Pat Zietlow Miller On Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees’ mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own, as well.

Today's guest for the WHAT is Pat Zietlow Miller, who has four picture books in print and six more on the way! Her debut, SOPHIE’ S SQUASH, won the Golden Kite Award for best picture book text, an Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Honor and a Charlotte Zolotow Honor. It also won the Midwest Region Crystal Kite Award and was a Cybils’ finalist. Her newest, THE QUICKEST KID IN CLARKSVILLE releases today from Chronicle!

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

My new book, THE QUICKEST KID IN CLARKSVILLE, had two specific points of origin. I started writing the story because I had read the wonderful picture book THE NEW GIRL … AND ME by Jacqui Robbins and Matt Phelan. It was so amazing that I really wanted to see if I could write something anywhere near as good. So I started writing my own friendship story featuring two girls – Alta and Charmaine – who both wanted to be the fastest kid on their block.

The resulting story was perfectly fine, but not particularly noteworthy. I set the story aside and it didn’t take out again until I attended the Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference and talked with Random House editor Chelsea Eberly. She suggested adding a historical element. The second she did, I know just what I was going to do.

That’s how Olympic gold-medal-winning sprinter Wilma Rudolph joined the story. She gave my girls a common hero and gave the story a specific setting – 1960 Clarksville, Tennessee.  The story wouldn’t be what it is today without those two pivotal moments.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

When I researched Wilma Rudolph, I learned she was more than the fastest woman in the world. I learned she’d overcome physical and economic challenges to earn her success and that she’d played an important part in integrating her hometown. I worked those elements into my manuscript, as well.

The story’s basic plot stayed the same, although I changed how the girls competed to see who was faster so that their challenges were loosely based on Wilma’s three Olympic events. And, I made Wilma’s real-life welcome-home parade the final event in the story where Alta and Charmaine realize they can be friends instead of competitors.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

My drafting usually goes one of two ways. 

1. My first draft is exactly what I had in my mind as it moves from my head to the paper because I had it fairly well thought out before I started. Of course, then it changes when as I think about it further and share it with my writing friends.

2. My first draft is nothing like what I had in mind because I started out with only a few words or a fragment of an idea and I figured it out as I typed. Stories that start this way also usually go through a lot of changes as I revise.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I almost hate to say this, because I don’t want to tempt fate, but I get a lot of ideas. Those don’t always turn into things that are worthwhile, but I’m constantly noticing things odd, interesting or unusual things and pondering how I might be able to turn them into a story.

I think writers tend to notice stuff other people look past. My husband is a sports reporter, and I remember accompanying him to a high school basketball game. He was evaluating the players and analyzing the defense and tracking points and rebounds. I played basketball, so I understand the game, but my big takeaway was the cool socks one team was wearing. I think that says a lot about how I think.

I wrote a blog post about where writers get ideas that you can see on Tara Lazar’s Picture Book Idea Month blog. Spoiler: It mentions rolling grapes.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I go with whichever idea I’m most excited about at the time. Usually, there’s one that I just can’t stop thinking about. So I follow that one until I’ve exhausted all its possibilities. 

I usually have several manuscripts in various stages at any one time. But, one of those is always the primary manuscript and I only work on the others when I’m stuck on the primary one or when it needs to rest for a bit.

Sometimes the perfect word eludes me. If I can’t come up with it in the moment I usually write something in ALL CAPS like A GREAT WORD HERE and move on to catch it later in revision. Do you roll with the flow, or go find that word right away?

My preference is to find the right word or phrase at the moment I’m writing. I’m kind of compulsive that way. But although that’s what I want to do, it’s not always the best thing to do. So I often put notes in manuscript saying things like: “ADD SOMETHING FUNNY HERE.” 

That captures my ultimate plan for the manuscript, lets me keep going without losing momentum and lets whatever I need to eventually add simmer on my brain’s back burner for a while. And, eventually, the perfect thing bubbles to the top.

The Beautiful Dichotomy Of My Life

As you may know, A MADNESS SO DISCREET was recently nominated for an Edgar award in the YA category. I was still in a little bit of shock from that announcement when I received my invitation to the ceremony, which is a black tie event in NYC.

I'm good with black tie. I'll have to shave and wash my hair and find some non-expired makeup, but I can pull it off in a pinch. But I've got a +1 on that invitation, and the boyfriend is something of a mix between Thoreau and Daryl Dixon. So if you can imagine trying to get either one of those guys in a tux and into NYC you see my dilemma.

I broached the subject while we were splitting wood this weekend. Yes, we heat the house with wood that we cut ourselves - that's how we roll. So I explained about the nomination and the ceremony while yelling over the wood splitter. And in between losing my breath from hauling logs as thick as my waist I added the bit about it all being black tie.

So we're pretty filthy, sweaty as hell, and wearing Carhartts when the boyfriend said sure, he'd put on a tux and come to NYC with me.

And... now I need a dress.

Tamera Will Wissinger On Jotting Down Notes When Inspiration Hits

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today's guest for the WHAT is Tamera Will Wissinger, who writes stories and poetry for children including Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse, This Old Band, and There Was An Old Lady Who Gobbled a Skink. Her verse novel Gone Camping arrives in 2017. You can connect with Tamera online at her website, on Twitter, or on Facebook.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book? 

It was spring of 2006. (I know; even low word-count books can take their time.) As sometimes happens in my writing, fishing and the water’s edge crept into the work. As I was toying with rhythm and rhyme, some funny images emerged when I began to rhyme unexpected words – line and dine, bobber and slobber. As I played I remembered the old folk tale, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and the concept of a fisherwoman gobbling her bait and tackle at the shore sprang forward. 

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

That summer I had enrolled in a rhyming picture book workshop with Jill Esbaum. One of my first drafts began with the old lady swallowing her boat. Jill gave me good feedback and suggested that it might work better if I started small and worked my way to the bigger items. That made sense, so I tried it and built from there. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Yes. This book morphed a number of times as I worked with different trusted readers. At one point I called the old lady an old fisher, then old angler, but learned those words might not resonate with young readers. And there was also a gar in the story at one point which was…bizarre, so the gar had to go.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Story ideas do come to me often. I invite them, actually, and am always on the lookout for funny or poignant conversations and situations. Whether I’m at the grocery store or jolted awake at night with an idea, I try to jot story ideas down as soon as I recognize them. Otherwise they may disappear. Only a small percent of those ideas develop into a poem or a story – many times they seem wonderful in the moment only to fall flat when I begin to explore more deeply. That’s okay with me, though. Who knows; maybe I’ll be able to do something meaningful with those ideas later.  

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

Hmm. I usually go with what’s tugging most at my heart – the characters or situations that are dancing or jumping for me to turn their way. Writing shorter stories and poetry it’s a tricky balance, though, because often more than one story begs for attention. If that happens, I do divide my time. When I see one story that’s emerging most strongly, I’ll focus more energy there until I’ve seen it through.

When it comes to naming characters, I just rest my hands and let them tell me what their names are. What’s your process? 

I like your process of resting and listening to your characters. Most often I’ll begin to write using a name that I like, knowing that it may be a filler name. As the character grows it becomes more apparent to me whether or not the name fits the personality of the character. If the name no longer works, I go searching for the just-right name. Often I wind up researching on a baby name website. Some sites give name definitions, which I find interesting and informative, too.