Write What THEY Know: Using Your Character's Passions to Develop Voice (Part 3) by Katie Van Ark

In the first two parts of this series, I wrote about my personal struggles with developing voice and how using my character's passions and backgrounds helped me develop a new voice for one of my own works in progress. Today I'll focus on advice and exercises for your own writing.

First, unless you already have a great deal of personal experience or background in the sport, hobby, or culture, please do your research before attempting to use it as a lens. Like all passionate people, your characters must know their passion inside and out for their voices to be believable. I easily wrote about figure skaters because I was one. When I tried to write from a hockey player's perspective? Toe pick trip. I could write games scenes well enough from the random games I'd glimpsed at the rink. But the only time I'd “breathed” hockey was while pinching my nose on my way to the figure skater's locker room. I didn't know hockey well enough to write that character, so I ditched my toe picks for a few weeks to play in a local women's spring league. I followed the Blackhawks in  the Chicago Tribune sports pages, watched game tape, and studied hockey play books like my own personal championships depended on it. Immersing myself in hockey gave me a greater appreciation for the sport and an understanding about what my character loved about it that not only improved his voice but helped shape the entire novel.

Beware of outside influences that may be spoiling your voice attempts. When I was writing Jonah's voice, my script-obsessed character from part two of this series, Dawson's Creek reruns were great. When I was trying to write my hockey character, I now had a jock who sounded like Dawson. I switched to Friday Night Lights and had a much easier time in my writing sessions. Your reading material can have the same effect.

A great exercise to try is one that author M.T. Anderson calls “emblandishment.” This means taking a section of writing that you love and breaking it down into its barest bones. Consider this paragraph from my novel, The Boy Next Door:

It's not a move he needs more practice with but I let my body arch into his touch all the same. I know how to handle myself on ice, but this isn't ice. This is fire. And soon it's going to be out of control. Gabe doesn't push for anything more than my bra but it's enough for me to realize that I'm not thinking about if this is special and that right now I don't give even a single Axel about forever. When his hands are on me, I feel the same sense of exhilaration I feel just before the top of a split triple twist. I'm soaring and weightless.

What this basically says is this: “I enjoy Gabe touching me enough to stop thinking about if it's a good idea. His touch exhilarates me.” Flavoring it with Maddy's passion for skating, though, brings it to life. Try this out on your own favorite passages that I asked you to find in part one, then look for bare bone places in your own work (as I did in part two) and see what you can do.

            
Finally, don't get discouraged if your search takes awhile. The journey for voice is a new journey with each novel and it has to be. Authors need to get to know their characters, too, and nobody lays everything out on the first date, right? Think about how you bond with another person. We are all unique individuals with vastly different life experiences and interests yet we are drawn together by our shared passions.

I now like to think about my work as cups of tea. I am the canister of loose leaves and I seep a little of my own passions, either existing or new, into each of my novels. And in doing so, I not only give my characters stronger voices but I become more passionate about my writing as well, having infused it with something I love. Brew your own characters' voices by playing up their passions.

Katie Van Ark lives in Michigan with two little girls who love mud, a cat that thinks it's a dog, and a very patient husband. The Boy Next Door, a YA figure skating love story, is her first novel. Visit her online at katievanark.com or on Twitter @kvanark.

Thanks to Katie for kicking off the school year with this three-part series on developing voice. We've had a studious month, and now it's time for some fun. We'll wrap up the month with another round of Hugs and Hurrahs (send your good news to Patti Richards at pgwrites5@gmail.com by Sept. 22nd). In October, Nina Goebel will reveal our new blog banner created by our new Featured Illustrator! I'll miss our delightful summer banner created by Jennifer Scott, but I'm looking forward to a new season.

Would you like to contribute a guest post for the Mitten blog? Read the submission guidelines here.
Have a great weekend!

Kristin Lenz

Write What THEY Know: Using Your Character's Passions to Develop Voice (Part 2) by Katie Van Ark

In the first part of this series, I wrote about my own struggles trying to develop unique voices for characters in first person POV novels and how a friend's comment about how artists see the world a different way made me think about if I could use my character's passions as lenses to help bring out their voices. When I began writing this article, I found an old YA novel I'd started and set aside during my period of writing “laryngitis.” It began like this:

Jonah’s eyes scanned the room for any and all possible exits. How was he going to get out of here? Running away might make him look like an idiot, but maybe that’s what he was. Skip the maybe part.  He was so stupid for letting people set him up on dates. After this many disasters, he should have learned his lesson.

There may be nothing horribly wrong here at first glance, but there isn't anything great either. Jonah could be anybody; all we know about him at this point is that he's having a bad date.

In a later version, I'd tried to find voice by switching to first person and immersing myself in the action:

So school will be no problem, with the uniforms, but outside? I have a lot of blue in my wardrobe, how about you?” Kimmi's voice squeals like markers on a white board. She can't be Kim or Kimmy, either, those names aren't original enough. Go figure that someone obsessed with being different would want us to wear matching outfits all the time so everyone will know we're a couple.

            

“Excuse me, I'll be right back.” I stand so quickly I almost trip myself on the legs of the restaurant table.

I now had less internal thought and more dialogue and action, but I still lacked a fully developed character. Even in first person, I was still using my “authorial” voice. Frustrated, I'd put the work aside.

Now I wondered: would considering Jonah's passions help me find his voice? Jonah had appeared in my first novel, The Boy Next Door, as a bit part so I knew his family was French and he was in the running for valedictorian. I added French phrases and upped his vocabulary choices. But what else was there to this character? Working through my overall story arc, I realized that a mutual enthusiasm for film would bring Jonah and his love interest closer and also let me use a tendency to think through his life scenes as film scenes to help with his voice. The result:

"Espèce de merde. Species of shit. All species of shit. I examine the bathroom window. My six foot frame means I could reach it but it also means that I'll fit through it the day that chickens grow teeth. I slump back against the cool tile of the men's room wall. At least it's quiet in here. The urinals reek of piss but stink way less than what I've just escaped on the other side of that six-paneled door. I pull out my phone and start dictating my latest first date fiasco:

CROWDED RESTAURANT – EVENING

Upbeat music, tables of couples and groups laughing and chatting. Jonah and Kimmi sit at a table in the center.

KIMMI

So we should like totally wear matching outfits so everyone knows we're a couple?

JONAH

???

KIMMI

With the uniforms at school that'll be, like, way easy? But after? Do you like blue?

JONAH

???

Of course, other aspects of this scene have been altered as well. I'm now starting the scene in the bathroom (where Jonah eventually fled in the previous drafts) and this may not be the final draft, either, but as far as voice goes? That's a wrap.

Check back for some practical tips and exercises in Part 3!

Katie Van Ark lives in Michigan with two little girls who love mud, a cat that thinks it's a dog, and a very patient husband. The Boy Next Door, a YA figure skating love story, is her first novel. Visit her online at katievanark.com or on Twitter @kvanark.

Write What THEY Know: Using Your Character's Passions to Develop Voice (Part 1) by Katie Van Ark

My first time at critique group, I soaked up my fellow writers' compliments on my “voice” in my figure skating romance. Though I was new to writing, I'd already heard the art-versus-science debates over this elusive aspect of craft. Well, I thought, I didn't need to worry about if voice could be taught or if it required natural talent. I already had it. Then came novel number two, and my critique partners said: “These characters sound... just like your first characters.”

As I looked back over my draft, I had to agree they were right. I didn't have voice. I'd only given my voice to that first set of characters. Unable to skate competitively myself while pregnant with my first daughter, I'd followed the old advice to “write what you know” and poured out my longing for the ice into The Boy Next Door. Expressions like “see you later, figure skater” and “smooth as ice, that move” had glided onto the page. Now they were back to haunt me like instant replays of a bad fall.

As a reader, I've always been drawn to stories with strong voice and the realization that maybe I didn't have voice after all hit hard. But as a skater, I was used to getting back up. I brushed myself off, deciding that if I didn't have voice, then I was going to learn it. However, I seemed stuck in an ice rut. My MFA program advisor was telling me my newest hero's voice sounded like a girl and the voice muse was ditching practice. (Case in point in these last two sentences, right?)

Then an illustrator friend and fellow SCBWI member, Kathryn Dilley, surprised me at dinner one night with a confession. As a child, she had never thought she could draw until a classmate explained that the skill was all about looking at the world a different way. Kathryn went on, trying to explain how artists see negative space, but her words had sidetracked me: looking at the world a different way. Developing voice was about seeing the world my character's way. My skating lens had given my first characters their voices. Could different lenses help me develop different voices?

Think about meeting people at a party, the way they come to life when you bring up one of their favorite subjects. Miranda Kenneally scored a touchdown using her heroine's passion for football to develop her voice in her young adult romance, CATCHING JORDAN. Jordan confesses her feelings for football in the very first paragraph: “I once read that football was invented so people wouldn't notice summer ending. But I couldn't wait for summer to end. I couldn't wait for football. Football, dominator of fall – football, love of my life.” However, Kenneally also weaves football completely into Jordan's words. How would someone who loves football think about time? Not as after dinner but as “before Monday night football.” Jordan's grass isn't green, it's like “lying on Astroturf, only without the rug burns” and her feeling of emptiness is “a playbook without plays.”

In I'LL MEET YOU THERE, Heather Demetrios used Josh's military experience as a lens for the brief sections told through his perspective while flavoring Skylar's world with her passion for art and specifically collage. And of course passions aren't limited to sports or other hobbies. People are often passionate about their families and cultural backgrounds, and both of these can influence their word choices and tone as well.

In the next part of this series, I'll give you an example of how I applied a new lens to improve the voice in my own work in progress, but in the meantime I'd love to hear about some of the books that have voices you love. Please share!

Katie Van Ark lives in Michigan with two little girls who love mud, a cat that thinks it's a dog, and a very patient husband. The Boy Next Door, a YA figure skating love story, is her first novel. Visit her online at katievanark.com or on Twitter @kvanark.

Thank you, Katie! This article was first published in the Romance Writers Report (RWR) by Romance Writers of America (RWA), and Katie revised it for this blog series.

Wishing everyone a fun holiday weekend and a smooth start to school. We'll see you back here next Friday for Part 2 of Katie's series on developing voice. 

Another round of Hugs and Hurrahs are right around the corner. Remember to send your good news to Patti Richards at pgwrites5@gmail.com.

Cheers!

Kristin Lenz

Things I Learned While Writing a Trilogy by Melanie Hooyenga

I recently published the third book in my YA trilogy, The Flicker Effect, and this release was far more stressful than the previous two. Writing a novel—not to mention publishing it—is a huge accomplishment, and I could have used this advice to avoid unexpected bumps along the way.

Planning to write a trilogy, or already in the middle? I hope this helps!

It’s very very important to keep a character bible.

When I wrote the first book, FLICKER, I hadn’t planned to write a trilogy. It was only after I finished that I realized it had series potential, and I’d neglected to take some very important notes while during the writing process. Case in point: Mid-way through the first draft of the second book, FRACTURE, I couldn’t remember my main character’s last name. I didn’t remember even GIVING her a last name. But since I never kept track of that HUGE detail, I had to skim through ALL OF FLICKER to make sure. Nope, I never called her anything beyond Biz, and her BFF Amelia refers to Biz’s dad as Mr. Biz.

I started a loose guide at that point, but with FADED, the third book, I ran into the same problem. I don’t spend a lot of time naming secondary characters—I often write the first name that pops into my head—so when a new character from chapter three resurfaces ten chapters later, there’s very little to help me recall that person’s name.

It’s difficult to promote books 2 and 3 without giving away THE BIG THING from books 1 and 2.

While working on the back cover copy for FADED, I was faced with this challenge: how do I refer to the BIG HUGE LIFE-CHANGING EVENT that was the climax of the previous book without giving away the ending to those who haven’t read it? You need to hook readers so they’ll want to read it, but for someone who’s never read any of my books, I don’t want them to skim through the descriptions of each one and be disappointed.

My solution? I stuck with vague details that focus on a big event that opens the book, with a few hints of trouble to come:

Biz didn’t think life could get worse after after the tragic events that surrounded her last flicker, but when she accidentally flickers on her eighteenth birthday after doing shots of vodka—she’s forced to face the consequences of her actions in a way she never imagined.

When an anonymous email threatens to reveal her secret, Biz must decide if flickering is all it’s cracked up to be, or if she needs to stop. Forever.

Generic adjectives like “tragic” and phrases like “forced to face the consequences” may not be the most elegant solution, but they allow a glimpse of what’s coming without giving away the ending of book two.

Ending a trilogy is much bigger than ending a stand-alone book.

Concluding a book has always been a challenge for me. I don’t want the ending to be trite or clichéd, or worse, leave readers feeling unsatisfied (well, except for the end of FRACTURE which was definitely a cliffhanger), and I often struggle with finding the perfect way to end a story.

Well, multiply that times a hundred for ending a series. Based on my outline, I was still several chapters from The End when I realized, “Hey, I’m already in the end.” Story lines that started in FLICKER were wrapping up without me realizing it (this is the stuff we writers say that annoys non-writers) so I had to back-track and make sure ALL the loose ends were tucked neatly away. The character arcs from books one and two had to close as well. As my husband teases me: ALL THE THINGS. There was a lot more than I expected, but I’m happy with how it came together.

You’ll both dread and look forward to saying goodbye to your characters.

FADED was published in June and I’ve said goodbye to Biz, Cameron, Amelia, and my new favorite character Quinn. They’ve been with me since 2010 and while it makes me sad to let them go, I’m excited to get to know the characters in my next book. I still need to do character development projects to learn what makes them tick (I know Cally loves to ski, but what’s her favorite subject in school, or her least-favorite food?) and I’m a little nervous I won’t love them the same.

Then again, they say there’s always a special place in your heart for your first love.

Melanie Hooyenga first started writing as a teenager and finds she still relates best to that age group. She has lived in Washington DC, Chicago, and Mexico, but has finally settled down in her home state of Michigan with her husband Jeremy. When not at her day job as a graphic designer, you can find Melanie attempting to wrangle her Miniature Schnauzer Owen and playing every sport imaginable with Jeremy.

Learn more at http://www.melaniehoo.com/ 

Coming up on the Mitten blog: We're heading back to school with a 3-part craft series on Voice, and Patti Richards is collecting your good news for another round of Hugs and Hurrahs. Email Patti at pgwrites5@gmail.com.

Cheers!
Kristin Lenz

SCBWI-MI Conferences: Looking Forward and Back

Registration is now open for the SCBWI-MI Fall Conference - Homegrown Talent on October 3, 2015 in Dexter, MI. The jam-packed day will feature a variety of presentations for writers and illustrators, as well as editorial critiques and portfolio reviews. 

Maybe you've already registered and are looking forward to the event (like me!) or maybe you're questioning if it's worth your time and money. Betsy McKee Williams attended the SCBWI-MI Hook of the Book conference in May, and even though the primary focus was on an amazing illustrator (E.B. Lewis), Betsy took away many lessons as a writer too.

A Writer Learns from Illustrators at Hook of the Book by Betsy McKee Williams

I’m writing middle grade novels and, while I am also interested in writing picture books, I will never be an illustrator. So I debated registering for Hook of the Book. But this conference was so close (only 10 miles from my home) and, thanks to the generosity of Thomson-Shore publishers, so affordable. And I love to learn. So I went.

I am so glad I did.

E.B. suggested that SCBWI might be called the Society of Children's Storytellers, and introduced himself as the one who "writes the pictures." 

He started his talk with a metaphor: Some of us speak English, some French or Italian, and illustrators speak Visual Language. I found this metaphor very apt, because I spent much of the day translating his advice to illustrators into words for novelists, and building conceptual bridges between words and illustrations.

Here are just a few examples.

E.B. spoke of perspective, of the angle from which we view the illustration. Are we at the characters' level? Or do we view the characters from below or from above? How far above? And how does the perspective affect our connection to the characters and to the story?

And I thought about point of view: first person, close third, omniscient...

E.B. told illustrators not to have a character look directly at readers, because doing so "breaks the wall." 

And I thought of avoiding second person point of view.

E.B. told illustrators to keep the light source consistent. He showed us images of outdoor scenes where the light and shadows were not consistent with having one sun in the sky.

And I thought of avoiding "head hopping," and of revising for consistent point of view.

E.B. and Matt Faulkner both discussed technical aspects of how they illustrate, answering questions about the steps they take from sketch or storyboard to finished illustration.

And I thought an analogy for writers might include an outline. (But I wouldn't know... I confess that I don't start with one.)

Both illustrators shared specific ideas for illustrating characters to convey personality and emotion, and for showing setting.

And I thought of much specific advice to writers on writing dialogue and showing character emotion*, and of my struggle to select only the best bits from my extensive (excessive?) research, to show historical setting without subjecting my readers to info-dumps.

Leslie Helakoski's presentation gave me a great overview of qualities to look for in published picture books, and to build into my own texts. And the QA session gave me helpful insight into how illustrators work with authors. (The short version: most work separately.)

E.B. spoke of revision, and of the love of the process. He told us to allow ourselves to make mistakes: "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which to keep."

Those words certainly apply to writers as well as to illustrators.

At the start E.B. said that, just as we in the western world read words from left to right, we read pictures in the same way. While I think I knew that truth before the conference, I came away a much more sophisticated reader of images. And I learned a great deal about how illustrators compose and arrange images to tell a story and to hook the reader. 

Novelists and illustrators both seek that hook!

Betsy McKee Williams lives in Ann Arbor, where she balances writing for children with a full time job and coordinates local Meet Ups for SCBWI.

The next Ann Arbor Meet Up is August 29th, 10-12:00 at the Ann Arbor District Library. Shutta Crum will speak about adding "extra value" to PB manuscripts. She will also collect new or like-new books to be donated to the Martin Co. library in Kentucky.

Here's everything you need to know about the fall conference:

SCBWI-MI Fall Conference 2015: Homegrown Talent

Learn ​from ​the ​amazing ​talent ​grown ​right ​here ​in ​Michigan! ​ This ​will ​be ​a ​jam-packed ​one ​day ​conference ​held ​at ​ Thompson-Shore ​in ​Dexter, ​Michigan ​on ​Saturday, ​October ​3, ​ 2015. ​Open ​to ​all ​who ​are ​interested ​in ​creating ​literature ​ for ​children, ​it ​includes ​a ​limited ​number ​of ​onsite ​portfolio  ​reviews ​and ​written ​editorial ​critiques. ​It ​is ​going ​to ​be ​ an ​event ​that ​blossoms ​with ​enrichment, ​community, ​and ​fun. ​ Join ​us!

For information regarding the Homegrown Talent Conference access the links below!

• Homegrown Talent Faculty
• Homegrown Talent Schedule of the Day
• Homegrown Talent Critiques
• Homegrown Talent Portfolio Reviews
• Homegrown Talent First Pages
• Homegrown Talent Scholarship Opportunities
• Need a Hotel?

Conference will be held at Thomson-Shore: a book publisher, printer, and distributor
7200 Joy Road
Dexter, Michigan 48130

(Thomson-Shore is a 100% employee owned book publisher, printer, and distributor located in Dexter, Michigan. The venue lies 18 minutes west of the heart of Ann Arbor, an hour and a half east of Kalamazoo, two hours from central Grand Rapids, and five or so from da' UP, eh.)

Register HERE!

Coming up on the Mitten blog: Writing a Trilogy, a September back-to-school 3-part series on Voice, and another round of Hugs and Hurrahs. Please send your good news to Patti Richards at pgwrites5@gmail.com. 

Have a great weekend!

Kristin Lenz

Road Trip to Toledo by Charlie Barshaw

Thursday June 25, 7 am, and I try to rouse Ruth. As usual, she’s stayed up way too late, this time finishing the dummy for a picture book she’s worked (off and) on for almost two years and sending it to her agent. Ruth asked for another half hour of rest.

So, we set out for our road trip to the Toledo Library close to an hour later than planned, but still managed to meet two of our loose-knit party in the underground parking garage. There we met Kirbi Fagan (an SCBWI-MI illustrator) and her college drawing professor, Anne Garavaglia. Soon afterward, just inside the building, we met Susan Zonca, and once on the second floor in the children’s wing, we met up with Kara Marsee and her two sons. It was Kara’s original MichKids post at the end of May that sparked the idea for this day children’s art and camaraderie.

The Toledo Library Main Branch is a cathedral to books. A docent on the first floor pointed out where the original library used to end. The outside wall now stands as an indoor monument, and the ceiling windows flood the interior with natural light, even on a rainy day.

Different size doors, charming art and sculptures at the library

The children’s wing on the second floor abounds with clever touches: doors of different heights line the walls, and 3-D sculptures of dinosaurs and Greek masks on the endcaps. The noses of two vehicles emerge from the walls, one a gold Cadillac from a book of the same name by Toledo native Mildred D. Taylor . The other is the front half of a Jeep, with three startled sheep sculpted (in baa-relief, says Ruth) on the wall behind, to celebrate Nancy Shaw’s classic SHEEP IN A JEEP. In both, young riders (and readers) can pose for photos.

Quick-draw Barshaw draws Nancy Drew

Lining the walls, donated artwork from many Michigan illustrators brighten the room. RA Leslie Helakoski’s FAIR COW graces one wall near artwork from Lori McElrath-Eslick. Wendy Anderson Halperin, Mark Crilley, and many other familiar names invite you on a treasure hunt of discovery.

Kirbi Fagan wears the same color palette as Lori Eslick’s painting next to her

We set out for the Toledo Museum of Art at lunchtime and dined in the four star-rated cafeteria. (Tasty food, low price.) Afterward, we made our way to the second floor (kid’s books seem to end up on the second floor in Toledo) where we found a room dedicated to animal artwork on loan from the Mazza Museum.

The museum exhibit ended in July, but Mazza, on the campus of the University of Findlay, exhibits children’s book art year-round, and is well worth the trip.

We each drifted off then, back to our daily lives, but for a few magnificent hours, we bathed in the magnificence of children’s book illustration.

We still have a few weeks of summer left. If you have an idea for a fun road trip, mention it on the MichKids listserv and SCBWI-MI’s Facebook page. It just takes one spark to start a creative fire.

Charlie Barshaw is a writer who devotes considerable time and energy to our SCBWI-MI chapter. He coordinates conferences and meet-ups, and frequently contributes posts for the Mitten blog. 

At the moment, he's recovering from a health scare that landed him in the hospital this week. Have no fear, he's back home and on the mend and surrounded by a swarm of loving friends and family. He doesn't know his blog post is being published today, but we thought it'd be a welcome surprise.

Surprise him some more by sharing your well-wishes and appreciation in the comments.

Cheers!

Kristin Lenz

Writer Spotlight! Meet Ken Rahmoeller

It’s time for another Writer Spotlight here on the Mitten! Today’s distinguished guest may be the very first chemist/children’s writer I have ever had the privilege to meet. 

Ken Rahmoeller is a true Midwesterner, having grown up in Missouri and Illinois. He moved to Michigan after college with his native-Michigander wife, and has been here ever since. His only two complaints about Michigan are that it’s too cold in the winter and there aren’t enough castles! I guess too cold depends on your perspective (polar bears might think it too warm), but I'll agree with Ken about the castles.

Welcome to the Mitten!

Mitten:  When did you start writing for children or otherwise, and how did you know it was something you wanted to do?

Ken: As strange as it may seem, ten years ago I had absolutely no interest in writing.  None.  It’s so difficult for me to take my thoughts and put them down on paper in a coherent manner, I avoided writing as much as possible. I’ve written numerous research papers and technical articles for work, but I never enjoyed it. But after reading the final Harry Potter book many years ago, I began wondering how Rowling might go about writing another book in the series.  I wrote down a few ideas, which grew into paragraphs, which coalesced into scenes, which blossomed into chapters…  I suddenly realized how much I loved writing fiction, especially whimsical and humorous fiction aimed at the younger (or young at heart) audience.  It’s still a struggle to get the words down on paper, but I enjoy telling my stories so much I don’t care.

Mitten: How did you find out about SCBWI and how long have you been a member?

Ken: While searching for critique groups in the Detroit area, I learned about the SE-

Mitten Meet Up group, so I joined SCBWI so I could attend. I’ve been a member for nearly two years and am quite happy I joined. I’ve met so many wonderful, supportive people.

Mitten: What genres are you most interested in and why? Picture books, middle grade, YA, chapter books, poetry, nonfiction?

Ken: Definitely middle grade and YA. I enjoy writing humorous, quirky stories and I believe those kinds of stories work best in those genres. On the other hand, YA has become kind of edgy these days, and I don’t believe I’d be very good at writing those kinds of stories.   

Mitten: Tell us about your publishing journey. Are you pre-published or published, and if so where?

Ken: I’m pre-published, partly because I’m a very slow writer and partly because I’m working on three stories at once. (shakes head)  Right now I’m pushing to finish at least one of them by the end of the year. Wish me luck!  

Mitten: Many of us have a job other than writing for children. Tell us something about what you do outside of writing.

Ken: I’m a research chemist during the day, and I’ve taught a few college chemistry courses at night. When I’m not interacting with my wife or teenage children, I spend my time redecorating my writing space as an alchemist’s lab.   

Mitten: How does this occupation inform your writing?

Ken: I write fantasy, but I think fantasy is best when it draws on, and is enriched by, laws of science. And as a chemist, I have plenty of rules from which to draw.   For example, one of my stories involves alchemy.

Mitten: Where do you get most of your writing ideas? Do you write them down, keep them in a computer file or just store them in your memory?

Ken: They come to me at the oddest times, so I have to jot them down immediately, because I’ll lose them if I don’t. Fortunately, my phone has a voice recording option, so I can save ideas that occur to me as I drive to and from work.  All these bits and pieces get dumped to a huge file on my computer. I peruse that file every once in a while just to fire up my imagination.

Mitten: We all have favorite writers that inspire us. Name two of yours and why you like them.

Ken: Obviously, J.K. Rowling would have to be one of them. After all, without her books, I never would have begun my journey as a writer. The other would probably be Brandon Sanderson. He writes adult fantasy and his voice is so relaxed and smooth I study his books to learn how he does it.

Mitten: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received as a writer for children? 

Why?

Ken: Don’t think you can learn everything you need to know as a writer in a couple of months. It’ll take years of practice and reading books on craft to get where you need to be. And don’t try to go it alone.  Nothing is more important than working with other writers. You learn so much that way. 

Thanks for having me!

My pleasure Ken! Thanks for stopping by! 

To learn more about Ken and his writing journey, visit him at:

hogwartssabbatical.blogspot.com/ or connect on Twitter @chemistken