For Writers

All in the Family

By on January 13, 2016   /   For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

As we shoot past the holidays into the orbital path of a new year, I am reminded of the recent time spent with family. Family…for better or for worse. Spending time with family can be one of the best, or most trying, of endeavors. Either way, I think most people will agree we can look at our functional and/or dysfunctional family unit as a central influence in most of our lives.

The value of a functional or dysfunctional family in middle-grade literature is one of its most inherently attractive parts of this age. The interplay between a MG protagonist and the family unit creates a dramatic backdrop that pulls us into the story. The reader can relate to the struggle of the MC as they move forward toward discovering who they are. They relate to the sometimes awkward struggle of the middle-grade years when kids have one foot anchored in the safety of the family while the other one steps in the direction of independence.

Families offer a selection of great creative tools for the middle-grade writer. We can use the family to set up plot, conflict, emotion. It provides familiarity. The family can help define the main character, the setting, and the backstory. As you can see, the family unit in middle-grade lit is powerful. The magnetic power of the family is like a tractor beam pulling us toward the story mothership.

In thinking about families as an integral part of the story landscape, what attributes do you like the best?

  • A loving, supporting family group like the Weasleys?
  • A despicable family unit like the Wormwoods in Matilda?
  • Maybe an attribute of not being a real family at all, but a “family-by-choice” family, like Tupelo Landing’s Mo, Ms. Lana and the Colonel?
  • Even animal families can get into the act. For example,  Bingo, J’miah, the raccoon brothers and True Blue Scouts of the Sugarman Swamp, along with their parents, Little Mama and Daddy-O, are one of my personal favorite animal families.
  • How about a supernatural non-traditional family like Nobody Owen’s ghost family in the graveyard? Or the Other Mother and Other Father that Coraline Jones was tempted to choose over her real parents?
  • Perhaps a sweet and kindly custodial relative like Count Olaf?

When you read your next middle-grade book, take notice of a family influence on the character and story arc. The family dynamic is powerful in all our lives; it helps mold the who we are, positively or negatively. The power of the family dynamic holds true for fictional characters, as well, where it also helps to mold the story.

In the true spirit of family, here is your chore for the day. Kind of like homework done around the family table, but a lot easier than algebra. Think about those favorite middle-grade books you have and share some of your favorite middle-grade lit families in the comments below.

Finally, as Dorothy Gale says in the Wizard of Oz film as she taps her ruby slippers, “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home. There’s no place like…”

Henri Gascar_John_III_Sobieski_with_his_family_1693

John III Sobieski with his family by Henri Gascar, circa 1693

Back to Top

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

By on January 11, 2016   /   For Kids, For Librarians, For Teachers, For Writers, Writing  

It’s a question kids ask all the time. Sometimes I think they expect you to answer: “Oh, I just consult The Big Book of Book Ideas,” or maybe “I shop online at the Idea Store. All authors do.”

Once the playwright David Mamet was asked that question, and he answered: “I think of them.”

But that’s a bit snarky as an answer to kids who are genuinely curious about the writing process.

So here’s what I say instead. I tell kids I get my ideas from three main sources:

1) Random Things Around Me. I look at people. I pay special attention to body language. (That’s where the first chapter of TRAUMA QUEEN came from: observing one girl’s self-protective posture when she showed up to her middle school school for Pajama Day). I also eavesdrop a lot–at Starbucks, on trains. I listen in on phone conversations (Hey, if a cellphone conversation occurs in public–loudly–it’s fair game!) I even keep a small notebook in my pocket, so I can jot down snatches of conversation. I’m a big fan of dialogue, so much of my writing I get through my ears.

2) Emotional memories. Kids often suspect fiction is autobiographical. I explain that while my characters usually reflect something of my own temperament and interests, I never merely transcribe events from my own life. (My life isn’t that interesting, truth be told.) But what I do use is memories of how I felt as a kid–when I was bullied. When I developed a crush. When my mom embarrassed me. When my friends made me laugh. Sometimes it’s painful to revisit certain middle school emotions, but doing this helps me create relatable characters.

3) My imagination. I write realistic fiction. It drives me crazy when I hear kids saying that they prefer fantasy “because it’s more imaginative.” I tell them that actually, realistic fiction requires MORE imagination than fantasy, because if your characters are in trouble, you can’t just summon a dragon or chant an incantation or transport your character to another dimension. You have to solve their problems in a way that obeys the laws of the real world–a world that’s basically a triangle, with Family, School and Friends as its three points. And here’s the tricky part: you have to create a triangle that’s somehow fresh and surprising, because otherwise, why would your reader bother to read your story?

Creating a fresh, surprising, emotionally resonant narrative within the confines of that triangle isn’t easy. Sometimes it take several imaginative leaps before you get it right.

But you know how you tell that you’ve done it? When the reader assumes your story is really just autobiography.

Barbara Dee’s sixth novel, TRUTH OR DARE, will be published by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster in September 2016.

Back to Top

Quotable Middle Grade

By on January 8, 2016   /   For Kids, For Librarians, For Parents, For Teachers, For Writers  

barlettsI’ve always been a quote collector. When I was a teenager, I asked for, and received, a copy of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations for Christmas. I still have it. And I still open a page at random to see what quote jumps out at that moment.

I also write down quotes and phrases that I come across (whether they’re in Bartlett’s or not). The first time I remember doing that, I was nine, and the quote I copied into my notebook was, “You have two numbers in your age when you are ten. It’s the beginning of growing up.” It came from Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, which was a book in one of my favorite series. Those words felt so big to me at age nine. They held the promise of big things to come. In less than a year, I would “start to grow up.”

My friend Sara Aronson showed me a way to take my quote collection to the next level. Instead of recording her favorite quotes in a Word document (which is what I had been doing before she and I had this conversation), she records them on note cards. I may or may not be remembering what she does with her note cards right, but what I’ve been doing with mine is dealing one out to myself every morning before I start writing. This was today’s:

IMG_4105

It’s amazing how often I’ll pull a quote that is exactly what I need to hear on a given day.

Many of my quotes are, of course, taken from middle grade novels. Here are some of my favorites:

IMG_4107

I really should take that one out of my deck and post it above my computer where I can see it all the time. It’s a good one!

Here’s another good one. (Who am I kidding? ALL the quotes in my deck of quotes are good ones!) And because I’ve seen it so often, I tend to repeat to myself whenever I’m feeling down:

IMG_4111

I happened to pull this Kate DiCamillo quote shortly after I moved to Seattle in the spring of 2013. Like I said, exactly what I needed to hear that day. I’d left a lot of really good friends in Iowa. But I “opened my heart” and Kate was right: people came!

IMG_4109

And what about this final line from Charlotte’s Web:

IMG_4110

How about you? What are some of your favorite quotes from middle grade novels?

Back to Top