Write2Ignite

Introduction

The Lord brought Joyce Hostetter and I together twenty years ago when we both presented at a literary event in Birmingham, Alabama. I was excited to hear about her novel, BLUE, and she was eager for a copy of my book, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8. That was the beginning of a partnership that included co-teaching at NCCAT and NWRESA, creating Talking Story, a newsletter for teachers and media specialists, and a beautiful friendship. 

Joyce encouraged me to participate in NaNoWriMo in 2008 which plunged me into my first draft of HALF-TRUTHS. Over the following years, she guided me as I struggled to find my story and I wrote draft after draft. Last fall she provided extensive editorial input before it went into production. In a very real way, Joyce has been my novel’s midwife and I’m incredibly grateful. Since I benefitted from the three aspects of writing she’s discussing in our Master Class—Research, Focus, and Revision—we thought we’d give you a behind-the-scenes look at how she helped me “birth” HALF-TRUTHS.

RESEARCH

Carol: Joyce, you taught me a lot about how to research. I still remember you telling me to research locally, in the country, and internationally. What else did you suggest?

Joyce:  Over the years, you’ve done so much research for Half-Truths that I’m a little vague on how I’ve contributed to the overall research you did. I believe I encouraged you to access newspapers for historical backdrop, particular details, and for period information such as products, prices, weather, etc.  I believe that early on, I emphasized the importance of learning from experts. And Carol, you are fearless when it comes to approaching people and seeking out their wisdom. I know the number of experts you’ve interviewed is around 100. That’s astounding! Those experts provided many intriguing details that added depth to your story but, of course, that much expertise also provided potential for detracting from the story’s real focus. So, at times, I also challenged you on whether a particular element or scene was necessary to your story or whether it could actually sidetrack the story from your central theme. That’s the writer’s task – to always stay true to the heart of the story. 

FOCUS

Carol: Yes, listening to all of those stories was exhilarating! I remember driving home and calling you and telling you about the latest fascinating person I had just talked to. I wanted to include all of their stories in HALF-TRUTHS! But like you said, it was easy to wander off from the main theme of the book. How did you help me stay focused?

Joyce: I think one of the things we kept coming back to was the main idea of the story. I call it the heart of the story. I think you call it a story kernel. Whatever name it goes by, it’s the main idea or truth you want to convey. Your subject lent itself to several themes, any one of which could get you off track. Probably the biggest temptation was the theme of race. There was so much going on in history regarding race that your character cared about. And yet, while race is at the core of your storyline, there were multiple reasons why you didn’t need to focus on racial inequalities. That was certainly important and worthy of exploration but your character, Kate had issues to wrestle with that were closer to her emotional life and therefore more realistic for her, as white girl in the 1950’s, to pursue. In particular, as your title implies, Kate was dealing with truth –the truth of her family’s identity and also her personal identity as a writer. I think I was able to keep calling you back to that central theme. Honestly, it’s just a balancing act to convey the historical backdrop without letting events from history detract from the urgency of the core story. That’s another of the writer’s tasks – to see what needs to be amplified and what requires pruning in order to tell the story as concisely as possible.

REVISION

Carol: The re-vision process of Half-Truths was hard and my drafts spanned many years. Do you remember how you helped me revise?

Honestly, Carol, when it comes to revisions, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone work as hard as you have. Your persistence is inspiring but as much as anything I admire your ability to take critical feedback. You have thick skin and I didn’t feel the pressure to coddle and critique at the same time!   Sure, there were times you wanted to hang on to some scenes that I was skeptical about. But in the end, it was your story so I sometimes had to let go of my vision so the story could truly be yours.

That said, I think I was able to help you add nuance to characters’ actions and reactions. We worked together on reorganizing sentences and paragraphs for the greatest emotional impact! And of course, there were details!  All writers need a discerning beta reader to point out inconsistent details, logical consequences, and keeping our characters true to themselves. But I want to emphasize that, although you had gone through multiple revisions over many years, when it came to the final edit, you were still able to gracefully accept feedback and eagerly make appropriate changes. Working with you was truly gratifying!

Carol: I’m the one who learned so much from you, Joyce! From a broad view of considering what the theme of the book was to the tiniest detail of choosing the best word (and eliminating superfluous ones) —you never gave up on me or my story.  I am so thankful the Lord brought us together 20 years ago! And now, I have a book baby!! 

If you haven’t already registered for our spring Master Class, you still have time. We hope you’ll join us on April 26 for our virtual class, THE STORY SAFARI.

If you write fiction or nonfiction, picture books, middle grade, or YA– you’ll leave with a head stuffed with new ideas and writing tools to use. You’ll find the schedule here.

Please register here and we hope to see you soon!

P.S. And YES! There will be LOTS of wonderful door prizes!