The Illusion of “Real” Characters
Ruby had the most incredible ears I’ve ever seen. They jutted out on each side of her narrow face like airplane wings. They seldom drooped, and they never rose higher. They just hung out there...
View ArticleMarion Dane Bauer celebrates the publication of Little Dog, Lost
Win a set of 35 bookmarks (2″ x 6″ in size), one for each child in your classroom. “Like” Marion’s Facebook page, sign up to follow Marion’s blog (in the column to the right)—lots of good information...
View ArticleWhat about the Other Characters?
Most readers, I suspect, assume that a story’s perceiving character will come from the writer’s own psyche, at least to some degree. Not that authors must commit murder to write from the perspective of...
View ArticleAn Imitation of Life?
I once had a friend who made a point of not telling me about the more dramatic events in her life because she was convinced that if she did she would find herself one day in one of my stories. The fact...
View ArticleBack to Ideas … Where Do They Come From?
Usually ideas for a novel grow slowly, gathering over a period of weeks or months from bits and pieces that cling to a central idea. I have such a novel idea gathering now, even while I’m deeply...
View ArticleFido in Love and Mark’s Mother, Too
I mentioned in my blog last week that in gathering ideas for another story set in Erthly, the home of Little Dog, Lost, I decided that the cat Fido would be an important character in the new story. And...
View ArticleThe Adult Narrator in a Children’s Story
Last week I quoted Dallas Bradel and her support for my call to keep adults more present in stories for young people. I agreed, of course, with all she said. But she had more to offer, and this is the...
View ArticleEmotional Power
A while back, talking about gathering ideas for a sequel to Little Dog, Lost, I wrote, “I’m off and running, the story that’s growing in my mind gathering emotional power as I go.” And that is the key...
View ArticleIs Remembering Enough?
Every time I happen across a children’s television program where adult actors are pretending to be children I am grateful that those of us who write for young people are permitted to appear in the...
View ArticleResonance: The Core of the Verse Novel
What would prompt a perfectly respectable writer of prose fiction to attempt a novel in verse? Because verse can accomplish things prose cannot? Because experimenting with new methods and styles is the...
View ArticleTo Teach or Not to Teach
I couldn’t begin to count the number of letters I’ve received from young readers that say something like, “When I read On My Honor I learned always to tell the truth.” Each time I’m tempted to write...
View ArticleSecond Time Around . . . the Novel in Verse
The first time I wrote a novel in verse, Little Dog, Lost, I felt as though I had just stepped onto the moon. After forty years of writing and publishing, I was doing something entirely new . . . for...
View ArticleThe Healing Power of Story
It was Isak Dinesen who said, “All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.” And I have found that truth to be one of the most basic of my existence . . . and my...
View ArticleWhat Stories Are Made of
“So many lives filled with longing. It’s what stories― all our stories― are made of.” from my book Little Dog, Lost
View ArticleKeeping a Long Career Alive
The first time I did it, it was a challenge. I’d never thought of doing it before. In fact, when my MFA students at Vermont College of Fine Arts wanted to do it, I confess that I discouraged them. I’m...
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