Workshop: An Introduction to Writing for Children and Young Adults
“The capacity to recall the sensory impacts
and perceptions of one’s early years is obviously also a vital part of the
talent in question: but a further dimension of recall is needed for the
physical world of childhood, which, we tend to forget, is out of scale in
surroundings proportioned to adults.” Mollie Hunter
As are our story worlds out of scale to our
normal everyday experiences. Not just the right word then to describe heat, or
cold, or color, or temperature, but also the personal internal emotion that
resonates along with them.
Crawling into a blanket-made fort for a child
may hold all the anticipation of a dangerous journey, or a return to a safe
haven. We need to be able to echo that experience for older readers too. The
settings and description need to be in accord with both the age and the story
itself.
Too often I concentrate on the description
and miss the added impact of the feelings. This, I think, is what leads to a
superficial treatment. I remember the first time my youngest son saw the stars
at night. He was only two and did not have the vocabulary to describe what he
saw. So he flung himself backwards and spread out his arms as if trying to hug
the sky or hold it somehow. Pure speechless astonishment poured out of him.
That night we, who did possess the word vocabulary, saw the night sky in a new
way.
This, I think, is what Mollie Hunter reminds
us—to be conscious of this in our writing and remember the sense of awe that
accompanies these first experiences, and not to diminish their impact.
Action Steps:
1.
For
each of the five senses think of a particular experience that was positive and
one that was negative.
2.
Next
to each list your immediate personal words that describe your reactions.
Share: What horrible taste do you still
remember from childhood?
Read deep, marcy
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