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Wisdom of Richard Peck ~ Writing for young readers

01 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Middle Grade, SCBWI, Writing, Young Adult

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A Long Way From Chicago, A Season of Gifts, A Year Down Yonder, Elizabeth Fais, Fiction, Horn Book, Horn Book Magazine, Masterclass with Richard Peck, Middle Grade, National Book Award Finalist, Newbery Honor, Newbery Medal, Past Perfect Present Tense, Richard Peck, SCBWI, short stories, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, writing lessons, Young Adult

Richard Peck was an influential voice for me when I started writing for young readers, and with good reason. A Long Way From Chicago, coverHe was a National Book Award finalist TWICE, as well as claiming the Newbery Honor (A Long Way From Chicago) and Newbery Medal (A Year Down Yonder). Richard Peck was nothing short of a master and commander in the art of writing for young readers.

Before becoming an author, Richard Peck was a teacher. His classrooms were filled with the young audience he’d later write for. He admitted that, “Junior-high teaching made a writer out of me.” Peck may have left teaching, but he never stopped sharing his wisdom.

I was fortunate to have heard Richard Peck speak at a couple of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conferences. SCBWI even recorded a video Masterclass with Richard Peck on writing the novel for young readers too, that you can purchase for a reasonable price.

A Year Down Yonder, coverRichard Peck shared his wisdom on craft  through essays, as well. The essay he wrote on importance of beginnings—October/November 2006, Horn Book Magazine sparked a writing epiphany for me. In it he said, “The most important secret of writing . . . you are only as good as your opening line.”

At first I thought that was kind of harsh, so I did extensive research. I went to bookstores and libraries, reading ONLY first lines of books. As it turned out, he was right! The books with great first lines I took home and read.

Don’t confuse a great opening line with over-the-top drama, though. A great opening line shouldn’t be about shock-value. When done right, it sets the tone of the story, reveals character, conflict, and theme. It’s the promise of the premise…distilled into one line. Richard Peck would revise his first chapter 24 times (or more), well after he’d completed the manuscript, to make sure it was right.

A Season of Gifts, cover

Short stories comprised Richard Peck’s first published works, covering the gamut of comedy, tragedy, historical, and contemporary. In fact, his short story “Shotgun Chentham’s Last Night Above Ground” was the inspiration for his Living in Chicago series: A Long Way From Chicago, A Year Down Yonder, and A Season of Gifts.

Peck’s collection of short stories, Past Perfect, Present Tense includes insights and advice for aspiring writers, along with some of his own notes. In the introduction, Peck reminds us that “fiction isn’t real life with the names changed. It’s an alternate reality to reflect the reader’s own world.” He also warns burgeoning writers that “a short story isn’t easier than a novel.” In truth, short stories require a type of samurai self-editing that is not for the weak of pen or faint of heart.

Writing lessons learned from Richard Peck

  • Before you write a single word, know your audience. Who will want to read the story you have to write?
  • A story isn’t what is. It’s what if?
  • Fiction is never an answer, always a question.
  • A story, of any length, is about change. The characters can’t be the same in the last paragraph as they are in the first. If there’s no change, there’s no story.
  • The essence of the entire story should be encapsulated on the first page.
  • The first chapter is the last chapter in disguise.
  • The story’s beginning should answer each of the following questions with a satisfied “Yes”: Does it intrigue? Does it invite? Does it work?
  • Strong, colorful characters win over readers, like the quirky, audacious, and warm-hearted Grandma Dowdel in a Long Way From Chicago.
  • An outrageous comic outhouse calamity is often the reason a story is recommended, word-of-mouth over and over again. Memorable scenes create loyal audiences and inspire lifetime readers.

The Heart of Fiction <3 Learning compassion through reading

30 Friday Mar 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Books, Fiction, Inspiration, Reading

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Amy June Bates, Annie Murphy Paul, Charles Santoso, Compassion, Coretta Scott King Honor Award, E.B. Lewis, Each Kindness, Elizabeth Fais, Jane Addams Peace Award, Jaqueline Woodson, Juniper Bates, Katherine Applegate, Kirkus Reviews, Newbery Medal, Publishers Weekly, Reading, The Big Umbrella, Wishtree, Your Brain on Fiction

You step into the shoes of the characters when you read a story, and see the world through their eyes, live their experiences, and feel what they feel. Through this process your world expands, as does your sensitivity to others. Being able to understand what another is going through and sympathizing with their situation is a direct result of reading fiction. It is the heart of compassion.

Book with pages folded into a heart

Embracing the heart of fiction

A New York Times article, “Your Brain on Fiction”, by Annie Murphy Paul, brought to light studies that prove reading fiction helps us to make sense of the world, teaching us how to cope in positive ways. In this way, empathy and compassion are learned through fiction.

The titles I’ve highlighted below are just a few of the shining examples in children’s literature that embody acceptance, compassion, and empathy. You can ask for a more extensive list at your local library or indie bookstore.

The Big Umbrella

Amy June Bates cowrote this heartwarming story of acceptance and inclusion with her The Big Umbrella, coverdaughter, Juniper, while they were walking to school in the rain. Later, she enhanced their story with her lush illustrations.

By the door there is an umbrella. It is big. It is so big that when it starts to rain there is room for everyone underneath. It doesn’t matter if you are tall. Or plaid. Or hairy. It doesn’t matter how many legs you have. Don’t worry that there won’t be enough room under the umbrella. Because there will always be room. (Synopsis)

“A subtle, deceptively simple book about inclusion, hospitality, and welcoming the ‘other.’” —Kirkus Reviews

Each Kindness

Jaqueline Woodson (author) and E.B. Lewis (illustrator) demonstrate how each kindness Each Kindness, covermakes the world a better place, in this bittersweet story that resonates with all ages. Each Kindness won the Coretta Scott King Honor Award and Jane Addams Peace Award. Jaqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

Chloe and her friends won’t play with the new girl, Maya. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her friends, they reject her. Eventually Maya stops coming to school. When Chloe’s teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she’d shown a little kindness toward Maya. (Synopsis)

“Combining realism with shimmering impressionistic washes of color, Lewis turns readers into witnesses as kindness hangs in the balance. . . . Woodson . . . again brings an unsparing lyricism to a difficult topic.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Wishtree

Katherine Applegate penned this endearing story of kindness, friendship, and hope Wishtree, coveras a balm for the wave of hate that has spread across our nation in recent years. Wishtree is a fable about a tree named Red, who brings a neighborhood together in compassion and inclusion—with the help of the other woodland residents—when it’s threatened to be torn apart by hate.

Trees can’t tell jokes, but they can certainly tell stories. . . .
Red is an oak tree who is many rings old. Red is the neighborhood “wishtree”―people write their wishes on pieces of cloth and tie them to Red’s branches. Along with a crow named Bongo and other animals who seek refuge in Red’s hollows, this wishtree watches over the neighborhood. You might say Red has seen it all. Until a new family moves in. Not everyone is welcoming, and Red’s experience as a wishtree is more important than ever. (Synopsis)

The lyrical trailer below showcases the deep and tender warmth of the story, combined with the innocence and beauty of Charles Santoso‘s illustrations.

“Never lose hope. Wishes have a way of coming true.”

From the Newbery Medal-winning author of The One and Only Ivan.



The Magic of “GREAT!” Beginnings

13 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Books, Story, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

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Also Known As, Elizabeth Fais, Katherine Applegate, Martha Brockenbrough, Mary E. Pearson, Newbery Medal, Richard Peck, Robin Benway, SCBWI, The Game of Love and Death, The Kiss of Deception, The One And Only Ivan

Spellbinding Firsts

Magic of a good bookWhat is it about one book that you can’t put down once you start reading, and another that you can’t get past the first few pages? “Magic?” you say. I’d have to agree, if the magic is that of an intriguing story well told.

How does a writer work that magic into a story? How do we conjure the spell?

Multiple Newbery Medal winner, Richard Peck, shed insight on the magic behind great beginnings in an article in that appeared in the September/October 2006 issue of The Horn Book Magazine. Then, at a SCBWI annual summer conference, he expanded on his theory that, “You are only as good as your first line.” The secret he related was that, “the essence of the entire story should be encapsulated on the first page.” Yes, the entire story…is an expanded reflection of the first page.

No wonder Richard Peck revises his first chapter again and again, and then once more after he’s finished the book. Because…

The first chapter is the last chapter in disguise.

Peck keeps working on the beginning of a story until he can answer each of the following questions with a satisfied “Yes”:

Does it intrigue? Does it invite? Does it work?

He should know. Multiple Newbery Medals don’t lie. Applying concepts to my own writing is always easier when I have quality examples to study for structure. The following books provide insights into how great beginnings work, each in its own way:

  • The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
  • The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
  • The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
  • Also Known As by Robin Benway

The Kiss of Deception

The Kiss of Deception, the first in The Remnant Chronicles series by Mary. E. The Kiss of DeceptionPearson, is expertly crafted in many ways. The beginning is no exception. The opening paragraphs wrap us in a lyrical voice and language that intrigue, engender suspense, and unfold threads of magic that alight to weave their magic throughout the series:

Today was the day a thousand dreams would die and a single dream would be born.

The wind knew. It was the first of June, but cold gusts bit at the hilltop citadelle as fiercely as deepest winter, shaking the windows with curses and winding through drafty halls with warning whispers. There was no escaping what was to come.

The Game of Love and Death

Game of Love and Death The Game of Love and Death, by Martha Brockenbrough, is an eternal love story staged by the ultimate masters of the game of life: Love and Death.

The masters choose players to unwittingly participate in a romantic dance through a life filled with jazz clubs and airfields. The players’ dance comes to such a poignant and satisfying culmination, that even the arch nemeses are overwhelmed by its divine beauty.

Brockenbrough establishes the fable in entrancing magic from the first paragraph, weaving the lyrical rhythm of language and fully developed characters with expert elegance:

The figure in the fine gray suit materialized in the nursery and stood over the sleeping infant, inhaling the sweet, milky night air. He could have taken any form, really: a sparrow, a snowy owl, even a common house fly. Although he often traveled the world on wings, for this work he always preferred a human guise.

The One and Only Ivan

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, is a fictional story that was inspired by Ivan, aTheOneAndOnlyIvan_cover real gorilla at the Atlanta Zoo. You can read about the real Ivan here.

The One and Only Ivan is both heartbreaking and heartfelt, brimming with the tenacity of true friendship and the beauty of resolute spirit. Ivan’s soulful voice, his big heart, and the simple honesty of his view of the world draw us in and hold us till the well-deserved happy ending:

I am Ivan. I am a gorilla.

It’s not as easy as it looks.

People call me the Freeway Gorilla. The Ape at Exit 8. The One and Only Ivan, Mighty Silverback.

The names are mine, but they are not me. I am Ivan, just Ivan, only Ivan.

Also Known As

Also Known AsGreat beginnings don’t have to be serious. They can be fresh and fun too, like Also Known As by Robin Benway.

Maggie Silver is the safe cracking prodigy of parents who work for the world’s premier spy organization. Maggie’s sass and snark don’t disappoint on this fast-paced caper, rife with international espionage and the unexpected perils of negotiating high school and first love:

I cracked my first safe when I was three.

I know that sounds like I’m bragging, but really, it wasn’t that hard. It was a Master Lock, the same combination lock that you probably have on your locker or bike. Anyone with Internet access and too much time on his or her hands can crack a Master Lock. I’m serious. Google it. I’ll wait.

See? Easy.


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