Jack Gantos won a Newbery Medal for Dead End in Norvelt. But Gantos struggled to master the elements of writing. Writing Radar traces Gantos’s trial and error efforts to become a writer. Every writer has their own process. Gantos discovered that by keeping a journal, he was able to generate ideas for his stories. Gantos includes the many mis-steps he made in learning to write. I found this slim little book full of wit and humor and solid writing advice. GRADE: B+
Table of Contents
Before Writing, There Was Storytelling, xi
1 Trust Me, 3
2 Getting Started, 8
3 The Best Journal in the World Is Yours, 13
4 Turning On and Fine-Tuning Your Writing Radar, 25
5 Story Hunting and Gathering, 29
6 The Writing Journal in Action, 43
7 “I’ll Kill You,” Said My Sister, 48
8 The Oath, 61
9 Blank Slate, 65
10 Story Maps, 73
11 Action and Emotion, 84
12 Power!, 94
13 Good Habits Lead to Great Inspiration, 101
14 Story Structure and Story Elements, 110
15 Putting My Oath to the Test, 117
16 The Follower, 125
17 Breaking It Down, 142
18 My First Reader Teaches Me a Lesson, 153
19 Focused Drafts, 164
20 A Parting Surprise, 173
A Final Word, 193
Writing Connections, 195
I’ve always thought keeping a journal is indeed a good way to do things. I’ve read Henry James’s journals and several other authors.
Jeff, Jack Grantos talks about his journals and his writing process in an entertaining way.
If I had a journal, I could remember some of the great signs I saw at the women’s march last year. (Was asked about them by the reporter yesterday and could only remember one had a pix of Carrie Fisher as Leia)
Maggie, Jack Gantos argues keeping a journal makes us more aware. And, as you point out, information recall is enhanced.
I kept a journal for years, and it did me no good at all. Then somebody told me I was supposed to write in it…..
Dan, Jack Gantos suggests carrying the journal around with you so you can make notes in it all day long. I have a friend that carries a small recorder around with him. He dictates notes and observations into it.
I have kept a journal at times. Mostly I kept one on our trips to England, so can easily check any details you want on where we stayed, what we ate, what shows we saw, the weather, the bookstores we went to, etc. Also, prices, pound/dollar exchange rate, and the like.
It didn’t make me a writer, but still…I’m glad I have them.
Jeff, we tend to “forget” details unless we write them down or store them somehow. I kept a journal when I was working on my PhD in Madison, Wisconsin in the 1970s. Funny stuff!
I’ve kept book journals over the years and have kept a diary-type journal for long stretches of time since I was in my teens, but periodically throughout my adult life I just toss them out. Then I see how Jeff can quickly recall time & place where he and Jackie saw something or when he read a particular book, and I wish I’d been more diligent about keeping up.
I really liked Jack Gantos’s THE LOVE SONG OF THE RUMBAUGHS, although why it was marketed as a “Young Adult” novel is beyond me!
Deb, I’m with you on the Young Adult classification. It’s elastic. As long as one of the characters is a teenager, the YA tag gets applied.
One of the most useful things I did was to write letters to my parents when we were in the UK and then Amsterdam for a year. I wouldn’t remember half of what I do if i wasn’t for those letters. That said, little of it turned up in stories.
Patti, the Past fades quickly unless we find some way to preserve the details. So many of my books at SUNY at Buffalo will be the only artifacts of paperback books of the 1950s and 1960s in a few decades.
One of my daughters just reminded me that when she was in high school, Jack Gantos gave a talk to her Advanced Composition class. She said he was a captivating speaker who had experienced some very interesting events in his life.
Deb, Jack Gantos shares some of those “life event” stories in WRITING RADAR. He’s a clever guy!
I know a guy who has a wall of books on writing! He never writes!
Bob, many people like the idea of writing rather than the actual experience of writing.
I read and loved Dead End in Norvelt so I expect this is good as well.
I’ve never kept a journal but have considered doing one on my computer a la Doogie Howser.
Beth, Jack Gantos makes a very persuasive argument for keeping a journal. WRITING RADAR shows all the ins and outs of his writing process.