Marion Dane Bauer's Blog, page 35

A Gift for a 75th Birthday

Aging has been on my mind lately—passing a 75th birthday can do that to a person—though I recognize it’s not a hot topic out there in the world. Nonetheless, it’s a reality we will all deal with one day . . . if we’re lucky.

I am entering an era of last things.

I just purchased what I’ve told my partner and my family will probably be my last car. They laugh at me a bit. But the car is new, of a sturdy make, fulfills every transportation need I can imagine having, and comes with more bells and w...

This Beautiful, Blue World

Beth-Alison and me in New Zealand. (Click on images to enlarge.)

I don’t remember who it was who said it, that 90% of the pleasure of travel lies in anticipation, the other 10% in recollection. There is, I believe, much truth in that statement, but anticipation and recollection are both of great worth.

I have recently returned from a long-anticipated trip, in fact one I have been considering and setting aside for many years, to New Zealand and Australia. I have two former exchange students in t...

Working with an Editor

It’s a question I have heard many times: How, folks ask, can an editor tell you what to do? It’s your story, after all. Surely you know better than anyone else what it needs!

And, of course, it is my story, and before an editor ever sees it I’ve invested everything in it that I have to give. Or at least I think I have. But I’ve learned to equate what an editor brings to my story with what a vocal coach does for a singer. She stands outside my piece and hears/sees it whole. Especially, she sees...

On Receiving Criticism

Last week I discussed the art of giving manuscript critiques, especially in workshops. I had two basic suggestions: first, always start off with a statement about what you like in the manuscript you are discussing, and second, present the issues you see, but don’t intrude on the author’s work by trying to fix them.

This week I’m going to talk about the art of receiving workshop criticism.

The first thing to remember when you walk into a workshop is that the piece you are bringing is yours. Don’...

What Makes a Good Critique?

Recently, a former student who had once been part of an ongoing workshop I ran asked if I still had the list of recommendations for critiquing manuscripts that I used to give out. I’m so far from having a copy of the list of suggestions that I had forgotten it ever existed. But her request got me to thinking, and so I’m going to try to resurrect it, if in somewhat abbreviated form.

My suggestions for giving critiques boil down to two:

First, always begin your comments by naming something about...

The Descending Side of the Bell Curve

Some thirty years ago I read an article which stated with firm conviction that the peak of short story writers’ careers comes in their thirties, the peak of novelists’ careers in their forties. Since I was past forty and just getting launched—I was 38 when my first novel for young people was published—I was appalled. Until that moment I had always envisioned my career as an ever-ascending line, not the bell curve they described in the article. After all, I would certainly gain in proficiency...

The Power of Routine

I love routine. Most days I climb out of bed in the morning knowing exactly what I’m going to do: listen to a dharma talk while doing Pilates; groom Dawn, my little cavalier King Charles spaniel; shower and dress; prepare and eat breakfast; walk Dawn and Sadie, my partner’s Sheltie; settle in to write.

After that my days veer in different directions, but usually that’s the way they begin.

It’s a privileged routine. I recognize that. I don’t have to go to another job to support myself and a fami...

In the Business of Enlarging Hearts

Franz Kafka said, “I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound or stab us. If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for? . . . we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”

Many of us have had that kind of sadness...

Creating Characters

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to what it takes to create characters. How do we writers manufacture the illusion of living human beings through words on the page? And I use that word, illusion, advisedly. It’s vital to remember that what we are doing when we write fiction is creating illusion, all of it, from the stories we make up—even if bits are borrowed from life—to the people who populate them. It’s not life; it’s an imitation of life.

I’m caught in this internal monologue right...

Making Sure I’m Okay

“When I’m asked what I hope people get out of my work, I always feel that it’s kind of a backwards question. I never really know what to say, because the real question should be, ‘What do I hope to get out of my work?’ and the answer is that I just want to check with everybody else to make sure I’m still okay.”

This from Jon Klassen in his Caldecott Medal acceptance speech for This is Not My Hat.

Every time I hear an artist in a field different from mine make a statement about his or her creati...