Gail Carson Levine - Infrequently Asked Questions About Writing Fiction

Gail Carson Levine has written 17 books for children. Her first book was "Ella Enchanted," which won a Newbery honor and was made into a movie. She blogs about writing here and wrote the nonfiction book, "Writing Magic" - with dozens of writing exercises for kids and the rest of us. She has a picture book and a mystery coming out, and she's sharing with us responses to questions she's had from writers and others...

WRITING FROM A MALE POV (If You're a Woman)
Try thinking of somebody in particular.

When she wrote a character who was trying to keep it's gender a secret, she had the character bow to a Count and then curtsy.

A bow and curtsy are shortcuts, and we need shortcuts because we don't have an eternity to establish a character - but shortcuts can tend towards stereotypes, so use them with care.

Establish your character's gender early - because it's jolting to be reading it wrong.

And she advises to get a guy to read it to make sure the character didn't act in a way that isn't credible.

NAMING CHARACTERS
Find a name that fits but isn't too obvious.

Think of what your character is like, and go to the thesaurus - look at the synonyms. If your character is Moody - Melancholy. Melody? Petulant. Petchula? What about nicknames? The name could be Michael, but his friends could call him "Mope." (He might not like that, and it would just make him mopier!)

SETTING
Be aware of the dangers of information dumps in the first chapter. (Though it worked in "Tuck Everlasting," she says in general to avoid it.)

Setting can be a tool for character development.

In an action scene, you don't necessarily want to stop to describe what the character is wearing. But if you drop in early that the hero dresses in his usual baggy pants, and then wham! It's a problem when he's riding his bike in that chase scene.

And for what happens:

If a fishtank is going to explode and you need to set up it's there first for the reader when the character enters the living room, think about the character NOT saying "Julia, I see your Dad still has his fishtank."

Consider the character saying "I always think those fish are staring at me."

Or the character thinking, "The room always felt heavy to him, two sofas, fish tank, leaden curtains..." - You drop it in there and when the fish tank explodes, the reader will be surprised but will also accept it.

CHARACTER/PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

She looks at pictures and art as inspiration for the details she uses for her characters.

She's also sharing writing prompts throughout this session. Like the idea of taking one of your characters with you when you go somewhere - what does your character notice? miss? react to emotionally? Write it down when you get back.

Lots of great advice!

Gail Carson Levine: Sweat and Magic

Although the title of Gail Carson Levine's talk is called Sweat and Magic, she will mostly be talking about sweat.

Gail has been writing her blog on writing for over a year. Her most frequent note about writing is, "I don't know what I'm doing."

"I get very stupid when I write."

"There is so much that is possible." If you're writing story that doesn't follow a traditional story arch, Gail believes you can make it work.

She likes to make lists, and suggests you might try to. "When you make a list, no idea is stupid."

Usually plot arises out of situation. Watch people and see this in action. "We all create plot as we all create our lives. So it's worth observing ourselves and the people we know."

Suspense Builders:
-Time "When you have time pressure in a book it's wonderful."
-Distance, Distance can operate a lot like time.
-Thoughts, "If you character is worried, your reader will be worried."
-Action
-Separation, from the problem
-Main character flaw
-Secondary character flaw
-Expectation, could be good or bad
-A test or a trial
-Disaster
-Something lost

Prompt: As you go through the rest of the day, think of ways, wherever you are, that something tense could happen. Write about it.

"When we reread a book, it's totally predictable, but we love it anyway."

How to surprise:
-confound expectation
-surprise yourself
-ask your characters
-make a list!
-avoid easy morals
-review
-workshop it

Prompt: Create a distaster by having one character ask another about his thoughts at that moment.

Character Development

Gail's characters don't arrive whole and fully formed. She must be with them for a while before they are fully developed. She discovers it through dialogue and action as she wings it. "It’s kind of existential. We become ourselves through our acts and so do our characters."

Gail recommends the book WHAT IF: by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painters which has a character questionnaire she uses throughout the writing process.

It's wonderful to listen for speech mannerisms.

Prompt: Three characters getting ready for school. How does each one prepare? Reveal the thoughts and feelings of each, and each should be different.

Mean Prompt: Pick out a passage or scene from a book you dislike and rewrite it.

Gail Carson Levine has written seventeen books for children. She's also written a book on writing, WRITING MAGIC.

SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-conference Interview: Author Gail Carson Levine

Our series of TEAM BLOG interviews with Annual Summer Conference faculty continues as Martha Brockenbrough features award-winning author Gail Carson Levine on her WWA SCBWI blog.

Gail will be offering a conference keynote address, SWEAT AND MAGIC, and will give a workshop on INFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT FICTION WRITING.

Here is a bit from Martha's interview with Gail:

"There's something so magical about Gail Carson Levine's stories. Her first, Ella Enchanted, reimagined Cinderella; in it, Ella is cursed to be obedient--an absolutely genius touch. That book won a Newbery Honor Book in 1998, and eventually became a movie starring Anne Hathaway.

You could call Gail Carson Levine the queen of fairy and princess stories. Later works include Fairest, a beautiful twist on Snow White, as well as several works in the Disney Fairies series...:"

Click here to register for the Annual Summer Conference.