AND THEN....
I do love the way children have such an imagination. To them, anything and everything is possible. They have no editors or critics. Their stories feature themselves as hero, naturally, sometimes mum or dad will make an appearance, sometimes a bestest ever friend...sometimes their pet.
They live in the now, and the now is really quite amazing.
One of my regular Storytimers loves superheroes. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Hulk, Green Lantern. His favourite though is Spiderman. And he can tell me every episode he has watched...in minute detail.
And this is what he did last week.
His story went a bit like this.......
so Spiderman came out of the house, but this wasn't the real Spiderman, this was the bad one, the black one, do you know the bad one? he's the one that isn't really Spiderman but looks just like him, except he's not, and he's bad..and he's black...which isn't what the real Spiderman looks like ...not the good one...and then when he came out of the house he fought some bad guys...
And the story went on....
but they weren't the only bad guys..cos then the black Spiderman went down to the water and then he fought some more but these weren't bad guys and then the other Spiderman, the real Spiderman he came to the water and then he fought some bad guys and these were real bad guys...not just the guys that weren't real bad guys and then...
And on and on...
But this is how children tell stories. They are so in the now, and they are trying to tell us every single last detail because to them it is important.
When I asked Little Miss where she was driving to the response was along the lines of -'back to your house but not the road you came on but the other road, only a road I know and then we go over a hill and over another hill and then another hill and there are so many hills and I'm driving over the hills and then I have to go round one hill because it's soooooo big, bigger than the other hills....'
Their stories and storytelling could always do with a good edit. But then they are not alone.
How many times do we finish a first draft, put it away then read it several weeks or months later to realise that there is too much over writing. Too much detail that is not wanted. Perhaps too much description, too much dialogue that is not taking us further. We waffle. And some of us are really really good at waffling.
Lately I've read a few books where I've skimmed pages, fast tracked because I want to 'get to it'. I don't need all this inner angst, character's moaning and groaning...I want to know what happens next.
I know myself when listening at a spoken word event, when a poem begins to lose it's strength. When the poem (or story) goes on and on....it goes on for too long and it doesn't know when to stop. You lose interest, you begin to drift, and before you know it you often wonder if you are listening to the same poem or story or has the speaker moved onto another and no one's noticed. (It does happen.)
You do want the reader to be eager for the next line or chapter. You want them awake.
We do need the imagination that children have, I think that is something we lose too early, but we need to learn to not waffle. To not go on and on and on. To know what story we are telling, keep to the vital parts and tell the story.
No extra fluff and bulk. If we don't need a character, why have them? Is the dialogue moving the piece along? Do we really need to know everything we have down?
I'm beginning the second draft of a children's story - tearing out chunks of whole chapters. I do like the dialogue, the wit between the characters...BUT the story doesn't really need it. Not all of it. So out it goes.
Hard to do but necessary.
The scissors are out. I'm cutting, not ruthlessly but strategically. Hopefully for the good.
Vicki
http://vickithornton.weebly.com/
They live in the now, and the now is really quite amazing.
One of my regular Storytimers loves superheroes. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Hulk, Green Lantern. His favourite though is Spiderman. And he can tell me every episode he has watched...in minute detail.
And this is what he did last week.
His story went a bit like this.......
so Spiderman came out of the house, but this wasn't the real Spiderman, this was the bad one, the black one, do you know the bad one? he's the one that isn't really Spiderman but looks just like him, except he's not, and he's bad..and he's black...which isn't what the real Spiderman looks like ...not the good one...and then when he came out of the house he fought some bad guys...
And the story went on....
but they weren't the only bad guys..cos then the black Spiderman went down to the water and then he fought some more but these weren't bad guys and then the other Spiderman, the real Spiderman he came to the water and then he fought some bad guys and these were real bad guys...not just the guys that weren't real bad guys and then...
And on and on...
But this is how children tell stories. They are so in the now, and they are trying to tell us every single last detail because to them it is important.
When I asked Little Miss where she was driving to the response was along the lines of -'back to your house but not the road you came on but the other road, only a road I know and then we go over a hill and over another hill and then another hill and there are so many hills and I'm driving over the hills and then I have to go round one hill because it's soooooo big, bigger than the other hills....'
Their stories and storytelling could always do with a good edit. But then they are not alone.
How many times do we finish a first draft, put it away then read it several weeks or months later to realise that there is too much over writing. Too much detail that is not wanted. Perhaps too much description, too much dialogue that is not taking us further. We waffle. And some of us are really really good at waffling.
Lately I've read a few books where I've skimmed pages, fast tracked because I want to 'get to it'. I don't need all this inner angst, character's moaning and groaning...I want to know what happens next.
I know myself when listening at a spoken word event, when a poem begins to lose it's strength. When the poem (or story) goes on and on....it goes on for too long and it doesn't know when to stop. You lose interest, you begin to drift, and before you know it you often wonder if you are listening to the same poem or story or has the speaker moved onto another and no one's noticed. (It does happen.)
You do want the reader to be eager for the next line or chapter. You want them awake.
We do need the imagination that children have, I think that is something we lose too early, but we need to learn to not waffle. To not go on and on and on. To know what story we are telling, keep to the vital parts and tell the story.
No extra fluff and bulk. If we don't need a character, why have them? Is the dialogue moving the piece along? Do we really need to know everything we have down?
I'm beginning the second draft of a children's story - tearing out chunks of whole chapters. I do like the dialogue, the wit between the characters...BUT the story doesn't really need it. Not all of it. So out it goes.
Hard to do but necessary.
The scissors are out. I'm cutting, not ruthlessly but strategically. Hopefully for the good.
Vicki
http://vickithornton.weebly.com/
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