Thanks for sharing with us today, Brenda, and introducing us to your extended family. Every author seems to have their own process for writing their novels and hearing about them is always interesting and fun.
"What a delightful little book about empathy" Kandy S.
"What a delightful little book about empathy" Kandy S.
"Hysterical and Adorable" Lauren A.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
What’s the secret to writing a stupidly funny novel for teens?
Step One: Surround yourself with stupidly funny people (and drink enough wine
that their antics strike you as amusing, instead of irritating).
Step Two:
Stock up on earplugs, so you’ll be able to tune them out while you write about
them. A lot of crazy things happen in The
Day I Washed My Face in the Toilet—and most of those things have actually
happened in my extended family. A few examples:
Monica—the novel’s long-suffering main character—ends up trapped
on a plane with her older sister, Shelley. That wouldn’t be a big deal, except
that Shelley develops a nasty bout of motion sickness when the plane hits
turbulence. Shelley fills (and then overfills) the airplane barf bag, overdoses
on Gravol and then passes out, breathing acidic vomit-breath on Monica for the
remainder of the eight-hour flight. It was a miserable experience—and it
happened to me. I found out that my oldest daughter was prone to motion
sickness just 20 minutes into a long plane flight. There were only two
washrooms on board, and one had to be shut down because my kid threw up in the
sink instead of the toilet. I discovered pretty quickly that “not making eye
contact” is the key to getting through a painfully-long flight when your child
is the reason there’s only one usable washroom on a crowded plane.
Have you ever seen a drunk parrot? There’s one in the book, and
his character is based on Mortimer, a wildly eccentric parrot that my family
fell in love with 20 years ago. Mortimer’s owner never wanted his beloved
parrot to feel left out. So if we
were drinking wine, Mortimer was
drinking wine. Unfortunately, Mortimer couldn’t hold his liquor. He’d polish
off his serving, then strut around on the kitchen table in sloppy circles,
muttering to himself and shaking his head. Then he’d spend the rest of the
evening on his perch, trying (unsuccessfully) to groom himself without losing
his balance and crashing to the floor.
In the book, Monica’s sister ends up setting her hair on fire
with a curling iron, because she misunderstands the difference between American
and British electrical outlets. Sadly, one of my kids did that the first time
she travelled to England, and she lost a big enough chunk of hair that we were
able to see what she’d look like with bangs (hint: not good).
Okay, so that’s Step One—surround yourself with wacky people. But
what about those earplugs I mentioned? The problem with writing stories that
aren’t pre-sold is that it’s tempting to put off the work—you don’t have to
clock in, there’s no looming deadline, and there’s no one tapping their fingers
waiting impatiently for you to finish. To get your ideas down—and polish them
to the point where you won’t cringe when someone else reads them—you need some
sort of “cue” that puts you in the mood to write, no matter where you are or
how hectic life is. For me, that cue is earplugs. Once I put them in, and I can
hear that loud buzzing in my ears (some call it tinnitus, I think of it as the
sound of my brain hard at work), then I know it’s time to write. It doesn’t
matter if I’m in my office, on the porch, or trapped on a plane with a
Gravol-soaked kid leaning on my shoulder. Sticking in those earplugs—and
hearing that buzzing sound in my head—puts me in the mood to write every time.
So don’t shrug off the possibility of writing funny gems. Watch
your family—there are bound to be a few crazies there who can provide you with
the stories you need. Then find a way to shut yourself off from the world so
you can really focus—if you have tinnitus, earplugs work beautifully. Have fun!
Brenda Kearns
AMAZON LINK:
BIO:
Brenda Kearns lives on a 52-acre farm with her seven kids, two
cats, and a big, goofy Great Dane. Brenda worked as a science teacher until she
realized that writing was a lot more fun—and having a home office meant she
could work in her pajamas. Brenda is the author of The Day I Washed My Face in the Toilet, Sleepover Zoo, Parrots and
Popcorn, and There's Nothing Wrong
With Claudia. All four are available in English, Spanish and French.
CONTACT INFO:
Website: brendakearns.com
Blog: brendakearns.com/blog
Email: brenda@brendakearns.com
Facebook: facebook.com/BrendaKearnsWriter
Twitter: @Brenda_Kearns
No comments:
Post a Comment