plot – Karen Cushman https://www.karencushman.com Newbery award-winning author Thu, 23 Jun 2022 14:01:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://i0.wp.com/www.karencushman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/favicon.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 plot – Karen Cushman https://www.karencushman.com 32 32 197177275 War and Millie McGonigle #1 https://www.karencushman.com/wmm_qa1/ Tue, 02 Mar 2021 13:00:36 +0000 https://www.karencushman.com/blog/?p=2507

How did the idea for Millie’s Book of Dead Things come  to you?

War and Millie McGonigleHaunted by her Gram’s death and the looming war, Millie became fascinated with death and dying. I wanted to give her a way to achieve some control over a scary, gloomy world. Thus The Book of Dead Things, a concrete  manifestation of her obsession. Why a book? Because I was the kind of kid who made lists in a notebook to help me keep track of my world: best books, favorite singers vs. singers I hated, handsomest movie stars, good teachers vs. bad teachers, clothes I’d like to wear when I grew up. I still have a notebook with lists of suggested plots for Elvis movies.

The Book of Dead Things also felt like a metaphor for the troubled, frightened, worried Millie before she felt the courage to accept and embrace what was good in the world. The Book became an integral part of Millie’s story and her growth.

]]> 2507 On the edge https://www.karencushman.com/on-the-edge/ https://www.karencushman.com/on-the-edge/#comments Tue, 12 Nov 2013 11:42:46 +0000 https://www.karencushman.com/blog/?p=932 Read more]]> On the edgeFor a week or so now, I have been stuck on my new book. My main character needed to be in danger, but from what? This didn’t work, that was unbelievable. What to do? Finally, in frustration, I went back and read from the beginning of the story, and there they were—the vicious “edge dwellers” who had appeared and disappeared in an early chapter. Perfect villains, frightening and dangerous, and they were there all along.

I think we writers write more into our stories than we even know, not because our characters take over or we are channeling someone or because there is a muse at work. I think we do it ourselves, unwittingly, because we are preparing ourselves for surprise. We merely find what we planted there, the unconscious gifts we give ourselves. So I am for the moment unstuck and ready to deal with those vile edge dwellers.

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