Author Gives His Writing Formula to Teens

Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers knows how to tell a story.
Author Gives His Writing Formula to Teens
Walter Dean Myers signs books for students. Each child who presented a library card got a free book at his writing workshop. (Mary Silver/Epoch Times Staff)
Mary Silver
7/15/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
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ATLANTA—Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers knows how to tell a story. He knows more than that–he knows how to fascinate a large group of teenagers. When he gave a July 11 writing workshop for ages 13 to 15, it was standing room only.

Myers is tall and gracious. He is a serious artist who broke new ground in American letters, exploring the experiences of African American young people and winning multiple awards.



He casts his career in a practical light: “My specialty is, any time I start a book I can finish it. I’ve written 105 books. Have three coming out. It will be 108.”

He said he was going to share his method with all of them. He laughed and said he would show them how to become his competitors, but he'd appreciate it if they waited a little while to start competing. Myers is 74.

He named one of his books: Somewhere in the Darkness.  “About a boy who meets his father for the first time when he is 13.”

He asked the students to suggest scenes: Opening the door to find a stranger who says, “I am your father.” Grandmother confirms that the stranger is indeed your father. Going on a cross-country trip. Sharing a hotel room. Struggling to have a conversation.

“What’s my name?” Myers asked the group. “Walter Dean Myers!” came the answer.

“No, it’s not,” he said. “My real name is Walter Milton Myers. My mother died when I was a baby, and my father gave me away.”

Myers grew up in a foster family in Harlem and met his biological father for the first time when he was 13. He took the name Dean to honor his foster parents.

He used that compelling start to illustrate his foolproof, book-finishing writing formula. The foundational elements are a character, a problem, and a solution. From there, he makes a grid with six squares, in which he puts scenes. When he has the main scenes right, he expands his grid to thirty scenes. “I can do that lying in bed with my notebook,” he said.

A plan is essential to writing a book. “You wouldn’t build a house without a plan,” he said.

He tinkers with the scenes until he’s ready to do a first draft. He gets his wife to read the draft for free, and he gets a teenager to read it for $50. If they like it, he takes it to his publisher.

He makes over $300,000 per year, he told the group. His secret is that publishers know they can count on him to finish, he said. His other secret, left unstated, is that he is a fine writer.

Myers said he once worked with a young person in Texas via email. The boy was writing a book, but he matured in the course of writing. As a result “he wanted to quit halfway through, because he had grown and changed and he knew the characters better.”

With encouragement, the boy finished the book and it was published. Myers had mentored one of his potential competitors.

He said if a young person wants to publish a book, “If I were young, I would look for an author. A local author could encourage you and show you the ropes because publishers don’t look at unsolicited manuscripts any more. I would call someone, like Walter Dean Myers.”

The Library of Congress named Myers the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature in January.

Myers wore his ambassador’s medal while he signed books for those who had attended his workshop. The writing class was part of the Coretta Scott King Book Fair at the Atlanta-Fulton County Public Library. It was a program of the 24th National Black Arts Festival.

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Mary Silver writes columns, grows herbs, hikes, and admires the sky. She likes critters, and thinks the best part of being a journalist is learning new stuff all the time. She has a Masters from Emory University, serves on the board of the Georgia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and belongs to the Association of Health Care Journalists.
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