“When I can sit with a writer and share my analysis of where and how to improve
a story—it is the most fun thing in the world to me.” — Scott Treimel |
III. ON A PERSONAL NOTE
What are some of your favorite classic and contemporary books, and what makes each unforgettable for you?
I love Mr. Popper’s Penguins because the fantastical story is so deftly executed that the absurdities vanish into a realistic-seeming day-to-day. The language in Alice in Wonderland is manna from heaven to me, and I delight in self-righteous fussy Alice. I love Feed (M. T. Anderson) because it faces a rarely considered issue with imaginative gusto. I love Belly Up (Stuart Gibbs) because the zoo setting is fun and the characters are situations are zany.
I love A Monster Calls (Patrick Ness) because it is weird and scary. I love The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) because it is really scary. I love John Green’s Looking for Alaska because it recalled my excitement being away at school, living on my own, for the first time; I especially love Chip because he is a character we’ve never seen before.
How does meeting writers at workshops affect you? Which aspects of our event appeal to you?
This seminar appeals to me for its sharp focus and intimacy, and because it sounds hardcore. Working with authors is my job’s best reward. Writing fuses imagination and intellect and craft; I rarely get to stay deep down in the resulting story for any long stretch of time. When I can sit with a writer and share my analysis of where and how to improve a story—it is the most fun thing in the world to me. I like to line edit with an author looking on; the kind of thinking that goes on in line editing, as it becomes second nature, I believe it loosens the way for greater imagination, richer stories. Finally, I like hanging with writers because I like craftspeople. |
What would you like writers to know about you, the individual who scrutinizes (and may reject) their labor of love?
My premise is, We are all friends: I am one hundred percent on your side. What else? We have the same goal: the writer’s improvement. I recently told an author, exhausted with a grueling revision process, to consider athletes training for the Olympics: it is not business as usual, it is a time of intense focus. It has to be if you are competing for the bestseller list or Newbery. It is the big league, do not take shortcuts or use easy (or cheesey) fixes.
Sometimes I forget to praise well-executed elements and/or effects, even though I will have noticed them. I start in on what needs work because I mean to provide maximum service. My authors remind me when they want to know what works.
This little story explains what writers should know about me: an art director and I were critiquing illustration portfolios, sitting with the creators at a large round table, taking up in turn. Suddenly, the woman whose turn it was blurted she was afraid what I would say, she was intimidated. What on earth?! I was dumbfounded—if I were a system, I would have crashed. Ka-razy! In all my years, the idea never passed my mind. I see me as a professional writer’s professional best friend, and I am always on his or her side.
“Scott is great. He pushes me to be a better writer.
I love that about him.” — Kristen Knight |
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20 years of Master Class to Masterpiece