The Journey to Print by Nicky Wilkinson

 

In this blog I am going to explore some more about my quest to write a children’s book. New readers are advised to look back at earlier blogs for context.

My first draft of the story was very raw and had little editing. However, I am learning from writing these MTW blogs that one has to prepared to ditch the ‘darlings’ – one’s favourite words and lines. The problem is, there are often many darlings and knowing which to keep and which to ditch is hard! People who read the work and comment however, can be wonderfully objective about them, not having the same degree of attachment. 

Having ruthlessly weeded the darlings, I was directed to focus on clarity and continuity which was sometimes lacking. As a writer I have a tendency to make all kinds of subconscious connections in my mind, both within the story and in terms of wider context. But my readers often cannot always follow my internalised narrative.  In my story this meant that my readers could not understand who the heroine was talking to, or what relationships she had with other characters in the story. More disturbingly they found the flow too often disjointed. I was filling pages with words but readers could not follow the story or understand the connections between characters. 

A brilliant suggestion from one of my test readers was a simple line of narrative at the bottom of the page, bringing gentle introductions and explanations. My anxiety to not ‘over speak' and to ‘show’ not tell had resulted in a lack of narrative flow and clarity about the characters. My under five reader would be perplexed and the book unloved. 

I had a story arc, but it was underplayed and banal. I needed to work on the balance between the anxiety of the separation and the contrasting comfort of being at home. If I got this right the story would resonate with its readers. In my first draft however, I had skipped over this, padding the story out with more adventures to fill the pages. So, these are the areas I am working on now. 

In all of this, I have a wonderful Father in heaven, who sees my desires and challenges and constantly encourages me to keep going. I am also grateful to friends who sit with me and have the courage to tell me what is not going to work! As Proverbs 27: 5-6 (NIV) neatly says:

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Nicky Wilkinson has been writing MTW blogs for two years. Previously a mum in Prague and a teacher in Zimbabwe, she has settled into granny-hood in Sheffield. She enjoys, running a bit, increasingly playing her sax and guitar and the odd painting. She joined ACW 5yrs ago. Serving on the committee, she got fired up to write and contributed articles to Christian magazines. She is now on the verge of publishing her first children's book illustrated by her mum.