Here’s a great tip from Ellen Schwartz, Instructor of SFU’s Southbank Writer’s Program on Writing and Illustrating a Children’s Picture Book:

The great children’s writer Christie Harris once said: “Plot is character in action.”

This sums up what we, as writers, strive to do every time we set out to write a story. What readers – not just children, but especially children – want is an engaging story about characters they care about. What happens to those characters has to spring from who they are – their insecurities, their strengths, their sense of humour, their fears, and, most of all, what they want. Some stories focus more on character development and some focus more on plot, but the best ones intertwine the two in an inseparable marriage.

Image credit: Flickr.com By Foto_di_Signorina

When Alice Walker was the editor of Ms. Magazine in New York, she began to feel there were characters inside her who needed to talk to her. But they refused to open up to her in New York. “‘What is all this tall shit anyway,’ they would say.” So Walker took a leave from her job and found a rustic cabin in Northern California. She sat and waited. Walker said there were “days and weeks and even months when nothing happened.” But eventually the characters began to visit her. They would sit down across the table from her and talk. She wrote down their stories, and these became the novel The Color Purple.

Never underestimate the power of sitting and waiting.

Post by Cathy MacLean, TWS 2012.

Information and quotations from “Writing the Color Purple,” in Delighting the Heart (1989; Susan Sellers, ed.)

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Prose works written by poets hold a special place of honour on my bookshelf. The memoirs of Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane, Johanna Skibsrud’s novel The Sentimentalists, and Molly Peacock’s two non-fiction works, The Paper Garden and Paradise, Piece by Piece, are a few well-worn examples.

The artful approach to prose and storytelling is what I love about each of these books. They are meditative in tone and setting, full of vivid, precise language, rich in metaphor and imagery, and mindful of the need for books to show us the wonder of words.

I’m not a poet (not yet, at least), but I hope I can learn to write like one!

Post by Erica Mattson (TWS 2012).

Photo courtesy of the author.

When writing from another person’s perspective (fictional or real), a great way to get into their mindset is to sing.

Close your eyes and imagine their face is your face. Their body is your body. Imagine how this person would feel in a moment of strong emotion.

Staying in character, start to sing, improvising lyrics and tune (this is not about musicality but feeling your way into their psyche). When you hit on a line that rings true, repeat it or make it your refrain.

Whole monologues or a powerful core first line can emerge.

PS: This also works well for yourself–sing the blues while driving, discover how you really feel.

Post by TWS 2012’s Saskia Wolsak.

Photo courtesy of the author.

Many good writers have discovered that selection is an important part of writing. Here is a sample of aphorisms that have guided great writing.

“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” — William Morris, “The Beauty of Life” (1880 lecture)

“Pull out from the depths those thoughts that you do not understand, and spread them out in the sunlight and know the meaning of them.” — E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

“I don’t mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy.” — Samuel Butler

Post by Richard Mackie, instructor of “Finding the Narrative Thread: Focus and Selection in an Era of Information”, beginning this Wednesday, November 30th, 6:30-9:00pm. His course explores how to recognize the main themes in an unruly body of material and connect them to a pertinent and unifying narrative thread. Seats are still available; register here.

Photo by Adam Jones: adamjones.freeservers.com.

A generative process: Make a list of questions you wish you had been asked in your life, but have never been asked.

Write the answers to these questions honestly and fully, taking as much time and as many words as you need. Put this away for a few days or a week. When you return to it, read over your answers and mark passages that seem to be saying something interesting or important. Any recurring images, themes, ideas? Would any of the lines work well in a poem? Do you see a character emerging? Pick out the valuable tidbits and develop them.

Post by Jen Currin, poetry mentor at The Writer’s Studio.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Are you having trouble “seeing” your character clearly? If so, then chances are, so will your readers.

If you’re struggling to understand one of your characters (main character or minor character), try setting the story aside and making a short list of what the character wants.

No matter how large or small a character’s role is in the narrative (nonfiction or fiction), he or she must WANT something—even if it’s only to cross the street. Clearly define for yourself what a character wants, and you will have a better understanding of how to write that character into your narrative.

Post by Brian Payton, a mentor with The Writer’s Studio.

It’s easy to get frustrated when you’re writing. You want to write great prose or poetry like your heroes. But sometimes when you write, the quality isn’t even close to that level. Even though you know how to write, what you produce doesn’t seem, well, good.

My tip on becoming a good writer comes from Ira Glass, the host of This American Life: Don’t get disheartened by the fact that you don’t feel your writing is as good as those who inspire you. It takes a long time to become good at something. Great writers aren’t born—they practice and hone their craft. You’ll have to as well. It takes years, as Ira attests.

Watch the video below for the complete interview on becoming a good storyteller. The first couple minutes are especially interesting.

By Andrew Chesham, the assistant to Betsy Warland, who directs The Writer’s Studio. You can see more of his posts on writing, editing and famous dead authors at www.TheShadowOfChez.com. Follow him on Twitter @theshadowofchez. Sometimes he’s funny.

Hook your reader with your opening. Those first few lines are crucial in obtaining and retaining their interest. Here are five tips to help you nail a great beginning:

1. Start in the middle of the action, be it a world war or “Honey, I’m leaving you.”

2. Let the reader know what kind of book/piece they’re getting into. Thriller? Romance? Fantasy?

3. Introduce key characters. Either build up to their introduction, or let us meet them right away.

4. Turn on the tension! Make sure your opening paragraphs are full of it.

5. Wow them with your best writing!
Read the full post.

By Claire De Boer, a current student with The Writer’s Studio. Photo by Klutch Photography.