Gail Carson Levine's Blog, page 11
April 22, 2020
Morass
Before the post, I want to let you know about the online Everywhere Book Fest on May 1st and 2nd. When an in-person festival was canceled, participating authors got together to move it online, and this is the result. Ill be on a panel on writing historical fiction with the wonderful writers Linda Sue Park and Anne Bustard for forty-five minutes on May 1st at 1:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. You can watch on Facebook or YouTube (at the festivals site, not mine). The panel will be live, so you...
April 8, 2020
Worth Reading
First off, I hope everyone is well, staying safe, and contributing to the safety of others. David and I are okay and very grateful that dogs dont get the virus.
And, letting you know, in addition to my ongoing daily Facebook reading of a chapter of Ella Enchanted, last week I did a Q&A talk, also on my Facebook page, sponsored by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and PJ Library. Its still there, so you can watch and listen. I cant say how heartened I was when both Melissa Mead and Christie V...
April 6, 2020
Announcement: Reading Ella Enchanted on Facebook
This isnt really a post, though there will be one on Wednesday as usual. I just want to let you know, in case youd like to watch or you have siblings or your own kids whod like to. Starting tomorrow at 11:00 am Eastern Daylight Time, Ill be reading a chapter a day of Ella Enchanted.
March 25, 2020
Louie, Louie
In New York State, people over seventy (Im seventy-two) or with health challenges that make them particularly vulnerable have been told to stay home. (Just saying to put you at ease, I have no health challenges.) Stay home period. Groceries are left outside our gate. Im lucky to have my husband and my dog, to keep company with, and a big backyard to walk in. And to have you guysto be able to read your questions, discussions, and the way we support each other. Please, everybody, be careful and...
March 11, 2020
Santa on the Dark Side
On December 4, 2019, Raina wrote her third question in response to my plea for questions (Thank you, Raina!): What do you do when your story turns deeper than you originally intended, and a whole bunch of complicated (not bad or problematic, justcomplicated) themes and messages crop up, and the story you find yourself writing is no longer the story you set out to tell? Im really bad at explaining this one, its more like a gut feeling. To use some examples from my work, what was supposed to be...
February 26, 2020
Repainting the Big Picture
This is Raina’s second question after my appeal for questions, written on December 4, 2019: How do you approach fixing big-picture story issues that run throughout the entire book (characterization, worldbuilding, voice, theme, etc. Especially characterization) without rewriting the whole book? To use an analogy, I’ve always thought of plot issues like working on a Lego project (everything is connected, but each scene is more or less a discrete part, and many times fixing the issue is just a...
February 12, 2020
Keeping On Keeping On
Before the post, this is a good time to mention the annual writers’ conference (in the fall) from the Rutgers University Council on Children’s Literature (RUCCL), which I think is the best, most helpful one-day writers’ conference in the–galaxy! (Alas, you have to be at least eighteen for this.) Here’s a link: https://www.ruccl.org/index.html. The FAQ page is especially helpful. Be sure to take note of the deadlines, the cost, the scholarships, and the fact that the deadline for scholarship...
January 29, 2020
The Long and the Short of It
Before I start the post, last week I was interviewed on the pretty new Good Story Podcast, mostly about my forthcoming A Ceiling Made of Eggshells but also about writing in general, because the podcast is for writers. My interview won’t be out until May, but another may interest blog people, the interview with Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo. Here’s the link: https://goodstorypodcast.com/.
Onto the post.
On December 4, 2019, Kyryiann wrote concerning NaNoWriMo, I ended with 60,000 words, yet...
January 15, 2020
First-draft Doldrums
With this post, I’m starting the thread of questions that came in after I appealed to you. Many, many thanks for the big response!
On December 4, 2019, Writing Ballerina wrote, How do you make yourself keep writing the first draft? I’m sure we can all agree that writing the first draft isn’t that pleasurable at times. How do you make yourself keep going when the story starts to drag? How do you make yourself write when you don’t want to?
Two of you chimed in, most helpfully.
...
January 1, 2020
Tra la la
Happy new year! May we all have perfect vision, actually and metaphorically, in 2020! And may we have good writing!
A year or so ago I said here that I would occasionally write something about grammar and usage. Occasionally seemed to be never again, but I have a little rant before I launch the post. Many people misuse lie and lay, so many that eventually usage will probably change. But at this point the old way is still hanging on, and I came across a poem that may make lie easy to remember....
