Sarah Aronson's Blog, page 12

Time to reflect

Congratulations to my son, Elliot, who this week graduated from high school.

 

He’s the baby who crossed the busy street in a diaper.

He’s the boy who wanted me to read the National Geographic Book of Mammals–especially all about the musk ox.

He’s the bar mitzvah boy who thought that Sarah became the Messenger of God to save her son, Isaac. (Just like Lily Potter!)

He’s the young man who is a Presidential scholar.

He’d the student who was brave enough to move for senior year.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I am one proud mama!

Do you ever wonder….

what your teacher does after they send you a long letter with feedback?

Here is the answer: they don’t sleep!

Critiquing is a relationship. It is a bond that has to start and finish with respect and humility and trust. When I send feedback–especially the kind that invites the author to think in new ways–I trust that they know I am on their side. I trust that they know I care about their work and story and life. I trust that they won’t take my words and either make a list or throw their story away.

After I press send, I worry. I have had bad critiques. I know how dismantling they can be.

Today, I hope all my students are feeling great about their stories. I hope they have lightbulb moments. I hope they are taking notes. I hope they all know how much I respect them and their work.

When I wrote those letters, that is what I hoped for.

Daily dose of inspiration

 

Today, I also posted some thoughts on Through the Tollbooth. Check it out here!

Have a great writing day!

Know your process

Last weekend, I attended a very inspiring conference where I figured out quite a lot about my main characters. I made myself a list of notes of things I wanted to do in the manuscript. The lectures had pulled a bunch of pivotal scenes into focus. Note: I know where this manuscript will end, but I haven’t written all the way to THE END.

This led me to a debate I often have with students.

Should I go back?

Or should I write to the end and then address those scenes?

I know my tendencies. (I have many journals filled with them.) When I revise too soon, I tend to get swallowed up in scenes. I get tunnel vision. I start to obsess about voice and words, and the whole time, I’m probably making more darlings than anything else.

My gut said: write to the end. Those ideas are on paper. You can address them later.

But my heart said: what if they change the ending?

I decided to ignore my own process and go back to the beginning. (I rationalized: Really, lots of people do that!!!) I went in and looked at one of the early chapters I knew needed attention. I did what I often do: revised A LOT. This week, I think I made that scene GORGEOUS, but I also lost my momentum. (I really want to finish this draft.)

So today, I’m going to do what I should have done: I’m going back to where I left off. I’m leaving the rest of my notes for later. I’m going to get to THE END before high school graduation!

Wish me luck!

Remember: in the writing process, the more a story cooks, the better. (Doris Lessing)

 

The right words at the right time

There are many reasons to go to SCBWI conferences and retreats and classes. There is the sense of community you get from interacting with other writers. There is recognition–which is something you cannot work without. There is wine. And chocolate. And laughs.

And there is inspiration. The conversation. More than anything else I do as a writer, the conversation always gives me what I need to know.

This weekend, I got a healthy dose of all of this. I got the right advice at the right time.

This weekend, I had this feeling twice. The first, was in Franny Billingsley’s lecture. The second, was with my first advisor from VCFA, Kathi Appelt.

When I sat down (front row, center, still the good student), she looked at me and asked, “What are you doing here? You’ve heard this before.”

She was right. I had. Defiantly, I smiled. “So?”

Anyone who has heard Kathi knows that I had no need to worry I wouldn’t hear something new. I’ve learned a lot from Kathi lectures on character. It’s why I wanted to work with her. I knew there was magic in her words. I knew I needed to hear this lecture. It didn’t matter that I often teach these ideas to others. I needed to hear her say it to finally be able to apply it in my novel–the one I’m working on now.

No surprise, as she lectured, I felt like she was thinking about my novel. The pieces of the story that had felt slightly askew began to make sense. When I got home, I organized my notes. I wrote a new beginning that addresses the hole in her heart and fills the hole that was my opening.

(Thanks, Kathi!)

Have a great writing day! Invite inspiration. If you haven’t been to a class or conference in a while, open up some old notes. You might find that the right advice is right there, waiting to be taken.

Writing guarantee

 

Right????

Jump off that cliff today. Write the scene you aren’t quite ready for. Be willing to see your character as part of yourself. Give a little. You will get a lot.

Great hands on advice…on writing.

 

So about that magic ring….

 

A tough scene

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time on ONE scene. Adding to it. Playing with time. Using scene…and summary. Writing a lot of really great sentences, none of which were making the story more interesting.

This weekend, I tried storyboarding the section of the book.

And today….

I think I finally figured out what I had to include…and what I had to delete.

Then I set my watch to thirty minutes…and….

I wrote it.

For me, giving myself a time limit often helps me get back to intuitive writing. It challenges me to get something down….and under the pressure of a time limit, I stop thinking. And start DOING.

(I should do this more often.)

Do you have little tricks that help you through a tough scene? Games you play with yourself to make yourself write?

Hard Rain

 

Yesterday, I wondered what a hard rain sounded like. This morning, I got my answer. It sounds like running water. And construction. It fogs up the window. The lightning (even when the storm feels right on top of us) does not shake the house, but it does rattle our sense of safety. (At 3 in the morning, we were all up.) It also humbles. As we sat on the porch, we all commented on our own vulnerability.

Water is powerful.

Sensory details like weather can add weight to a scene. It’s not usually the first thing I think about….but when a scene is flat or not holding its own, I often look to my senses. The environment around me. This morning, the alleys were flooded. People leapt over small rivers of rushing water. Umbrellas were turned inside out.

Cover love

 

Is there anything more exciting than posting the cover of your next novel?

No. There is not.