Laurel Decher

Sketching, the “saggy middle” and The Winged Pen

Paris metro station under construction with spikes covered with orange balls imbedded in the crumbly wall. — A “sketchy” metro station in Paris looks more like St. Stephen pierced with arrows. © Laurel Decher, 2017.

Today, I’m over at The Winged Pen’s Master Your Craft blog post series.

What–you ask–is Master Your Craft? Each Wednesday, the Winged Pen discusses prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING.

(Handy list of Master Your Craft topics so far.)

My post is about that devious stretch of story landscape known as “the saggy middle.” This morning, I realized I left something out: sketching.

Sketching is what you do when you’re feeling your way into a piece. This isn’t about the whole outline versus drafting controversy. As we all know, there’s more than one way to figure out a story. I always have to use ALL the ways.

Drafting, in my mind, is letting the imagination lead you through an experience.

Outlining, in my mind, is hovering above a story to see which way you’re headed before dropping back down into it.

A sketch tests a tricky part of your outline on another scale. . .if my hero said this, what would happen? Sketch it and find out. Test your thinking with your imagination.

A sketch hints at a possible sequence in your “messy draft”. . .make a list of scenes you’ve already written. Do they make a chain? Test your imagination with your thinking.

I’m sure this seems obvious to all you industrious writers, so what’s my point?

Alternating between outlining and sketching can get you there when everything seems hopelessly stuck. Libbie Hawker writes about “beats” to fill out a story outline. Rachel Aaron writes about the power of getting excited about a scene you are going to write.

Do you do something similar? Or something very different? Please share in the comments.

Read the Winged Pen post on “saggy middles” here.

Getting a fix on your story. Image: Close-up of unusual spikes capped with orange balls. © Laurel Decher, 2017.

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Persistence and the artistic dream in SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY, MAYBE by Lauren Graham

book cover of girl in red jacket going over bridge in New York City — Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham is a charming and funny story of a young woman pursuing an artistic dream.

Usually I write about middle grade, young adult books, or writing craft books here, but this story of a young woman pursuing the acting dream has lots of parallels with the writing life. A nice novel to cheer up overworked writers with a bit of unexpected creative philosophy built in.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a charming debut novel for adults by actress Lauren Graham. It’s funny, with perfect, believeable details–except maybe the terrible script which is perfectly AWFUL.

My two favorite quotes:

One of the characters explains J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey. (I was grateful for this because I’ve read Salinger’s novel and never could figure out what it was about.)

“. . .the act of repetition itself–will bring enlightenment. That’s the thing that always stuck out to me–the idea that quantity becomes quality. I always took it to mean if you do anything enough, if you keep putting effort in, eventually something will happen, with or without you. You don’t have to have faith when you start out, you just have to dedicate yourself to practice as if you have it.” –Chapter 29, pg. 249

I love this explanation of the actor’s advice: “Faster, Funnier, Louder.”

“FASTER–don’t talk down to the audience, take us for a spin, don’t spell everything out for us, we’re as smart as you–assume we can keep up; FUNNIER–entertain us, help us see how ridiculous and beautiful life can be, give us a reason to feel better about our flaws; LOUDER–deliver the story in the appropriate size, DON’T be indulgent or keep it to yourself, be generous–you’re there to reach US.” –Chapter 30, pg. 255

I’m off to do some repetitive practice with my novel revision!

Happy writing and revising!

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Looking in from the outside: Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series

Book cover for THICK AS THIEVES shows boat with masts, white mountains and a tower in the foreground, black background with gold title font. — The newest in Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series.

Thick as Thieves came out this year (Yay! I read it twice in a row!) and I’ve been enjoying re-reading Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series. She’s making me think about the story from an outsider’s perspective.

Megan Whalen Turner’s beloved Eugenides character is showcased in a way that reminds me of Dorothy Dunnett’s well-loved Francis Crawford of Lymond. Both authors have a lovely, twisty plotting style with snappy dialogue to warm any reader’s heart.

Dorothy Dunnett rarely gives the reader an inside glimpse of Lymond’s mind or heart. Rife and contradictory speculation lets the reader discover Lymond’s true character, just the way we get to know people in real life.

In The Queen’s Thief series, Megan Whalen Turner moves the point of view progressively further away from her key character, Eugenides.

The Thief is told in the first person by the Queen’s Thief.

The Queen of Attolia seems to be third person omniscient because we get interior thoughts from both the Thief and from the Queen.

The King of Attolia is told by an Attolian guard who resists being won over by the new King of Attolia.

A Conspiracy of Kings is told from the King of Sounis’s point of view.

Thick as Thieves is a quest story about an Attolian guard told from the point of view of Kamet, the head slave of the Mede Emperor’s nephew, as he figures out what the King of Attolia is really like. The relationship that develops reminds me of the one between Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin in Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander.

What are the advantages of an outsider’s perspective for a story?

It makes the reader “an accomplice” and works especially well in a series where we already know and love the main character.

“And this is the genius of Megan Whalen Turner because in book 3, we, the readers, are Eugenides’s accomplices. We sit back and wait for the coin to drop for everybody else as it has dropped for us in books 1 and 2.” —The Book Smugglers

2. The outsider can question what the main character never says (or thinks about). The reader gains a guide and a companion in the story, a Watson to a closed-off and brilliant Sherlock Holmes. Megan Whalen Turner’s Costis does this effectively, as does Kamet.

3. Misdirection, fame, and mystery. An obvious advantage (and disadvantage): we see what the main character looks like from the outside. Megan Whalen Turner uses this to great effect in The King of Attolia when we see what Eugenides looks like to everyone else.

Interestingly, Eugenides’ relationship to the god of thieves is always shown to the reader from the outside. This conveys mystery better than any internal thought process could.

4. Someone to carry the ball. A story that ends in a tragic death can only be told by an outside narrator. Not sure if that’s an advantage. Someone has to be left to do the wrap up. Unless you’d like a Shakespearean monologue after death delivered by your main character. Thankfully, Megan Whalen Turner hasn’t done this yet. (MWT–Please don’t kill off your beloved characters!)

Here’s the link to the whole review by The Book Smugglers which says what I’ve been trying to say about the change in narration and the power of these books, so I’ll stop now. 🙂

What I really want to say is: Read the books!

Here’s another fun mini-interview with Megan Whalen Turner about The Queen’s Thief series. And another one.

Happy reading!

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7+ English Language Bookstores in Paris

Brick and stone arcade with shops in Paris. — Shady arcade along the Rue de Rivoli that houses two English language bookstores in Paris. © Laurel Decher, 2017.

This post is for all you readers of English language books who are living in or visiting Paris. Maybe you need a book for the plane home or presents for your English-speaking grandchildren. Or you just need to browse English books for a while before returning to your adopted home in Europe.

Shakespeare & Company

This famous bookstore has a whole wall of shiny middle grade and young adult books and a tiny picture book nook. Upstairs there’s a bookshelf-lined library for readings. The cushioned window seat goes all the way around the room. Lots of atmosphere and the Seine’s right outside.

Métro: St. Michel

Abbey Bookshop

This tiny store near Shakespeare & Company sells used books in a maze-like store. The children’s books are in the back and fans and soft classical music helps the whole place feel a bit less claustrophobic. The shelves are so full of books and the aisles are so tiny, that it’s challenging to see the titles lower down. The staff is friendly and will help you.

Métro: Odeon

Bookstore with Canadian flag and used books stacked outside on the pavement. — The overflowing Abbey Bookshop in Paris. © Laurel Decher, 2017.

Librairie Galignani

We all enjoyed this elegant and comfortable bookstore with leather reading chairs and spacious aisles. It’s near the Tuilleries gardens on an arcade-covered avenue so getting there is comfortable, rain or shine. Their English language young adult section is almost as big as Shakespeare & Company’s. Several books on my list were priced noticeably lower here than at the WHSmith further up the Rue de Rivoli.

Métro: Tuilleries

WHSmith

This British chain bookstore has a generous children’s book section. If you’re looking for books from American publishers, you may have to order them. I found many familiar book friends on the shelves, but not, for example, Megan Whalen Turner’s newest, THICK AS THIEVES. Or any of her earlier Attolia novels.

Métro: Tuilleries

I didn’t get to ALL the English language bookstores in Paris. (What a nice problem to have!) So these are on my list for next time:

Berkeley Books of Paris

San Francisco Book Company

Used Book Café

Gilbert Jeune

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Becoming an artist at The Winged Pen

book cover in graphic novel style, boy and girl in brown medieval cloaks in a snowy dark wood with a monastery looming behind — Jackie Randall’s EMELIN is an exciting adventure story about a girl who is a book artist.

If you’re looking for me this week, I’m over at The Winged Pen interviewing author Jackie Randall about her middle grade adventure: EMELIN.

I really enjoyed this book!

The gutsy girl artist, Emelin, is appealing. Her mysterious friend Wolf is also intriguing.

The story is easy-peasy accessible and the everyday details of England in the middle ages are effortlessly accurate. Try it, you’ll like it.

You can read the interview with author, Jackie Randall, here.

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Does your Work-in-Progress need a Canalmaster?

Massive green sewer truck and man in orange reflective clothing. — This week was full of large machines. © Laurel Decher, 2017

Construction machines are wasted without a little child to sit in a lawn chair and appreciate the show. This last week, I kept a list of the noisy machines that distracted me *cough* from my revision work.

I didn’t get a picture of the asphalt saw that cut a square hole in the street or the thing that looks like a Narnian monopod that stamps down the dirt when the workers had to put their toys away before the upcoming holiday weekend.

Canalmaster and *kanalprofi* have pretty much the same meaning. © Laurel Decher, 2017.

I’m longing to work this Canalmaster into my work-in-progress somehow.

Terry Pratchett has probably done fantasy construction already. I hope someone has.

Look how far the Impressionists got with haystacks and train stations. Not sure how different a Canalmaster looks at mid-day, with frost effects, or covered with snow, but still. . .

Haystacks, (Midday), 1890-91, National Gallery of Australia

What noisy distraction in your world could go into your work?

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The Book Club for Kids talks satisfying reads and Gary D. Schmidt’s ORBITING JUPITER

Book cover showing boy walking on snowy road with arms out like an airplane. — Gary D. Schmidt’s Orbiting Jupiter is the story of a “troublish” boy with a two-month-old baby named Jupiter.

A recent The Book Club for Kids episode is about Gary D. Schmidt’s Orbiting Jupiter.

I haven’t read this YA book yet but I’m very interested. The readers’ lively reactions make me want to be “there in the barn with them” and find out what happens to this “troublish” boy with a two-month-old baby named Jupiter.

Gary D. Schmidt gives some fascinating and touching backstory about Orbiting Jupiter, how he writes, and how he became a writer of fiction.

Bonus for writers: Middle grade readers reveal what writers can include to create satisfying books. (At 21:00)

catch our feelings
make us wonder what happens next
a lot of drama
surprise at the beginning
keep us interested

An interview with Gary D. Schmidt about the setting of Orbiting Jupiter.

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