Learning to Write with Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson

I got a chance to hear Jacqueline Woodson talk to her editor about the writing process of Beneath a Meth Moon during the ALAN Workshop last month. Woodson said some things that might help us thinking about our writing processes.

At one point, Woodson talked about Moses, a character in Beneath a Meth Moon who befriends the main character, Laurel, when she is at her lowest point.

Woodson said early on Moses was not fully developed, but her editor kept asking questions about him.   

As a result, she realized that she did not know what was not on the page yet.

The story was in her head, and she believed she was conveying it, even in the early drafts, but the editor helped her see that the “story hadn’t gotten from [her] head to the page” yet. 

She said the questions the editor posed helped her ask, Who is Moses?, Why is he in the story?, and How is his story going to impact Laurel?  

Woodson later said that the finished draft that she sends to the editor is actually like a skeletal outline; she fills in the story in response to the editor’s questions. 

What can writers learn from this?

Take a look at this blogger’s thoughts about Beneath a Meth Moon.