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Lost? Ask a Kid!

6/21/2016

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Have you ever been lost? I mean Hansel and Gretel, can't find your way out of the woods, lost? I have, but that was when I was very young. What does that have to do with writing? Everything--at least for the children's novel I am working on.

My work in progress is about a boy and his three sisters who are caught on the wrong side of a wildfire. The writing is going well, or should I say it WAS going well until I hit the scene where the kids get turned around and are lost. Since I am a writer who needs to know the feelings of my characters, I tried to bring back that old memory of the time I got lost. I was only four or five and the place was just a cornfield, but I could't find my way out of it. All I could see was more and more rows of corn.  I can remember sitting down on the ground and crying until my dad found me. I thought hours had passed, but it reality it was less than one. Scary? You bet. Helpful? Nope.

So, in an effort to tap into those emotions that I felt were necessary to complete this chapter and the next, I tried imagining how I would feel if I was lost. That didn't work either. I watched several movies--The Life of Pi, All is Lost, Into the Wild, The Grey, and even Far From Home. All of them are great survival movies. They are full of man against nature. For a few, I was back on the edge of my seat even though I've seen them all before, but I still couldn't put my finger on what I was looking for. I turned to books next. You know--A long Walk to Water, Hatchet, Julie of the Wolves, and of course, The Sign of the Beaver. Again, like the movies, these are all books I have read over and over. Still not what I was looking for. 

Then the family went to Disneyland, and we took my granddaughter on the Pirates of the Caribbean. Now you need to understand that she hates the unknown, and we forgot about the two drops in the dark. She was overly anxious and even a bit scared when the boat pulled away from the entrance, and kept asking for reassurance. Then the first drop came. While most of the riders were ooing and ahhing, my granddaughter let out the most blood curdling scream I have ever heard. It was pure terror, and was quickly followed by, "Let me out! Let me out!" We had to hold her inside the boat or she would have jumped into the water and got hurt. On the next drop she was in tears, and yes, screaming. In fact, her screams set off all the other kids on the ride who were now telling their parents they wanted off and crying. It took multiple hugs, apologies, and promises to never, never go on that ride again to calm the fear.

Yesterday, my granddaughter asked me how my book was coming along. I explained that I was stuck because I couldn't put my finger on the various emotions my characters would feel when lost in a wild fire. "How about raging anger, cross your legs so you don't pee terror, and knowing you are going to die?" she said. "You know, what I felt when I was on that stupid ride you guys said I would love."

Out of the mouth of babes! This is exactly what I needed to move my novel forward. The lesson learned--when you are writing for kids and want to know how a kid would act at a certain moment, or are lost like I was--Ask a Kid!

​Thank you, granddaughter. 


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Inspiration--Four Ways I Find It

6/11/2016

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Where would writers be without inspiration? I know I would be lost! There are days when everything inspires me to write. The sway in a tree as it bends to the wind. The hop, skip, and jump of a two year old wandering down a path beside his father. The lonely swing on a playground full of occupied swings. The distant howl of a coyote on a dark, foggy night. Then, there are days when nothing inspires me. Those are the times that depression has set in, and my muse has left me high and dry. They are also the days that I stumble through my writing as if I forgot how to walk--or write.

So what do I do when I have those disheartening days when my muse goes on vacation? Here are five things that work for me.
  1. Go for a walk. Walking, whether it's in the city or the country, puts a writer in touch with the world around them. For me, it helps clear my head and encourages me to take in the sights and sounds of life. It's always amazing to me how a disheveled garden, a patched roof, or even a broken cobblestone can start the imagination rolling.
  2. Visit the library. I enjoy the feel of books especially those with worn bindings. Just the idea that a particular book has been read so many times makes me pull it from the shelf and thumb through it. Personally since I write for kids, I spend a lot of time in the children's section. I check out the illustrations on the covers, and play word association games with the titles.
  3. Read books, magazines, newspapers, or even blogs, but read with a purpose and be open to ideas. It seems like I can never finish a book without wondering "What if?" or "Why?" A writer's questions can become an article, a blog, or a book of their own. This is how the idea for Search for the Red Ghost came to me. I read a book, wondered why and what if, and was inspired to write my first MG novel.
  4. People watch. I love to do this. For me, it's sitting on the playground and watching kids play together. I also listen to what they say, how they interact, and who is included and who is not. I have notebooks filled with snippets of conversation and interactions. They have been invaluable when working on a children's story, a picture book, or a difficult piece of dialog in one of my works in progress.

These are things that work for me. What do you do when your inspiration takes a holiday?

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    Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

    Sherry Alexander

    Dreamer, believer, reader, writer

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