Episode 38: Do you write everyday? -with Tracey Baptiste
Welcome! Today we welcome Tracey Baptiste to answer this kid question, “Do you write everyday?”
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 Tracy Baptiste, the author of the Jumbies middle grade series, as well as the middle grade novel, Minecraft: The Crash. Hi, Tracy.
Tracy Baptiste: Hi, Grace, thanks for having me.
Grace Lin: Oh, I'm so glad that you could join me.
Tracy Baptiste: Yeah, I'm super excited.
Grace Lin: Me too. Are you ready for today's question?
Tracy Baptiste: I sure am.
Grace Lin: All right, today's question is from a person named Christina. And they ask.
Christina: Do you write every day?
Grace Lin: Do you write every day?
Tracy Baptiste: Oh, that is an excellent, excellent question. So Christina, I actually do not write every day. I do not sit down at my desk and write every single day, but I do think about writing every single day and I do think about my stories every single day. And I actually think that one of the things that helps my creativity is doing other things. So when I'm not writing, I'm actually still supporting my writing and my creativity by doing other things. And other things could be I take dance classes, so I used to dance ballet and I still take ballet. And I like going out on hikes in the woods and I like knitting. And all of these things are things that kind of support the clearing of my head so that I can really concentrate on writing when I'm actually writing.
Tracy Baptiste: Because here's the big trick that I learned. I learned that my subconscious mind is actively trying to help me solve problems in my writing life. And it can only do that if I give it a break and let my subconscious actually do that. So if I'm like sitting at my desk and I'm thinking, and I'm thinking, and I'm trying to fill this plot hole. Or I'm trying to figure out what this character is supposed to be doing and things like that. I'm not giving my subconscious mind a chance to just kind of work it out for me, sort of in the background.
Tracy Baptiste: So when I do other things like dance or hike or knit, my subconscious is working. And then often, like a day later or two days later, suddenly it'll seem like the solution to the thing that I was trying to figure out has come by magic, but it's not by magic. It's actually my subconscious mind that has been working in the background. So I don't actively like physically write every single day, but I do consider everything that I do to be part of my writing life.
Grace Lin: That's such a great answer. There's so many things that came to mind when you were telling that answer. The first one was when you were talking about your subconscious mind, have you heard of that trick where supposedly if you have a creative problem, you're supposed to write it down on like a notepad at night. And then usually when you wake up in the morning, you'll have the answer.
Tracy Baptiste: Yes.
Grace Lin: They say your subconscious mind will work on it all night for you.
Tracy Baptiste: I have absolutely heard this before, but it's something that I used when ... actually, when I was working on the Minecraft book. Because it was such a tight deadline to work on that Minecraft book and I was working on other books at the same time. So I notoriously work on a bunch of different things at the same time and so it becomes really hard to solve all of the problems. And I realized that if I let my mind relax, if I did other things, the solutions really would come to me. My poor subconscious is like working over time to help me. It's like your best friend, he like really wants you to do so well. And it's like, "Oh, okay, okay. Just give me a chance, just give me a chance I can get in there. I can get there if you just relax and give me a shot."
Tracy Baptiste: And so I realized that while I was working on the Minecraft book. And so since then, I have actively leaned into using this method to help me write books.
Grace Lin: Well, I love your answer. Mainly because I am pretty much the same way. Because when I got this question, I was like, "No, I don't write every day." And then I started thinking about it and I was like, "Well, it depends on how you define writing." Like, no, I don't actively sit and type out words every day. But I do think about my writing everyday, like you were saying. If we call that part of the process as part of writing, then yes, I do write every day.
Grace Lin: When you were talking, it reminded me of a quote, I think by Neil Gaiman, who was saying that so much of writing is just staring out the window.
Tracy Baptiste: Yes. Yes, that's true.
Grace Lin: So I feel like I do a lot of staring out the window, I do a lot of staring out the window while I'm doing other things. So always kind of working on writing in my mind, but maybe not actually typing out words every day.
Tracy Baptiste: Yes, that's true. And that's actually something I learned from Madeleine L'Engle. Very early on, I wrote a biography of Madeleine L'Engle and so I was reading a lot of her work. And she was talking about the fact that she was working on her writing while she was cooking. And she's like stirring the pot or whatever and like sometimes the ... because she was also comparing writing to cooking. And she was saying that sometimes the dinner gets burned, but the story is good.
Grace Lin: That's a great way of putting it, that's really great. And just in case our listeners don't know who Madeleine L'Engle is, she is the author of a Wrinkle in Time in many of the books in that series. So I hope you guys get a chance to read those books.
Tracy Baptiste: Yes, they are incredible.
Grace Lin: Well thank you so much, Tracy, for answering that question and thank you Christine for asking it.
Tracy Baptiste: Yes, that was a great, great question. Thank you.
Grace Lin: Bye.
Tracy Baptiste: Okay, bye.
Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from Maisy. She is telling us all about “Tar Beach” by Faith Ringgold.
The book I would like to talk about is, Tar Beach, by Faith Ringgold. This book is about a girl who didn't really fly, but when she was dreaming, she could. She believes she can be free when she flies and help her father do things that no one is letting him do. I like this book because it shows imagination is within everyone and makes you feel better.
Thank you so much Maisy!
More about today’s authors:
Tracey Baptiste is the New York Times bestselling author of Minecraft: The Crash and the acclaimed middle grade fantasy series which includes The Jumbies, Rise of the Jumbies and The Jumbie God’s Revenge, as well as numerous non-fiction books. Tracey attended New York University where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and Comparative Literature as well as a Master’s degree in Elementary Education. She taught elementary school for many years – second grade was her favorite – and is currently a member of the faculty at Lesley University’s Creative Writing MFA program. Tracey also volunteers with the grassroots, non-profit organization The Brown Bookshelf. These days, Tracey lives with her husband and kids in New Jersey. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her hanging out with her dog (and office mate), Barkley, museum-hopping with her family, and taking dance class. Tracey loves to dance and keeps her last pair of pointe shoes on the bookshelf in her office.
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.
