Faculty Voices with Marsha Chall: Micro-revision Madness

Marsha Wilson Chall

For those of you working writers, this blogpost might come as nothing new. For those of you just dipping your quills, you may want to refrain from reading. Unless you are very courageous or enjoy schadenfreude.

My new picture book about Figgy, an adventuresome doggie, is nearly set to go to production. In a casual gesture, I recently handed the layouts to my husband, John. “You haven’t read this for a loooong time,” I told him. “Want a look with final art?”

Expecting nothing beyond “cute,” I was shocked when he asked a pivotal question about the story. “Why is Figgy so tired if all of his adventures take place in his dreams?” Sounds logical if you didn’t know better. Figgy does dream the adventures, but he also relives them in real time. John had somehow missed the words, “When Figgy woke up…”. No one in my writing or retreat groups or in the publishing office had missed that Figgy woke up and carried out his adventure for real. Could he have uncovered a subtle wrongness in the text?

Figgy

I panicked. This was too late to change any art; was it too late to recast the words to show with no uncertainty that Figgy was awake when he reenacted his dreams? Writing my editor late that evening, I queried possible solutions, even hoping she’d say that I was too anxious or that my husband was a bad reader. Well, she didn’t. She told me we could change the words if I liked.

The words in doubt say, “WOOF! When Figgy woke up, he knew his dream had to be a sign. So he made one of his own: FREE ROCK CONCERT. I wondered if the introductory clause, “When Figgy woke up,…” is too easily overlooked and could be revised as such: “Figgy woke up. WOOF! He knew his dream had to be a sign. So he made his one of his own: FREE ROCK CONCERT.”

Do you have an opinion, dear reader? Or have your eyes glazed over like a pond in November?

I’ve revised at every level, from punctuation (“I'm exhausted. I spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out.” ~ Oscar Wilde) to pages. These are the rantings of a writer mad in the midst of micro-revision. My profound apologies and appreciation for your insight.

Alumni Voices with Jodell Sadler–“We Get What We Need:” Can A MFA Thesis Become Your Platform?

Jodell

I can remember being smitten by the interplay of art and words in the picture book form. I entered my third semester at Hamline on the wings of adventure, ready to jump in. I brought picture book faves, armed myself with printouts of research, completed dummies of my own book ideas, and was charged to move forward. Then, my faculty advisor, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, reminded me our focus would be on the text and I should look into something else. Ha! Puzzled, my world spun 360 degrees, and I flat lined before I realized what Marsha Qualey said often during our residency was true: “We get what we need.”

Fast-forward 24-hours, and, together, Jackie and I talked about an idea that fascinated me: Pacing. The many movements within the picture book form and its impact on the reading experience was a thrill to explore: the back and forth, the ebb and flow, art and words, and this got me thinking about all pacing does to connect the many elements in a picture book together into a tapestry, which weaves its way into a child’s heart for a lifetime. A lifetime. So my MFA Critical Thesis was born, but resources? There were only a few. A handful of articles on pacing existed at the time, a page here or there. I was really carving new ground and innovating my ideas on this subject. 

What happened next? I really challenged what I believed to be true of pacing: action drives story, we move ourselves to move our readers and story, we enhance the emotional journey, and support theme. I reviewed hundreds of picture books (now thousands), devoured them, and kept seeing key tools surface. Once I started jotting down the nuances of how each tool interacted and connected art to words, I became ever more amazed and ended up researching my original idea, the interplay of art and words, through a new lens, the lens of PACE.

I’ve shared my pacing material in articles in Writer’s Digest’s Children’s Writers & Illustrator’s Market and Webinars and Tutorials and in my online pacing courses, and more recently jumped into agenting.

I landed in my shiny new agenting shoes daring myself to toss my small pebble into a very big pond to see what kind of ripples I could create. I prayed I could make a difference for writers and illustrators. Since then, I have placed many projects for authors and illustrators—it doesn’t get much better than that.

So, long story short? After earning my MFA from Hamline University, I’ve grown ever more obsessed with how much pacing can do to enhance a book project. Though this journey, Pacing Writing to Wow has become my platform, and it’s helped hundreds of writers edit manuscripts stronger, and when I think back to that day Jackie urged me look further into what I was exploring, I had no idea it would become such a huge part of my success as a writer, editor, and agent—and would ultimately lead me into a career I love in children’s publishing. I can only say, Thank you! I really can’t thank Marsha Wilson Chall, Ron Koertge, and the whole Hamline Faculty enough for allowing us (me) the opportunity to “...get what we need.”

Happy writing day!

***

Jodell Sadler is a 2009 graduate of the MFAC program. She lives, writes, teaches and agents in Rockton, Illinois. To learn more about her, please visit her website, Sadler Creative Literary.

Faculty Voices: Marsha Wilson Chall

Recent School Visit—Brookfield Academy, Brookfield WI (suburb of Milwaukee, locally pronounced Mi-WAW-kee—Go West, Young Ls!)

DAY 1: Drive, not fly. Lots to transport:

1. Large dog prop with doggie disguises.
2. Small suitcase for stacks of demo-drafts, F&Gs, galleys, puppy masks (child disguises), train   whistle, bottled water, two Fiber One Bars. 
3. Box of extra books, just in case. 
4. Corgi-sized purse.
5. Other clothes (author disguise)

Dinner half-way (Osseo, WI): Subway. Young adult customer walked two blocks to save gas. Subway employee-friend says that didn’t save her much. Reminder—fuel up now.

Snack Stop Somewhere: Travelers’ Oasis. Small Turtle-Pecan Cluster Blizzard on premises. Read all greeting cards.

Arrival: Sheraton Brookfield. Complimentary membership in Sheraton Club (private lounge, business center, comp water/soda, daily Happy Hour—what? ).

Room: Well-appointed overlooking outdoor pool area—what? February.

Evening: Sanitize room (my problem—own it). Lay out toiletries and undergarments for morning, prep in-room coffee system, Fiber One Bar. TV Lite, low volume. Fractured sleep.

DAY 2: Primary School. Lost. Arrive 10 minutes late. Make morning assembly anyway. Saint Rene, Library Media Specialist, does FAQ about me with kids. Check into library. Equipment/Set-up successful. Four presentations. Three bathroom breaks. Sign books. Kindergarteners perform One Pup’s Up in puppy masks. Happy day!

Later: Sheraton Club Happy Hour! Comp appetizers—WI mozzarella sticks w/ marinara sauce; phyllo-wrapped asparagus. One wine ($4, not comp). Sated.

Much later: Not sated. Room service Veggie-wrap. Fade to black.

DAY 3: Upper School. Not lost. Morning assembly. Two hours meet-n-greet students. Great questions both ways. Boy named Ferris after namesake wheel. A sign! Wanted to write about Ferris Wheel for years. Lunch with Saint Stacey, Library Media Specialist, and teacher with artist-son. Publishing-Hamline-SCBWI talk (über-active WI chapter). Love Brookfield Academy. Thank you, thank you!

Return to Hotel: Gift shop. Buy souvenir snowflake hat. Shop owner works 12 hour shifts. No reliable help. Consider hiring on, esp for Sheraton Club’s comp appetizers. Not too great tonight—basic veggies/dip and meatballs. 

Homeward Bound: Night driving. Good Roads. Until…BLIZZARD. Snowblind. TRUCKS! Exit to Tomah? Pull over. Hazard lights. Pray. Wait. Pray. Road reappears. GO.

Later: Find Fiber One Bar. Demolish.

Home.

DAY 4: Dog. Laundry. Husband. Thank you notes. Notes of thanks.