Episode 26: What do you do about writer’s block? -with Kekla Magoon
Welcome to episode 26! Authors Grace Lin and Kekla Magoon answer this kid question: What do you do about writer’s block?
TRANSCRIPT:
Grace Lin: Hello. I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and the picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Kekla Magoon, the author of the Robyn Hoodlum Adventure, including The Shadows of Sherwood and the middle grade novel, The Seasons of Styx Malone. Hi, Kekla.
Kekla Magoon: Hi, Grace.
Grace Lin: I'm happy you're here today.
Kekla Magoon: Thanks for having me.
Grace Lin: Okay. Are you ready for today's question?
Kekla Magoon: I am ready.
Grace Lin: All right. Today's question is from a young person name Bonnie and they say.
Bonnie: What do you do about writer's block?
Grace Lin: What is your advice for getting through writer's block?
Kekla Magoon: Writer's block, one of the big challenges for any writer, that feeling of, "I don't know what to say next," or, "I want to say something. I want to tell a story, but I don't know what it should be." For me, one of the things that causes writer's block is the fact that I want to be a really good writer. I want to write good stories. I want every sentence that I put down to be something that somebody is going to enjoy reading. That's a lot of pressure. One of the ways that I get through writer's block is by giving myself permission to write badly.
Kekla Magoon: Sometimes I even try to write the worst possible sentence I could write, maybe something really silly, maybe something that doesn't make sense, something just really bad. Usually, it doesn't turn out to be quite so bad. It either makes me laugh, right, and funny is good, or it kind of frees up my mind. It takes away some of the pressure from having every sentence have to be a great sentence that really works well for the story because writers do a lot of revision.
Kekla Magoon: The first sentence that I write down on the page isn't always the sentence that ends up in the story at the very end of the process. Giving myself permission to write badly is one way that I get over writer's block. I say, "I'm going to write the worst possible sentence," and I see how that goes. Usually it at least makes me laugh and gets my fingers moving because the other thing is usually I type on the keyboard.
Kekla Magoon: Sometimes just sitting there without my fingers moving doesn't get me going, but if I just type something, anything, sometimes I type my name or sometimes I type a sentence that I already wrote earlier, I re type the same sentence just to get my fingers going. Then once my fingers are going, it's like, "Oh," it's like, "I've started walking and now I can just keep going. I can keep going, I can keep going." I find that new ideas start to flow. It works just as well when I'm writing with a pen. Sometimes I will draw a little spiral in the corner of my paper, or draw a little square, or a little circle, or triangle, some kind of shape, something very simple, and just to get my hand moving. Then maybe I write my name or maybe I write another word, just any word that I think of to try to get started because that's the hardest part for me sometimes is just getting started. Once I get started, things start to flow.
Grace Lin: That's really good advice. I think that's true. I think one of the big things that causes writers' blocks is that expectation, right, that expectation that you're going to do something good. Sometimes I have to tell myself, "Nobody else has to read this. This can be bad and nobody has to know."
Kekla Magoon: Exactly.
Grace Lin: That really helps, too. For me, sometimes it helps just to get out of my writing studio and just to go for a long walk, or feed my chickens, or do something goofy, and just get my mind off of it.
Kekla Magoon: Yeah.
Grace Lin: I think that's the same idea you said. It's that pressure that you're putting on yourself to make something good and if you just kind of go someplace just to relieve that pressure, that can help, too.
Kekla Magoon: Absolutely. Well, and I think also reminding myself that, mostly I write novels, novels are very long. Some of my novels are 300 pages long, right? I can't write 300 pages in one sitting. If I only can write a sentence, or two or a paragraph or two, or if I'm lucky, a whole page, right, that's still a lot of work. Sometimes I've written all I can write for the day. If writer's block comes after I've written a little bit, then I have to remind myself that that's not really being blocked. I did some work today and tomorrow I'll do some more work. It'll add up just like drops in a bucket.
Grace Lin: That's true. Sometimes I like to tell myself that writing is not always just putting words on the page, but sometimes writing is just thinking. Sometimes writing is experiencing life. Sometimes when I am going for a walk, that's part of writing, too. Those are other kinds of tricks I kind of use to help myself for things like that.
Kekla Magoon: Absolutely. There's so many things that feed our stories. You never know where an idea is going to come from. If you're outside, or if you're playing, or if you're talking to someone, you can get ideas for your writing from all of those things.
Grace Lin: Exactly. Well, thank you so much, Kekla. I think that's going to really help a lot of our listeners. I hope you liked that answer, Bonnie.
Kekla Magoon: Thanks, Grace. Thanks, Bonnie.
Grace Lin: Bye.
Kekla Magoon: Bye.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW is from Annette! She’s reviewing Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry.
The book I would like to talk about is Forget Me Not, by Ellie Terry. This book is about a girl with Tourette syndrome, who is constantly moving home. She meets a boy named Jinsong, and they both have to learn to overcome social barriers to become friends. I like this book because it is beautifully told in a mix of verse and prose. And teaches you that we have to accept every part of ourselves, and we can't hide away.
Thank you so much Annette!
More about today’s authors:
Kekla Magoon is the author of nine novels, including The Rock and the River, How It Went Down, X: A Novel (with Ilyasah Shabazz), and the Robyn Hoodlum Adventure series. She has received an NAACP Image Award, the John Steptoe New Talent Award, two Coretta Scott King Honors, The Walter Award Honor, the In the Margins Award, and been long listed for the National Book Award. She also writes non-fiction on historical topics. Kekla conducts school and library visits nationwide and serves on the Writers’ Council for the National Writing Project. Kekla holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she now serves on faculty.
Visit her online at keklamagoon.com.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
Special thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore, Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.
