Writing About What We Know, Who We Don’t Know, and What We Care About
I once had the good fortune to open a letter and discover that award winning author, Jerry Spinelli, was to be my mentor at a writer’s conference. I was thrilled- certain that I had been assigned this amazing author because of my own literary brilliance and couldn’t wait to hear his praise of the first ten pages of my soon to be Newberry Award winning novel. However, at our first meeting, instead of being showered with accolades, I was met with, “You said in your synopsis, that this is a compelling adventure story- tell me, what is compelling about this first chapter?” And then, “What could you, a white woman from Connecticut, possibly know about a thirteen year-old boy from Puerto Rico?”
After brushing away the tears, I brushed myself off and got back on the horse. I would show that Jerry Spinelli- I could write a compelling opening chapter, I did know how a 13 year-old boy felt, new in town, in a strange place. I too had felt alone, insecure, foreign, when I first arrived in that same town. And, what about the fact that he, a middle aged white man, wrote about a 12 year-old African- American girl? What about J.K. Rowling writing about an 11 year-old orphan, an 8 foot tall half giant, or the feelings of a snowy owl? I went back to the computer, stayed up most of the night, pulled a few hairs out, wrote, and re-wrote. I arrived at our next meeting armed with five crisp new pages and a pint of blueberries. One or both had a positive effect- I received a thumbs up.
I am a strong believer in thorough research, but in order to captivate our readers, do we have to travel to every spot where our characters lived, attend the same school, speak their native language, eat the same food (a snowy owl?? Yechh)? Or, is it just as important to write about what is close to our hearts, an incident we observe, an emotion we have experienced, or a person or place that we care about passionately?
Ps: I am eternally grateful to Jerry Spinelli- a brilliant writer and teacher – a kind hearted soul with a twinkle in his eye.
October 27th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
Perhaps getting Jerry Spinelli as your mentor was just the right person you needed to get to your heart in your first chapter. We all need a Jerry Spinelli in our lives.