{"id":792,"date":"2014-04-21T19:53:49","date_gmt":"2014-04-21T10:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/?p=792"},"modified":"2014-04-21T20:58:57","modified_gmt":"2014-04-21T11:58:57","slug":"rosemary-wells-wisdom-for-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/2014\/04\/21\/rosemary-wells-wisdom-for-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosemary Wells’ Wisdom for Writers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rosemary_and_Ruth\"<\/a>It was on a very Good Friday, just a couple days before Easter, when I attended a Master Class<\/a> taught by children’s book creator, Rosemary Wells and sponsored by our local Tokyo SCBWI<\/a> chapter. The evening was well worth the trip downtown riding sardine-packed trains on a raw April evening.<\/p>\n

From our opening introductions to the final story of the evening, Rosemary Wells<\/a> gave the Tokyo SCBWI participants practical and pithy advice. Although I will not be able to distill the evening into three sentences (as we were required to do in our self-introductions), I will do my best to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153omit needless words.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Strunk and White)<\/i> Rosemary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice was to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pre\u00c3\u00a7is\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or precise, because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no one wants to slog through endless wittering in a children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"Rosemary_Precis\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cut your picture book text down to four sentences per page at most. Leave some story exposition to the illustrator. Write what you know and find out what you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The art of writing for children is like being a contra-alto,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Rosemary. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It requires unique talents.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We listened carefully, as this \u00e2\u20ac\u0153off the cuff\u00e2\u20ac\u009d talk struck a chord in all of us and should help us perfect our pitch in story creation.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My stories are non-fiction,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d began the author who creates beloved stories with bunnies and kittens as the protagonists. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They are based on life experiences.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d As a writer, one has to have a sieve in the brain to collect memories and feelings. Max and Ruby are characters drawn from her own children. She described hearing her older child, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ruby\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of the pair, attempting to instruct her younger nine-month old sibling, upon whom \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Max\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is modeled. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Table\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 T-A-B-L-E\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 TABLE. Say it!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d To which the nine-month old would respond, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bang.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Max\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dragon shirt and general countenance was drawn from a toddler with a withering glare wearing a shirt that glared as well, sitting in the heaping shopping basket ahead of her while she waited and waited one chilly raw night to bring one carton of milk home. The character, Yoko, began with a group of three girls from Osaka who attended Rosemary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s daughter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school. They were teased about the sushi and seaweed in their traditional Japanese lunches which her daughter thought was totally unfair. Family memories and personal memories are the story starters for the author\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s books. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Go back to your childhood,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d advised Rosemary, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153and remember.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0\"Max<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The art of illustration is a challenge,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d explained Wells. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Try not to repeat in pictures what the text says.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The artist should look for elements that the text does not overtly mention. Find humor in the text. Marry the text without being the same as the text. Rosemary prefers the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153illumination\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153illustration\u00e2\u20ac\u009d harking back to the time of the beautifully, gold-leaf enhanced drawings with which scribes would enhance the scriptures. The pictures should make the story glow with deeper meaning and draw the reader further into the story\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s embrace.<\/p>\n

Rosemary Wells has been in the business since she was twenty. Now, at age seventy, she has seen publishing rise and fall. Publishing is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in the trenches now,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Publishers grab for too much and authors cannot make a living. Publishers have wrecked things a bit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. Rosemary has seen her own royalty percentages cut in half over the years. It is especially difficult for new authors. Still, she gave us hope by encouraging us to write what is true and deep. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Present it simply,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she advised, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153with no affectation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Write for yourself,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, despite our protestations that editors ask writers to categorize themselves. On the other hand, she said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You may not argue with your editor. Work without ego; listen to your editor and do it better. Only after you have produced 10 starred review books can you go at it with the editor.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"gc0405wells-01.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And while a trained and experienced editor will have valid criticism, Wells did warn against listening to all the advice that one might hear in a writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s group. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Advice given from a reader\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perspective is valid,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she admitted, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but amateurs may not know what they are talking about when giving publishing advice.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This is not to say that Wells does not encounter any friction with her own editors. She sometimes disagrees with their choices, but they are the ones paying to have the book printed, after all. She sent around a recently published book along with its original \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dummy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so that we could note the changes that were made. She also mentioned that she does not illustrate for other authors as she will inevitably end up changing the original text and make changes all the way up until the deadline, and sometimes, even afterwards. The advantage of being both author and illustrator is that the two always agree on the finished product.<\/p>\n

\"max<\/a><\/p>\n

The importance of authenticity in writing for children was emphasized again and again. Children are dealing with life issues and they know they have to handle it on their own. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153School is like a big bus. You get on with a bunch of people you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know and then they lock the doors of the bus and you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t escape. You are stuck with these people for years.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Parents and teachers do what they can to help, of course, but Rosemary explained that it is as if they are on the outside of a thick Lucite bubble. They can see the struggles the child is going through, but in the end, the child must find his or her own solution. It is an author\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s job to write about the person and the true emotions. The story should be about an individual, not about a problem or a conflict; \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the person, not the peanut allergy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Adult agendas have no place in children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s books. Children love stories that show characters overcoming obstacles with humor and grit. Be authentic and write simply. Young readers will love you for it.<\/p>\n

Thank you, Rosemary, for sharing yourself with us.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201c Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud<\/p>\n

belovedofbeasts.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/a>

Princess Ramona, Beloved of Beasts; by Ruth Gilmore Ingulsrud, illustrated by Therese Larsson<\/p><\/div>\n

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Rosemary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice was to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pre\u00c3\u00a7is\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or precise, because \u00e2\u20ac\u0153no one wants to slog through endless wittering in a children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[107,62,160,161,169,166,113,114,162,168,167,159,164,165,207,163,158,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":804,"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792\/revisions\/804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruth.ingulsrud.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}