A Question About Questions
I?ll post more on LTUE in the next couple of days as I have quite a few notes to put together. But I thought I?d take a minute tonight and update you on the latest thing I?ve been doing for Farworld.
One of the interesting things that Shadow Mountain has done with their YA fantasies is to have the author write discussion questions to put in the back of the books. I don?t think I?ve ever seen that done with hardbacks before. I?ve seen it in paperbacks, and often as a website download or separate insert. I?m sure it?s been done and I just haven?t noticed, but I was a little surprised when they asked me to put together a few questions for the novel (and presumably the ARCs as well.)
At first I sent them a bunch of questions like, ?If Gandalf, Dumbledore, and Master Therapass fought in a locked, steel cage death match, who would win?? And, ?If you could turn one of your friends into a fish for a few hours who would it be and what kind of fish would you choose??
Turns out that those weren?t exactly the kind of questions they were looking for. I actually had to find themes and deeper meanings in my books. Let me just pause for a moment to warn aspiring writers, do not start with a theme or deeper meaning and try to come up with a story to illustrate it. In one of his presentations at LTUE, Scott Card said something to the effect of, ?If you are trying to make a statement with your story, it will be transparent to the reader and your story will fall flat. Tell the best story you can, the best way you know how, and your inner values will come through.? Except I?m sure he said it more eloquently.
So, I was actually a little nervous to go back through my book and see if I did indeed actually have any values. That would kind of stink huh? To go through your story and say, ?Wow, I?m apparently a real jerk!? I also was a little afraid that kids might see the questions in the back of the book and think, ?Hey this is homework in disguise.? The goal of any story I write is first and foremost enjoyment for the reader. For a few minutes, or hours or days, I want you to get lost in the world I?ve created. If I can make you laugh here and there, get nervous or a little scared, stay up too late, and especially care about the characters, I feel I?ve succeeded.
That being said, if your characters don?t have values, why should anyone care about them? Do you know what I?m saying? The characters I like the best in books struggle to do what?s right. Sometimes they make bad decisions, but they try to correct them, and in the end they lay everything on the line for what they feel is right. If the main character in a book I?m reading doesn?t have some kind of noble goal, I find it really hard to root for them. And I want to root for the main character/s.
Fortunately I was able to come up with some questions I think will work. I tried to avoid what I call kindergarten questions?where the answers are so obvious as to be really lame. I also tried to avoid questions with simple yes or no answers. Thanks to the advice of a good friend and reading teacher named LuAnn Staheli, I also tried to divide my questions so half of them were questions about what the reader has experienced or would do in a certain situation, and half were more open questions that could be discussed in general.
Here?s an example of one of my questions. Marcus feels different from the other boys in his school because of his disabilities and because of the way he can grow dim and sense things before they happen. Kyja feels different because she can?t do magic. Has there ever been a time when you felt different? Does being different have to be a bad thing? How can being different be good?
One side of me is a little nervous about having the questions. But another side of me thinks it would be interesting if some of my favorite authors had put these kinds of questions in the back of their books as well.
So my question for you is this. Are you in favor of discussion questions in the back of a YA fantasy book? Or do you think they are better left for a web site or insert?
One of the interesting things that Shadow Mountain has done with their YA fantasies is to have the author write discussion questions to put in the back of the books. I don?t think I?ve ever seen that done with hardbacks before. I?ve seen it in paperbacks, and often as a website download or separate insert. I?m sure it?s been done and I just haven?t noticed, but I was a little surprised when they asked me to put together a few questions for the novel (and presumably the ARCs as well.)
At first I sent them a bunch of questions like, ?If Gandalf, Dumbledore, and Master Therapass fought in a locked, steel cage death match, who would win?? And, ?If you could turn one of your friends into a fish for a few hours who would it be and what kind of fish would you choose??
Turns out that those weren?t exactly the kind of questions they were looking for. I actually had to find themes and deeper meanings in my books. Let me just pause for a moment to warn aspiring writers, do not start with a theme or deeper meaning and try to come up with a story to illustrate it. In one of his presentations at LTUE, Scott Card said something to the effect of, ?If you are trying to make a statement with your story, it will be transparent to the reader and your story will fall flat. Tell the best story you can, the best way you know how, and your inner values will come through.? Except I?m sure he said it more eloquently.
So, I was actually a little nervous to go back through my book and see if I did indeed actually have any values. That would kind of stink huh? To go through your story and say, ?Wow, I?m apparently a real jerk!? I also was a little afraid that kids might see the questions in the back of the book and think, ?Hey this is homework in disguise.? The goal of any story I write is first and foremost enjoyment for the reader. For a few minutes, or hours or days, I want you to get lost in the world I?ve created. If I can make you laugh here and there, get nervous or a little scared, stay up too late, and especially care about the characters, I feel I?ve succeeded.
That being said, if your characters don?t have values, why should anyone care about them? Do you know what I?m saying? The characters I like the best in books struggle to do what?s right. Sometimes they make bad decisions, but they try to correct them, and in the end they lay everything on the line for what they feel is right. If the main character in a book I?m reading doesn?t have some kind of noble goal, I find it really hard to root for them. And I want to root for the main character/s.
Fortunately I was able to come up with some questions I think will work. I tried to avoid what I call kindergarten questions?where the answers are so obvious as to be really lame. I also tried to avoid questions with simple yes or no answers. Thanks to the advice of a good friend and reading teacher named LuAnn Staheli, I also tried to divide my questions so half of them were questions about what the reader has experienced or would do in a certain situation, and half were more open questions that could be discussed in general.
Here?s an example of one of my questions. Marcus feels different from the other boys in his school because of his disabilities and because of the way he can grow dim and sense things before they happen. Kyja feels different because she can?t do magic. Has there ever been a time when you felt different? Does being different have to be a bad thing? How can being different be good?
One side of me is a little nervous about having the questions. But another side of me thinks it would be interesting if some of my favorite authors had put these kinds of questions in the back of their books as well.
So my question for you is this. Are you in favor of discussion questions in the back of a YA fantasy book? Or do you think they are better left for a web site or insert?
posted by J Scott Savage @ 9:15 PM
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