The Power of Negative Space
Where Fleur ponders the positive value of negative space.
No, I’m not talking about being negative, although that sometimes has its place as well. I’m talking about negative space on the page.
Like.
Right.
Here.
See what I did? I made you hop along the page with me. It was kinda fun, right?
In my free time (more on this later), I talk to librarians, teachers, and educators about reaching reluctant readers. After my youngest daughter was diagnosed with a reading disability about 10 years ago, I became something of an expert on why kids are reluctant readers, and how to encourage those kids to read. It’s a 40-minute talk, so I won’t go into the whole thing here (although if you are an educator and would like me to speak on the topic, you can find my speaking kit here). But one of the first things reluctant readers look for is negative space.
If there are giant blocks of narrative, that’s hard work if you’re someone who doesn’t think reading is fun. It’s hard to follow along with the words, sometimes having to sound them out in your head, and translating that into visual imagery inside your head. Negative space helps.
Negative space means shorter chapters, dialogue—white space on the page, basically. And as a writer, you can easily achieve that effect by moving words around, adding more action, breaking up paragraphs, and sometimes simply changing the font. You are the conductor of your opus (doesn’t that sound fancy?).
Pick up a few books from your shelf and flip through the pages to see what I’m talking about. Some books have long narrative passages, chapters of more than a dozen pages. Pick up a thriller; if it’s a pacy one, short chapters, paragraphs and dialogue will literally have you turning the pages.
You can see it in action above, a page from Midnight at the Barclay Hotel…
As I was thinking about negative space in books, it also occurred to me that we need negative space in our actual lives. I’m talking about unscheduled time, free time to do what you want, even better if it’s absolutely nothing. When I asked a colleague what she was going to be doing that weekend, she said, “Absolutely nothing. It’s going to be glorious.”
In Dutch, we call this niksen. It’s bumming around, without the guilt. I’ve decided to try adding more negative space to my calendar. I need it to breathe and tackle the good stuff with gusto.
This is the view from my deck, an excellent spot for niksen.
What I’m Writing
I’m still working on that (ever top-secret!) YA mystery, putting a spit-shine on it before sending it to my lovely agent to edit. I’ve been toying with a few other ideas but haven’t nailed one down yet. Maybe I need some more negative space to figure it out…
#shedeservedit by Greg Herren
What I’m Reading
Still in a post-Bouchercon convention mindset, I’ve been reading Greg Herren’s #shedeservedit. It’s an excellent YA page-turner that really makes you think about our culture and how it affects teens (all of us, really).
On the books for grownups side, I’ve been reading The Long Game by Dorie Clark. I highly recommend it, if you’re trying to keep your focus in this noisy world.
The Long Game by Dorie Clark
Where I’m Going
Okay, so I clearly had this whole negative space epiphany after I scheduled my fall events, because I’m going everywhere… I’m also doing a lot of virtual school visits in October, in light of the Halloween vibe. Wish me luck, come say hi, smack me upside the head for not niksen… I’d love to see you.
Good News
Daybreak on Raven Island and Midnight at the Barclay Hotel continue to show up on school reading lists everywhere! This is so exciting.
If you are an educator, check out my website for (free) extra activities, including a book club guide. And send me picture of my books in the wild world!
Knowing that kids are reading mysteries makes my heart soar.
How You Can Help
Request my books at your library! Also, it’s never too early to start thinking about holiday presents…
Okay, you can smack me upside the head again, because it’s still September.
But just in case you’re one of those super prepared people who buys their holiday presents in the fall, send me a message if you want signed bookplates, bookmarks, etc. I’m always happy to mail those out for free.
Our new puppy George (after the Curious one)
Floof
We recently acquired a puppy in Casa Fleur, and Floof is not amused.
A not-amused Floof
Nice to see your new addition, George! As a reading specialist, I love this newsletter and the mention of negative space and how much dialogue is appreciated by different types of readers, especially reluctant readers. It's also appreciated by struggling readers who aren't always reluctant but have trouble reading large blocks of text.
I was at the library last week and mentioned Midnight at the Barclay Hotel to a parent who was looking for a book that was not too scary but an adventure or a mystery.