Season 2, Episode 47: Words Matter
This week, Kemlo gives Abby some advice on a little thing that becomes a big thing... And it gets personal!
“Am I a weirdo? Because I do that little thing?”
Abby wrote a scene where Logan's parents show up for the first time, and actually modeled Logan's mother after a mom she knew in middle school. She doesn't remember the mom's husband's name because they always called him...Daddy. Team Mom Writes debates whether this is a weird thing, not a weird thing, or not even a thing at all. Abby was trying to paint this family as a sweet, loving family that her protagonist views as more normal than her own situation.
Kemlo says she wants to see a change in Bernadette in this chapter, but it seems like she's giving up on her friendship with the character of Logan. Is she writing him off because she thinks he's betrayed her, or does she think it's not worth it because she's competing with Claire - regardless, how does it show up in the scene later on? Abby needs to shore up her protagonist's motivations in this scene, let the reader know exactly where she's coming from, and drive these points home to give us a sense of what she's expecting or planning to do.
Abby forges on to the next chapter, feeling that the things she needs to change only involve adding a line here, a line there. She wants to get to the end of this second first draft! There are still things in there that need to be fixed, but they can be fixed on the next go-around. Kemlo says there are no big red flags concerning her, and it's fine to save these for next time. Abby wants to keep moving forward - that's her motivation.
Kemlo kept asking for more, more internal thoughts for this chapter - surprising Abby, who thought there was already so much going on. But Abby's learning that if you put in too much, you can always take it out.
“It’s going to feel like too much to you as the writer because your brain fills in the blanks...it doesn’t mean you have to repeat yourself, it means you have to say something new. Expound on it, develop it in some way. We want a little bit more specific than that. That’s how you get the sense of movement, of change. We want to see change at not only the plot level but internally as well.”
When you write for kids, you have to write it "snappy" - you have to keep their attention. But it doesn't mean it needs to be quick - you need to be concise. Capture emotion and plot. Easy, right? HA. None of it's easy, but because (say it with us friends) writing is iterative, you'll likely get a few chances to get it right during the editing process.
