The Pen Is Mightier Than the... Scalpel?

What makes a great book so great? 

What gives it that voila! that makes people want to

read it over and over and over?
And how do we as writers figure it all out?

Book dissection. 

Works for frogs, doesn't it?

Er, they're probably not too thrilled about it, sure, 

but after hearing Rachel Vail (Justin Case, Piggybunny), Melissa Sweet (Balloons Over Broadway) and Bonny Becker (A Visitor for Bear) discuss their research strategies at the writing conference, I got to thinking... 

See, biologists and writers have something in common.

Both need to get at the Hows and Whats and Whys, 

and can be bettered by a little friendly dissection.

How to dissect a book:

First, find a massive stack of books

in the genre you want to write.

(best-sellers and favorites 

are a good place to start.)

Read till you're stuffed.

Then, take out the scalpel - the figurative one - 

and pull your books apart.

Question everything. 

If you're an outliner, try boiling your favorites down into outlines. 

Ask yourself questions like:

1- What makes this a best-seller?

2- What do I love about this? 

3- What sets this book apart from all the others?

4- What is this story about in one snappy sentence?

5- What makes this book memorable:

            -Is it strong central characters?

            -emotional connection?

            -a plot that sucks you in and won't let you go?

            -an unidentifiable weirdness?

Record your findings to see if any themes emerge.

After doing this to sixty picture books, 

I have to say that I really do feel the vicarious cleverness 

seeping in...

I see how certain themes resonate with my brood

and I can pinpoint why some books rise above the rest.

Dissecting books is like
Toto and Dorothy finding the man behind the curtain.

It's like seeing someone that intimidates you
in their underpants.

It's like finding out the magician's secret tricks.

What's left to fear? 

If we can identify what makes a good book good,
we're almost there!

And hopefully some of that goodness will rub off
as we hunker down at our desks to go be clever.

Bookish books:

The Incredible Book Eating Boy, by Oliver Jeffers

Castle of Books, by Bernard Clavel, illustrated by Yan Nascimbene 

Wordy gifts

I've been dissecting books lately -
I'm reading and analyzing and trying to get
at the wild animal that is successful writing.
And in the process, I found I wanted
to actually cut something up.

So we made wordy gifts for our teachers and mamas.

The girls yarn-bombed pencils,

 helped fancy up some clipboards,

 did a little sewing;

then we stitched old book pages into apple, heart and flower puffs

 and stuck them on our pencils.

Ah, clipboards. 

I've often thought I could go just about 

anywhere with a clipboard and feel official. 

So, the wordy gifts are done. 

And the figurative book dissection continues...

I'll fill you in tomorrow on my discoveries.

Hook, Line and Binky

Back from the SCBWI writer's weekend!

I know the secrets of the publishing world!
I know how to make stories
that editors AND children
will gobble up
hook, line and binky.

Here is Part One of my conference gleanings.

How to make your story good bait...

From my agent Rubin Pfeffer of East West Literary Agency:

Agents and Editors are looking for
Great stories that are rich with
Emotion,
Strong characters,
Originality,
Strong pacing,
Masterful language - not cheesy rhymes,
Re-readability,
and Hook.

       What is "Hook?"

Hook is that snappy one-line
that will sell your story,
that clever Something that sets your book apart from the rest -

A robot escapes the Science Fair,
Dinosaurs deal with bedtime,
Pirates have to babysit,


From Bruce Hale,
author of Snoring Beauty and the Chet Gecko mystery series:

Art is War.

We have to fight within ourselves to produce art.
The biggest fight? Making time to write.
What sucks up your writing time?
Is it email? Social networking? TV? Phone?
What if you CUT THAT IN HALF ?
How much more writing would result?

Melissa Sweet, author/illustrator of award-winning Balloons Over Broadway, and other stunners,  wowed us with her art and her passion.

She embraces research as a necessary part of the process.
Melissa suggests doing quick mini-watercolors every day - to learn how to observe.
She once did a 365-day series graphing weather and light, moon and sun patterns.

from Charlotte in Giverny,
by Joan McPhail Knight, ill. by Melissa S

"Design isn't just about making things.

  It's making things happen." 

- Melissa Sweet

Carmine A Little More Red, by Melissa Sweet

 ill. by Melissa Sweet 

It's amazing to be surrounded 

by book-lovers, word-lovers
and art-lovers,

to connect with like minds and discover
that I am not the only writer afflicted 

with revisions...

Buoyant!

And thank you, Rubin Pfeffer, for this one:

"A writer is not a writer. A writer is a rewriter." - Patricia MacLachlan

Whew. Glad it's not just me.
I'll give you the second scoop of conference wisdom soon!

In the meantime, I leave you with books from local writer friends I can't wait to read:

Devine Intervention, by Martha Brockenbrough

Pickle, by Kim Baker

Dragonswood, by Janet Lee Carey

Wheee!