The workshop was SEEING INTO YOUR STORY.
I have an entire legal pad filled with notes.
Obviously, my story needed a whole lot of seeing into.
But some of the notes reflect exactly the same things my now editor, Andrea Pinkney, told me when I began revising THE WAY TO STAY IN DESTINY.
Which, by the way, was what I worked on during that long weekend in Honesdale with Carolyn.
Back when I barely had a rough draft.
The title was SIXTEEN RULES FOR LIVING AT THE REST EASY.
And the main character's name was Shelton. (now Theo)
And his uncle's name was Chester. (now Raymond)
I had no clue what the time period was though I thought it was the present.
Nope.
The baseball player the kids loved was Mickey Mantle. (now Henry Aaron)
Don't even ask.
Some of the advice Carolyn gave me.
1. Make a bigger deal of the piano scenes.
2. Shelton doesn't have to be quite as sad if his parents died a long time ago and he's been living in a happy situation ever since.
Some of the excellent, quick tips I wrote, filling my entire legal pad.
1. If possible, have characters already knowing each other. Introductions are difficult.
2. Re: PACING. Err on the side of brevity. You can always add. But your potential editor or agent may get bogged down.
Some of the exercises we did (the ones I liked. I'm not crazy about all writing exercises...):
Who were the voices that made you laugh in your childhood, or in the present?
What were some of the expressions you grew up with? * (see below for answers)
I wonder how many of my writer friends have attended a Highlights Foundation Workshop?
Did you learn as much as I did?
Here we are in our class photo. All those years ago.
The beginning of a great journey that thankfully turned into a book.
Coming, January 2015.
Answer to *
1. Hotter than a depot stove.
2. That ole' peckerwood. (My childhood word's meaning is totally not what some of the current slang dictionaries say it means...)
3. If you don't behave, I'm getting a switch off that switch tree.
I wasn't blogging back in those days, but you can read about some of my Highlights writer friends HERE.
6 comments:
Love this, Augusta! I had no idea this book had such a long history. Did you start Glory before or after this one?
Thanks for sharing this. I didn't have as many notes after last fall's Whole Novel Workshop as you had from yours, but I sure did learn a lot. And it was such a wonderful group of people.
Marvelous, Augusta! So many gems here. The advice about introductions is terrific! I am realizing anew how leaping right into a scene works so much better than getting the character there!
My WIP has a character named Theo - hmmm, maybe I should change it to Shelton.
Joyce, LOL about the name. Shelton- or whatever his various names were- just didn't work for me.
One of my favorite "name" stories comes from Cynthia Lord. When she needs a name for a supporting character, she pulls up the Honor Roll list from the local paper of where she's setting her story and picks a real person. Maybe she varies it a little. And I suspect it's a name of a character who's lovable!
Caroline- Poor Glory languished in a bottom drawer for a while. And that's when I started "Destiny." Hmm. Just not realized I know my two books as Destiny and Glory. There must be a message somewhere!
Correction: Just NOW realized.
:)
"Err on the side of brevity." I like that. I heard so many people talk about the 'economy of words' when I attended my first SCBWI conference back in Feb. Both are sage pieces of advice.
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