Writing Lessons From Old Movies

By Hazel Buys

Remember that scene in CASABLANCA when the piano player in Rick’s Cafe turns to look at Rick before playing the accompaniment to the Marseillaise, the French national anthem? Rick gives an almost imperceptible nod. Rick’s nod was a small movement, but it set the course for the rest of the movie. Up until then we weren’t quite sure which side, that of the French Resistance or the occupying Nazis, Rick would choose. And he had to choose. In that time and place there was no truly neutral position available.

A tiny gesture, a short phrase: these can have huge power in your writing. I recently had the pleasure of reviewing a fellow writer’s story that has a similar turning point. The protagonist experiences unsolvable problems, confusion, angst, then more confusion and angst. Just at the perfect moment, a two word sentence describing a very small action shows us the answer. The rest of the story flowed from that deceptively subtle and very brief phrase. 

I’ve read that the pivotal scene described above was an afterthought. The scene was actually a call back to Humphrey Bogart who thought he’d finished shooting the film. No other actors were needed. Bogart stood alone on the set, in the shadows at the edge of the room and nodded. The scene was cut into the film at the proper place and history was made.

Do you have history making potential in your story that is waiting for you to discover just the right words to put in exactly the right place? Work to uncover that moment and your writing will leap ahead.

Looking in on RCW

By Hazel Buys 
It goes without saying, the words you choose, their power, subtlety, variety and nuance will elevate your writing or drop-kick it into ho-hum, or worse. At our recent critique meeting, the members of the RCW were reminded that sometimes we don’t consider seriously enough each and every word we write. And that can make a big difference to the success of our writing.

Case in point: the author of one submission asked if the time period suggested was clear (it was not set in the here and now). Each of us suggested a time frame for the story based on clues in the narrative. We all got it exactly right.

What was that magic? Carefully placed clues and descriptive words pointed directly to the time frame the author meant to convey.

Similarly, making precise word choices plays an important role in making a story’s setting, environment and social milieu clear. For example, can the reader tell if a story is set in the deep south, the northeast or in a village bordering Mexico just from the vocabulary used? That should be a ‘yes.’

The group also revisited the importance of hooking the reader right away, especially the young adult reader. We discussed the ingredients of a successful hook. What grabs a reader from the first word?

Those of us who write picture books talked about how to make abstract concepts concrete. This is especially important when writing for the very young. If a character is loyal, how does the author show this quality without saying so?

What are your thoughts? What comments would you have made?

Book Review

by Hazel Buys

THE SLEEPWALKERS

Text and Illustrations by Viviane Schwarz

In this graphic novel, a child calls a champion to vanquish monsters under the bed and dreams so bad sleep won’t come, by putting a letter under her pillow. A dog and two sheep arrive who spirit the dreamer away to a safe house where a third sheep waits. The sheep and dog give the dreamer a strategy to use the next time the nightmare comes, giving her control of the dream. The sheep, however, are ready to retire so they create three apprentices whom they train to take their places. The apprentices must learn to work together to conquer their own fears before they can take on the work of the sleepwalkers. The comic book format uses a loosely drawn and subtly colored illustration style to seamlessly blend images and words. The narrative operates successfully on several levels as the sleepwalkers demonstrate how to conquer fears in dreams and in life. Visual references to the power of writing as a coping mechanism (one of the apprentices is a pen nib on a bird body), the affirmation of putting on a brave front (the bear apprentice creates a mask that helps him feel powerful) along with the strategy of turning a monster into an object of ridicule, create a faceted approach to conquering bad dreams and monsters that children will relate to. The hint at the end of the book that the sleepwalkers are as old as human history is a deft, delightful finish to the story. (Candlewick Press, 2013, ISBN: 978-0-7636-6230-1).

And The Winner Is.......!

By Hazel Buys
 

On March 5^th, a year of planning, promoting, writing and reading came to a celebrated conclusion. Richmond Children’s Writers wrapped up their first-ever writing competition for 3^rd through 8^th graders in Chesterfield County with an awards ceremony.

 Brian Rock emceed the event with wit and enthusiasm. He introduced the finalists for each grade level and also introduced our fearless leader, Lana Krumwiede, who gave opening remarks.

 After finalists for each grade level were recognized, Brian announced the winner for each grade.  The following students received awards for Best Entry for their grade levels:

   

      3rd - Bruce Yanovitch – Winterpock Elementary

      4th - Matthew Klausner – Greenfield Elementary
      5th - Katelyn Domke – Greenfield Elementary
      6th - Talyah Rawls – Midlothian Middle School
      7th - Rachel Bybee – Robious Middle School
      8th - Megan Lee – Mantoaca Middle School

 Bird Cox, Co-Director of Richmond Young Writers, presented RYW’s generous donation, a grand prize scholarship to one of the Richmond Young Writers week-long summer camps.

An imaginary drum roll announced the grand prize winner, Rachel Bybee, for her story, JUST OVER THE MOUNTAIN.

 After the ceremony, everyone enjoyed cupcakes and punch and talked about the incredible level of talent and creativity in the submissions.

Well done, everyone!!!

Dinner and Perseverance

The Richmond Children's Writers and friends had dinner with a visiting author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt, author of One for the Murphys. She was in Richmond doing some author visits, and we had the good fortune of spending an evening with her.

First of all, have you read One for the Murphys? If not, put it on your to-be-read pile right away. And make sure you have tissues handy. One for the Murphys is an honest look at a girl who finds herself living with a foster family for the first time while her mother is hospitalized. Good stuff!

Lynda told us an interesting story. She had been working on her manuscript (the original title was "Clip") for many months and was beginning to feel discouraged. She had escaped to a Dunkin Donuts shop to write, and it wasn't a good writing day. She had to struggle to get the words out, and what did come out wasn't that great. She was seriously considering scrapping the whole project.

As she walked out to the parking lot on her way out, she passed a car with the a customized license plate. It read, simply, "CLIP." She took it as a sign that she needed to persevere, which is exactly what she did. Her book was published by Penguin in 2012, and it has done very well.

Every writer I know has felt like giving up. I was about two-thirds of the way through Freakling when seriously questioned the worth of going on. I had convinced myself that the story was too strange, that no one would ever "get" this story, and that it wasn't marketable. I was ready to forget about the whole thing. Then I read Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go--the strangest book I'd ever read, but I loved it. If that book is marketable, then maybe my story has a chance, I thought. It was a slim chance, but enough to keep me going. I finished writing the book and by the following year, an agent found the book not strange but original, and signed me as a client. Soon, I had a book contract for Freakling, and--interestingly enough--it was with the same publisher and the same editor as The Knife of Never Letting Go. Crazy!

Our message to you is to keep writing! Keep trying new things. If one thing doesn't work, try it a different way.  If one project stalls, put it on the back burner and start something else. Must. Keep. Writing!

To show how serious we are about this, we're hosting a giveaway. The prize is two books, both signed by the authors. The winner will receive One for the Murphys and Freakling (newly available in paperback!).  Login below to Rafflecopter and enter by following us on Twitter/Facebook and/or sharing the giveaway with your friends! (NOTE: Login information is used to verify valid entries and to contact winners. Your personal email WILL NOT be shared or stored).

Good luck and don't give up! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Looking in on RCW

Our critique group gathered for its regular meeting last week. Members submitted a variety of genres and topics which resulted in lively discussions with lots of give and take.

One discussion centered on the different issues a writer has when starting a piece compared to the process needed for polishing a finished piece.

When a writer wants to work with an idea (we’re talking fiction here) some kind of outline is developed (if that is the way the writer works). At the very least, the writer must have clear ideas about what genre, what time frame, what POV, what setting best suits a particular idea. Where will the writer start the story and where will it end? How will the plot unroll so that it is logical but also encompasses twists, turns, surprises and suspense? This part of the writing process establishes the underlying structure, or armature, of the piece.

At the other end of the process, it’s time to polish. The story has setting, plot, characters and a solid form with a beginning, middle and end. How to get it to shine?

Take a bird’s eye view. Look at the writing as a whole, keeping in mind the overall story arc while carefully reviewing word choice, pacing and consistency of action. Are the characters well served by every element in the dialogue, does the story move exactly at the right speed or does the pacing need to be tightened, loosened? Does the end follow solidly from the beginning?

The writer needs to let go of his/her ego and make decisions that serve the story best, a story that, by now should be “speaking” so strongly that it will be fairly easy to know what to keep and what to change or drop.

What about you? How do you start? How is that process different from putting on the finishing touches?

An even bigger question: how do you know when the polishing is done? That’s a question for later… stay tuned!

On the Virtues of Time and Distance

I’m revising my first novel again. Golly, did I really think it was done? How did I miss that awkward phrase, the passive voice and those run-on sentences? I’d only gone through it about a million times.

It has been a while since I looked at this novel closely. And in the intervening months, I’ve attended several conferences, had a private critique session with an editor, completed a second novel and worked deep into a third.

Heck, I’d almost forgotten what the first novel was all about.

Precisely!

I came back to my first novel with as fresh a pair of eyes as I’m likely to have. Add to that perspective, a review of the comments from my critique group (yep, better hang on to those even after you think you’ve finished with them), advice from the agent who critiqued the first ten pages of the novel, and the bits and pieces of wisdom from the presentations, panels and craft-building sessions at the conferences. I’m astonished at what I didn’t see before.

Which is exactly what time and distance do.

So, how do you space out your revisions? Are you ever done? Perhaps the real question is not ‘am I done’ but ‘is it done enough’?