The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves

Written by N.C. Miller
Originally published on Why The Writing Works - November 13, 2012

In February I attended the AWP conference in Chicago. It was the first time I’d been away from my five month old daughter for more than a night, so naturally, I had her in mind while I was browsing the book fair. I wanted to find her a literary children’s book that would become a classic in our household.

It didn’t take me long to find something interesting. I came across a booth that was selling a bright orange book with a hand sketched tiger on the front. I opened the book and flipped through the pages and was quickly impressed with the artistic illustrations and the poetry, so I bought it. At the time, I was in a bit of a hurry, so I didn't take much time to investigate the author.

Since then, that book has indeed become one of my daughter's favorites. We read it multiple times a day and my wife and I nearly have the entire thing memorized. Still, I’m not tired of reading it yet, because as a piece of art, it’s still working on me. I’m still learning how to read it at just the right pace with all the inflections the author originally intended. And I’m still trying to digest the meaning of it, and decide whether or not I fully agree with what it teaches (there are multiple interpretations in my mind).

There are a number of other books I read to my daughter on a daily basis, but none of them cause me the same delight or angst. None of them have the same power or convictions that are contained in the orange tiger book. The poetry is miserable in many of these stories - often embarrassing. The books teach things like how to brush your teeth or how to go to sleep. They don’t invite you to wrestle with insecurities or injustice. But the orange tiger does.

The other night, after I finished reading this book to my daughter, I finally took the time to read the back cover, which contains a brief bio about the author. Immediately, I smiled and realized what set this book apart. It was the work of Gwendolyn Brooks, Pulitzer Prize Winner,  Poet Laureate of Illinois,  Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. A woman who knew a thing or two about life and race and self-confidence. The kind of woman you’d want to listen to over and over again because of her wisdom and experience.

If you get a chance, pick up a copy of “The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves,” by Gwendolyn Brooks. See what you think. Take some time to get the cadence of it, and then wrestle with the message. Kids love it. It’s pretty to look at and keeps children happy. But it also has some profound truth to it. It makes you think. And that's why it works. That's why I read it to my daughter whenever she wants. Because that’s the kind of literature I want her digesting at a young age.

This book changed my perspective on children’s literature. It might change yours also. A story should never be token. No matter what the genre or target audience.

Enjoy.

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Readers Really Do Make Better Writers

Written By: N.C Miller

Originally posted on South 85 Literary Journal's Blog: http://south85journal.com/index.php/blog/85-readers-really-do-make-better-writers

I recently had an “ah-ha” moment while reading Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. In that moment, I finally understood what my teachers meant when they told me I needed to be a good reader if I wanted to be a good writer. Of course, I already understood logically why reading fiction leads to better writing: through reading good fiction we learn how to structure plots and develop characters and write dialogue, etc. But it was still blurry to me as to how reading a novel or short story would concretely enhance my craft.

Each time I read a book and write a critique of it, I dig deep to figure out what I like about the story and what I want to apply to my own writing. Then, I determine what I didn’t like and what potential pitfalls I want avoid. After processing and formulating ideas, I take one or two things away from the book that stick with me. But I had a different experience when I read All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy. When I finished this novel, I didn’t need to formulate thoughts or dissect the plot or decide what I liked or disliked. When I finished reading this novel, I knew, without a doubt, that I was a instantly a better writer for having read it.

How does this work? I still don’t know exactly. The same book may mean nothing to you. It is terribly subjective. We all have different styles in which we enjoy to read and write, but there are certain books out there that will effortlessly enhance your craft. But how do you find those books? Well, you have to keep reading. There is no shortcut. The only way to know if a book will impact you is to read it. Someone else’s top ten list may not make your top 100. And someone else’s list of “worst books ever” may include some of your favorites. You may have to wade through fifty novels or collections of short stories before you get to that one piece of literature that has the “wow” factor. And if you’re lucky, like I was, that book will be part of a trilogy in which all the books are written in the same style.

It will be worth the wait. But don’t get discouraged or discount the process of finding that book. Everything you read does affect your writing, even if the impact isn’t obvious or immediate. The critical analysis of fiction will stick with you in one way or another, especially as you begin to see patterns and trends in fiction.

So, keep reading, knowing that soon, you will read something unforgettable. Something that requires no analysis or critique. Something that immediately fuses itself into your own writing. And, until then, diligently study everything else that doesn’t have the immediate impact on you.

Rebooting Your Brain

Written By: N.C Miller

Originally posted on South 85 Literary Journal's Blog: http://south85journal.com/index.php/blog/104-rebooting-your-brain

What do you do when you get stuck on a story or run out of motivation or creativity? How do you refresh it? How do you get inspired?

I’ve been wrestling with these questions lately because my imagination has been quite stingy. Just last week, while I was working on a short story, my brain froze up. Instantly, I felt stupid and incapable of forming complete thoughts. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening or what to write next or how to form the second half of the piece. Every idea I came up with seemed obvious or lame. It was extremely frustrating and I went three days without writing a good word (and this is bad because I have some deadlines coming up).

Sometimes you have to get out of your routine to awaken your imagination and stimulate brain activity. Think of it as shaking-up a bottle of orange juice that’s been sitting a while. Once you turn it over, the pulp starts moving and the juice becomes whole and fresh again (sorry if you don’t like pulp in your orange juice).

If you’ve been staring at your computer screen for three days trying to come up with the second half of your story, odds are, you won’t find it there. You’ve got to get away from the computer. If sitting alone in a quiet room is not producing fruit, then you’ve got to get out of that room. If a long drive on a country road doesn’t get ideas flowing, it’s time to get out of the car.

Here’s an idea. Try going somewhere that is similar to a place you’re writing about. If there is a lake in your story, go find a lake you’ve never seen before. If a scene of yours takes place at a restaurant, go find a restaurant you’ve never eaten at. If your characters live in an apartment, go fake apartment hunting. If your antagonist drives a Jeep, go test-drive a Jeep. And see what happens. I bet it will get you writing again and I bet that writing will lead to new ideas in the story.

I recently did this. There is a cemetery in a short story I’ve been working on, and I got stuck at what should happen at that cemetery. So I got in the car at lunch (instead of eating in the office lunchroom) and drove to a nearby cemetery I’d never visited. I just walked around and read some tombstones. I wasn’t looking for detail, just inspiration. And you know what? I got some ideas. And I went home and wrote about them and one thing led to another and my story began fleshing itself out.

So, reboot your brain. Get out in the world and do something that causes your brain to process new information. See something you’ve never seen before. Talk to someone you’ve never talked to before. Eat something you’ve never eaten before. Just get that brain working and it will do the rest.

Behind the Scene Words

Written By: N.C Miller

Originally posted on South 85 Literary Journal's Blog: http://south85journal.com/index.php/blog/98-noel-miller

Recently, I had a wonderfully productive day as a writer. I wrote 1,200 good words of fiction. For me, that is maybe a once or twice a year thing because on a typical day, my goal is to write 300 good words. If I can do that, I feel really good about what I’ve accomplished. This, however, is beside the point. What’s important is that less than 300 of those 1,200 words made it into the final draft of my short story.

So what does this mean for the other 900 words that were cut? Does it mean they were a waste of time? Does it mean they weren’t as good as I originally thought they were? No. It doesn’t. Each of those words pushed the story forward and helped me get to the end product. Had I not written those 900 additional words, there are several hundred other words that wouldn’t have made it on the page. The story probably would have gone in a different direction and I never would have met some of the characters I ended up meeting.

We cannot be afraid to cut parts of the story. Even good parts. In every piece I write, I fall in love with a few beautiful lines that do nothing to push the story forward. And usually, the thought of cutting those lines offends me. It seems unheard of, even inhumane. But when I finally get the courage to do it, the writing almost always gets better.

Sometimes the stakes are higher than a few lines. Sometimes entire conversations, scenes, characters, or chapters need to be cut. Do not despair. If you think a part needs to go, it probably does, but remember that nothing you write is wasted. You might use the cut portion in another story. I’ve done this several times. Or the words might end up buried in some draft that is never read. But that’s okay, too. In sports, show business, economics, etc., people often talk about what happens “behind the scenes.” They credit people and processes that don’t get public recognition but make the end-product a reality. Writing is no different. Those “behind the scene” words are as important as those that make it to the press.

So my suggestion is this: Trust your intuition. Let each word lead to the next and each idea to another. Don’t be afraid to write more than you need. And don’t hesitate to cut a line if it does nothing but look pretty on the page.