Yearly archive for 2013

I’ve often teased my family for turning me into the calendar-wielding maniac of (attempted) organization that I am. I, like many other moms (and dads) in America, am the keeper, expediter and outfitter of soccer practices, birthday parties, Brownies and other such obligations. I have, at time, indulged in the fantasy that had I not become a mother, I’d be running, obligation-free, through a field of wildflowers, oblivious to time and details.

That all changed when my parents decided to downsize last spring. I helped them sort through their belongings, taking the old Life magazines and Trivial Pursuit game for myself, but it was my mom who discovered a real piece of myself and my childhood.
“Look,” she said, pulling out a folder. She carefully lifted up red construction valentines made brittle with age and pictures from the first day of school. And then, she pulled out my notes. This was pretty representative idea (my mom kept the notes, so this is from memory).

Dear Mom,
I’ve gone to baseball practice and should be home by 6:30. I have taken a jacket with me. I have eaten a light snack, but would like something warm to eat when I get home.

I was 11 when I wrote this note, and there were others like it. Notes detailing where I was going, what I had done and what I expected to do when I got home. I realized, to my horror, that I had always been like this, detail-focused and time-conscious. I am only grateful that at that age, it was not possible for me to have a Blackberry or other such device; I probably would have attempted minute-by-minute scheduling.

What this incident reminded me, though, was that while it is fun (and even necessary in middle-grade) to write about characters who are sassy and immature (in need of growth might be a nice way to put it), it is also fine to give them a few characters that hint at what’s to come. Yes, yes, there are also adults who remain sassy and immature but as Michele Weber Hurtwitz’s post pointed out yesterday, we writers for kids get very nervous about being sufficiently kid-like. A kid would never say that, we say, glancing around for a 9-year-old to talk to about the latest lingo. Kids don’t do that.

Certainly, out of my three kids, none would leave me a detailed note about their whereabouts. But my point is that without necessarily turning the trait into a caricature or creating an overly serious character, it is okay to add a little adult-ness. Claudia, the main character in the blog-inspiring-novel From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler, is a perfect example of this:
Claudia knew that she could never pull of the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn’t like discomfort; even picnics were untidy and inconvenient: all those insects and the sun melting the icing on the cupcakes.

We can certainly imagine Claudia as an adult, running a corporation one day, though author E.L. Konisburg never lets us forget she is a child, too. She does not know about typing exercises or how to manage money, and she tries to send her brother a psychic message at one point to warn him. But that’s what makes her utterly believable and delightful; to the extent that a line exists between childhood and adulthood, she sits astride it, taking in from both sides. The note from my parents’ house reminded me to worry less about making sure my characters are stereotypical kids and to focus more on keeping them real.

Often, when I’m writing, I find myself stopping at a word or phrase and thinking, wait, would a kid say that? Would a kid think that? Since authors who write for kids obviously aren’t kids, how do you make sure that your words and phrases ring true? In other words (lol), how do you get yourself in kid mode while writing for kids?

What better place to turn than to the pros? The following quotes are taken from the authors’ websites or interviews.

“It’s not hard for me to think like a kid because…well…the eight-year old Kate inside me is still very much hanging around. I write about catching frogs and getting muddy, about playing in the snow, tracking animals, and imagining playful sea monsters taking on the neighborhood fish in a game of Marco Polo because I still love all those things, just as much as I did when I was little. That’s really at the heart of writer’s inspiration for me…thinking like the kid I was…and like the kid I still am inside.” — KATE MESSNER

“I don’t think I’ve ever met a grown-up who is as mature on the inside as he or she appears to be on the outside. Learning to behave like an adult makes the world a more socialized place. But even if we don’t admit it, sometimes adults still feel nervous, and scared, and embarrassed, and even just plain silly. Personally, just because I don’t lean over and tickle the person next to me at a business meeting, doesn’t mean that I never have the urge!” — BARBARA PARK

“I’m very lucky to write for children, because I don’t have to deal with popular culture. I can just deal with core fundamental issues: jealousy, love, hatred, sadness, joy, wanting to drive a bus. The fundamental core emotional things. And just asking questions like, ‘What is a friend?’ and ‘What are relationships between people?’ Those are all things that I haven’t figured out yet. I’m very lucky in that I don’t understand the world yet. If I understood the world, it would be harder for me to write these books.” — MO WILLEMS

“I visit lots of schools. I talk with thousands of kids. I have a good handle on what kids want to read or don’t want to read.” — DAN GUTMAN

“I still draw heavily from my own life in my books, but at least now I change the names.” — CLAUDIA MILLS

Sometimes, authors say, it’s not so much about thinking like a kid, but tapping into your kid-like imagination, putting aside those often heavily-weighing adult responsibilities while you’re writing.

“I love writing novels because I can let my imagination run wild… That’s what writers do. They put little pieces of themselves into their stories — and sometimes their stories take place right in their heart’s home.” — BARBARA O’CONNOR

“My best work comes when I am in the writing — deep in the characters and walking around in their world.” — LINDA URBAN

“Open yourself to the numinous, to the shapes and shades of language, to that first powerful thrust of story, the character that develops away from you (sort of like a wayward adolescent), to the surprise of the exact and perfect ending.” — JANE YOLEN

And from Andrew Clements, perhaps the best advice: comparing the very act of writing for children like growing up itself.

“Sometimes kids ask how I’ve been able to write so many books. The answer is simple: one word at a time. Which is a good lesson, I think. You don’t have to do everything at once. You don’t have to know how every story is going to end. You just have to take that next step, look for the next idea, write that next word. And growing up, it’s the same way. We just have to go to that next class, read that next chapter, help that next person. You simply have to do that next good thing, and before you know it, you’re living a good life.” — ANDREW CLEMENTS

I’ll have to remember all this sage advice the next time I’m asking myself ‘would a kid say that?’ And, I’ll just close my eyes and remember the feeling of swinging high in the air on a beautiful summer day with no worries in the world.

Michele Weber Hurwitz is the author of Calli Be Gold (Wendy Lamb Books 2011) and The Summer I Saved the World…in 65 Days (Wendy Lamb Books, coming April 2014). micheleweberhurwitz.com is where you can find her adult writer self.

…of a Skype visit with acclaimed poet Carole Weatherford is

Emily Bredberg.

Congratulations, Emily and Carole!