THE WRITING PROCESS BLOG TOUR

WRITING PROCESS BLOG TOUR
There’s a movement afoot in the writing community.  It’s called the Writing Process Blog Tour and it’s an opportunity for writers to share their thoughts on the writing process. One writer answers four questions about her process and then tags two writer friends to answer the same four questions the following week.  Bethany Hegedus tagged me and I’m grateful for the opportunity to pause and reflect.  Sometimes you can learn a thing or two if you stop and think about what you’re doing. 
Bethany and I were classmates in the Class of 2005 at Vermont College.  I’m thrilled to see her amazing book GRANDFATHER GANDHI out in the world.  It deserves every bit of buzz and praise it is receiving. She’s a wonderful editor and teacher, as well as a gifted writer, so it’s appropriate that I should be prompted to reflect on craft by her.  If you would like to read Bethany’s answers to these questions, you can find them here .
And now, on with the tour . . . .
What am I currently working on?
I always have several projects going at once.  It’s nice to have an alternate project to turn to when you get stuck.  At the moment, I have a full draft of 2 realistic middle grade novels.  They are in various stages of revision, but each time I go back to them, I recognize there are issues I have yet to resolve. (e.g., see above – “when you get stuck”)  I also have the first 40 pages of a new middle grade novel which has elements of fantasy and magic.  It’s where my heart is at the moment. I can’t say too much about it, because talking about a project takes all the energy out of it for me.  I need to save every crumb of creative mojo for the work itself, at least in the early stages.  After the fourth or fifth draft, I may be willing to share. For now, I look forward to settling into my favorite red chair and slowly pushing forward, one faltering step at a time. 

How does my work differ from others of its genre?I suppose every writer hopes that she has a voice which distinguishes her work from that of other writers.  People tell me that I tend to tell stories with a  lot of heart.  If my work has one characteristic, I would be happy for that to be what it is.  I gravitate toward books with deeply flawed, but sympathetic characters, Richard Russo’s novels, for example.  I love Sully in Nobody’s Fool . More recently, I loved the title character of Gabrielle Zevin’s latest novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikery . 
Place is also an important element of a story for me.  I can’t write the book until I have a clear picture of details of the setting.  I need to know about the way the air smells, what kind of trees are growing in people’s yards, what kind of birdsong they hear when they wake up in the morning.  I need these things to help me find the right tone and rhythm.  My latest book, for example, is set in a small town in the Tidewater area of Virginia.  I like setting stories in small towns, perhaps because that is the sort of place I have lived most of my life.  Every small town has its own unique “characters,” oddballs or eccentrics who are beloved and tolerated by their friends and neighbors alike.  Those are the sorts of characters I like to discover inhabiting my novels and I enjoy meeting them in the works of other writers.
Sound and rhythm are important to me too.  That’s why it was such a joy to write about two musicians as I did in PassingThe Music Down .  I love it when the rhythm of the prose somehow matches the subject of the book.  That opportunity doesn’t present itself very often, but when it does, it’s great fun to work toward something that organic.
Why do I write what I write?Usually, when I am asked this question, it is intended as a “polite” version of “when are you going to write for grown-ups?”  With the exception of Passing The Music Down, which was based on two real musicians, my stories start with a fictional character whose voice comes into my head.  At the beginning, I do more listening than writing. I try to find the dreamspace in my mind where the voice originates.  Unfortunately, there are usually just enough snippets of conversation or interior monologue to ignite my curiosity.  Nothing more.  Then the work begins.  I am compelled to search for the rest of the story. There are lots of false turns along the way.  But, I don’t know how to avoid that.
I think those kinds of slender beginnings are really the nugget of emotional truth which is intended to be at the core of the book.  I suppose if you want to consider the psychology of this, it probably springs from something in my own life that I am wrestling with.  One of my advisors at Vermont College, Jane Resh Thomas, famously said that writers are always “writing behind their backs,” meaning that, if you look beneath the surface of the story you’re working on, you will discover that you are secretly struggling with some issue from your own life.  We tell stories in order to make sense out of life.  It’s as simple as that.  The odd thing is, we may not be aware that we're doing it.  
Even if the story you’re writing seems to be about someone else’s problem, your protagonist is probably struggling with an emotional issue that is deeply concerning to you as well.  If I am faithful to my initial nugget of truth, I am likely to discover a good story.  If I try to force a plot on that initial vulnerable voice, the story probably won’t work. 
That’s about as much as I understand about the process.  There is a fair amount of mystery to it and I’m happy to “let the mystery be,” as Iris DeMent sings. 

I believe stories are a gift from the universe.  They enable us to process tragedy and misfortune.  They help us stay connected to the rest of humanity, even when our personal histories might cause us to feel we do not belong.  Without them, we become less human. 
How does my individual writing process work? To be honest, I don’t fully understand it myself, except that it works best when there is not too much going on in my life.  I need lots of time to daydream, to let my mind drift and mull over connections between things.  It’s been difficult lately because my husband and I are moving from West Virginia to Virginia.  It’s much better if I can write at least a little bit every day.  My mind can stay rooted in the world of my story.  As it is, I try to make use of my time on the road by mulling over story ideas and figuring out what my characters really want.
With middle grade fiction, I normally have the beginning of a story.  There’s a character and I know exactly what’s happening to him or her for about 30 pages.  Then the well runs dry for a while.  I can imagine the next scene, but it often feels forced.  I have to keep sitting down at the computer and trying, until finally the creative side of my brain becomes unjammed and the story picks up where I left off.  The middle is the hardest part for me.  By the time I get there, I usually know how the book will end and it’s a relief to work on the final third of the book.  As may be obvious from what I’ve described, plot is the hardest part for me.  I really struggle with it.
I’ve tagged Madelyn Rosenberg and Kelly Bennett to follow me on this Writing Process Blog Tour.            A former newspaper reporter, Madelyn Rosenberg is a now a freelance writer in Arlington, Va. Her books for children include Canary in the Coal Mine, Happy Birthday, Tree and The Schmutzy Family. along with Dream Boy (coauthored by Mary Crocket, July 2014), How to Behave at a Tea Party (September 2014) and Nanny X (October 2014). She coaches rec soccer and serves as advisor for an elementary school newspaper. She has learned on school visits that if a kindergartener is waving her hand wildly, it may mean she has a question, but more likely it means she has to go to the bathroom.  Read more about her at www.madelynrosenberg.com
Kelly Bennett is an award winning author of books for children—mostly picture books. Her stories, recently Vampire Baby (Candlewick Press, 2013), Not Norman: A Goldfish Story, One Day I Went Rambling, Dad and Pop, Your Daddy Was Just Like You and Your Mommy Was Just Like You, and Dance, Y’all, Dance celebrate imagination, families, friends, pets… all that goes into being a kid!  Visit her at www.kellybennett.com. Watch the VAMPIRE BABY Book Trailer here!