Carolyn Hunter
“The T. A. Barron Podcast.”

T. A. Barron
Last time, we talked a lot about how the creative process really happens. That mysterious process that is still best described as having three essential rules, unfortunately, nobody knows what they are. [Laughter] And we talked about the importance of noticing, paying attention, deep attention, to what’s inside ourselves and what’s outside ourselves. And the value of voice and how it makes a character come true. And how, to write a story, I need to have a character I care about, and a place I want to visit, and an idea that really stirs me. Also, we talked about the value of discipline, of simply putting in the time. On top of that, we talked about stories as little boats, boats that sail away across the waters that connect all humanity.

Carolyn Hunter
Yes, stories that ask us big questions, give us new perspectives, and carry treasures.

T. A. Barron
So, I’d like to begin this episode by telling a story of something that happened to me several years ago when I was at the Frankfurt, Germany Book Festival. It’s the largest festival in the world, I believe, and it invites books and storytellers from all around the world, every language. So it’s a very exciting place to drop into. I have been there three times, and on the third visit, something really unexpected happened. I was in the signing room, and there were people there with copies of my books in lots of different languages, representing countries from everywhere wearing their native dress. And it was a marvelous celebration of how humanity of all kinds enjoys a good story. I was signing books published in German and Portuguese and French and Japanese, Chinese. And then someone came up with the German editions of my books about Merlin, the first five books, and I looked up from the signing table. This guy was huge. He must have been almost 7ft tall.

Carolyn Hunter
Wow.

T. A. Barron
He was wearing a big cape, and he actually had more metal on him than I’ve ever seen on any one human being. So he had to be very strong as well. [Laughter] He was wearing bracelets and armbands and some heavy metal necklaces, earrings. Every time he moved a little bit, he would make a clinking sound. There was so much metal on him, so I honestly didn’t know what to expect.

And then he spoke to me in perfect English and said, “Hello, my name is Jeffrey, and I am the leader of a clan of Druids. We live in the forest of Bavaria, we make our way by traditional crafts, and I walked here to Frankfurt to give you a message.”

Now, at this point, I knew it was a long walk down to Bavaria. So I looked down at his dusty leather sandals and then back up at this towering figure and said, “Really? You came all this way? What’s the message?”

He said, “I simply wanted to say thank you, for bringing the stories of our founder and inspiration, Merlin, back into the world.”

But I objected, “Jeffrey, no way. Merlin has been around for 15 centuries and counting, and I’m just the most recent person among thousands to tell stories about him.”

He nodded, and then he said, “That may be true, but we are especially glad you’ve brought in the stories of Merlin’s youth, which were a mystery before this, and so I have something for you.”

And then he reached around his neck, and he took off one of his metal items, which was an amulet of a beautiful Oak tree with spreading boughs and deep roots. It looked so majestic on the amulet, and it was grounded in a piece of Tiger’s Eye crystal, and he put it over my head, on my neck, and said, “This is to remind you that even when the writing is difficult and you feel unsure, maybe lonely, your stories can reach people in faraway places, places you may never know.”

Then, without another word, he whirled around, spinning his cape, and clinking all that metal that he was wearing, and strode off in his sandals. And he left me stunned, honestly. I’ve thought about that moment so many times over the years, and I wear that amulet almost every single day.

Carolyn Hunter
Wow.

T. A. Barron
It always does remind me, in a deeply humbling way, about this power of stories to reach people across all distances and times and languages.

Carolyn Hunter
You’ve talked a lot about accessing both sides of the brain during the writing process, and so many of our readers have been asking over social media, how do you do that?

T. A. Barron
First, let me clarify what I mean by both sides of the brain. Now, I’m no neuroscientist, far from it. But I do know that the left hemisphere of the brain is connected to our logical and rational thinking abilities, where the right hemisphere of the brain is connected to our ability to dream and imagine. So, between the two, you have the ability to write prose that is rich with solid details, and also poetry that has evocative wonderful metaphors. Combined, there’s immense power. It’s a huge array of tools, that we have, to make our creative art.

By the way, it’s also kind of fun that the left half of the brain that’s about logic and rationality is connected to the right hand, and the right half of the brain that’s much more about poetry and the deeper dreaming world is connected to the left hand.

Carolyn Hunter
So, how do we access both of those sides when we begin to write?

T. A. Barron
Well, that’s easy. You just write with both hands. [Laughter] Not. Seriously, it’s different for everyone. But I’ll tell you a few things that help me activate both sides of my brain. One of them is I always begin by writing an outline. Now, in this way, an outline is actually a kind of map. I think of it as a map of this long and adventurous journey that I want to have in the story. And so what I can see in this map, because it’s a high level view, imagine it as a satellite view, I can see the beginning area, I can see sort of where I end my journey, I can see that there’s a mountain range in the middle and something that looks like a dark forest, and then there’s a haunted marsh or steaming place that I have to cross or go around. That’s about everything I see.

Keep in mind now, this outline isn’t just a map of the plot or the place. It’s actually a map of the journey the key characters have to take. So, the mountains are important challenges that they must face and, let us hope, overcome, if not turn back. And the unknown parts of the map, the mysterious areas, are the parts within themselves that they don’t understand, perhaps their deepest fears.

Carolyn Hunter
Interesting.

T. A. Barron
And then I drop down onto the map and start walking. That’s when I discover that what I thought was a forest is, in fact, massive cliffs that are precarious and ready to tumble down on top of me. That there’s a secret maze of tunnels under the ground where an interesting, bizarre kind of people live, that there are lakes that have magical powers. That there are hidden treasures, there are secret dangers, there are characters who I never knew were in this place, and I begin to meet them and talk with them. All of this becomes more and more real and I realize certain characters that seem like they are one thing are, in fact, something completely opposite.

And I also find that there are mysteries that need to be solved, and there are temptations that I have to somehow decide whether to follow. There are interesting paradoxes, all manner of things. It’s because I’m deep into that outline. That’s when it really gets going and characters tell me their origins and how they came to be and who they really are, what their goals are, what their dreams are, what their fears are.

Carolyn Hunter
So this map is coming alive in a multidimensional way.

T. A. Barron
Exactly. Throughout all of this, I’m getting to know the place and the characters and looking for ways to weave in that big idea. And that’s why writing a book for me requires so many rewrites. Oh, I really, really wish it weren’t necessary to do all those rewrites, those eight or nine rewrites. But I see how much better the story gets, how much more integrated and tight and authentic it gets during that time. And I’m sure that it’s because both sides of my brain are engaged and inspired.

Plus, wonder of wonders, once the brain is firing as a unified whole and both halves of the brain are engaged, they keep on working. They keep on coming up with ideas even when you’re not thinking about the story. It happens sometimes in the most bizarre places and times.

The best example I can give is a story of something that happened while I was writing The Great Tree of Avalon trilogy. I was working on the second book and trying to figure out who the hidden people were that lived in the mysterious inner realms of the trunk of the great tree, this world in a tree. And I knew that they would have a quality, they would have a lot of surprise to it, but also symbolism for what was going on in the larger world.

And then I had to stop writing because I had planned a trip to Alaska with my wonderful young son, Ben. We were going to go dog sledding in Denali National Park, in the heart of Alaska’s interior. It was March, still plenty of snow, and still quite cold. It was probably 30 or 40 below zero at night. Well, we went up there. We had a marvelous time. We met the most energetic pack of huskies imaginable. And we were out for a week going through this wonderful tundra and marvelous frozen lakes and distant, glistening white peaks.

And suddenly, one day, I had this immense brainstorm about who the people are who live in the middle of The Great Tree of Avalon. And so I stopped my dog sled right in the middle of this frozen lake. And I pulled out the pad of paper that I always carry with me and was scratching on it to just scribble down the idea of a people who were going to be called the fire people and who had lost their way. And so their fire was now just barely smoldering coals. And by the way, it occurred to me that here I am writing about a people who are aflame, and it’s 30 below zero. [Laughter] And Ben, seeing me, stopped in the middle of the lake, turned his dog sled around and came back and said, “Dad, are you all right?” And I said, “Yeah, sure. I just had an idea.” And he rolled his eyes, “Okay, yeah, I get it. My dad’s a writer.” [Laughter] So the brain keeps working, even in the most unlikely circumstances.

Carolyn Hunter
[Laughter] I don’t even think my hand would work in that kind of weather.

T. A. Barron
Especially with giant gloves on. [Laughter]

Carolyn Hunter
[Laughter] But do you think it’s important to write things down as soon as they come to you?

T. A. Barron
Absolutely. And not just because that’s a good way to make sure you remember them. It’s because there’s something quite wonderful about what happens with the hand and the brain together. When you write things down by hand, the neuroscience shows you really do capture them more as an embedded memory, an image, and it has a longer life. It has a deeper life. I know it works for me. In fact, this will surprise some folks, but, yes, here we are in the modern world of the 21st century, but I actually write all of my books, first drafts, by hand. Every single word.

Carolyn Hunter
Seriously?

T. A. Barron
Yep, I do my own version of cut and paste, that is, with scissors and tape. I do all kinds of markings where I change the position of things around or change how it’s going to be or do inserts all over the place. So, I have a really incredibly messy first draft manuscript.

You ask – come on, there’s this thing called a computer. Why don’t you do that? The answer is, that in just that way that is inscrutable, the chemistry works for me. I wouldn’t say that it has to be for anyone else in this modern, high-tech age. But for me, when I started writing as a kid on a ranch in Colorado, leaning back against an old Ponderosa pine tree by a creek, I was writing poetry and story ideas and my own crazy little magazine by hand in notebooks. And I think that this system just works for me.

So I know it makes me slower. But at the same time, I know it also helps me to go slower because that’s how I hear dialogue better. I remember the lilting language that is appropriate in that spot, and I just feel like I know the undercurrents of the story better if I write the first draft by hand. Then I put it on the computer and do my rewrites and revisions on that computer. But the first drafts are always scrawled.

Carolyn Hunter
Totally. I understand. I usually write a lot of my lyrics down by hand, and it really helps me remember my songs.

T. A. Barron
Wonderful. I’m a lefty and I’m working with my left hand. Are you a lefty or a righty?

Carolyn Hunter
Righty.

T. A. Barron
Well, we still activate both sides of our brains in our creative work. You simply enter in one doorway, and I enter in another doorway.

Carolyn Hunter
Exactly. Well, you’ve just shared so many wonderful insights about the creative process. Is there anything else you want to tell us?

T. A. Barron
Just one more thing. One of the best parts about writing and I imagine about all the different forms of the creative process is there is always more to learn. No matter how much I’ve learned in writing 32 books, I still know only a tiny smidge of what there is out there. There are so many wonderful ways to tell stories, so many ways to bring stories to life, and so many writers who have done brilliantly in areas that I have complete ignorance about. So, I love that about this craft. There is just always more to learn. And there are always more ways to grow.

Carolyn Hunter
And this just reminds me that you have such a wonderful essay online called Growing Your Own Story, and I think that everyone out there listening, if you are an aspiring artist of any kind, check this essay out. It’s on the “For Writers” page on TABarron.com.

T. A. Barron
That essay was designed to encourage aspiring writers. I wrote it really just to put wind in the sales of anyone who has a story to tell, but maybe isn’t quite sure they can really pull it off. I want to encourage you, please, give your story life, find your voice, fill that story with passion, and make it your own.

Next episode won’t be just for aspiring writers. I hope to encourage everyone out there to see your own life as a story. That’s right. A story of which you are the author. We will talk about that, and also I will share some of the most bizarre and surprising and funny turns in my own life story, including those 32 rejections of my first novel.

Carolyn Hunter
Wonderful. I can’t wait to hear about those.

T. A. Barron
To everyone out there. Let me just say thank you so much for joining us for “Magic & Mountains.” We’ll see you next week. And in the meantime, may you have magical days.

Carolyn Hunter
We hope you enjoyed this week’s episode of “Magic & Mountains: The T. A. Barron Podcast.” Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share this podcast with your family and friends. For more information and to find all of T. A.’s books, visit TABarron.com. Have a magical week.