Good advice

Like Linda Sue, I also believe in learning from the best.

In this instance, Linda Sue Park together with Lois Lowry.
That's some serious writing firepower there!

Years ago, I took a short workshop with Linda Sue and she explained the way she begins a novel.

This link is from 2000.

I wonder if it still holds true for her process. I bet it does.

One of my favorite parts of this advice:

What I like best about Ms. Lowry's outline is that there is NO step labeled “Theme.” I think she believes as I do: That theme should grow out of the character and the story. If a writer begins with theme, the story is likely to be heavy-handed and messagey ... the kind of book kids run away from. And I'm running right beside them!

(from my desk, my inspiration for today...)

When Enough is Enough

I have some gems in my files. Had I not spent the summer slowly clearing away the decidedly unnecessary piles of paper, I'd never have found them.

I'm copying this and pasting it in front of every writing spot I ever put myself in.

From THE WRITER, April 1989
(and no, I have not been writing that long but I have been a fan of Lois Lowry's forever)

Knowing when to stop is one of the toughest tasks a writer faces. 

Is there a rule that one can follow? Probably not. But there is, I think, a test against which the writer can measure his ending, his stopping place.

When something more is going to take place, but the characters have been so fully drawn, and the preceding events so carefully shaped that the reader, on reflection, knows what more will happen, and is satisfied by it, then the book ends.
Lois Lowry.  Pure genius.


An earlier post about ENDINGS, with examples from my favorite books:
http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-very-end.html

And a few thoughts about my own manuscript's ending words:
http://ascattergood.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-cautionary-tale-and-writing-tip.html

Lois Lowry's Blog

How did I not know about this? I love her books and her blog is like having a funny conversation with a friend. Click here to see what I mean. And to see a great view from the window of her NYC hotel!