Gwen Lee: Stories are Life-Changing
KidLit Craft is back with another Snack-Sized Author Interview. In this series, we ask authors five quick questions that give us insight into their craft and process. Today, we’re talking with author Gwen Lee.
Gwen Lee and I have been writing buddies for as long as I’ve been involved in children’s literature. She’s a versatile writer who always finds creative ways to explore interesting themes. Her fascination with human nature and with the world around us makes her a deeply thoughtful storyteller. I’m equally delighted by her fiction and non-fiction, her tales for the youngest readers and her novels for all ages. ~ Kristi Wright
Welcome, Gwen!
Question 1: What's your writing superpower?
My writing superpower is my ability to mash together widely different topics and disciplines. I'm a very curious person, and I enjoy throwing together ideas from say, anthropology, science, and history to create stories.
Question 2: What’s an element of craft you explored in your latest project and what tips can you share with other authors for growing in their use of that particular element?
Elven and the Puzzle Box is a middle grade fantasy/adventure book about an orphan girl who has eleven fingers and a skin tone that hints at murky origins. One day, she receives a wooden Puzzle Box belonging to her late mother, and a letter promising her love—if she solves it.
In the initial stages of plotting the book, I tapped heavily onto "The Hero’s Journey" from Joseph Campbell's famous book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. If you're not familiar with the hero’s journey, it is a story template that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, learns a life lesson, and returns home triumphant.
This was an interesting exercise because, as a creative writing teacher, I had taught the hero’s journey to many students, but I had not had the chance to put it into practice until I wrote Elven and the Puzzle Box! The challenge for me was to decide how much word count to devote to each stage while keeping under the expected 50-60K word count of a middle grade novel.
In his book, Campbell lays out 17 total stages in the journey, divided into 3 sections: separation; initiation; return. Depending on the age group of your readership, I think you can either cut down or combine some of these stages.
For those writers who are interested in exploring this tool, I would suggest researching the structure of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and George Lucas's Star Wars. Even if you don't end up using the hero’s journey, you'll learn a lot from the masterful storytelling.
Question 3: If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself as a new author?
I would tell myself to read more--not just novels but books on craft and writing. Back when I was starting to write, there weren't many books on the techniques of writing. It was only after 5-10 years of writing that I started discovering these publications, and now I have a full shelf of them! Here are some of my favorite ones:
The Emotional Craft of Fiction: How to Write the Story Beneath the Surface by Donald Maass
Writing the Breakout Novel: Insider Advice for Taking Your Fiction to the Next Level by Donald Maass
Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody
Writing Irresistible Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers by Mary Kole
Question 4: What inspires you as a writer?
Stories are life-changing. If my books even make a difference in one person's life, then it would make all the hard work worthwhile.
Question 5: What’s one book you think every kidlit author should read?
Not a book per se but a trilogy - The Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman.
Trilogies are notoriously hard to pull off. The Arc of a Scythe is a masterful example of how plotting and character development work hand in hand to tell a great story.
Question 6: What can fans look forward to next?
Nothing is set in stone yet, but it will either be a YA or adult book.
Gwen Lee is a Singapore-born, US-based author of eight children’s books. Her award-winning work Little Cloud Wants Snow! was a recommended selection at the Read! Singapore Festival and is used by schools in the United States to educate children about weather science. Her other publications such as There Was a Peranakan Woman Who Lived in a Shoe; Elizabeth Meets the Queen: A War Heroine's Journey; and the Greco and Beco series have been featured by institutions such as the National Library Board, Building and Construction Authority, and Singapore Global Network in their outreach campaigns. Gwen is a graduate of University College London and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and pet chickens.
You can find her online on her website and on Instagram: @gwenleeauthor
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