Rachel Vail - School, Drool and Other Daily Disasters: Finding the Humour and Heart in Middle Grade Novels

Rachel Vail

Be inspired by books that really move you.

Middle grade – you emerge into the world, away from your family. It hits you. Is your family weird? Books can be company for you. You feel that others out there are like you. You also discover 'there are other ways than my way.'

Common humanities. We are the same, but different. Are we more or less daring? Shy? Do we live in different places?

How do we move past our own lives? How do we become someone else? Start with what you know. Eg. Metaphorically, do you feel that you were 'kept under the stairs'? How would you act/react as a person in this situation?

Life or death moments are a dime a dozen in middle grade. You just want to die. You can also feel utter joy. Suddenly shame, lust and ambition emerge. You have never felt these feelings before. RV describes feeling 'soul-melting jealousy' when she discovered that a boy in her class could already read at 6 years old.

Young adolescents can feel that they are changing in front of everybody – in full view. There is no cocoon to hide in. You are learning to laugh. They feel soul-burning humiliation as if they are naked in front of the world. The need the loyalty of a friend.

Ask yourself: who did I not want to sit next to and why? How did I feel when I stood at the top of the ski hill when I actually didn't know how to ski yet? Speed write for 10 minutes about these thoughts and see where it goes.

Little children harbour worries that parents may not be aware of. They often think: what if?

Many stories of middle grade have a one act play structure. RV wrote Justin Case as such. Then she threw it out and started again. It takes practise to get the voice right.

Rachel told us about her discovery of the water cycle when she was in school. To her it was a big revelation and she felt excited about telling everyone in her family about it. Everyone responded with 'Yes, I know', except her uncle. He played along and acted very interested and intrigued. He took her seriously. It made her feel important and special. Can you be a person who listens to a child?

The first draft: Michaelangelo said that the sculpture was hidden in the stone. As the stone, start chiseling away and find your story.

Rachel Vail - Hearing your Characters: Creating Distinctive/Contrasting Voices for Each of Your Characters

Rachel Vail

These are my notes from Rachel Vail's workshop at the SCBWI LA Summer Conference, 2010.

How to hear your characters? Listen. Try spying. On train, wear headphones with no music playing and eavesdrop. You must like stories. You must like sentences!

Take a note book with you everywhere you go. You never know what gems you'll hear. 'Bump of bread' (her son talking about a roll). 'Sucked his cubes' (a waitress who cleared the drinks from the table of a famous actor!) 'Christopher only likes red. All day long.' (A little girl RV once met).

You know the character by their voice. Figure out who they are to learn their voice.

- What they notice

- What they talk about

- What they don't talk about

Notice how people sit, talk, walk etc.

Use of opposites

Explosive character and an implosive character. Volatile and steady.

How we express our ideas and what we notice differs according to personality. Eg: Dancers use movement, musicians use music, artists notice light and shade, psychologists notice relational information. Some people notice absurdities.

Perspective

2^nd book harder to write because of 1^st protagonist in your head. “The Friendship Ring” - you see the same situation through someone else's eyes in different books in the series.

Characterisation

Walt Whitman – I contradict myself. I contain multitudes.

Start with yourself. Sense memory. Imagine you are in your father's car (as a child). Write down what you smell, see, hear, feel, think etc.

Think about your mum and a disaster at the supermarket. Most of us know our mum's voice. What would be a disaster to her? Write as if you were her in that situation.

“Sometimes I'm trying so hard to be nice that I forget to think.” RV spent 6 hours trying to write this line one day. Delete, delete, delete...

“I don't know what I want” - if this comes up in your dialogue, you have a problem. The character is speaking to you, telling you that they need a motivation.

If you can't get a character's voice out of your head, what do you do? Sometimes you can't, so it becomes your next book.

Play with dialogue in order to meet your characters.

Rachel read us some dialogue between her characters Justin Case and Elizabeth the Excellent. Elizabeth is spelling her name – it's wrong, but to her it's just right. She believes that the spelling of her name can change. Justin is a perfectionist and is getting very annoyed and frustrated with her because it just isn't correct. Elizabeth stands her ground and just believes that she is right. A lot is revealed about the characters from this exchange.

Tips:

Have a notebook and pen at all times. People say things that can be like gold. Eg. 'A runaway freckle', 'A bump of bread.'

Notice how things smell. It's a primal, ancient sense.

If you get stuck, make tea. Force yourself to remember.

Use forces of opposition. If they usually act one way, make them respond in the opposite way.

Screenwriter once said: 'Take a character's statement out and you should be able to guess who said it.' It should be unmistakeable. Often takes 60 drafts for Rachel to get a 'first draft' that she sends to her editor.

Ask your character:

What do I want?

Why can't I get it?

Who is stopping me from getting it?

Why?

Why do I want it?

What do I REALLY want? (Sometimes it's the opposite of what you think you want – eg. You might want to get away from your mother, but at the root of it you want to be closer to her).

What will happen if I don't get it?

What is a risk?

Rachel described writing a book with her friend Avi (Edward). The story was called 'Never Mind!'

It started as a joke – Rachel wrote a chapter (left the end hanging) and emailed it to her friend Avi. It was from one character's point of view. He edited her chapter and wrote chapter two from another character's point of view. They went back and forth until they had a whole book.

Note: a particular voice may not be to the editor's taste.

Rachel uses her 'Form to Form a Character' list of prompts. Some of these are listed below.

My name is

How I look (from outside)

How I look (from character's point of view)

I can't stand...

I love my mum, but...

My friends...

I wish...

If I could change one thing...

My favourite food is...

I love to wear...

When I grow up...

The worst thing I ever did...

The best part about school is...

I wish I were more...

The thing nobody knows about me is...

My dad always...

I am afraid...

When I get mad...

I don't care about...

I used to like...

My life would be better if...

My family is...

A great day for me...

I don't think I'll ever...