Writing for Children: The Genesis of Pepper Masalah

Rosanne Hawke

When I was six I wrote a story about a cat sitting on a mat. Those were the words I could safely spell but what I really wished was to write an exciting story with interesting words.

Writing for younger readers involves our best writing, interesting words, exciting plots with genuine characters and voice. You may say that’s the same for any age group and you would be correct. So what’s different? For younger readers you’ll also need a child (or animal) main character and a topic that children will be intrigued by. Hmm, take a cat and a storm.

One night on our farm a huge storm blew up and my black cat Harry disappeared. Maybe he was disorientated by the storm and the damage in its wake, for he never turned up. I pinned up posters: a photo of him squeezed into a basket, his huge yellow eyes staring into the camera, and above: Have you seen Harry? No one answered and I hope he’s having a good life somewhere.

People consoled me with their ‘lost cat’ stories. One said, ‘We couldn’t find our cat when we had to leave our holiday place and had to leave him behind. He came home fourteen months later. Apart from sore feet, he was fine.’ Fourteen months went by and Harry didn’t return. I read many stories online of cats who disappeared and reappeared. One sneaked onto a plane bound for France and because she was microchipped the airline was able to send her home. 

All my previous cats were farm or rescue cats so I bought a cat that was born in a cattery. A beautiful black British Shorthair who thought he was a prince and had no idea he could go outside and get lost. My daughter Emma helped me name him Pepper Masalah. He was a spicy cat with great orange eyes and a purr like a generator. He loved carpets and so a story was born.

What if a black cat was sitting on a special carpet and a storm caused the branch of a huge olive tree to crash through the lounge room window. The wind whisked the carpet and cat outside and up in the air, seemingly flying on the wind. But what if the carpet had a heart and the wind had woken it. It wanted to find its master in Kashmir but it had been asleep for hundreds of years. Flying isn’t easy to get used to after being dormant for so long. The carpet would keep landing in the wrong place until it found its wings. And only Pepper Masalah could make it fly.

The children I told this story to during Bookweek loved it and ran to get the globe to see where Pepper and the carpet could land next. The MS went to some publishers but wasn’t accepted. When I told this to a class a student said, ‘You need a boy on the carpet. I’d like to read a story like that where I could fly.’ I rewrote Pepper Masalah and the Flying Carpet with a boy called Zamir who shared in the adventure. After this rewrite, the first publisher I sent it to, said, ‘Yes, we’re looking for stories like this.’

So you see, I really did manage to write a story about a cat sitting on a mat that has more interesting words. And this is what I learned through it all: 

1) That real life needs to be fictionised to work well in a story. Pepper Masalah is now a female cat in the story as there were too many incidences of the pronoun ‘he’.

2) I had to be willing to change my original ideas. 

3) I asked the readership what they thought would make the story work better.

4) To rewrite and never give up on a good story.

5) To have confidence because what one publisher doesn’t need on their list may be a treasure to another one.

Book 1, Pepper Masalah and the Flying Carpet, due March 2023 at Wombat Books.

Beautiful illustrations by Jasmine Berry

Pre-order at https://wombatrhiza.com.au/wombat-books/junior-readers-6/ 

Rosanne Hawke is a SA author of over 30 books for young people. She has been a teacher, an aid worker in Pakistan & UAE, and a lecturer in creative writing at Tabor Adelaide. Her books explore cultural and social issues, history, mystery and faith. She often writes of displacement and reconciliation and tells stories of children unheard. Her novel Taj and the Great Camel Trek won the Adelaide Festival Award for Children’s Literature and was highly commended in the 2012 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Rosanne has a PhD in creative writing and is the recipient of 4 fellowships, the Nance Donkin Award for a woman author who writes for children, and a Bard of Cornwall.

www.rosannehawke.com

A Life of Their Own

Have you ever felt as if your characters have taken over your story? In one of my works in progress my characters keep taking over the narrative. I want the tale to go in a certain direction and voila I wake up the next day and the characters insist on doing their own thing. I mean, how rude? I’m the author and so I should be the boss of my story. Right?

I suspect something like this is happening:

It was quiet. The author had gone to bed but Chloe couldn’t sleep—not now that she’d found out what could happen to her. She stared at the screen that was the barrier between herself and her creator. What could she do? She didn’t want to die.

It was a conundrum. She had only just become aware of the screen and that there was someone on the other side determining her destiny. What right had the author to dictate her fate? That she could die in 1952? It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right. But, other than Ethan possibly saving her, what could she do about it? She had to save herself.

Chloe reached out and touched the screen. She thought it might have been electrified but it was cool to the touch. She placed both hands on the shimmering surface and to her astonishment they went through the iridescence. She stumbled forward and found herself in another realm.

She caught her breath. How could this be possible? Then again she’d travelled in time and space from present day Melbourne to 1950s France. That hadn’t been impossible—not according to the author—so why couldn’t she leap beyond the story? She was real—in all the ways that mattered—and she could determine her own destiny.

Chloe glanced around the room. She was in a house not that much bigger than her own. She smiled to herself at the snoring coming from what must be the bedroom then jumped as a little voice behind her said, “Hello.” She let out a nervous giggle when she realised it was a small, pet bird.

The snoring stopped and she held her breath, cursing her lack of self-control. What would she do if she were discovered? But the snoring resumed again and all was well.

Chloe turned her attention to the computer. She’d memorised the password from the last log on and it was simple to find the file. She frowned as she read through the latest chapter. This would never do. She pondered for a moment. If she erased the text, the author would just rewrite it. Chloe didn’t know if she’d be able to escape from the pages again any time soon. The author usually shut the computer down at night. She bit her lip as she searched through the other files. Research … character … outline ... . That was it!

Chloe opened the file. Her eyebrows lifted as she read. She hadn’t thought of that outcome! She chewed on her lip again and a small smile quirked on her lips as she began typing.

The sky outside held the first blush of dawn when Chloe finished her work. She stood, stretched and placed both hands on the cool screen. In an instant she was back in her own world. At least now her destiny was surer.

The antagonist watched as Chloe reappeared through the shimmering screen and hurried away down a dark street. He’d been waiting for his chance ever since he’d seen her disappear into that other world. He placed his hands on the screen as she had done and leapt. He smiled with delight as he sat at the desk, cracked his knuckles and began to type.

Several hours later, the author plonked down into her seat and placed a steaming mug of coffee on the desk next to her computer. She yawned as she logged on but the yawn developed into a sigh. The outline file was open—again. Who was it this time? Last week it was Ethan who seemed to have a life of his own. Didn’t these characters realise that she, the author, was in charge? Why did they always want to take over? She pondered for a while then decided that this would be a great topic for a blog.

It fascinates me that this phenomenon happens again and again when I write. Well … characters don’t literally leap out of the screen and rewrite the story. Mind you, sometimes it would be good if they could. It would help me dig myself out of those dreaded plot holes. But most of us have experienced the protagonist who refuses to behave in the way we want them to. The characters take over the story and leave us, the creators of the work, to clean up the mess.

I once heard author Diana Gabaldon talk about the writing of her Outlander series. In the initial stages she tried hard to give Claire, her female protagonist, an eighteenth century voice but she kept sounding like a 20th century nurse. In the end Diana gave up and constructed a scenario where she could get this 20th century woman into the eighteenth century. The rest, as they say, is history.

There is an element to every creative process that goes beyond the normal workings of our rational mind. The creative brain (mind, soul, spirit) reaches into places we would never have dreamed of going ourselves (or maybe we would only have gone there in a dream). It makes writing a wonderful, crazy voyage of discovery.

How about you? Have you had characters take over your story. Do they have a life of their own? Did it help or hinder the story? Please let me know in the comments below :).

Sue Jeffrey was born in Scotland but moved to Brisbane, Australia with her family when she was just a wee lass. After a childhood spent reading, drawing and accumulating stray animals, Sue studied veterinary science and later moved to Adelaide where she worked as both a vet and a pastor. After a sojourn of several years in the Australian Capital Territory, Sue returned to Adelaide with two dogs, a very nice husband, and a deepdesire to write. Sue has a MA in creative writing and her short stories and poems have appeared in several anthologies including Tales of the Upper Room, Something in the Blood: Vampire Stories With a Christian Bite and Glimpses of Light. Sue won the 'short' category in the inaugural Tabor Adelaide/ Life FM 'Stories of Life' award and her e-book, 'Ruthless The Killer: A Short Story,' is available from Amazon.com. Sue also paints animal portraits.

How Do We Answer?

A question most fiction writers are asked: Where do the ideas of your stories come from?

I am still scratching my head about the answer to that.
All I can offer is that it's something like a seed being planted into fertile ground. (And no one can dispute we writers have fertile imaginations.) It's bound to shoot and wiggle its way up until we see the possibilities of a story. That's when it needs watering.

So what is the watering process for you? Do you get to work and begin laying out your ideas until you see the story emerging fresh, original and tempting?

Or do you take an idea ( or many ideas) you've read before and rewrite the plot with a twist - as agents love to encourage us to add in our book proposals?

Or is it something you've been struggling with in your own life and you place this into you main character's personality? This naturally introduces a spiritual dimension. And may help you discover along the way in figuring out your own life's answers.


The possibility exists that all of the above are true. Now is there something I've missed? I am curious about where we writers differ and where we are similar. As a pantser myself, I wish I could see the end from the beginning. But it seems I need to concentrate on understanding my characters and let them make the right choices ... or wrong as the case may be. Actually wrong choices do make them more human. Then it's interesting to find out how they'll extricate themselves from the consequences of their stupid decisions!

Sigh. All the above is a glimmer, but doesn't prove how we come up with our stories. I'd be glad if you could add some ideas of your own to enlighten me. OR do you have a good answer when posed with the question of where your stories originate?


Rita Stella Galieh is a co-presenter on a Christian radio program broadcast Australia-wide. She was a contributor to several US anthologies published by Adams Media. An attendee at several conferences, she has judged for ACFW, contributes to several other writers’ organizations, blogs weekly, and participates daily on Facebook. After several years study at the Sydney National Art School, she joined the family ceramics business before attending Emmaus Bible College. Each year, besides Australia, she travels with her violinist husband throughout Thailand, with permission from the Buddhist Government, to explain the true meaning of Christmas. 

This past year she has enjoyed presenting the amusing Etiquette of the Victorian Era to ladies and seniors fellowships, dinners, coffee evenings and similar functions. Her website is www.ritastellapress.com

Stop it!

by Charis Joy Jackson

I feel like I’ve written about this topic over and over again. Coming at it from different angles, hoping to inspire, hoping to encourage and provoke aspiring authors and professionals alike. But today, I’m going to just come straight out and say it.

Stop it!

I get excited meeting other writers and I’ve been meeting a lot lately. I ask them what they write and they tell me they haven’t really started anything yet, but they want to. I ask them what’s stopping them and while the answers vary with excuses, ultimately it all comes from the same place.

They are afraid and they’ve let that fear stop them.

I’m so done with seeing fear win.

There’s a comedy sketch with Bob Newhart where he plays a therapist, Dr. Switzer, meeting with a client, Catherine Bigman, for the first time. He starts by telling Catherine he charges five dollars for the first five minutes and then after those five minutes doesn’t charge anything else. Sounds like a dream come true for Catherine, but then Dr. Switzer says he guarantee’s the meeting won’t last that long.

Confused, she agrees to the payment and they start the session. She begins to tell him of her fear. She’s afraid of being buried alive in a box.

He sits and listens to her like a good therapist. Nodding his head, making noises and asking pertinent questions all to encourage her to continue. Then once she’s finished describing how far this fear extends he tells her he’s got two words for her. He tells her to listen carefully, to take these words with her and to incorporate them in her life.

Intrigued she pulls out her notepad to write them down and that’s when he says it.

“Stop it!”

What if it’s as simple as that? To stop it.

Fear paralyses us, but think about it. We’re the ones feeding it. It’s our own creativity and imagination working against us. What if I don’t succeed? What if I can’t write? What if I’m not good enough? And the “What if’s” continue pilling up like an excellent tragedy.

But, what if we tried?

Even if we don’t succeed we tried.  Even if we find that writing is a lot tougher than we expected, at least we stepped out of our comfort zone. Even if we really aren’t good enough, at least we know where our weaknesses are and we can grow from them.

The truth is, none of us start out as super human wordsmiths knowing exactly what to write. The good news though is we can grow to become great novelists, but it takes time and practice. If we let fear win, we never give ourselves the chance to practice and if we don’t practice then we’ll never learn.

So if you’re feeling particularly stuck at the moment with your writing, or if you haven’t yet put pen to paper, please watch Bob Newhart’s hilarious sketch Stop It and let the simple truth wash over you.

And if you still struggle with fear, then listen carefully to these ten words. Write them out and take them with you. “Stop it or I’ll bury you alive in a box.”

Write! You’re actually more creative than you give yourself credit. Remember all those “What if’s” that pile up in your mind and paralyze you? That’s creative thinking too! Yes, it’s negative, but it still takes energy to come up with all those fears. How about doing something more productive with your mind. Start creating those epic adventures trapped behind the walls of fear. Break the walls down and like Nike says, “Just do it.”

Stop letting excuses take over.

Stop letting fear get in the way.

Stop giving in to self doubt.

Stop it and try believing in yourself for once. Try believing in a creative God who created you to create and go and write.

I dare you.

 

 Charis Joy Jackson is working as a missionary with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) a non-profit organization & is part of The Initiative Production Company, an independent film company. Where she gets to make movies for a living. 

She loves creating stories & is currently writing a novel in her spare time, which she hopes to publish in the next year.

Here's to a life lived in awe & wonder.  Welcome to the adventure.

www.charisjoyjackson.com

Writing as therapy

After the Writer’s Getaway this year my husband and I did some travelling around the areas in New South Wales where the ancestors I want to write about next, came from. I sat with some relatives I’ve never met, but had arranged to meet up with. I heard their stories and memories. I got a sense of their personalities.

Some of the small towns we visited; Lawrence, Brushgrove, Mororo, Midginbil, are places I’ve never been to before, and are probably smaller communities now than they were 150 years ago. It’s a strange and inspiring experience to wander in these places, to imagine the lives of  those who once lived there, and from whom I’ve descended.  

It occurred to me that researching for a novel is a fascinating journey, and also a very therapeutic one. Whether searching for facts about people, or historical events, or choosing an environment or particular era for a story, I’m sure we all, as writers, go on a very evocative journey, before we even start to write. 

We reflect on the ways people interact, how they change and grow, how they fall in love and develop relationships, how they cope with trauma and loss, how they achieve great things, and how God works in and through the lives of people. We try to step inside other people’s worlds; people who once lived or who are complete works of fiction, and we draw on our knowledge about how human beings function; what makes them do the things they do and respond to their world the way they do. We imagine ourselves in places and situations and relationships we may never have been, or we go back in our minds to what we have experienced and learn from it. Some may project forward to how things will be in the future, or imagine other kinds of worlds where love or hope or goodness may better be experienced.

Surely we can’t help but be changed ourselves by this process. These exercises of the mind and heart are not unlike those I would use in therapy with people who are stuck emotionally or relationally. Remember, imagine, re-construe. These can lead people to find release from the past, to find closure, to discover hope, and to make real behavioural changes in their lives.

This is surely what we offer our readers as well; an opportunity, not only to escape for a little while, but to imagine other lives, to discover new things about themselves, and hopefully to re-construe some parts of their own lives, and then to make real and positive changes; emotionally, relationally and spiritually.

So I think the writing experience from beginning to end, for writer and reader, is not only enjoyable, but also very therapeutic, a wonderful tool in God’s hands. One more reason to keep writing – as if I needed another reason to do what I love. 

There are three books available in my Turning the Tide series, for which I am doing this research; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel and Tangled Secrets. The fourth in the series, Truly Free, will be released in 2013

Forgiving Michael, an earlier novel, is available to read on blog http://www.carolpreston.blogspot.com

Suzannah’s Gold, my first novel, is available on e-book http://www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

http://www.carolpreston.com.au   

What inspires you to write? Where does your inspiration come from?

My first book, ‘Though the Bud Be Bruised’, is now a finalist in the Caleb Unpublished Manuscript awards. This book, though a work of fiction, is a true story camouflaged within a novel. I didn’t create the story. It really happened. So I wondered, could I write a real novel?