Liz Garton Scanlon: Be Brave and Break Rules
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 Liz Garton Scanlon.
I first met Liz when she was one of my very first workshop leaders at VCFA. She would sit and listen, and then drop one succinct bit of wisdom that broke open the whole story. When I spent a semester working with her, she read carefully (she reads all of her students’ work aloud!) and gave me just the nudges I needed to go in the right direction. She also taught me that it’s fine to follow characters and a story where they lead, but if you don’t like it, you can boss your work around! Liz is full of wisdom that can point you in the right direction. Read on for some gems! –Anne-Marie
Welcome, Liz!
Question 1: What's your writing superpower?
Does popcorn count as a superpower? Ha. I think writing generally feels more human and plodding than superpowered to me. I mean, I've developed some pretty strong skills over the years -- I'm confident I can boil down nearly any manuscript to something a little tighter and more potent, for example -- but the only thing that ever actually feels transcendent is when the muse or intuitive magic take over, so that words or story just seem to flow through me. Maybe luck is the superpower in that case. Or a certain kind of willingness?
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?
I've been focused on a chapter book series for the past couple of years, and for that I've had to lean into two paradoxical practices.
First, as a picture book author, I always find longer-form storytelling really challenging, and writing these chapter books (especially within the larger context of a series) felt very novelly to me. I had to hold Bibsy's narrative arc in my hands and stretch it across four books and several hundred pages.
For me, the tools that helped with this were keeping a running story/series bible with character names and characteristics, story-specific language and lingo, etc. I also kept a post-it on my desk that read, "What is core Bibsy? And how does Bibsy change?" so that I could stay true to her while also allowing her to evolve and grow during third grade.
As for the paradox: these books are written in verse, so while I wanted to be able to tell big stories and make room for meaningful character arcs, I also needed to do so in a slender container. I needed to keep things tight and spare. I needed to do more with less.
This is actually easier for me because it's my inclination, but after having written novels I feel less embarrassed about it. My strategy is to get the bare bones of a first draft down (as I tell myself the story) and then take the time I need to build it up and flesh it out. (This is the opposite of lots of folks, by the way, who need to overwrite and then sculpt their story down like marble. There's no wrong way. There's only your own way.)
Funnily enough, once the art (by Dung Ho) fell into place, I was able to fine tune and whittle down again -- back to my comfort zone. So! Holding something big and cumbersome, and pouring it into a small container. For me, it happens messily and over time.
Question 3: If you could travel back in time, what advice would you give yourself as a new author?
Be brave, break rules, do things in your own voice and in your way. (This is hard when we're trying so hard to learn how to do something well and right, and how to fit into a field that is already crowded and esteemed. But fitting in and doing everything right isn't what makes our work really shine.)
Question 4: What inspires you as a writer?
The natural world, kids who live out loud, kids who wish they could, books that tell stories beyond my imagination in ways I could never hope to emulate, writers who are generous and honest with their support and camaraderie.
Question 5: What’s one book you think every kidlit author should read?
Honestly, I think Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom did as much for me as any craft book in demonstrating how big this work is, how important each word, how much attention and humanity and love we must bring to the page. There is a nostalgic feel to it for sure -- the industry is way more crowded and quicker paced than it was in Nordstrom's day -- but those larger principles are abidingly true.
Bonus Question: What can fans look forward to next?
I have three books coming out this year -- the 4th installment in the Bibsy Cross chapter book series, Bibsy Cross and the Time Capsule, illustrated by Dung Ho; a board book called Big Little Baby, illustrated by Trudy Tran; and The Family Tree, a picture book co-authored with my pal Audrey Vernick and illustrated by the amazing Fiona Lee. And they're all available for pre-order now -- wheeee!
Liz Garton Scanlon is the author of more than twenty-five beloved books for young people, including the Caldecott honored All the World, two middle grade novels, and the recent Bibsy Cross chapter book series, the first of which received three starred reviews. Liz has served on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts and Whale Rock Workshops, and she lives and writes in Austin, Texas.
You can find her online on her website and on Instagram @lizgardensalad.
Related Articles:
