Toward the final pages of E.M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel, a series of lectures delivered in 1927, the great novelist says this:
Music, though it does not employ human beings, though it is governed by intricate laws, nevertheless does offer in its final expression a type of beauty which fiction might achieve in its own way. Expansion. That is the idea the novelist must cling to. Not completion. Not rounding off but opening out. When the symphony is over we feel that the notes and tunes composing it have been liberated, they have found in the rhythm of the whole their individual freedom. Cannot the novel be like that?Forster writes of the novel, and I teach memoir, but there are lessons here, of course, just as there are lessons on every page we read. We are honing our idea of good. We are turning away from that which flattens our curiosity, our desire to know.
This morning I was looking at the first pages of two award-winning debut young adult novels. One teased and seduced me; it opened a world. The varied shape and length of its sentences installed, within me, a mood, while its repeated words and sounds felt considered, not convenient. The other opening page crunched as I read it; it stuttered. Through a series of noun-verb, noun-verb declarations, it directed me to know and did not give me room to feel. Both books, as I have noted, gained the adoration of judging panels. Both have been widely read. I wonder how these two examples work upon you? Which is the book you'd like to read? Which is the one you feel you'd learn from?
Example 1: By 1899, we had learned to tame the darkness but not the Texas heat. We arose in the dark, hours before sunrise, when there was barely a smudge of indigo along the eastern sky and the rest of the horizon was still pure pitch. We lit our kerosene lamps and carried them before us in the dark like our own tiny waving suns. There was a full day's work to be done before noon, when the deadly heat drove everyone back into our big shuttered house and we lay in the dim high-ceilinged rooms like sweating victims. Mother's usual summer remedy of sprinkling the sheets with refreshing cologne lasted only a minute. At three o'clock in the afternoon, when it was time to get up again, the temperature was still killing.
Example 2: Nailer clambered through a service duct, tugging at copper wire and yanking it free. Ancient asbestos fibers and mouse grit puffed up around him as the wire tore loose. He scrambled deeper into the duct, jerking more wire from its aluminum staples. The staples pinged about the cramped metal passage like coins offered to the Scavenge God, and Nailer felt after them eagerly, hunting for their dull gleam and collecting them in a leather bag he kept at his waist. He yanked again at the wiring. A meter's worth of precious copper tore loose in his hands and dust clouds enveloped him.
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If there was a theme in what the many published writers said at the Austin SCBWI conference a couple weeks ago, it was that perseverance is an important part of their success.
Three of this year’s ALA winners were there — Jacqueline Kelly (The Evolution of Capurnia Tate), Marla Frazee and Liz Garton Scanlon (All the World illustrator and author) and Chris Barton (The Day-Glo Brothers) — and they all told tales of facing many rejections before publication and of pursuing their dreams of being published for years before making them a reality.
Kirby Larson, author of the 2007 Newbery Honor book Hattie Big Sky, said she received piles of rejection letters before her publishing career began. Finally, after many years of trying and taking a 10-day course that happened over her daughter’s birthday — what a sacrifice — she sold her first picture books. A few more followed, but then she didn’t sell anything for seven years. That’s when she tried a different type of writing and Hattie Big Sky was born.
Former editor and now full-time author Lisa Graff explained that for her last book, Umbrella Summer, she wrote 18 complete drafts.
Yesterday, this theme was reinforced in an article in the Los Angeles Times about non-fiction author Rebecca Skloot, whose The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks appeared on Amazon’s bestseller list immediately after the book debuted on Feb. 2. This was all after Skloot spent 10 years working on the book and went through three publishing houses, four editors and two agents.
All these writers shared something in common: They didn’t give up.
So, the motto for today: Never give up.
Write On!
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JacketFlap tags: Writing, Marla Frazee, Chris Barton, Newbery Honor, writing conferences, Caldecott Honor, Jacqueline Kelly, All the World, The Day-Glo Brothers, ALA winners, Austin SCBWI conference, Sibart Honor book, The Evolution of Capurnia Tate, Add a tag
Sorry if you came here on Saturday looking for this post. I had a busy weekend and didn’t get to my computer much.
But here is day six of my reports from the Austin SCBWI conference. First, a quick recap of my other reports: agent Mark McVeigh on publishing, agent Andrea Cascardi on getting and working with an agent, editor Cheryl Klein on writing a great book, agent Nathan Bransford on finding the right agent for you and author/former editor Lisa Graff on writing and revising.
Today I’m featuring three of this year’s ALA award winners, all of whom show that success comes from perserverance.
Jacqueline Kelly, author of the 2010 Newbery Honor book The Evolution of Capurnia Tate, said the inspiration for her book came after she fell in love with a really old house that’s falling down. As she sat on its porch one day, she could hear the main character come alive in her head and recite the book’s first paragraph to her.
She first wrote about the characters in a short story, and it was her critique group members that encouraged her to expand it into a novel.
Capurnia Tate was rejected by 12 publishers before it was picked up.
If it wasn’t for Jacqueline’s critique group and her perserverance, we would not have Capurnia Tate to enjoy today.
Acclaimed illustrator Marla Frazee, whose picture book All the World is a 2010 Caldecott Honor book, has had similar perserverance during her career. She said it took 12 years to get her first book, then another five years before her second.
She said picture books are a collaboration between words and pictures, with the two working together to tell the story. Sometimes the pictures will illustrate the words completely, and other times the pictures will add new meaning to the words. For example, she showed a picture from her book A Couple of Boys Have The Best Week Ever, in which the words say the character is sad to leave his parents but the picture shows him excited and happy.
Marla said
Personally, I like Example 1. I know exactly where we are. It's unbearably hot in Texas and no one can think of anything else. Example 2 is a little confusing. I'm not as interested in what this character is doing with the wires.
In terms of beauty, example number 1 is uncontested. But I do think that it's important to note that both examples would be necessary for a complete novel: the first one develops a scene, describes a reality while the second has movement and relates action. Example 2 may not paint a detailed picture, but I know what's happening and it's getting somewhere. When authors start getting too dense with description and reflection, it gets boring-- especailly for a young adult audience.
I love beautiful language in novels and example #1 would reel me right in. There are writers out there who stick out in my mind as "poetic" (as trite as that sounds), and I always look forward to their books. I remember one book that blew me away because of the use of language...and that was The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak. A stunning novel that celebrates words.
Example 1 for me. It creates in me that relaxed feeling of oh, I can let go, this writer knows what she/he is doing.
I personally enjoyed reading Example 1 more than 2. It was a much more descriptive writing and I could actually feel the burning heat of Texas as my eyes scrolled down the screen. In other words, it sort of transported me to the setting and changed the surroundings in my mind. However, I do agree with Joe that actions portrayed in Example 2 is needed in a writing. To me, the perfect reading material will be one that has both of them; that paints a perfect picture and situation for me, but also has a moving action that drives the story along.