[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
reader. Will he fall, will he be pushed?
Jacqueline Rose referred to this process when she wrote that
children s fiction sets up the child as an outsider to its own process,
Write the height 129
and that aims, unashamedly, to take the child in (Rose 1994: 2). But
still we read on to find out what is taking us in. Therein lies the basis of
the cliff-hanger effect of children s fiction. Yet, even as children, it is
the knowable that is exciting, stimulating, interesting or even scary,
not the unknown, which by definition we can t know anything about.
An introduction to the unknown makes it knowable and therefore
an experience, but I find it difficult to accept the notion that the
implied reader being taken in is unknowingly gullible and therefore
more easily fooled. On the contrary, it is the author s knowledge of the
implied reader which allows him or her to address that reader. A scary
or exciting story for a child is only scary or exciting at the limits of its
knowledge. But writers know this. What a child doesn t know or doesn t
hear about he or she can t challenge or feel scared about, for example.
But neither does the child learn unless such experiences are confronted
and God forbid all experiences have to be experienced, as opposed
to represented in the novel. Thus, even the lived-out experience
provided in a story is valid. As Freud (1990: 372) says: The uncanny
as it is depicted in literature . . . is a much more fertile province than
the uncanny in real life, for it contains the whole of the latter and
something more besides, something that cannot be found in real life.
You, as a writer, will be writing lived-out experience for the child
reader. It is the something that cannot be found in real life , which
is lifelike, nevertheless. You will be taking the reader to the very edge
of their experience and asking them to look over into the unknown, so
that it can become known.
So write the fantastic, the extraordinary, the exciting, the interest-
ing, the sparkling, stimulating, enticing, intimate, unfamiliar story.
Take your story (and your reader) for a walk through a world in which
presuppositions and assumptions about the world in which we live are
challenged; cunningly and ingeniously avoid giving the whole story
away before it is ready; let the reader know you are about to give them
an experience never before attempted; trick and tease them; then, when
you have led us all a merry dance through the magic of your narrative
prose, surprise us with the subtlety, tenderness, fragility, delicacy and
treat of your ending.
Virtually this entire book has been leading you to writing in this
area. Go back and look at Chapter 1 again. The ideas on story,
130 Write the height
character, viewpoint, plot and dialogue are all relevant here. In addition
there are some clues, hints and tips for each age range.
Racing Read alone
Age 6 9 Short Stories 2000+ words
Short Novels 12,000 20,000 words
Series Fiction
Collected Stories
Television Tie-in
Your average child is beginning to move away from the read to/read
alone type book and tackling something a little larger. It s still a big story
but told bigger than picture-book length, with vocabulary and syntax
that are not too taxing for beginner readers.
Generally these are sustained, linear stories with a definite storyline,
the smallest of subplotting and usually a big premise such as a quest,
curing fear, getting away from bullies, solving a mystery. The premise
is all-important. These are no longer little children but people who
understand issues, right and wrong, history, time, space and a great deal
more. Also, they are beginning to know what they like: ballet, football,
humour, horses, bikes, adventures, holidays, action, change and so
on. Search the bookshop lists once again, not to write a parody or
pastiche but to see what children like. What recurs in the shops is not
adult critically aware choice but what children like to buy, have bought
for them or like to read.
Short novels can vary in complexity, subject matter and, of course,
language. This is easy to research and a visit to a large bookshop will
provide a wealth of material. In the main publishers are looking for
innovative stories, page-turners about an exciting, imaginative world
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]