Sheila O'Connor and KEEPING SAFE THE STARS

There are books...and there are books that you want to read and re-read and tell everyone you know that they must read. Sheila O'Connor's KEEPING SAFE THE STARS is an extraordinary middle grade novel that in my opinion everyone must read. Beautifully crafted with believable characters and a heartbreaking rich premise, STARS is a winner.

Sheila is also the author of the highly acclaimed SPARROW ROAD - another must read. I'm so lucky to have Sheila here today to talk about STARS - now, go find this book! Just hang onto your heart.

Congratulations on a terrific second novel! Please give readers a quick synopsis.

Keeping Safe the Stars is the story of three siblings: Pride, Nightingale and Baby Star, who must fend for themselves when their grandfather, Old Finn falls ill.  Raised to be self-reliant, the Stars are determined to survive independently until Old Finn returns.  For the Stars this means selling pony rides and popcorn, a diet of SpaghettiOs and cake, and lots of pluck and courage and adventure.  It’s a book that celebrates the strength and ingenuity of children—how brave they are, how much they can accomplish on their own.  Set in 1974 during the week of Nixon’s resignation, it’s also a story about truth, and family loyalty, and what Publisher’s Weekly so aptly called “the murky territory of morality.” 

I loved the parallels you chose between Pride's tendency to lie and the Nixon resignation. Which came first, your character or the time period?

The characters absolutely came first.  And it wasn’t until Pride went into the local café and heard the grown-ups talking about impeachment, that I realized the book was set in that time period.  When I start a book, I start with discovery, and I like to let the story find its own way in the early drafts.  Also, I’m always interested in the ways the conflicts in the larger culture press in on young people’s lives—and how aware young people are of the mistakes that grown-ups make.  I remember being young and trying to make sense of all the drama swirling around Richard Nixon and Watergate. 

Your names and nicknames are fabulous (Woody Guthrie, for instance.) They tell volumes. Is that something that comes to you easily?

I think so—but again, it happens in the early stages, the dream stage of writing, when I’m just trying to be open to the story that’s been given to me, so I’m never consciously aware of significance.   I didn’t know these children, or their pets when the book began, but when I met them, all the names seemed exactly right.  Old Finn named his dog and horses, and I learned about Old Finn through those names.  The children’s nicknames all came from their mother—and it helped me understand the ways in which she loved them, and how much of her they still carry into the world. 

Character is clearly a strength of yours. Is that where you start when you begin a project? And are you a pantser or a plotter?

Ha!  I’ve never heard that term in a long lifetime of writing.  A pantser—someone who writes by the seat of their pants—yes, that’s absolutely me, at least in the early stages of a draft.  I don’t begin a book with plot, I begin with a world, and I enter that world deeply to discover the story.  Here are some people, they must have a problem, what is it?  Of course, as the book progresses, the trouble builds, it has to, and trouble is plot.  I do many many drafts of my books, and plot is important to me, dear to my heart actually, but it does come later.   

How was it writing the second book? Easier? Harder?

I think every book is hard.  This is actually my fourth published novel, my second for readers of all ages, and in between, I’ve written my share of books for both kids and adults that I’ve ultimately shelved.  They’ve all thrilled and exhausted me.  There’s so much unknown in the novel process—I can be 300 pages into a book and still wondering if I have a book. 

But I have a strange story about this particular book.  It was finished, written and rewritten and rewritten, about to be sent to my editor, when suddenly during breakfast with a writing pal, I discovered privately (I didn’t mention it to my companion) that the novel that I’d finished wasn’t what I wanted.  Not at all.  So two days later, I dumped that book into the garbage and started over—started this book that became Keeping Safe the Stars.  You would not recognized the other one. 

Wow. I'm impressed and amazed that you could do that, but the result speaks for itself. How about promotion? How do you manage it?

I try to do the best I can—conferences, school visits, bookstores.  I love to connect with readers and writers of all ages.   Teaching writing to kids and adults, both poetry and fiction, that’s been my life’s work, so I’m always eager to talk to people about writing, literature, the power of story and imagination.   Sparrow Road is just now out in paperback, so it’s making its way into schools and the larger world, and I love to go along with it.   And now I will go out with the Stars.  But I’m also a full-time professor and a writer, so some days it’s a challenge to do it all. 

Please tell readers what is up next for you.

I’m in the process of writing another middle grade novel for Penguin—which is mostly in its secret-even-to-me phase until I’m sure I have it right.  I’m a writer who likes to work alone, with plenty of confusion, until the book is clear in my imagination. 

How can readers find out more about you and your books?

Readers can visit me at www.sheilaoconnor.com.  I love to hear from readers, so drop a note. 

  

Thanks so much, Sheila!

Mima Tipper: Part 3 "When Characters Speak"

***Spoiler Alert*** This blog post contains story spoilers. Read the full version of my YA short story “Waiting for Alice” in the first issue of Sucker Literary Magazine at http://suckerliterarymagazine.wordpress.com/

Can You Hear Me Now? When Characters Speak Through Revision, Part Three

(In which Mima finally hears what Alice has to say)

I thought about the story more, about Mia more and, as the following bits from my writing journal prove, obviously more and more:  

September 16, 2008…What is it with Mia? Should I change her name to Alice so I can really look at her with fresh eyes?

…September 19, 2008. How crazy to be afraid of my writing, like it will bite me.

…October 4, 2008. Some days I am a little freaked out by “…Alice.” I just finished M. D. Bauer’s collection of gay-themed YA short stories, and it scares me a little to have imagined what I’ve imagined… (Tipper Journal)

My journal shows me having finished the Bauer collection, so I know that the October 4^th entry occurred after I had my library-epiphany. What I also know is that the moment I began writing Mia (now Alice) from the perspective of a young girl struggling to understand an unexpected development in her growing sexuality, the story, now titled “Waiting for Alice,” came to life. As did the revised ending:

Three girls come in. They smile at you in that way that says they don’t know you. It’s true. They don’t know you. There’s a whole world out there that doesn’t know you. You look beyond them to the door.     

Mom and Stacey—your best friend Stacey—are out there somewhere, waiting on the other side. 

The dream dark waits, too. Black and soft and velvet as falling. How much easier it would be to go back there, stay there. Blink—what’s it going to be, Ali-girl, Ali, Alice?   

You can’t do it.You can’t stay in that empty, lonely, not-true place. 

But there won’t be any falling or diving or jumping. Just one step, and then another. 

Out. (“Waiting for Alice,” Sucker Literary Magazine, Winter, 2012)   

Examining the two endings I’ve included, the style and structure of them is not that different. In truth, the style and essential structure of the entire story didn’t change much from the first bit in my fantasy novel. The meaning, however, changed not only dramatically, but also in a way far beyond any intention. By the time I wrote the first of the drafts titled “Waiting for Alice,” it was as though I was channeling Alice as opposed to creating her. 

What writing “…Alice” has revealed to me as a writer, is that a story concept, even a full first draft, is one piece in the larger part of writing a story. I’d always thought of writing and revising as a linear process, draft after draft leading in a line toward whatever the initial inkling of the ending would be. When Alice spoke to me on that library day, I understood that revision is not just part of writing a story, it is writing the story.  That writing is more like a big puzzle, where the writer begins placing pieces—some fitting, some not—to see what the picture is. And if a writer is open to the picture becoming something entirely different than presumed, the process of revision will create magic. The kind where a protagonist will speak, as if sitting at the table, and tell an unexpected whopper of a story.  

Thanks for listening, everyone, and for sticking with me and Alice!


Thank you, Mima, for such a great story!

Works Cited:

Kaplan, David Michael.  Revision.  Cincinnati: Story Press, 1997.

Krishnaswami, Uma.  Letter.  6 May, 2008.

Leavitt, Martine.  Letter.  28 August, 2008.

Tipper, Mima. “Faerie Games.” Ms.  VCFA, 2007.

---. Journal. 2008.

---.  “Peer Pressure.” Ms.  VCFA, 2008.

---. “Mia’s Letter.” Ms.  VCFA, 2008.

---. “The Alice Effect.” Ms. VCFA, 2008.

---. “Waiting for Alice.” Sucker Literary Magazine, winter, 2012.

This series ran originally on the Hen & Ink Literary Studio blog last January at http://henandinkblots.wordpress.com/. Also a freshly updated version of my interview with Sucker’s editor-in-chief, Hannah Goodman, is up this week on Through the Tollbooth at http://www.throughthetollbooth.com/ and I’m also guesting on Lindsey Lane’s blog for “Quotable Tuesday” this week at http://www.lindseylane.net/blog/


Mima Tipper spends as much time as possible writing stories and novels for kids and teens, and recently had the tremendous good fortune to earn an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Along with being mad-proud that her YA short story “Waiting for Alice” is in the premiere issue of Sucker Literary Magazine (live now) she is thrilled that another YA short story, “A Cut-Out Face”, was a Katherine Paterson Prize finalist in 2010, and appeared in Hunger Mountain’s online Journal of the Arts’ Art & Insanity of Creativity issue, Fall, 2011. Mima lives in Vermont with her family, is represented by Erzsi Deàk at Hen & Ink Literary Studio http://henandink.com/ , and can be found @meemtip on Twitter. 

Character Framework

Here's what readers want in their characters:
1. someone they like
2. someone with courage
3. someone they understand
4. someone who makes things happen
5. someone tenacious
6. someone passionate.
In other words, readers like to see characters who are an idealization of their own dreams. You know that moment when you walk away from a bad conversation and rethink it with great comebacks and snappy lines? Readers love to see their characters find those great comebacks and snappy lines.

But not all the time! A great character has to fail, too, and fail miserably. A great character (protagonist) needs a great obstacle (antagonist) to fight. In fact, that obstacle has to be huge - life and death.

Now, to a 10-year old, life and death may be her parents' divorce. Or it may be experiencing supreme embarrassment. A comic life and death moment is a twist on the serious - showing up at a non-costume party wearing a costume.

When we writers create characters, we have to think about them within the framework of the obstacle they face. And give them a desire so important that it motivates them to act.

So, it's character to desire to goal, all blocked by the big obstacle.

How do I, personally, tackle this?

Well, usually my stories start with an abstract idea. In other words, my plot comes first. But almost at the same time I envision the character who will deal with this idea. Often I free write a number of scenes, getting the emotional tenor and voice of the story rolling in my head before I write the story itself.

But before I write much of the story I try to get to know the character, by one or more of the techniques I've already described. This is just the "getting-to-know-you" phase of writing. It usually isn't until I've written most of a complete first draft that I feel I really know my character.

Then I'll go back and do another round of character studies! I might re-web, or interview my character, or make another scrapbook, or write a series of pages of character backstory.

This is a very organic way of working, and that's what works for me at least through the third draft. By that time, if my character isn't fully developed, the story probably isn't working, either.

And, by the way, I probably end up with between 15 and 20 drafts (or more) of a single novel/story. But more about that stage in another post.

Character building

Another exercise in creating great characters...the old webbing technique is useful. Create a web diagram that shows all the influences on your character, using categories and sub-categories.

For example, a major category may be family, and a subcategory would be grandparents; then describe who they are/were and give them hooks, handles, and descriptors. Think about your character's pets - not only the ones he or she has now, but the ones that have died or run away (always a traumatic experience for a child). Think about school experiences - they are formative. Friends and enemies, teachers, mentors, anyone who's impacted your character needs a small profile, too, especially if they are featured in your story.

A further technique is the interview. Pretend you are talking directly to your character: ask him/her a series of questions as if you were conducting a detailed interview. Follow the thread of the answers you get - you might be surprised. This is especially effective if you feel like you want to add something unexpected to your story. We all have secrets - what's your character's secret? When you find it, don't even include it in the book - it provides a richness to your character without ever being mentioned.

What's his favorite subject in school? What does she hate most in the world? What's his phobia (yes, we all have them - mine are high places and deep water).

In my next post I'll define a character framework.

News and Characters

First, some exciting (for me) news - Alyssa has just told me that she's sold my first novel, Faithful, as part of a 2-book deal to Puffin. Needless to say, this is thrilling - the culmination of many years of effort. And hopefully only the beginning of a career that I love, love, love. You know, it's true: if you do what you love, you'll find success, because your heart will pull you through the hard times when your head yells at you to quit.

So, back to characterization. Last time I mentioned one technique - scrapbooking. There are tons of others, but one I especially like is this: envision your character's bedroom. What's on the walls? Posters of rock stars or athletes or Einstein? What does your character have on his/her bed - a spread? Stuffed animals?

And what's in your character's closet? The stuff we hide from everyone tells a lot about us: is his closet a mess or is it neat? Are there old toys in there? A hockey stick? Does she take her laundry in to be washed or does it end up in a heap? How about old papers that she doesn't want Mom to see? Or a diary?

These are the personal details that turn a character into someone recognizable. Maybe the closet door still has a height chart that your character has long outgrown. Or maybe the closet is a trunk - because you've written a novel set in 1840.

You can use the scrapbook technique on your character's room, too - create a picture with cut-outs from magazines. These physical details will start to make your character feel more real to you, and then to your reader.

Holidays, redux - yes, it's Spring!

I'm not a blogger. Certainly not the type that gets obsessive. Of course, maybe instead of blogging it's better to be writing! I'm going to try starting a new thread here: writing about writing. That's because I've just been accepted into the Vermont MFA program for writing in children's literature. This is exciting, but it's also rejuvenating - I still feel like I have so much to learn about writing. I'd like to talk about writing in its elemental forms: starting with character, then voice, plot, pacing, and any other things I can think of.

By the way, my own personal demon is plotting/pacing. This difficulty is one reason I can't wait to get to Vermont. But here, since I feel comfortable with it, I'll start with character.

One of the most valuable workshops I've ever attended was run by the late, great Paula Danziger. She talked about building character and she combined it with her personal passion: scrapbooking. She brought materials to the workshop and we all chose a character and created a scrapbook of that character's life. I have to tell you that my scrapbook, the one I made that day, was dreadful - but then I went home and spent a week creating a new one for my character. It was a blast! I had fun finding the various materials and pictures, and I made a mini-story, with old photos and stickers, and I bound it nicely - and I think it made my character come alive in a completely new way.

For one thing, I wrote the scrapbook as if it was a journal, in first person. For the first time the voice of my character came out with a vengeance. And a couple of the secondary characters, too.

I'll continue this discussion later in the week...