>> From the Library of Congress in Washington DC. ^M00:00:05 [ Silence ] ^M00:00:10 >> I couldn't do it on that other side, you know, and I'd try and then I'd stop because I couldn't do. I can only do it going this way. So, I just went down into my basement and I kept doing it over and over and over again. ^M00:00:38 [ Pause ] ^M00:00:46 And then one day, it happened. [Applause] And somehow part of my mind, knowing that I wanted this thing so much, taught the other half of my mind or the other half of my body how to do it. Now, I don't know about you but I hate origami, always have. I can't understand the directions. They're too hard. But one morning I woke up and I thought I want to do some origami. So, I went to the bookstore and I bought the easiest book I could find and lesson four was the swan and I have never seen this swan before and I thought it was really cool, much cooler than those flapping birds which I couldn't make either. And I thought, "Oh, if I could just do the swan, I'd be happy. I'd never go beyond the swan." So, I worked on the swan and I got the wings and I even got the little tail and then there was a part where the instruction said, "Bring the neck up." Well, if you bring the neck up, it all comes unfolded and besides the neck really needs to be up here and it won't stretch. So, I sat there and I looked at the stupid book and then said, "Whoever wrote this book was an idiot." These instructions are terrible. Nobody in--he must have left something. Maybe there's a page missing. Now, I'm looking at the page and I kept looking at this thing and holding it and then it was like my hands began to figure it out but you had to sort of lean it back against the neck and turn it inside out and then after that, making the head wasn't too hard. [Applause] So again, there is this part of your mind that is going to help you out if you really want something and if you keep turning up. And with this book, I had to keep turning up for six and a half years and I kept feeling really stupid and it's hard to keep going back to something that makes you feel stupid. All of us want to do the stuff that we can do really well and have everybody say, "Oh boy, that's good." But with this book, I kept being like somebody in a maze and instead of being able to go straight like the Night Fairy-- ^M00:03:43 [ Pause ] ^M00:03:49 I kept getting lost. So, then I started thinking about that really old Greek story which is the story of the Minotaur and I love that story. I don't know if you all know it. There was a Greek king named Minos and he was an evil man and he did not respect the gods. Nobody can punish you like the Greek gods. What did they do to Minos? They caused his wife to fall in love with a bull and when she gave birth, her son was half bull. The bottom half was human but the top half was a bull and it ate human flesh. So, Minos really didn't know what to do and he finally called in a genius, a man named Daedalus and Daedalus made him a maze. And in the maze, every path was so crooked that anyone who entered the maze could not find their way out and every year, some of Minos' enemies, the Athenians sent young maidens and young men and they had to go down into the maze and before they could find their way out, the minotaur, who lived in the maze, had found them and eaten them. And this went on for some time until a hero came and his name was Theseus and Theseus was an Athenian. He thought it was time to end this terrible thing of all of these young people being killed by this half man, half bull monster in the heart of the maze. And so, Theseus went down into the maze to try to kill the monster. Now, okay, I'm flattering myself to think of myself as Theseus but when I worked on this story, I was a little bit like him because I kept getting lost and I knew that somewhere in the maze was a monster and I think writers have to deal with this monster all the time and the monster is here. We are sometimes afraid to write the stories which lie closest to our heart because the tale always tells on the teller. And here was this big ferocious story inside my head with these three heroic children and this terrible witch and this evil puppeteer and this little red dog and its frozen leg and I had pictures from the story and I couldn't put them together the right way. So, in a way, I was like Theseus getting lost over and over again and trying to deal with this minotaur which was fear, fear that I couldn't do this thing that I wanted to do so much and I got stuck. I got really stuck, not once but a number of times in the course of writing the story. One of the times I was stuck, I took some time off and wrote the Night Fairy but then I had to go back to Splendors and Glooms again. And like Theseus, I kept, well, showing up, you know? I bribed myself, "You know, if you read the draft one more time, you can have a cookie." Behold the figure of a woman who motivates herself with cookies. [Laughter] You know, just read it one more time, just read it one more time. Read this draft one more time. Read it aloud one more time. Take your computer to the Starbucks. You can have a cinnamon stone but you can't come home until you have writing on a piece of paper. You know, go to a park. I--every trick in my book to get myself to work, I used to try to get this story written and there were times when I cried and there were times when I prayed and I kept walking around the dining room table talking to my characters. "What do you want?" "Okay, I've got started proceedings. This is what I want. No I'm Clara, this is what I want." I interviewed them and I tried to talk to them and I tried to talk like them and I played all kinds of spatial games and I covered the dining room table with graph paper and color-coded all the different characters. What happened to them and what happened in what order and then I move the little pieces of paper around and I walk labyrinths. I found labyrinths and walked in thinking that maybe the unexpected path of the labyrinth would jar something loose in my mind that was stuck and I kept waiting for a breakthrough, you know, and I didn't really have a breakthrough. It was more like I'm doing a huge knot, I'd loose it a little bit here and loose it a little bit here and loose it a little bit here and finally, it began to come clean and the whole time I was the little engine that couldn't. "I think I can't, I think I can't, I think I can't." And then there was one friend who had been helping me all along. Let me tell you something about friends. When Theseus killed the Minotaur, he had a friend, a beautiful maiden named Ariadne and she gave him a sword. He hadn't thought to bring one for himself and she gave him a ball of thread. And so when he went down into the maze, he could find his way back because he had a ball of thread and he had somebody who helped him on the other end. Writers need help. I had friends. I had readers. I can feel them all on the other end of the thread when I'm down there with the Minotaur pulling on the thread and helping me out. ^M00:10:03 I showed the last hundred pages to a friend and he said, "You're going to be done in two weeks, August 15th." I said, "I can't possibly be done by August 15th. It's taken me forever to write this much, it's impossible." And he said, "August 15th." And I said, "No, you don't understand. I'm blocked. I can't do this." He said, "August 15th, get cracking." It was finished on August 15th and God bless my publisher because she fast tracked it so I didn't have to wait forever to see it come out and they found the most incredible artist to do the cover. I wish I could show it to you. It's got a wonderful--it's got that skeleton puppet on the back and the children on the front. And at last, I had this book that I could hold in my hand but it'd taken me so long to learn that story and at last, I can give it to you. Thank you. ^M00:11:02 [ Applause ] ^M00:11:08 Does anyone have questions? >> I'm a reading teacher from New York and my students are enjoying--have enjoyed for a couple of years now "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!" >> Oh thank you. >> Love it. I'm fascinated by the concept that the Park School most support, your writing as well as that of Leon Tillage. My eight graders read his work as well. So, actually, my question is can you update us on Leon? Is he still working at the Park School [laughs]? >> No, I'm afraid we've lost Leon, I'm very sorry. >> Ah, he's-- >> He's dead, yeah. I'm very sorry. >> Well, thank you for sharing that 'cause they'll probably be asking me what's going on with both of you. >> Yeah. >> And I can't--you know, we listen to you as well and they're--we listen to the audio, not you and they're like, "Is that really you?" So, now I can tell them that you're voice is similar now [laughs]. >> Yeah. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Hi, I'm a fourth grade teacher in St. Mary's County in Maryland and I was just wondering what influenced you to become a writer. >> My original plan was to be the world's greatest actress. [Laughter] And that was what I wanted very much for a very long time and it somehow escaped my notice that I was always writing things. So, I remember making up my first poem before I could even write and going to my mother and saying, "Hey, write this down." It was a really bad poem and I'm really happy that it doesn't exist. And I wrote stories kind of all through elementary school and then in science class in 10th grade, we had a teacher who was dull beyond anything I'd ever experienced before and he wouldn't let me sit next to anybody because I'd talk to anybody. I'd even talk to enemies rather than listen to him and so he put me all by myself and so I wrote stories and that year, my writing really took off. So, I guess I'd party owe it to him and I ended up writing a script for a children's theater 'cause I wanted to be in it and people would come backstage and they'd say, "Nice job on stage. Really good script, how'd you write the script?" And little by little, I came to realize that I really wasn't a great actress but then I was sort of a good writer and I decided to stick with that. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. ^M00:13:48 [ Pause ] ^M00:13:53 >> Hi, my name is Yuray Permage [phonetic] and I work with the local literacy non-profit called District Children Rooted by Literacy and this summer, my third and fourth graders really got to live and breathe as readers and writers and one of my fourth graders has a question for you. >> How long does it take you to write a book? >> It really depends on the book. Good Master! Sweet Ladies! The first draft of that was written in about a month. The Night Fairy was written in two months. This one took me six and a half years. So, it depends on how hard the book is. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> I'm so glad you are here by the way. I love looking out and seeing children's faces. Thank you. >> So, are you going to make any more books? >> Yes, I'm working on another book right now which I'm not telling anybody about 'cause sometimes it's a little bit more powerful if you keep it a secret. And then there will be sort of a longer picture book coming out, I don't know when but Candlewick has agreed to publish it and it's called Princes Cora and the Crocodile. So, I'm going to go on writing books as long as I can stand it. Do you write books? >> Yes. >> I thought so, I thought so when I watched your face when I was talking. I thought, "He's a writer." I could sort of tell. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> When you're making a character, how do you know that you have--when you have the character finished and it's--they're just right? >> That's a really interesting question. I think the characters--at the beginning, I have to have the right name and I have books of names because until I have the right name, I can't get the character straight in my head. One sign that the character is coming along nicely is when you can sort of hear their voice in your head and you can think of the kind of things they'd say without even working at it and also if they say something that you--that surprises you. When they say something that you haven't really thought of for them to say, then you know they're beginning to exist by themselves. So, if the character start to move around inside your head and make a little trouble, you know, kick the sofa cushions around, then you know you're on your way to being finished. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Do you have a favorite book? >> I have--all of my books are my favorite books because I have this idea that there--well, actually I think they're kind of like horcruxes for those of you who read Harry Potter. And I think that they--I think their feelings would be hurt maybe like your stuffed animals if I liked one more than the other. So, I have a different reason for liking each book best. And I like this book best because it was more trouble than all the rest and I like the Good Masters best 'cause it won the Newberry and I like the Night Fairy best because it's the most beautiful and I like the Bearskinner best 'cause I got the words right and I like the Hero Schliemann best because nobody else likes that one best. [Laughter] And I like the Drowned Maiden's Hair best 'cause that one's very close to my heart. So, I like them all best. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Hi, greetings from a colleague. I am an elementary school librarian here in DC Public Schools. >> Really? >> I'm not a writer but I am a storyteller and I actually--I'm in my 18th year and what I do in the summer or as school is looming is I find myself writing a story from my summer for my kids and I tell them the story. I teach pre-kindergarteners through third grade and I tell them all the story during the first week of school and it changes depending on the age and how many times I've told it and I do write it down but I think I write it in my head first. So, basically my question is as a working librarian and I don't know how old your students are but do you think about your kids when you're writing your books and who would love it and what child would really, really like this character and what child is this character and how they're going to react when they read because my--when I write my little stories that will never be written anywhere permanently, I'm always thinking of my kids. So, that's my question and I'd like to know how old the kids are at Park School. >> The ones I teach are third through fifth. I use to have second through fifth but when I moved to three days a week, I had to lose a grade and I miss my second graders 'cause that's a special age. But so third grade through fifth grade are my children and I bow to you for being able to make up a story every year from your own head and tell it to children because that's brave, that's brave. I do a lot of storytelling but I never dare to tell my own because I'm so afraid that the kids would--and because I'm afraid I can't tell it properly so I tell other people's stories. And yes, I think about them all the time and I can tell you this because I'm in a different city but Parsifal in Splendors and Glooms happens to be one little boy that could never behave in carpool. ^M00:20:06 He was so bad in carpool and I just started looking at him and thinking, "What is it with this kid?" And I watched him and I realized he was so imaginative and so lonely and so--he became Parsifal in my story. So, I'm thinking about my kids all the time and also what they would like and who would be the person who would read this story, yes. Oh, we're lucky to have you. >> When you teach, do you have the students ever act out the stories or I suppose that you do. Do you have props and other things? And also as a child, what kind of stories do you usually read? >> Well, when I teach, I do a lot of storytelling at school and I do act out those stories. The problem with having children tell stories, and I've never solved it but probably somebody is better than I could, is that when you have a class of untried storytellers, you kind of have to hold the other 16 down while the one tells because children are not always patient with the way other children tell stories. And so, I've never been able to get over that hump. I did hear that there were some children who liked to play the Night Fairy at recess and that was a great honor to me to think that my story was something that children were playing. As a reader, I was--I liked a lot of old-fashioned stuff. [Inaudible Remark] And I think I read a lot of stuff. I read, you know, Betsy Casey and The Little House in the Big Woods and A Little Princess and the Louisa May Alcott, Man of Green Gables and the Black Stallion and I read junk. You know, I read lots of junk. I think reading junk is kind of a good sign in a reader. I like to see students reading everything including junk 'cause I think its roughage and I think they need it. [Laughter] >> Thank you. >> Hi, I have a two-part question. I have a husband and a daughter who love to write and have wonderful stories in their minds but they seem to--there's so many of them and I was wondering if you would give some advice for them to conform their minds and actually become printed because my daughter's dream is to see something printed anywhere. And then my second question would be I'm the non-writer. What role can I take on to feed their imagination and to help it to expand? >> Oh, what a sweet question. Because, you know, you probably are already doing it, you're probably listening to your writers complain all the time because that's what writers do, they complain constantly and then they talk about these stories in their heads. I was very lucky that one of my friends--when I first thought of Splendors and Glooms, I took her out to dinner and I said, "I have this kind of crazy idea," and I started telling her about the story and she said, "That gives me chills." And she showed me that the hair had risen up on her arms and I think if I haven't had that first reaction, I might not have read the story. If I told somebody about the story and somebody said, "Oh that, you know, you can work on that," it wouldn't be the same. So, that's--in terms of your daughter, there is a website and a magazine called Stone Soup which publishes the work of children and they do some things in a regular printed magazine but I think they publish more online which allows them to publish the work of more children. I don't know if I've answered your question. >> I think that it's something that we're all here so we can think about it. Thank you. >> Thank you. ^M00:24:20 [ Pause ] ^M00:24:29 Thank you very much. [Applause] I love having you for audience. >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at loc.gov.