My Writing Process—Blog Tour
There’s been a blog tour going around the writing world, and the focus is on writing process. Kashmira Sheth invited me to share my writing process and I’m happy to have the chance, because I’m all about process! In fact the making of the book is the most important part for me. I love it all—the flash of inspiration, the rough draft, the countless revisions until I have a polished piece. The finished book is just icing on all the fun of creating it.
Before I share my process, I’d like to introduce Kashmira, who is the author of eight books, including picture books, middle grade, and young adult. Her most recent book Tiger in My Soup is a delightful story about a young boy who begs for his sister to read to him, but she’s too absorbed in her own book to pay him much attention. While eating his lunch, his imagination goes wild and he sees a tiger in his soup, leading to all sorts of chaos. This creative story garnished starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publisher Weekly. Please visit Kashmira at http://kashmirasheth.com and see what she had to say about her writing process.
Here’s my Writing Process interview.
What are you working on?
I’m in the process of revising a number of picture book manuscripts and creating a dummy for one of them. But lately, most of my writing time is spent working on my YA novel Dreams of Trees, which is a contemporary fiction novel about Artie Miller, a sixteen year old girl who’s family is falling apart. Her dad’s death left her mom sinking deeper into alcoholism, and her grampa is overly concerned with Artie’s weight. The most trusted adult in her life, her gramma, is suffering from dementia and has to be admitted into a nursing home. Before leaving, her gramma gives Artie a deck of hand-painted tarot cards. But when Artie draws the same card over and over again, she wonders if the cards are trying to tell her something important, or if they’re just broken, like her family.
How does your work differ from others of its genre?
My picture books are created using non-traditional illustrative methods. Often times there’s a three dimensional quality to the artwork. The themes in my books tend to be meditations on kindness and community. I’m very interested in telling a beautiful and engaging story, but also helping readers see a clearer path towards kindness.
Why do you write what you do?
Usually I write a book to help myself understand something better. Not unlike how authors approach writing non-fiction, I begin my books with a lot of research—both theory and practice. For instance, when I was working on Squircle, I was trying to convey some of the lessons I’ve learned from Buddism and Eastern philosophy, while at the same time, learning them better myself. In order to do this, I read a lot, as well as practiced methods that would help me be more in tune with the present moment—like yoga and dance.
How does your writing process work?
When writing picture books I will have a phrase or a title flash into my head, like a bolt of inspiration. I write that inspiring thought or title in my book spreadsheet. Over time, I start to internally work out a method to shape a story around the idea. When I feel it has had enough time percolating, I attempt to write a rough draft. I’m definitely pressure prompted, so if I have deadline, this process becomes much quicker. After writing and revising until I have a decent quality draft, I start envisioning what type of illustrations would work the best with the story. I try to make conscious decisions on why I choose certain media for the illustrations. For instance, Squircle was done in thread and fabric to add another layer of meaning into the term interconnectedness—a main concept in the book.
When I write my YA novel, I visualize my characters, set them in a place, and then watch them interact. As they talk to each other, I take notes—sort of like watching a movie and writing down what transpires. Sometimes I feel like I’m channeling Artie, and that she is a real person. It’s very entertaining!