Read Loud and Proud!

Last week I attended the UCSD Extension Creative Writing Showcase.

Students from various creative writing classes offered through UCSD Extension read from their works-in-progress. Such a fun experience to hear from so many talented writers!

Reading aloud – and listening to other writers read their work – is part of the Vermont College experience. Reading an excerpt of your work is a graduation requirement. Students read from a podium, using a microphone, and to a receptive audience. Smaller, practice type reading opportunities are offered earlier throughout each residency to help prepare for this exhilarating, and potentially terrifying, experience.

Faculty members also read – occasionally from published work, but raw drafts are shared too. Some favorite memories of pre-published readings include Rita Williams-Garcia changing stance and body language, as well as voice and cadence as she read the different voices in Jumped; Tim Wynne-Jones had us all roaring with laughter as he read an early version of Rex Zero and the End of the World; but some people sobbed through Kathi Appelt’s lyrical reading of The Underneath.

Magic!

I think reading aloud is such a powerful tool for writers. I also think writers need to read their  writing out loud to themselves as part of the revision process, but this kind of reading – to an audience – is a separate animal completely.

If you are planning a working retreat, or simply want to build community and support for writers, I encourage you to consider readings as part of the experience. Five minutes allows for a good sense of a story – and can include a scene and/or entire picture book. Maybe allow up to ten minutes if it’s a small group or special event. It’s like having a recital to celebrate hard work!

Things to consider when selecting what to read:

• It doesn’t have to be the opening scene.
• Choose an entire scene to read.
• Select a scene with emotion and intensity.
• Humor is always appreciated by audiences.
• Action, too.
• It’s better to read less than the allotted time than more.
• Practice!

Thank you to all the brave and gifted writers I heard last week!

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

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Congratulations, Rita Williams-Garcia!

I made it to Boston – and woke to an amazing winter wonderland. It’s still dumping!

Fortunately I brought a very special purple scarf with me. It’s soft and warm and beautiful… and, best of all, it was made by Rita Williams-Garcia.

The amazing author of One Crazy Summer that has been collecting awards… like crazy!

• National Book Award Finalist
• Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction
• Coretta Scott King Award
• Newbery Honor Award

Rita was my advisor during my last semester at VCFA. She’s as warm and generous as she is brilliant.

I’m thrilled that her wonderful poignant novel is receiving such well-deserved attention. As in all of her books, Rita has sneaky way of sharing information and broadening your world-view all wrapped up in a good story. Her books always make me think. And feel. And change.

Rita doesn’t ever shy away from telling the truth. Even when the truth hurts or makes you squirm. Rita has explored body image issues, teen pregnancy and abortion, rape, girl on girl violence in schools, and even female genital mutilation. Because of these tough issues, I don’t know that her other books have hit the mainstream – but maybe they will now. Her books are raw and honest, but never gratuitous – her characters’ stories are what rule the details. They have potential to change the world. To help and heal.

Congratulations to Rita!

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

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First Person Present Tense: Write Now

First person present tense (FPPT): love it or hate it?

I’ve heard both sides. Some readers – and at least one editor – say they hate it. Throw it out the window kind of hate it.

It’s a relatively new technique. Traditionally stories are told as an account of something that has already passed. They are somehow reflective and allow for insight on the part of the narrator. Can you imagine early man telling a story of a big hunt this way? I am in the valley. I smell sagebrush. I am hungry, so hungry. His companions would have assumed he ate some of those funny mushrooms again!

But it seems like  a lot of authors are using FPPT lately.

Personally, some of my favorite books are written from this point of view. My own picture book, RWBG, is written from FPPT. My middle grade novel that I’d love to sell is written this way as well… but I’m wondering if that should change.

In my opinion, this tense/pov work best when the main character is in some sort of intense emotional struggle — to the point the reader fears for the physical well-being of the character. By using the present tense, the author leaves room for uncertainty. Readers don’t know if the character will survive since they aren’t telling the story from some safe place in the future. In fact, FLASH BURNOUT by L.K. Madigan is one of the few that I can think of that is written in FPPT that doesn’t involve a character in grave emotional danger. This book has a great voice so it was probably the right choice, but if Blake had been telling the story looking back, I bet he wouldn’t have come across as quite so sexually obsessed – something I thought was over the top.

One problem with FPPT is that it can be sloooow. It’s difficult to travel inside a character’s head minute by minute while keeping the story moving forward. But K.L. Going is a genius at avoiding this. Two of her books, FAT KID RULES THE WORLD and SAINT IGGY are written in FPPT. Both are fantastic. And both books have main characters that you have to worry about – each one is in very real emotional and physical danger. She keeps the action moving by having short tight scenes.

Another problem with using FPPT is the definite limitation in the amount of details that be given while staying true to the voice of your character. You can only say what that narrator is thinking about and responding to at that one moment. It’s probably one reason I like writing from this perspective – I struggle with creating physical descriptions. But it can be difficult to withhold information from the reader in a way that rings true and yet does not lead to an unreliable narrator. Unless that’s what you want. For the ultimate in this, see INEXCUSABLE by Chris Lynch.

Enough from me. But here’s a list of some favorites written in FPPT that I happen to have within easy reach.

• FAT KID RULES THE WORLD by K.L. Going
• SAINT IGGY by K.L. Going
• THE LUCKY PLACE by Zu Vincent
• LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL by Jo Knowles
• JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia
• ALL RIVERS FLOW TO THE SEA by Alison McGhee
• A HOUSE ON LORELEI STREET by Mary E Pearson
• SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

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Book Thoughts: JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia

Want a book that makes you think?

Want a book that makes you laugh?

How about one that just might make you squirm?

Do you want to read a book that makes you want to race through to the end- with your heart thumping and stomach a little bit clenched – in order to find out what is going to happen…  but at the same time you also want to savor every word and phrase simply because it’s that masterfully written?

Then you better check out JUMPED by Rita Williams-Garcia.

Told from the alternating viewpoints of three high school students over the course of one school day, JUMPED is tough and gritty and important; but most of all, it’s a good story with authentic characters. The high school in this book is not, by any stretch, my world.  Not even close. And yet, it was familiar. And I know each of these girls. And I have more in common with them than I’d like to think.

I guess I’m not the only one to think this book is a stand-out. It was just nominated for the National Book Award!

Rita is on the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts. I was lucky enough to have Rita as my advisor one semester. If you don’t know her books, you should. But be ready to think, laugh, cry and squirm. Her stories are real. And wow.

Sarah Wones Tomp

WRITING ON THE SIDEWALK

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