Where We Are in “The Dictionary of Curious Words”
Reader feedback would be helpful because where we are is sort of stuck
As we mentioned last week…
We have finished the draft for Volume One: Into the Garden which comes in at slightly more than 54,500 words—not too shabby when you know that our first post on WordPress was only a few more than 120 words.
We are more than half of the way through the draft for Volume Two: Over the Chimney at almost 40,000 words. In this volume, Emily and Amelia take on the role of being major characters.
…But we are “stuck” in our writing and could use your help!
Those of you who have read How to Explain Christmas to Chickens may remember the midpoint event. (Spoiler Alert Ahead) Blanche dies halfway through the story on Easter Sunday morning. (This was true for real life as well.) Her death is incorporated into the midpoint of the story with the message:
The Promise of Easter is that Love makes all things new.
In the second half of the book, Pearl meets The Bottle Cap Lady who has lost someone she loves very much as well. Through this connection, they become friends. Pearl gives The Bottle Cap Lady a gift that only she can give and learns this message:
The Promise of Christmas is that Love gives its very best even to those who have nothing to give in return.
Story timeline overlap
The time period for the events in How to Explain Christmas to Chickens actually occurs during the larger time period of the volume that we are currently writing. Our question to our readers is this: Should we include Blanche’s death? And if so, should we also have her return in a dramatic way as part of the conclusion?
In this second volume, Emily will learn to draw. One of the things Nate tells her when he is teaching her to draw is this:
Drawing lets you do things you would never be able to do any other way.
After Amelia has flown over the chimney and off to see if she can be “lost and not afraid,” Emily wants to draw Amelia to be closer to her. Because of the strength of Emily’s love for Amelia and her faith in what Nate told her about drawing, Emily is able stand in front of the drawing and then fly with Amelia, talk to her, and even navigate her to destinations. (Emily is in two places at once, but after all, this is magical realism!)
Emily’s drawing gift will be treated as a simple everyday miracle and nothing extraordinary. It also opens the possibility of what could happen if Emily drew a picture of Blanche. Because of Emily’s love for Blanche and her faith in what Nate told her about drawing, Emily’s drawing of Blanche could potentially bring her back into the story particularly if Emily gave Pearl the drawing as a Christmas gift. (The drawback: I don’t want children to think that that would be possible for their beloved pet or family member. The flip-side positive: This could point as a clue to Emily being The Key to The Living Library.)
And so, here is our two polls. (Please answer even if you haven’t read How to Explain Christmas to Chickens since it really is about the death of a main character in any story.)
And just in case…
At the time How to Explain Christmas to Chickens was published, I had no expectations of writing much more about the chickens other than maybe a stand-alone book about just Gracie and Bessie or just Pearl. My mind was set on being as true-to-life as possible.
But as this and other books became popular and had more fans, I began to wonder if it was a good idea to “kill off” what might be someone’s favorite chicken character. (This is why I always include Blanche in my signature at the end of every newsletter.) So my heart was on the side of “Yes, please do this. Bring Blanche back through a magical realism event in the plot.”
Then I had a serious conversation with my friend Barbara, one of our fans, who shared from personal experience how children need to have books that address death and help them cope with it. So my heart was on the side of “No, don’t do this. Once Blanche has left, continue the plot without her.”
Until next time…
So we have several different subplots about Blanche that we can follow: one where doesn’t die and one where she does, one where she dies and returns, and one where she dies and doesn’t return.
If you would, please answer the poll question above. Remember that this will be for middle grade readers but may also be a read-aloud for younger children.
If you have any thoughts you’d like to share, please use the comment section or email them directly to John.Spiers@yahoo.com. We will be very appreciative of your thoughts and feelings about this.
Thank you for reading!
John, Gracie, Bessie, Blanche, Pearl, Emily, and Amelia
These are incredibly difficult questions to answer.
My children lost their mum when they were 7 and 8, nearly 10 years ago.
So part of me wants to say yes, it's best to be as real (and realistic) as possible because these things happen in life.
On the other hand, I think life has enough upset and distress. Not every story has to be stuffed with material to help those who have suffered loss, or to help prepare them for future loss.
I'll have to think some more before I vote.