Writers' Retreats by Abie Longstaff

Last weekend I went away to a farm in the middle of nowhere with 17 other authors.

We meet up regularly through the year via the Scattered Authors' Society (which I thoroughly recommend joining). In February we meet to talk about business (I've posted about the 2014 meet up here). In November we meet to talk about creativity.

It's a lovely escape from normal life. We spend the three days playing - finding what inspires us or motivates us. We run our own workshops and this year we had:

Jen Alexander unlocking our subconscious to find images that would help us write
Liz Kessler describing the journey of a book that was heavily influenced by music
Jackie Marchant sharing her techniques for world-building
A group of authors being frank about the commercial pressures of writing
Lucy Coats leading us through a meditation
Steve Gladwin encouraging character building through drama
June Crebbin exploring poetry

In between the workshops we had cosy chats by the fire

long walks

 and plenty of cake.

This year I led a workshop on 'shaping' - it's not quite plotting (because I'm not a detailed plotter) it's more about seeing the arc or structure of a story. I use a picture book approach - setting out 12 spreads for all my books, even longer fiction ones. I find that being forced to select the 12 most important aspects (in terms of emotional plot or action plot) makes me prioritise.

I use a grid spread like this

There is a link to the PDF of this here in case you want to use it

and I plot out a common book structure on it - so you might have:

Spread 1          Set up – introduce characters

Spread 2          What is the problem?

                        (think in terms of the practical problem and its emotional effect)

Spread 3-10     The problem grows

                        Magic 3?

                        Increase to climax

Spread 11        Solution

Spread 12        Satisfying ending

                        Bedtime/party

                        Can have a twist

 

I find this method helps me see the shape and flow of the book; where the high and low points are, where the character development happens.

Sometimes I find it useful to plot out someone else's book to see their structure. Here is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen plotted out (messily) in 12 spreads:

  

I found everyone's workshops so inspiring. I love hearing how other authors write; how they come up with ideas, how they move on when they feel blocked. I tend to be quite a practical person - my approach is logical with plans and grids and lists - so it's wonderful to let go and listen to music or bird song and let the ideas come from somewhere deep down, in another part of my brain. Sometimes the necessary commercial aspect of our job means we forget to refill our creative well and I always come back from the retreat refreshed and full of joy for the career I've chosen.

We end with an evening where we each read aloud from our work and it's fascinating to hear the range of texts, from picture book to novel, and genre, from zombies to romance.  

I always work better in winter when the weather is cold so, after the retreat, I'm inside, snuggled up, ready to go.

Endings that Stay With You • Natascha Biebow

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a magic ‘ending machine’? You’d write your picture book and then feed it in and POOF! – out pops a spectacular ending!

Endings can be one of the most frustrating and nigglesome aspects of writing picture books. But when you’ve cracked it, a great ending can make the difference between that book that children ask for again and again, and the one they aren’t really fussed about ever reading again.

So, what makes a great ending?

• the main plot problem set up in the opening of the story must be resolved in a satisfactory way – the character’s hopes, wants and needs are met and realized.

• your characters must grow and change by the end of the book – they should have learned something and will be bigger, better people as a result of their journey. So, by implication, will the reader.

• readers must feel satisfied and not be left hanging, wondering about unresolved plot points or sub-plots. All loose ends should be tied-up or dealt with.

Here are some examples where the reader can clearly see that the main character has gone on a journey and grown as a result of the action in the story:

What other kinds of endings?

Dark endings: The ending of Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross' Tadpole's Promise is controversial, but true to nature. The caterpillar turns into a butterfly and gets eaten by her true-love, the Tadpole–turned frog. Some grown-ups may wonder: what will children make of this realistic and not at all happy ending?! It is memorable, though – and it works!

From Tadpole's Promise by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross

Circular endings: In A bit Lost by Chris Haughton, we see the classic ending that is the story starting all over again, with a slight twist. The story begins with Little Owl falling out of the nest and his quest for his mummy. Finally, reunited with her at last, Mummy invites his rescuers up to the nest, only for Little Owl to fall asleep again . . .

The first and last spreads from A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton

Unexpected endings: In Flora's Flowers by Debi Gliori, there is a delightful surprise in store for young readers who believed in little Flora as she plants a small brick and declares, "I'm growing a small house." Her brothers and sisters all made fun of Flora while the seasons changed from Spring to Autumn and Winter to Spring again, but look what grew!

From Flora's Flowers by Debi Gliori

The Baddie gets eaten up and everyone lives happily ever after: In traditional tales, the baddie often gets his comeuppance at the end of the story and meets a dastardly end, like the Troll in this retelling by Irene Yates of The Three Billy Goats Gruff:

From The Three Billy Goats Gruff, illustrated by Ailie Busby

Twists: sometimes, the ending is a twist that is a delicious visual joke or surprise reveal, as in these two examples:

Or the twist is an unexpected plot turn, as in this example:

P.S. endings: Sometimes, the ending is not quite the end. When Kes' son read Billy's Bucket, he was concerned for the whale, who came out of the bucket onto the street when Billy's dad borrowed his bucket to clean the car without asking. How would the whale survive? So we added a postscript on the back endsheet, in which the whale was safely shoe-horned back into the bucket:

From Billy's Bucket by Kes Gray & Garry Parsons

In another example: when Garry's son read The Dinosaurs are Having a Party by Garreth P Jones, he wondered: wouldn't the baby dinosaur who hatches out of the party bag egg miss his Daddy? Here is the solution on the back endsheet of the book:

From The Dinosaurs are Having a Party
by Garreth P Jones & Garry Parsons

The endings I like best are those that make me laugh or leave me with a warm feeling inside. They bring closure and a kernel of truth about life. Like these two:

What kinds of endings do you like?

_________________________________________________

Natascha Biebow

Author, Editor and Mentor

Blue Elephant Storyshaping is an editing, coaching and mentoring service aimed at empowering writers and illustrators to fine-tune their work pre-submission. Check out the NEW small-group coaching courses!

Natascha is also the author of Elephants Never Forget and Is This My Nose?, editor of numerous award-winning children’s books, and Regional Advisor (Chair) of SCBWI British Isles.  www.blueelephantstoryshaping.com