyone cheers.  Inspiration: check.

The conference also included many simultaneous workshops on craft and marketing.  They covered topics on: writing picture books, plotting, developing multidimensional characters, writing process and revision, submissions and queries, worldbuilding and structure, nonfiction, and many others.  Learning: check.

I have a full time job that has nothing to do with writing children’s books, and sometimes I slip away from my writing and get consumed in the other parts of my life and work.  Attending a good writing conference every now and then can be the spark I need to get me to start a new writing project or to delve into revisions of an existing one.  The Kweli conference was just what I needed, and I look forward to attending again next year.

What about you?  Is there something that helps you get back on track when you’ve gotten sluggish in your writing routine?

The Puzzle Pieces of Why You Write by Hilary Wagner

Everyone is different, but for me there was a singular magic moment that inspired me to start writing. All books have a "feel" to them. The ones we like the most tend to speak to us in some way. One of the books that spoke to me was Wicked by Gregory Maguire. He built a beautiful, fantastic world I wanted to live in, with intriguing characters who all shared a brilliant piece in his winding tale.

The book didn't just speak to me when I first read it...it downright screamed. It was that special moment in time wherein you can literally see a talking light bulb over your head demanding that you write.

This leads me to my favorite book as a child, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'brien. It too took me into a world I never wanted to leave that stuck with me until adulthood. I even remember the very place where I read the book. Years later, after reading Wicked when I was all grown up, all the puzzle pieces clicked for me.

I began writing furiously just days later. Early in the morning, throughout the day, late into the night. The ideas and story poured onto the pages. I was obsessed to say the least. It wasn't easy, of course. I did multiple rewrites, survived what felt like endless rejection, but it happened. My inspiration paid off.

That inspiration has become a part of me, deeply ingrained in who I am. I would not be the same person without it. Writing makes me smile every day. It makes me think about the world differently and it makes me value everything and everyone around me, because we're all part of a much bigger story.

What was your succinct inspiration to write? What books gave you that "aha" moment? When did your heart and head lay out their plans for you and tell you to write?

Thanks for reading (and writing),

Hilary Wagner

WHY I WRITE MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS by Hilda Eunice Burgos

  

When I was in third grade, I was “fired” from a volunteer job shelving books in my school library.  It turned out the books weren’t getting shelved because they were being read instead.  As soon as I picked up a book that was new to me, I would lower myself onto one of the library step stools and bury my nose in the dog-eared pages.  Just when the plot was getting good, it would be time to go back to class.

One of my favorite authors, Julia Alvarez, has said that “we come out of a great book as a different person from the person we were when we began reading it.”  This is certainly true of good middle grade books.  Sitting in the stacks at P.S. 132 in New York City with the sounds of sirens wailing and horns honking right outside the barred windows, I learned about life on a prairie, in small cities and towns, and even in another country where eleven year-olds were already thinking about marriage!

I was definitely a different person each time I looked up to see the librarian frowning at the pile of un-shelved books in front of me.

Middle grade books have grown in variety since I was a child, and there are so many great ones out there.  I am happy to see that some of these excellent books challenge readers to ponder topics such as immigration and deportation, oppressive governments, substance abuse, racial injustice, disabilities, deadbeat parents, and other life-altering issues.

I am drawn to middle grade books because I think children should be exposed to thought-provoking themes, and I especially like the fact that most middle grade books have something we don't always find in books for adults: a hopeful and encouraging message.  These stories teach children that tough circumstances are out there, but we can deal with them, and we will emerge different and stronger on the other side.

My first middle grade novel, which is scheduled for publication in 2019, addresses economic and social inequality, the individual decisions we can each make to help others, and the value of family and friends.  My main character is the daughter of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, lives in New York City, and loves to read.  Although I cherish the knowledge I gain each time I read about people who are different from me, it would have been nice to occasionally see someone a little familiar in one of the books in my school library.  I hope the children who have something in common with me and my main character are pleased to see a glimpse of themselves and their lives in the pages of my book, and that other children learn something new and interesting from those same pages.  Mostly, I hope all children who pluck this book from their library shelves will lower themselves onto a step stool, lose track of time as they read, and come out different, more enlightened, and even more hopeful and positive than ever. 

Learning From Masters: Diana Wynne Jones by Joanna Roddy

Have you ever been saddened by the thought that you've already read all of your favorite childhood novels, and you'll never again have the intoxicating experience of discovering them and entering their worlds for the first time? I do often. Whenever someone tells me that they've never read Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, or Narnia, I never think negative thoughts. Rather, I think, How lucky for them. They have all that just waiting to be discovered. 

However, some good gifts do come late, and for me this has been discovering the writings of Diana Wynne Jones. If you have never heard of her, your reading material is about to get a major boost. I am no expert on Diana Wynne Jones, but I began reading her books a few years ago and feel as though some vital readership that was withheld from me in childhood has now resurfaced and leads me into a second youth. 

Jones was an author who wrote many children's books. She was British and attended C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien's lectures as a student at Oxford. I think that Jones was quite popular in her own country, but she may not have been so common in the average U.S. library, especially as she wrote during the rise of realist books for children, and fantasy had a sort of dangerous frivolity attached to it by well-meaning adults. 

My first introduction to Jones was through the film Howl's Moving Castle by Japanese film-maker Hayao Miyazaki (another delightful discovery, if you've not watched his enchanting animated films). I grew curious about the author and began reading the Howl Series. Since then I've devoured the Chrestomanci Series, which I enjoyed even more than Howl and have read many of her collected essays and speeches in Reflections on the Magic of Writing (the recent edition has an introduction by Neil Gaiman, who was a friend and admirer of her work). 

As a writer, I always bring a kind of apprenticeship mindset to my reading. I pay attention to plot, characterization, language, style, and anything else done masterfully or differently than I've seen before. Jones is remarkable for her complex plots that seem deceptively simple, never faltering in their tone and readability for a young audience. It's a kind of genius how her plots unfold, how surprising are her turnings, yet how every ingredient is there from the beginning. 

It strikes me that her books must occur to children much as life itself. There is a great, almost unknowable complexity to the world around them, but their own course through it is quite linear and understandable and familiar. And then when mundanities suddenly erupt with magic, meaning, and purpose, it's no great surprise. The latent power of every day things is always there, obvious to any child who suddenly discovers that balls are actually three-dimensional circles, or that certain animals can learn to talk or use sign language. 

Image by AnneCat at Deviant Art

Another thing I'm learning from Jones is her characterizations of children. They are neither miniature adults nor two-dimensional partial humans. They are children in the way one remembers one's own childhood. In your memory, aren't you fully yourself: reasoning, understanding, but without experience to inform you, and often in the frustrating position of having very little power? Jones's child characters are spot on.

Something surprising about her work is that books within the same series often seem wholly unrelated to one another until one approaches the end of the novel. There are always new characters and settings. I don't know how this would go over in today's publishing industry, but Jones pulls it off beautifully, drawing you into a new world with the tantalizing promise that an already beloved fantasy universe will make itself known sooner or later.  

I encourage anyone to start on Diana Wynne Jones's novels. She has written for adults as well as children. It makes me exceedingly happy to know there are many more of Jones's books for me to read and many an hour to sit with a warm cuppa in a comfortable chair enjoying them. Is there really any other kind of happiness?  

I would also very much love to know of any other children's authors or series that readers and Project Mayhemmers have discovered in their adulthood. Please share!

Takeaways from Elizabeth Gilbert's BIG MAGIC and my favorite books on craft by Joanna Roddy

I'm forever reading books from other writers about the craft of writing. Writing is solitary in many ways. I'm always looking for coyotes of the borderlands to show my wandering writer's soul the way into the land of plenty. 

This spring I read Elizabeth Gilbert's BIG MAGIC. I never read EAT, PRAY, LOVE, but I fell utterly in love with Gilbert's TED talk on creative genius, in which she argues for the classical idea of the muse. She says that the modern concept of artistic genius is too much pressure and is silently killing off our artists through addiction, self-destruction, and despair. She offers instead the ancient idea of having a genius: a creative entity that brings inspiration to collaborate with the artist. Today we typically think of this as a muse. The artist is the servant of the muse, offering the grunt labor to bring the idea into being. As a co-collaborator, the artist is only partially responsible for the success or failure of the work.  

The video is 20 minutes long, but if you can give yourself a learning/ inspiration break today, it's worth the watch.

BIG MAGIC expands on the TED talk, and it is a rich, nurturing baptism into the good news of creative living free from fear. It may be the psychologically healthiest thing I've ever read about being an artist. A lot of writers on craft focus on all the barriers to creativity--resistance, apathy, difficulty, fear. I think this can sometimes lead to the paradigm of the tortured artist who believes that their creative work requires brutal sacrifice and torture. Gilbert reminds us that ideas want to be brought to life by artists and that our creativity chose us and is dependent on us to produce anything in the world. So why would we think it hates us and is trying to punish us? One line from BIG MAGIC I quite like on this theme is this:

“I’ve always had the sense that the muse of the tormented artist—while the artist himself is throwing temper tantrums—is sitting quietly in a corner of the studio, buffing its fingernails, patiently waiting for the guy to calm down and sober up so everyone can get back to work.”

Here are my main takeaways from the book:

• Ideas are seekers of human collaboration and we have the freedom to say yes or no to them. If you say no, someone else will get that idea and run with it. If you say yes, but don't show up to do the work, eventually the power of that idea will leave you, looking for another collaborator.
• You're never too old to begin.
• Take the long view of failure and rejection: I plan to do this for the rest of my life. Many years of rejection is only short-term. 
• Do not pressure your creative work to succeed or provide for you financially. That's the quickest way to kill it off. You provide for both yourself and your creative work. (Don't quit your day job.)
• Stop complaining. Complaining about your creative life is bad juju and ideas will not want to collaborate with you. Treat your work with respect, approach it with love, and see how that alters your experience of doing the work.
• Create because you love to do it. There may be no other reward.
• Your work is not your baby. Cut, change, adapt if you must. Your creative power is precious, but your projects will never find their way in the world if you feel that you must forever hover over them protectively. 
•  You are unlikely to get the outcome in the world that you desire from your work. Not that you will never succeed. But even success takes longer and comes in unexpected ways. You cannot control the outcome. Create anyway.
• Put fierce trust in the love you bear for your creativity, trust for which the qualifiers of success or failure effectively lose their meaning.

This mantra toward the end of the book brought me to tears:

"Fierce trust asks you to stand strong within this truth: You are worthy, dear one, regardless of the outcome. You will keep making your work, regardless of the outcome. You will keep sharing your work, regardless of the outcome. You were born to create, regardless of the outcome. And you will never lose trust in the creative process, even when you don't understand the outcome."

I can't recommend this book more. It's a gem, unlike anything in its class.

Here are a list of other books I've enjoyed as creative inspiration and writing craft:

On Writing, Stephen King: The most practical and helpful book on writing and craft I've read. The memoir portion feels erroneous to the reader looking for writing advice, until you realize it's integral. Try not to feel as though you too must produce 2000 words a day after reading it. 

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott: This was the first book of writing advice I ever read. It's hilarious and honest and focuses on getting past our own hang-ups in order to do the work. 

Walking on Water, Madeleine L’Engle: A Christian spiritual reflection on writing by the author of A WRINKLE IN TIME. Deep and moving, abstract but inspiring. 

The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron: A twelve week creative recovery workbook, not unlike a twelve step program. Great for digging deep into oneself and mining out the reasons for blockage and reconnecting with your creative dreams.

Reflections on the Magic of Writing, Diana Wynne Jones: A hodge-podge of lectures and essays by the great children's fantasy writer who studied under Lewis and Tolkein at Oxford and authored many books, including HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE. The latest edition has an introduction by Neil Gaiman. 

The Writing Life, Annie Dillard: A soulful memoir by the Pulitzer Prize winning Dillard, reflecting on the experience of her own writing life. 

Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg: This is a book filled with practical exercises and the exhortation to keep the pen moving! A huge proponent of free writing, Goldberg, a Zen Buddhist, approaches writing as a practice, much like yoga or meditation.

Question for you: What are your favorite books of writing advice? (I'm always adding to my reading list.) If you've read BIG MAGIC, what was your number one takeaway?

The Enneagram for character development by Joanna Roddy

I have to confess, I put little stock in personality tests. They seem too generic, like magazine horoscopes that, with a little finagling, could apply to anyone. The tests are fun to take, but they're more like acceptable vanity exercises. Only the saints and psychologists among us really dig into understanding types other than their own. At best we say: "Oh you're an INFJ? I'm an ENFJ!" and remark on our shared traits and the differences between introverts and extroverts. 

But recently a psychologist friend introduced me to a personality system she uses in her practice, and I have found it incredibly helpful, both personally and in my relationships. Recently I decided to use it in my writing as well. I was having a hard time making certain characters distinct and clear. Using this system, two-dimensional characters suddenly popped up off the page. I began to understand what motivated them, how they would react in situations, what they might say (or not say), what vice they might gravitate toward, and what core virtue would emerge under the right circumstances. In short, it was character development magic. 

The Enneagram:

The personality typing system is called the Enneagram, and it articulates nine personality types that are interrelated. In an extremely condensed form, here are the nine types and their core motivations:

Type 1: The Reformer/ Perfectionist. "I must be/ do right."

Type 2: The Helper/ Giver. "I must help others."

Type 3: The Achiever/ Motivator/ Performer. "I must succeed."

Type 4: The Individualist/ Artist/ Romantic. "I must be unique."

Type 5: The Observer/ Investigator/ Thinker. "I must understand the world around me."

Type 6: The Loyalist/ Skeptic. "I must be secure."

Type 7: The Enthusiast/ Adventurer. "I must seek new experiences."

Type 8: The Challenger/ Leader. "I must be in control."

Type 9: The Peacemaker/ Mediator. "I must have/make peace."

Each personality type perceives these motivations as the means for them to be safe, to have meaning in their lives, or to be loved.

There are a lot more details to each type, like key fears and desires, and basic virtues and vices. Check out this cheat sheet from Wikipedia (click to enlarge):

Integration/ Disintegration:

What I like about the Enneagram is its nuance and complexity. We all know that a healthy or growing person and an unhealthy or stressed person behave in totally different ways, even if they share personality traits. The Enneagram predicts what traits emerge under stress and during personal growth.  Every Enneagram type uniquely integrates to the healthiest characteristics of another type and disintegrates to the least healthy behaviors of a different type.

For example, threes integrate to a six and disintegrate to a nine. Achieving threes can be self-focused, but with maturity, they look more like other-focused healthy sixes. Threes can be driven, but under stress they begin to look like unhealthy nines: disengaged and apathetic.

Wings:

Enneagram types can have an even greater degree of complexity by demonstrating traits from one of the numbers adjacent to them, which are called wings. The wing augments the primary personality. So you can have an observant five with an artistic four wing, which might produce a professorial art school type, or an achieving three with a helpful two wing might be an front-person for a non-profit organization. These are gross generalizations, but I find the flexibility of wings accounts for a wide array of personality manifestations, even among people who share a primary type. It keeps it all from becoming too canned and stereotyped, but not so general as to become meaningless. 

In Writing:

The Enneagram goes much farther and deeper than this crash course, and those who are interested could spend a lot of time learning about it. I think most of us instinctively pick up on others' personalities, especially writerly types who want to write believable characters. If people were clocks, we immediately perceive the difference between a cuckoo clock, a grandfather clock, a digital clock and an alarm clock. We get, on a basic level, what makes them tick. The Enneagram, then, is effectively like a screwdriver that removes the backing so we can see the actual mechanics at work. 

The most helpful aspect of the Enneagram for me is the basic fears and desires. It helps me to know how a character is going to react to the sticky situations I put them in. For example, one of my characters is an adventurous seven. When his parents want him to go into the military for a war he doesn't agree with, his response is to hop a plane out of the country. A seven's core fear is being trapped or in pain and their spontaneity can make them impulsive, so this response makes sense for him, drastic though it may seem. Another of my characters is a loyal six. A six's basic fear is making the wrong decision. They need guidance to orient themselves. In this situation, my six character would have struggled with living up to his parents' expectations. In fear of making the wrong decision for himself, he probably would have enlisted despite his own reservations. And that would have made for an entirely different plot.

A Warning: 

Fully fledged characters will still surprise us. They should never act against their own character, but they might step out of the box that a personality type wants to put them in. A challenger-leader eight who tends toward domineering might unexpectedly resist the urge to step into an argument, which would mean something substantial for that character. Perhaps they are moving in their direction of integration to look like a helping two, or they've newly realized that winning a fight is less effective than leading by example. This flexibility is how we avoid stereotypes and wooden characters. I like that the Enneagram allows for the changes brought on by maturing or devolving or blending a couple of personality types together. But once these type of tools have helped you build your writing, like scaffolding, they should fall away and let the real, living world on the page play itself out as it must. Using the Enneagram as a tool, not as a law, is the best way. 

Resources:

Start with the Enneagram Institute site and the Enneagram of Personality Wikipedia page. From there, there are lots of books, sites, and articles available to learn more about the Enneagram. And here's a link the the long version of the test if you want to find out what Enneagram type you are and to a shorter version and another type of short test. The last one is my favorite. I apologize in advance for the productive time you will inevitably lose on those tests, but if it gets you to an understanding of good character building, then I think you don't have to feel too guilty about it. 

Please leave a comment if you've used the Enneagram or other personality typing for character building! I'd love to hear your insights. And here's something I'm deeply curious to know: do the main characters you write have the same personality type as you do? Happy writing!

Beverly Cleary at 100: 5 Things I've Learned about Compelling Characters from Ramona Quimby

Tomorrow is Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday. In celebration, I'm sharing a post that first published in 2011. Three cheers for the wonderful Ms. Cleary!

I loved the Ramona books when I was a girl, but if it's possible, I love them even more as an adult. Re-reading these books has taught me a lot about writing compelling characters. Here are a few things I've learned from Ramona Quimby:

• Make them real: Ramona feels like a real pesky kid sister; she's as familiar as our own siblings or neighbors.

• Make them realer than real: Ramona is a bigger-than-life character, the type that does and says things beyond the regular, everyday world. Somehow, this over-the-top aspect of her character is what makes her seem most like an actual kid: the more unique and outrageous she acts, the more she reminds us of real life.

• Make them sympathetic: It would have been easy for Beverly Cleary to create a character whose flaws made her unattractive, like good ol' Bugs Meany in the Encyclopedia Brown books (has there ever been a better mid-grade villian's name, by the way?). But those flaws are precisely why we love Ramona -- we feel for her in the midst of her problems because we see our own selves in her experiences.

• Make them logical: Part of Ramona's appeal is the way she makes sense of the world: the time she walks to school at 25 after the hour (because she was supposed to leave her house at the quarter hour), the time she is convinced her teacher is going to give her a gift because she tells her to sit for the present. Even when she's wrong we can relate to her logic because we're seeing her world through her young eyes.

• Show them respect: The thing that has really struck me as an adult re-visiting the Ramona books is the compassion Beverly Cleary has for her character. Though she doesn't shy away from awkward moments, there is a tenderness in the way Cleary deals with Ramona when she throws up in class, when she kicks her bedroom walls in anger, when she names her doll the most beautiful name she can think of -- Chevrolet. 

These books have reminded me what it was like to be a child. They've nudged me to be more patient with my own children. They've encouraged me to treat my characters with compassion. 

Thank you, Beverly Cleary, for creating such a memorable, remarkable character. My writing -- and living -- are better for it.

Resistance by Joanna Roddy

"Sea captain in storm," illustration by N.C. Wyeth from The Rakish Brigantine

We all know that feeling.

The early morning alarm has gone off...
...or we've just got the kids out the door for school...
...or we've finally made it to our favorite coffee shop and sat down with our favorite cup of warm...
...or we've rented an actual cabin and have finally arrived and settled in...

...and now we're supposed to sit down and write. 

Because we carved out the time and the space and we planned to do it and here we are. We fought tooth and nail for this time. 

But what rises to the surface is the simple mantra that destroys everything we've worked so hard for:

I don't want to. 

Which materializes in the form of checking Facebook, or email, or twitter, just one last time before really getting down to it... 
...or getting a snack...
...or turning off the alarm and promising ourselves we'll put in some time later in the day...
...or wondering what ever made us think renting a cabin would be a good idea and reaching for the nearest book about writing...
...or starting a sewing/cooking/building/organizing/art/charity/garden project that's been lying dormant for months...
...or any number of seemingly worthy distractions that all sound reasonable, but come from the same source: 

Resistance. 

Resistance is almost always there. It's the part of you that wants entertainment, or distraction, or rest instead of doing the hard work required to sit there and put words on the page. Resistance keeps kids from doing their chores, adults from keeping their New Year's resolutions, and dieters from keeping off the weight. And Resistance keeps writers from writing, and creatives from creating.

I've been thinking about Resistance lately because Steven Pressfield in his books DO THE WORK and THE WAR OF ART talks a lot about it. His books read like missives from the front lines, like letters back East from Clint Eastwood on the frontier of the wild west. It's gritty, and real, and wise in the way that old sea captains are wise about the sea, or a hunter is wise about the wolf. Pressfield can describe Resistance with the intimacy of an opponent and the accuracy of a scholar.

Ok, so it's there. But what do you DO about it?

Pressfield puts a lot of stock in outwitting, outmaneuvering, and outlasting Resistance and he has some very salient things to say about how to deal with it. He gets it.

But I've been thinking about how I deal with resistance and I've decided that the most powerful tool I have is the truth. Not my wits or my stubbornness or my blind faith. 

Because once you realize that Resistance exists, and it borrows your voice, and your doubts, and your insecurities, and your vices, and it puts them on like a costume to pretend to be you and manipulate you away from doing the work, the thing that can stop it mid-stride is just this:

That isn't me. 

Because, actually, I do want to do this. I do want to write the book. I just do. And all that other stuff that's telling me how hard it is: that's not me. 

The dance with Resistance is different every day, but when I remember that it's outside of me, and stand on the truth of who I am and what I want, I stop confusing Resistance's voice with my own. And I'm free. 

And I don't have to be a warrior most of the time. I can just be me. 

Write on, writers. You actually do want to do the work. Really, you do.

On timed writes, word counts, and NaNoWriMo by Joanna Roddy

Image Courtesy: National Novel Writing Month

You will never see me running a marathon. Because, twenty-six miles. I mean, really? How about three? That’s extreme enough for me and I know I’ll be able to do it again two days later. For that matter, I'd be happier to do a yoga class or go on a jolly good walk. I may have a bum hip, but marathoning doesn’t appeal to my personality either. I like to savor things. I like to enjoy the task at hand and be ready for the next round. I like a challenge, but not killing myself in the process. In other words, I'll push myself, but my end-game is sustainability.

So National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is just around the corner and it's always struck me as a marathon-like task--an extreme feat of authorial athletics. I have utilized many strategies to get my bum in the chair to write over the years, but having a 50,000 word novel drafted in thirty days as my carrot incentive just seems a little over-the-top to me.

But this year I have to admit, I’m intrigued. All the women in my critique group have decided to do it. I'm sitting at the beginning of two big ideas. And I'm craving more self-discipline and the sacred space of those early mornings at the page.

Ok, but word counts? I discovered earlier this year that they just don't work for me at the drafting stage. I need to respect the work I'm doing in terms of quality in order to trust it to lead me forward and that just takes longer for me. It's a first draft, so I'm not going to nit-pick, but I need to feel I'm doing my best given what I know. I find my daily word count interesting, but it can't be my target because I need to find the path, and sometimes it's really hard to see. I could just take off through the underbrush in what I think is the right direction, but I don't want to find myself at the bottom of a ravine with no way out. No. There's a road under the ivy and I need to find my way along it, step by step.

So I want to do NaNoWriMo, but the word count thing is a hang-up for me. The rules might be too rigid, as Chuck Wendig suggests in his frank and hilarious post 25 Things You Should Know About NaNoWriMo, (warning: coarse language and vulgarity, if that's not your thing). Wendig argues that you are the only one this really matters to, so make it your own. Hang the rules.

I was chatting about it with a writer friend for whom word count goals also don't work. Except for him they don't work at all, ever, where for me, I thrive (and I mean THRIVE) on them in the re-write stage. And together we came to this conclusion: time goals. A general benchmark seems to be two-three hours for the requisite 1666 words per day in the NaNoWriMo model. And I decided that's going to be MY version of NaNoWriMo. Time with the work. At least two hours a day.

Image courtesy: The Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo

One of my favorite timed writing approaches is the Pomodoro Technique. It's deucedly simple: set a timer, work for twenty-five minutes, take a five minute break, repeat. Often the first set is painful to get through, but by the second or third, I want to skip my breaks because I'm on a roll. It works!

So I guess I'm doing my own version of NaNoWriMo. JoNoWriMo, I'll call it. I hope my liberality with the rules doesn't offend the hardcore Wrimoes, but we all have to find our own stride in this writing life and it should be celebrated in whatever form it takes, right? If I end up in December with 50K+ words, great. If not (and I suspect I won't), I think I'll still have won, virtual trophy or no. 

Question for you: Is anyone else planning to do NaNoWriMo this year? Any advice from former Wrimoes? 

And I’d also love to hear more from you about the word count/ timed writing debate. What works best for you and why? 

Whatever your November brings, may we all work well and grow in our craft. Cheers to that!

Your own unprovable truth, by Joanna Roddy

Is it any good?

A few years ago I went to a writing conference and the most memorable breakout session was taught by Bill Kenower from Author Magazine, who interviews tons of authors about their writing process. He chose a clip from an interview with Louis Sachar to share with us. (It begins at minute 3:50 in the video below.)



Sachar describes dining with Judy Bloom after finishing his most recent book and asking her "Do you wonder after you finish a book if it's just any good at all?" And she said to him,

"Every single book."

Judy Blume and Louis Sachar?! These icons of children's literature who win award after award for their books? They don't know if what they've written is any good--every time!

Sachar goes on to say, "You forget--once everyone starts reading the book and liking it and you get the affirmation--you forget that, Oh yeah, I worried about that book too. And with every single book I've written, without exception, there's always a point in the middle where Oh, this book's totally wrong. I've gone this far, I might as well finish it, but..." (shakes his head).

...said the winner of the National Book Award and the Newbery Medal.

So what's up with that?

In Kenower's lecture, he offered a reason for this. He said it's the same reason his math whiz sister took one try at writing fiction and came back and told him she hated it and would never try writing again. Why?

THERE IS NO RIGHT ANSWER.

Kenower said, "There is no formula and there is no right answer. That is the difficulty and the beauty of being a writer. We write to share our own version of the right answer. Our own unprovable truth. In writing (as author) you discover your authority."

I love this. You write to find out your truth, to say what only you can say in this world. And that has no foolproof template to follow. Only you can find the way through. Much like the young heroes of our stories.

A related thought that Sachar shares earlier in the interview is that he doesn't talk about what he's writing with anyone: "The story was just inside me and nowhere else, and day after day after day living with this story--it's like it's exploding inside me, but I wouldn't let it out except by writing. I think if I talked about it, it would take away that energy."

I've been thinking about this idea a lot this past year in my own writing life. I used to be a planner and I thought I couldn't write without a perfect outline, without perfect vision for what lay ahead. But I've learned that my best writing is fueled by my own curiosity and a deeper trust in the work itself, which means not necessarily knowing what's going to happen when I sit down to write. I recently heard a writer say that talking about or planning out your story too much gives you the same psychological satisfaction as if you had already completed it, lessening your drive to write the story itself.

I think this approach to writing is very related to the idea of writing to discover your truth without knowing whether your right answer will resonate with anyone else. When you write without a detailed outline, it's like setting out on the road without your handkerchief ala Bilbo Baggins. You don't know where the road will lead, and in many ways you're ill-prepared. But as the adventure sweeps you up into it--something greater than you, something wild and unsubmissive to civilized strictures--you discover who you really are, and what you're really made of. Turns out Bilbo's less of Baggins and more of a Took. Turns out mild-mannered Bilbo's actually a burglar, a riddler, and a trickster. Like Bilbo, we are changed by the stories we write, revealed by them, and that's a very vulnerable place to be.

But it's your truth. Only yours. You can't be wrong. And that sets you free from the fear of being wrong. I've heard it said that all bad writing is rooted in fear. And while there is much to learn of craft, and little to gain from didacticism, I think that if we write our own unprovable truth, never knowing if the work is good or not, maybe that's what frees it to become great.

First Drafts by Joanna Roddy

 *All photos are from my writing residency last week at Fort Worden on the Washington Coast. 
  

This past week I've been holed up in a cabin working on the first draft of a new novel. I've taken writing retreats in the rewriting/editing stages of a project, but not really for drafting. I had thought that the time and space and silence would make the writing process fly by, the way it had for my previous editing efforts, but in fact I've found (surprise, surprise!) that each movement forward on a first draft is just as hard-fought, just as murky, just as slow as it is at home. I just have more time all put together to agonize over it. (Lucky me!)

In all seriousness, I am immensely grateful for this time. This is now my second time working on the first draft of a full-length fiction project and I'm learning a lot that I wanted to share with you.

1. Freedom. Now that I know what an editing process looks like for me, I'm not so hung up on perfecting every aspect of the draft. With my first novel I would get very focused on progressing through the story correctly so that I spent a lot of time hesitating, nit-picking, or completely stalled out. Now, I'm just getting the story down as it occurs to me. I do pause to think through the next sequence or to research a place I intend to use for a setting, but then I try to keep moving forward, step by step. I know that later I'll be deconstructing everything, combining, tightening and expanding, and that it will all be clear when I have the whole, finished story to work with. 

2. Trust. I've learned that the story has a life of its own through my creative subconscious, through my characters, and through themes that arise of their own free will. The only way to learn these things is to write the story down and to see what happens in the process. It's ok if I can't see too far ahead. The story will unfold before me.

3. Respect. I understand where the "crappy first draft" idea comes from and it's so necessary for people like me, who need to know that getting the thing down is more important than getting it perfect. But I also think there's a counterpoint to that idea. Because I need to respect the work I'm doing to be able to trust it. Getting it down and moving forward doesn't mean (for me, at least), rushing it or settling. I need to be fully immersed in the story and I can't do that if I feel like my main goal is just amassing words. I need to simply do my best with what I know right now. But I also can accept the imperfection, trusting that when I know more, I'll do even better on later drafts.

My visual reward chart: 1 sticker = 1000 words

4. Grace. I've tried to sit down and pound out 2000 words before lunch like Stephen King does every day. I've tried to write 5000 words in a day like Laini Taylor did on a retreat she blogged about. What I'm learning is that I'm me and my success can only be measured in my own terms. In five full retreat days so far I've written just under 10,000 words and doubled the size of my manuscript from when I arrived. It's not the 17,000 words in three days I accomplished a year ago during a rewrite, but for a first draft, I'm realizing this is a huge success for me. As long as I keep moving forward, despite the not knowing, despite the inner-resistance, despite the challenge, I'm winning.

I'd SO love to hear what's been helpful for others in the first draft stages. I'm a sponge right now for any good advice and I love hearing other people's processes. Please share! 

Oh, and in solidarity with Laini Taylor, apparently she just took a first draft writing retreat too! Her advice, as always, is golden.