How Lisa Maddock Writes a Book

I will tell you first what I do not do: I do not generally come up with an organized outline, plan the whole story out ahead of time, create chapters and chapter headings, come up with a title, and then fill it all in.

Why not? It's a great way to write.

I don't know - it just doesn't work for me. My stories tend to take off in their own direction on me with the characters determining the path, so it feels like I shouldn't try to control them too much. (Tee hee!)

The usual way a book of mine gets started is with a crumb of an idea - something the guinea pigs might say, a piece of Molly's mystery puzzle, an event a school project, or something like that. And then I fill a story in around it.

The Trouble with Max, for example, evolved from an image in my mind: Teddy and Pip standing on their back legs, their front paws on their walkway ledge, their little heads shaking, conversationally saying, "We don't like you."

I spend quite a while just thinking about the story, putting myself in Molly's shoes or Mom Jane's, and often becoming a talking guinea pig so I can decide if Teddy would really say this or that. Maybe I do some typing here and there, keeping very little of the original stuff, and then I set a deadline for myself and have to get serious.

The secret of my writing style is rewriting. I write, I read it back, I rewrite - and on and on until I think it's ready to share. Then I share with my family and note any smiles or chuckles. Repeat as necessary.

Where is the new story? It is in the thinking about it stage, and I am almost ready to start writing. I might even do an outline this time....

Goal? A new Teddy and Pip story out for Christmas.

In this video - made specially for the students of McHarg Elementary School for their One School, One Book program - Lisa Maddock reads the prologue of A Tale of Two Guinea Pigs, shares a bit about herself, and talks about her inspiration for the story!

Look who's in the news! Read Lisa Maddock's blog entry on leasspell.net about the story behind the Teddy and Pip books.