The Ink Splat is our monthly activity letter filled with inspiration sparking challenges and resources guaranteed to inspire your creativity. Included in this Ink Splat is a writing challenge and author interview from Ari Goelman, author of The Path of Names. Submit a response to a challenge and you may have a chance to be published online!
The Challenge: Strong Emotions
Think of a time when you felt a strong emotion — good or bad, whatever you prefer. Just make sure you can think of a specific time when you felt it, be it happy, excited, lonely, nervous, awkward, depressed, angry, whatever.
Now write for 5-10 minutes about that particular episode, keeping the following instructions in mind:
1) Don’t mention the emotion.
2) Don’t write about your feelings.
3) Don’t write about what you were thinking.
4) Just write about the details you remember.
For instance, let’s say you were in a classroom when the incident occurred. Write about the sounds you remember, the whir of the heating system in the class room, the smell of chalk dust, etc. The words that the teacher said. The more concrete you can be the better. You will be amazed at how much emotion you can get across.
This is a modified version of an exercise the author Octavia Butler assigned the Clarion West Writer’s workshop in 2001.
Submit your response for a chance to be published online HERE.
The Path of Names by Ari Goelman
Dahlia Sherman loves magic, and Math Club, and Guitar Hero. She isn’t so fond of nature walks, and Hebrew campfire songs, and mean girls her own age. So Jewish summer camp is pretty much the worst idea ever.
But within minutes of arriving at camp, Dahlia realizes that it might not be as bad as she’d feared. First she sees two little girls walk right through the walls of her cabin. Then come the dreams — frighteningly detailed visions of a young man being pursued through 1930s New York City. How are the dreams and the girls related? Why is Dahlia the only one who can see any of them? And what’s up with the overgrown, strangely shaped hedge maze that none of the campers are allowed to touch? Dahlia’s increasingly dangerous quest for answers will lead her right to the center of the maze — but it will take all her courage, smarts, and sleight-of-hand skills to get her back out again.
An interview with author, Ari Goelman
1. When you started writing The Path of Names, did you start with an idea of a character, or did you start with an idea of the plot, or did you start somewhere else entirely?
I think I actually started with the idea of the summer camp setting. I spent years at a summer camp when I was younger, and for years afterwards I found myself thinking about the summer camp every summer. So one summer, about four years after I had stopped working at the camp, I wrote a short story set there. It was a totally flawed short story, probably as I was trying to cram a novel into it, so I put it aside. Then, about eight years later (again in the summer), I stumbled across my notes on the short story and expanded it to the novel that became The Path of Names.
2. Many of our young writers don’t enjoy plotting, because they like the feeling of being their own “first reader” and discovering what happens as they write, scene by scene. We play with planning tools that allow for planning a little ahead of time, and then also planning later, as part of revision. Do you have a plotting process that works well for you?
I think when you say they don’t enjoy plotting, what that means is they don’t enjoy what I might call outlining, where some writers outline the whole plot before they start writing. I can’t do that, either. I find that if I outline something too completely I lose all interest in writing it. On the other hand, I have to do some planning ahead or I find the plot simply won’t advance. To that end, I often write the end of a novel very early on in the writing process, even knowing I’m almost definitely going to end up changing it. So insofar as I have a plotting process, that’s it – have a rough idea of where I want the story to go but accept that it will change as I actually write the novel out.
3. The Path of Names is a mixture of fantasy and murder mystery. What was the most
difficult part of bringing both elements together in the story?
I think the most difficult part was laying out the rules of magic clearly enough that the mystery felt satisfying when it was solved. I wanted to be sure readers don’t feel cheated when they find out what actually happened, which to me means providing them with all the clues they need to solve the mystery on their own.
4. What was the most fun part of writing The Path of Names?
Probably the most fun was writing the banter between the main characters. I have clear memories of how funny and snarky thirteen-year-olds can be, so it was fun to try to capture that in my novel.
5. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I think I always wanted to be a writer, but I was in my late twenties before I actually tried writing. I’m not sure why it took so long, but I’ve talked to quite a few authors who had the same experience – where it took them a long time to move from the desire to be a writer to actually putting words on paper.
In my case, I think a few early creative writing classes actually got in the way. I’ve always been a big fan of fantasy fiction, but the first few creative writing classes I took (in high school and college) were very much focused on a kind of literary fiction that I had little interest in reading or writing. I don’t think I really developed as a writer until I took some time off to write on my own. I needed some time away from criticism before I could benefit from a class or writing workshop.
6. What advice would you give young writers who want to write a mystery/fantasy story?
The same advice I’d give writers of any age who want to write anything. The same advice I give myself on a daily basis. Write. Make it a part of your daily routine. The amazing thing is how hard this can be. For me, it helps to get lots of sleep. It helps to read fiction that I like. It really helps to turn off the Internet for a few hours and work in a room with a door that closes. And, finally, it helps to accept that you will sometimes hate what you’re writing. You will feel uninspired and dull. Keep going, and you will get to a place where you read what you wrote the day before, and some portion of it will seem good. Keep going and some parts will even make you laugh.
I guess that’s what my advice boils down to. Keep going.
Thank you, Ari Goelman!
Visit the author’s website: http://arigoelman.com/
Buy Path of Names here:
