P.S. McFadden: Children’s Writer

I’m in the midst of rewriting a YA novel for the third time and was explaining to a friend of mine what I was doing.

“I’m adding a new character to the first chapter, and moving the last scene to the fourth chapter and ratcheting up my main character’s angst another notch or two and shifting the focus more solidly onto her throughout the story.”

My friend said she’d never realized what a fluid medium fiction writing is. I’ve never thought of it that way, but realized that, as usual, she’d hit the nail on the head. Writing a story is all about flow, which is probably why my little Piscean soul has such a passion for fiction writing, and particularly fiction writing for children.

Nobody goes with the flow as thoroughly and naturally as kids. They don’t care if your syntax is correct or your similes scintillating. All they care about is that you tell a good enough story to sweep them up and take them along for an exciting ride.

So, now, I tend to think of plotting in terms of river rafting, which is something I enjoyed doing once-upon-a-time. (Nowdays I get too seasick to enjoy it.) Here’s a list of “river writing” suggestions:

• Start at the right place. Begin your story when the boat goes into the water, so to speak, not the day before when the characters are packing their wet sacks.
• Vary your scenes. No river ride is fun if it’s all placid water, but it’s equally a bummer if it’s all rapids. Both rafters and readers need a chance to catch their breath every so often and go “Wow, that was really something!”
• Avoid whirlpools. Learn to recognize those points in a story where your characters are going around in frantic circles, yet the plot is not advancing.
• Get out at the right place. For both raft trips and stories, this is either when there’s obviously nothing but smooth sailing ahead or in the nick of time before a waterfall–which is an especially good place to stop if you plan to write a sequel.

So there it is, my latest take on plotting. If you follow these suggestions, your readers will thank you for a memorable ride and come back for more.

Happy rafting!