Author A. LaFaye is known for wandering -- both physically by traveling here and there and back again to visit schools, speak at conferences, and visit a zoo or two along the way AND mentally when she goes off topic on a wordy little tangent about who knows what. Read and find out.
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Letting a Little of the Spook In
On All Hallow’s Eve are you ready to let a little of the spook slip in your writing? Well, then step right in to this Tight Write Bite by A. LaFaye and learn how you can weave the unease into a text with one irksome detail among grounding details as you descend into an exploration of what readers fear... Click on the title below to see a short video tutorial on how to add supernatural suspense to your writing:
Diversity, Equity, and Global Awareness in the Classroom Through Literature-Based Cross-Curricular Units
In the first week of October, I presented at the Illinois Reading Council's annual conference with a presentation on going DEGA in the classroom. I'm sharing an abreviated version of the presentation which unfortunately doesn't include the wonderful contributions of the audience, but it does allow you to get a clear overview of the approach. I've also included all of the links in the presentation below.
Here are all of the links for the resources discussed in the presentation:
Go DEGA! An empower your students to Be the Change They Want to See!
Divesity-
Who Raises Chickens?
Urban Coops
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Worldview:
Creating New Perspectives Through Creative Writing
Here's a video introduction to the concept:
So, how does one create a unique worldview for a character?
GO EMIC!
CCO Creative Commons
The emic perspective means to view a culture as members of the culture would view it vs. looking at it from the outside of the culture. Being able to look at culture from an emic perspective allows you to be more culturally understanding which is essential in a global society and in a community that values social justice, acceptance, and understanding. To learn more about the emic persepective, please check out this brief article drawn from an anthroplogy text: Emic vs. Etic Perspectives
Learning to "go emic" is also exceptionally useful when creating a character. When you explore how a characters culture, life experiences, and current situation shape how z/s/he sees the world, then you can create a unique character perspective that allows you & your reader to see the world through a new perspective.
If you do this for each character in a situation, then you can create genuine tension and depth that is common when people with unique worldviews interact. Showing characters navigate this tension can also offer insights on how to do just that to your readers.
This is How I See It
CCO Creative Commons
Using a characters invidualized worldview to create imagery allows you to give a unique perspective of the world in a way that expands your readers' understanding and renews their view of the world.
Two people can see the same thing very differently. If you grew up in Louisiana you'd the freezing of the Mississippi river very differntly than someone from Minnesota who sees that nearly every year.
Allowing a character's worldview to shape the imagery that character uses creates an indepth psychological realism that's particularly useful if you're writing a historical, fantasy, science fiction, or crosscultural piece.
Here's an exercise to help you learn how to do it:
Your Turn:
Choose an every day object, food, or event, then describe it from perspective from the persepective of 3-5 different characters from very different cultural circumstances.
Thank you, Lauri Fortino for hosting me on your delightful blog!
Friday, July 13, 2018
Introduction to Poetry
Do you love poetry? The music of it? The way it makes you contemplate the nuainces of life? Me too. If so, then you may enjoy this video just for the fun of exploring a great poem by the talented poet Billy Collins.
If you HATE POETRY, than please watch this video, it may change your mind or at least slip a poetic note under the door of your resistence to poetry.
Either way, I hope you enjoy this short video I created for my cross-cultural literature class this week.
What is your favorite poem? Why is it your favorite? Can you recall a poem that changed the way you looked at poetry? Please Share.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Double Duty Details
by A. LaFaye
As most of my creative writing students and they will probably tell you that (besides wild tangents on any number of topics), my trademark literary is "Double Duty Details." And what are those? Well, to explore the subject, check out my most recent Tight Write Bite:
For a more elaborate exploration of the subject in writing, here's a blog post on the subject:
Nathaniel kept seeing her face. Her
splash of red hair framing her features as she stared back at him with an
unnerving blank expression, her eyes somehow appearing already dead, lifeless.
And then the front of his motorcar had struck her and she disappeared from
view.
Had there been an impact, a thud as
her body connected with the vehicle? Oh, God, he couldn’t remember, but there
must have been.
Only a few moments before, he had
been driving down a winding road in the countryside of Kent as the light faded
from the evening sky. Fog had coalesced, so thick his headlamps barely pierced
it.
Nathaniel would have sworn, under
oath if necessary, with his right hand upon a Bible, that the young
flame-haired woman had not been there. But a mere moment later, she seemed to
melt out of the mist, in the middle of his lane.
There was no time to swerve.
Nathaniel slammed on the brake, but it was too late. Hands gripping the wheel
with white knuckles, he watched as her body vanished beneath his car.
When the vehicle skid to a halt,
Nathaniel remained where he was in the driver’s seat, too shocked to move. Too
afraid to step out, frightened of what his eyes would see.
At last, he could bear it no longer.
Moving mechanically, numb, Nathaniel put the car in park and stepped out,
shutting the door behind him. He turned, glancing behind, a frigid wind blowing
his coat open. Nausea slid around his gut, cinching tight. The young woman’s
body lay motionless in the road.
Forcing himself to move, Nathaniel
approached her, apprehension gnawing at him. She appeared surprisingly unscathed,
her red hair fanning out around her head and her white dress spread behind her
like a broken wing. No bones were visibly broken—though that didn’t mean there
weren’t any—and there was no blood to speak of.
Nathaniel looked around at his
surroundings. The silent woods of the country stared back, melding with the
mist, alien and unfamiliar. He had no idea where he was, but he couldn’t simply
leave this poor woman lying in the middle of the road. Nathaniel was afraid of
moving her, but there was nothing for it. Gingerly, he picked up her limp body,
hesitating. She wouldn’t fit in the back of his car and the roads were so poor,
littered with holes, that the jolting ride might do more harm than good.
He carried her to the side of the
road and set her down. She still did not stir. Fetching a blanket from the boot
of the car, he draped it over her to shield her from the chill, vowing to
return with help, and drove on until he reached the local village.
“You all right?” a voice inquired,
snapping Nathaniel out of his flashback. “You look a bit pale.”
He glanced over at the constable
beside him, clenching the wheel harder. “I hit someone,” he replied, his voice
sounding strangely monotonous. “I may have killed her.”
The policeman shared a glance with
the local doctor in the back seat. The two men seemed irritatingly calm for
what had happened. When Nathaniel had reached the village and explained what
happened, the constables had huddled together in a small group and muttered
amongst themselves as though gossiping.
Their behavior was ridiculous, not
to mention odd! Nathaniel had just admitted to striking someone with his
vehicle. Why weren’t they frantic to rush out to help?
By the time the doctor had been
summoned and the three of them set out, Nathaniel’s mood had worsened, becoming
increasingly agitated and worried. He clenched his jaw, focusing on the road.
The fog had let up a bit, but it was still too thick for comfort. For the life
of him, why weren’t the two men concerned, even just a little bit? He supposed
it was unrealistic to expect them to be as panicked as he was, but their
unnatural calm only made him all the more edgy.
“You’re not from around these parts,
are you?” the doctor inquired.
“No,” Nathaniel answered, glad the
silence had been broken. “I’m from London.”
“What brings you to Kent?” asked the
constable, his tone casual.
“I was visiting my sister.”
“So you’re not familiar with the
Blue Bell Hill area of Kent, then?”
“No. I’m afraid I must have gotten
myself lost after leaving my sister’s house.”
The two men shared another knowing
look. Nathaniel slowed as he reached the turn near where he had seen and struck
the young woman. He brought the car to a stop and opened his door. “It was near
here.” He had already informed the men of what he had done with the body,
afraid to move her more than necessary.
The men climbed out and followed him
to the side of the road. Nathaniel had tried to use the drive to prepare
himself for the sight of seeing her motionless body again, but nothing prepared
him for the sight he was met with.
The blanket he had draped over her
still lay upon the damp grass at the side of the road, out of harm’s way. But
the girl was no where to be found.
Nathaniel glanced around in
bewilderment. The constable had brought a torch with him and clicked it on,
shining the beam about. The light fell upon the blue-gray blanket and scanned
the bushes beside the road and the thick forest beyond. There was no sign of
her.
“I-I don’t understand!” Nathaniel
sputtered. “She was right here! S-surely she couldn’t have wandered off on her
own.”
The doctor picked up the blanket.
There was nothing underneath. No blood or even crushed grass to suggest where
she’d lain. The constable switched off his torch with a decisive click that was
dreadfully final.
Nathaniel turned to him, stricken by
guilt. “You have to form a search for her, immediately. She could be wandering
about in the woods, alone and injured.” It was a fight to keep his voice from
becoming hysterical. If the girl ended up dead because of this, her blood would
be on his hands.
“I don’t think you have to worry
about that,” the constable said, with a hint of weariness in his voice. “I
think you met one of the infamous ghosts of Blue Bell Hill.”
“Ghost?”
Nathaniel choked out. “What do you mean, ghost?
I saw her; I hit her with my car. I
picked her up, for heaven’s sake! She was as solid and real as you or me!”
He shuddered at the memory. She had
been solid and heavy, like a real, living person should weigh. Had she been
warm, like a living person? He couldn’t remember; in his panic that detail must
have slipped his mind. But even if she weren’t warm, it was a chilly night,
with the threat of rain hanging heavy over them. He wrapped his long coat more
closely around his body and shivered—though whether from the cold or horror, he
dared not guess.
“And many a traveler have told the
same tale as you,” the constable replied. “Many have seen a young woman throw
herself under their wheels. It’s not an uncommon occurrence around these
parts.”
“They’re rumored to be the victims
of a car accident in this area,” the doctor added. “Every one of them. A
bride-to-be and her bridesmaids.”
“A-and you?” Nathaniel said to the
policeman. “Have you ever encountered one of these girls?”
“I have not,” came the reply. “But
if I should ever have that misfortune, at least I would recognize them for what
they are.”
The doctor patted Nathaniel on the
shoulder. “I’m afraid the ghosts had some fun at your expense, mate. Giving you
quite a fright, but no harm done.” He handed Nathaniel the blanket.
The two men sauntered back to
Nathaniel’s waiting motorcar and he knew they expected him to follow and return
to the village. But he lingered for a few moments more before following and
placing the blanket back in the boot.
He moved around to briefly inspect the
front of his vehicle. There was no dent, blood, or any evidence at all to
suggest he had ever hit anything. He ran a hand over it, but he was met with a
smooth surface.
Nathaniel rose, sighing
softly, and turned to look at the place where the girl had lain on the side of
the road, but that
If you want to create characters who stand out from the crowd of literary characters, then I recommend that you allow them to act up. To look further into how you can do this, let’s look at a quick video and an archived blog on the subject.
For more on how to let your Characters Act Up, check out this rebellious little blog post that wouldn’t stay archived: Let Your Character’s Rebel
Would love to hear about your character creation process. How do you do it? What questions do you have for me?
Monday, April 30, 2018
Philosophy of Revision:What's Yours?
Your invited to watch this video exploration on developing an empowering philosophy of revision I'd love to know your thoughts on revision. Feel free to chime in to the comments below:
Here's a Tight Write Bite (aka a video tutorial) on finding your voice:
Here are a few exercises to apply what you learned in this tutorial:
1. Think of a story you're just itching to tell in a poem, short story, essay, or novel, tell the story outloud. Now tell it again and record yourself. Listen to the recording. Don't judge, just listen. Now let another person within the "story" tell it. Record it. Listen. What do you notice about the differences?
2. Write a story in the genre of your choice in 1000 words or less (that's 4 pages), then rewrite it from the perspective of another character. What did you learn?
3. Read three poems/essays/stories on the same subject by different authors. What do you notice about the differences in the way they use voice? What can you use within their technique to develop your own voice?
If you've tried any of these exercises, please comment below to hsare what you learned.
Revision--bane or boundary bender? Sounds about right to me. When you embark upon revision whether it's a reread and polish of the paragraph you've just written or a revamp of the full draft of a novel, you approach it with trepidation and frustration--right? Well, most people do. If you dive in eager to see what new things take shape, then you're probably in the minority. And since I've never been one to fit into the "in-crowd," let me take this opportunity to invite you all to go on a bender. No, not the Hemingway route to inspiration (Sorry, Ernie!), but the boundary testing bender that allows you to treat revision as an opportunity to discover what might be dwelling in the cracks of your unconscious and waiting to come out.
Attitude is Everything!
we've heard this adage applied to sales pitches, athletic performance, and nearly every other human endeavor, why should revision be any different? The way you see revision directly effects how you will experience the process. If you treat revision as an artistic re-envisioning of your work that allows you to explore new territory and expand on what you've already written and/or learned, then it came be a much more fulfilling and exhilarating experience. If you look at the process as drudgery or the correction of mistakes, then it will be just that-- a bit like the writer's version of self-flagellation ((Need a definition for that implied metaphor? click here).
I know of a writer who worked for years on a novel, then rewrote it a short story and got it published. Another writer and friend of mine writes a first draft, puts it in a drawer, then starts over. Most of my writer friends labor over revision, fervently trying to get it right. I love Janet Wong's response to that idea. I'm paraphrasing her here, but she says, "Revision isn't about getting it right. It's about finding other ways to do it." Want to know more about Janet? Check out her website.
Revision as an Archeological Dig
For me, I like to think of revision as the mental equivalent of doing an archaeological dig in your subconscious. When an archeologist sifts through a dig, s/he is uncovering the story of a former life/culture one artifact at a time. Over time, the dig will reveal new pieces of evidence that completely changes the way we interpret the culture/people who lived there. It's these discoveries in fiction that can really cause us to see our own work in new ways.
Let me offer a few examples from my own work. When I wrote The Keening, a supernatural historical novel set in Maine during the influenza pandemic, I created a loner protagonist who discovers that she shares a secret ability with her father that she learns about after her mother dies and her uncles try to have her eccentric father committed to an asylum so they can sell their family home and buy another fishing boat to add to the family business. (How's that for a run-on sentence? Perhaps I should revise it? Nah.). In the original version, Lyza (the loner) had no friends because she was shunned by people who misjudged her dad and she meets a boy on the road at the end of the story who is a part of the big reveal. The responses I kept getting from editors about the story was that it was too moody and remote-- it needed more immediacy. I figured a friendship would make Lyza's situation more immediate and accessible to readers by offering a foil for Lyza, so I went back into the story and made that young boy on the side of the road into her best friend. In so doing, I had to weave him into the story in a way that made him seem as if he was there from the very beginning. As I moved through the novel chapter by chapter, I found places for him to just walk right in. In fact, until the conclusion of the novel, I didn't have to restructure the plot to bring him in-- it was as if he was meant to be there all along. In fact, he seemed to fill voids I'd seen, but didn't know how to address until he came along. I call these "expansion joints"-- places in a story that appear like Diagon Alley. You think to yourself--where did that come from? But once you enter them, they feel as natural as if they've always been there.
Finding and Exploring Expansion Joints
Expansion joints are just one of the many possibilities for discovery. Exploring these areas of a manuscript can also lead you to discover new things about your work that turns you in a whole new direction. In addition to being an outsider in her own community, Lyza fears travel and never wants to leave her family home on the ocean. Originally, the novel ended with her embracing the idea of venturing beyond her home, but the exploration of this new friendship and his fascination with urban life leads Lyza to venture to "the big city." This change made her a far more active part of the resolution of the story. As a result, revising the story to include this friendship lead to a whole new ending organically. I was as surprised by the turn of events as I hope my readers were. It's this type of experimentation and discovery that can make revision quite a bit of fun.
Revision as a Learning Experience
It can also be a learning experience. For longer than I'd care to admit, I worked on been tyring a retelling of the myth of Cassandra in a coal mining community in Virginia in 1911. It wasn't until an inspiring conversation with a poet friend about the boundaries between a novel-in-verse and a thematic collection of narrative poetry that I fully embraced the idea that I could write this story in verse. Once I started it, I realized the story fit the medium and it came alive on the page. It was later published as a chapbook by Anchor and Plume Press asPretty Omens.You can also get an audio version here.
You never know what you might learn about revision from other writers, here's a look at revision from Mirka Breen "The 3 H of Revision."
Now, I'm chapters deep into a revision on a novel called Secrets Under My Skin. I can't say where the revision process will take me with this story because I just started the process--a literary journey that I'm personally looking forward to. While I'm off revising-- feel free to share your insights and ideas about revising. I'd love to hear your ideas!
