Words of Wisdom from David Almond
Oct. 16th, 2013 12:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Had a great time at Sirens - so many fine colleagues! So many great talks about writing & books & what it all means.... And, since I was "Faerie GoH," I got to dig out my folklore self, and, armed with a borrowed guitar, do a semi-performance of the words and ballads of my novel THOMAS THE RHYMER, and talk a lot about that end of the EllenVerse. Good to get back to it.
So when I came across this, from our beloved David Almond, I was moved to post (on FB, reposted here) - a sense of continuing the conversation. David Almond was Writer in Residence when we taught at Hollins University Children's Literature this summer, and really reminded me of why I wanted to write in the first place - and galvanized & put heart into my students, as well. A little shot in the arm from him, as ever:
'I got a scholarship to go and live in a Scottish castle for a month to write. I wrote a lot of the first half of Kit's Wilderness when I was there. .... I walked through the castle one day thinking, "I can't do this. It's too hard." But then I thought, "Well, yes, you can, of course you can." And I also had this feeling that maybe the story was a bit too dark and maybe it was a bit too difficult for young readers, and I just had to say, "Well, you can write it. You have to challenge yourself to write it, and you have to trust your readers, so get back to the desk and write it."'
And also: 'I think of writing as being very similar to music. And a lot of the things that I write down, I'll write down because they sound good. I hope they have a meaning and they have help to carry the story forwards. But, I'm also interested in the sound and the voices.'
More here: http://www.teachingbooks.net/interview.cgi?id=2&a=1
So when I came across this, from our beloved David Almond, I was moved to post (on FB, reposted here) - a sense of continuing the conversation. David Almond was Writer in Residence when we taught at Hollins University Children's Literature this summer, and really reminded me of why I wanted to write in the first place - and galvanized & put heart into my students, as well. A little shot in the arm from him, as ever:
'I got a scholarship to go and live in a Scottish castle for a month to write. I wrote a lot of the first half of Kit's Wilderness when I was there. .... I walked through the castle one day thinking, "I can't do this. It's too hard." But then I thought, "Well, yes, you can, of course you can." And I also had this feeling that maybe the story was a bit too dark and maybe it was a bit too difficult for young readers, and I just had to say, "Well, you can write it. You have to challenge yourself to write it, and you have to trust your readers, so get back to the desk and write it."'
And also: 'I think of writing as being very similar to music. And a lot of the things that I write down, I'll write down because they sound good. I hope they have a meaning and they have help to carry the story forwards. But, I'm also interested in the sound and the voices.'
More here: http://www.teachingbooks.net/interview.cgi?id=2&a=1