MICHELE TORREY WITH E.C. MURRAY

Do you have tips for making such endearing characters as your science detectives protagonists, Doyle and Fossey?

Ages ago when I first started writing, someone gave me a character worksheet, much like a character job application or a resume. I dutifully filled in all the blanks for my characters - hair color, biggest secret, goal in life, and so on. But my characters ended up feeling flat and cardboardish. I ended up throwing away the character worksheets and have never used one since. For me, creating endearing characters is a very organic process. Initially, I might identify what my characters look like, or their interests: Drake loves to experiment - he has his own laboratory; Nell loves nature, and so on. But I try not to identify too much about my characters before I let the story unfold. Why? Because I like for the characters themselves to tell me who they are. I find that what they have to say is far more interesting than anything I would impose upon them. My job is then to simply get out of their way and let them come alive.  

Many of your books deal with intense topics such as the suffering of sailors with Magellan. How do you weigh how much despair to include in your stories? A related question is, how and when do you decide what age your books are geared for?

I usually imagine myself as a ten-, eleven-, or even a sixteen-year-old, and ask myself what it was I would have liked to have read when I was that age, how would I have liked the plot to progress, and so on. As a child, I always enjoyed a dramatic read, books that told it like it was and kept me guessing until the end. I read Gone With the Wind as a seventh grader, and Jane Eyre the year before that. I devoured Tom Sawyer, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Outsiders.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

That pesky blank page! I cannot begin to guess how years I have spent staring and agonizing at that horrid, wretched, ever-present blank page. I do hate it so. The only way to make it go away is to sit my butt in the chair and hack it out, kind of like spitting up a hair ball. It's uncomfortable, yukky, and gives me a headache. But oh, when it's over? When it's out of my system and onto the page? Big relief. Now I have something I can work with.

While your stories end on a positive moral note (returning slaves to Africa, for example), a reader doesn't feel bogged down in morality. How do you teach a lesson without it appearing like you are teaching a lesson?

 I like to pose tricky ethical questions for which I, as the author, never overtly provide the "right answer." I simply point the way, and I do this through character. First of all, I endow (or curse, if you will) my main character with some major flaws or weaknesses. Then as my character journeys, he will make mistakes, learn, try again, fail, and ultimately have to dig deep to find the moral courage to do what is right. (And it's not always clear what is right! Ambiguity can be very powerful!) I provide my character with the tools and the experiences necessary to make the right decision, but it must come at some cost to him, as well. In making the right decision, my character will realize certain truths about himself and humanity, truths that the reader will, hopefully, also realize.      

How do you keep going after rejections, or when you feel discouraged?

 To this day I still receive rejection letters, so thick skin is essential if you want to survive in this business. Understand also, that it's a subjective business. What makes one editor leap for joy can make another yawn with boredom. It's really a matter of matching the perfect story with the perfect publishing house and the perfect editor. That kind of matchmaking takes time. That being said, it's important to recognize when your work just isn't ready for publication. If you receive form rejection letter after form rejection letter, or if the constructive comments all point toward the same problem, it's time to step back from your manuscript and study it with a critical eye.  Discouragement can be tough. It's a solitary business we're in. Because of that, I rely on the network of writers to keep me going. They "know my pain," they understand my struggles, and we're there for each other.

Your science detective books with protagonists Doyle and Fossey conclude with science experiments.  Do you begin with the experiments, and build the story around them?  

I develop each story beginning with a science concept, such as "capillary action," or "static electricity." Sounds dull, I know, and that's my challenge as an author - to create a mystery that engages and delights children and at the same time teaches a new science concept. Then, before I begin writing, I must fully map out how the mystery will evolve and resolve. The accompanying experiment in the back of the book is the last element of the writing process. Ideally, I invent or modify an experiment to match the mystery so that it perfectly illustrates the science concept in a way that children can see, touch, and understand. Sometimes it's easy; most of the time it takes me many failed attempts before I find just the right experiment.

We know publishing should not be the ultimate goal. Even so, many readers want to know, how long between you seriously deciding "to become a writer" and your publishing  your first book?

I'd say it was about a one to two year process. I knocked around with some short stories for a while, wrote a really horrid middle-grade novel, then wrote a much better novel which was then accepted by the first publisher I sent it to. Gosh. It sounds so simple, so easy-peasy when I put it like that. But preceding my firm decision "to become a writer" were years of so-so writing during which I sent out dozens of stories right and left and was subsequently buried under a mountain of form rejection letters. It was only after I stepped back from wanting so desperately to be published and instead told myself that I was going to get serious, and learn how to do my craft to the best of my ability, that things really started to come together. 

What is your process? Do you outline or have a plan from beginning to end? Or do you discover the ending while you write?

With my Doyle and Fossey: Science Detectives books, and with my historical novels, I outline and know my plot from beginning to end. I believe, for these kinds of books, that it saves me time in the long run. That being said, I do leave room for wonderful surprises. For instance, I may know that I want my characters to go to a party dressed to the nines, and that so-and-so needs to realize such-and-such, but beyond that, I don't know diddly about what's going to happen and I give the characters room to surprise me. However, my most recent novel, FREAK ACCIDENT (currently being shopped by my agent), was not outlined or planned at all. I got the idea for the novel while scribbling in my journal at a writers' retreat. The first chapter spun out of my pen like gossamer, and I thought, "Wow, that's cool. Wonder what happens next . . ." And that's how each chapter went. Only later, much later, did I know how it was going to end. Both processes are authentic; both processes leave room for surprises and for writing from that deeper part of self.

Any tips for people who want to write a book? 

1.      When the first flush of passion wears away, you're left with tons of hard work, so brace yourself. Most people give up when the going gets tough, but true novelists grit it out to the very end.

2.      Like painting, like singing, like playing the piano or playing soccer, writing a book is a craft that you must learn. Just because we can speak and write English does not qualify all native English-speakers to be novelists. Determine to learn your craft to the best of your ability. Craft is primary (horse). Publishing is secondary (cart).

3.      Put your horse before your cart.

            4.      Learn from the experts -

a.      Take continuing education classes in the evenings at your local community college. These are usually classes in fiction writing that are taught by published authors, as opposed to English teachers. They teach fiction fundamentals, manuscript format, submissions, publishing info, etc. Usually the class meets one to two evenings per week.

b.      Attend writers' conferences and workshops.

c.       Check out "how-to" books from your local library on writing fiction. Do the exercises they suggest.

d.      Read the best of the best novels. Read novels that you admire the most and want to emulate in terms of voice, style, rhythm, story, and character. Read them critically. How did they construct a particular scene? How did they construct their story as a whole? How did they decide to unfold their story?

5.      Join a critique group. If you find yourself in a critique group that is not serving your needs, get out and find another! It's important to find one that is critical yet gentle, supportive, candid, knowledgeable, and open.
 6.      Don't wait until you know everything to begin to write. Write, write, and write, whether it's on your novel or something else. It's important to keep those creative juices flowing and to push your limits and try new techniques.