Panning for Gold with Barbara Jean Hicks - Kathryn Erskine

from the collected notes of
Barbara Jean Hicks

I loved meeting and comparing notes with author Kathryn Erskine, a warm and wonderful human being whose moving children’s novel, Mockingbird, won the 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Kathryn’s other books include Quaking and The Absolute Value of Mike.

In one of the keynote addresses at the Highlights Writers Workshop at Chautauqua last summer, Kathryn talked about critiques, a word that can make even the most confident of us cringe. After all, the word comes from the same root as “criticize,” and who likes being criticized?

Kathryn has a different take, seeing a critiquer as a "Noble Friend" who cares enough to point out things that need to be addressed in her manuscripts. "A good critique shows us when something in our story isn’t clear or isn’t working and gives us an opportunity to fix it," she says. She gives this example from her own experience:

An editor, on reading the first chapter of one of Kathryn's manuscripts, asked her a number of very concrete questions. “What’s the address of the house where this character lives? The name of the street? Which newspaper does he read? Washington Post? Washington Times? It makes a difference. What kind of chair is he sitting in? What’s unique about his phone?”

The editor wasn’t necessarily saying she should put every single one of those details in the story, Kathryn says; she was saying that Kathryn should know them. Details ground us in the story we’re telling; they make the writing real and authentic. “I should know those details,” Kathryn says. “I should be living these characters.” The editor’s critique made her understand her characters had not yet come alive on the page and encouraged her to get to know them better. The editor’s job was to point out what needed to be addressed. Kathryn’s job was to address them.

TO THINK ABOUT:

1) How well do you know the characters in your work in progress? Try creating a “demographic snapshot” for each one, including telling details.

2) How open are you to comments on your story from your critique group—or, should you be so lucky, from your editor? Listen thoughtfully. Treat your critiquers as Noble Friends. We all need outside perspectives on our evolving work—even National Book Award winners!

And a reminder: If you need a creative jump-start for 2012, a group of writers and artists has just begun a 14-week journey through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. Check it out at www.barbarajeanhicks.blogspot.com and see if you'd like to join us!