Monthly Archives: July 2020

Digging In

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The Department of Funny Things I Never Realized:

A lot of my books have holes in them.

Not plot holes (I hope)–actual holes. In the ground.

A geologist sets up a dig on the island
Cody and Spencer investigate a giant hole in his grandmother’s back yard

Duh

Khalil and Mr. Hagerty dig for treasure (the greatest of which, as if turns out, is their friendship)


This makes me smile. One of the metaphors I use when I talk to students is how writing can be like digging. At first you’ll turn up all sorts of stuff, some of it interesting (save that), but much of it expected and dross-y. Keep digging (in other words, drafting). The deeper you go, the more digging (and revising) you do, the closer you’ll come to uncovering the things that only you can find.

There’s also the idea of the funny, weird rock your shovel turns up. You wash the dirt off, polish it up, discover it’s in fact a gem…

BUT…I only just realized how much I write about ACTUAL REAL HOLES. Which makes me think again how little I really, truly know, about how my stories come to be. Which is frustrating on one hand, and kind of wonderful on the other.

Now please excuse me because I have a sudden irresistible urge to go out and dig in my garden…

Unexpected Treasure

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Publishing Khalil and Mr. Hagerty and the Backyard Treasures has been a more joyful experience than I expected. Despite the limitations the virus puts on actually meeting readers, teachers and librarians, I’ve been able to connect in lots of other new ways–virtual story hours, on-line nErD camps, tweets and giveaways, and lovely, generous blog spots and social media posts from fellow writers and friends. I still really look forward to the moment when I can sign a book and put it directly into a reader’s hands, not to mention being able to read it aloud to a class and then talk with them about what they think makes a true friend, BUT, in the meantime, I’ll take the virtual joy! Thanks for sharing it with me.