Joanna Beth Tweedy and The Yonder Side of Sass and Texas.

April 15th, 2009

Joanna Beth Tweedy, author of the novel The Yonder Side of Sass and Texas visited the news writing class at Springfield College – Benedictine University on Monday April 13th, 2009 to discuss writing, her book, and her feelings about the book among other things. She held a Q&A for the students about creative writing and how to publish a book. Tweedy wore a big smile and showed great pride in her book as she told the class about her history as a writer, and why she chose to write a novel as opposed to just writing an essay.
“I love showing people things through stories,” she explained. She also says that she came from a good story-telling family.
“Lots of them could tell a really good yarn,” she described her family and her background for creative writing.
Tweedy gave a lot of great advice for those starting to write stories. She explained to us to “show, don’t tell” our readers about the characters. It’s easy to create two-dimensional characters, and to make them stereotypical, but she assured us that it wasn’t the way to make up a character.
“You don’t have to like all of your characters, but they all have to have redeeming qualities that make them human,” Tweedy told us.
When asked about the process of getting her new book published, she described a difficult process. She gave us advice on how to write cover letters (and NOT to put glitter on them), and never to take criticism personally, as well as being rejected by a publishing house.
Advice that is typically given is to “write a page a day,” she explained to us. If that advice is followed, one could write a 365-page story, which is long enough for a novel. However, she prefers to use her method that she calls “sparks of notion” when she writes. She waits for the character’s voice to give her an idea of what will happen next. Sometimes you can’t write one whole page per day, and other times you’ll write ten pages per day.
Tweedy also explains that her book is not autobiographical, which is a question that is frequently asked of her.
“There are elements of personal experience, but there are other elements of things I’ve never experienced,” she tells us. “It’s an interesting and enjoyable way of painting a picture for a reader.” She also added in that she loves historical fiction, such as a book about Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund. Tweedy enjoys how Naslund took an unlikable historical figure and turned her into somebody that a reader would like.
During the editing process was when the name of her book, The Yonder Side of Sass and Texas was chosen.
“I originally wanted to call it Roamin’ Catholics, but the editors at Southeast Missouri Press thought that Catholics would think the book was making fun of Catholics, and non-Catholics would think it was about Catholics.”
Joanna Beth Tweedy also expressed her excitement about taking her first full-length published book on the road for a book-signing tour in twenty-five different cities, including Springfield.
Joanna Beth Tweedy wants all of her students to think of themselves as writers.
“I hope you all find yourselves as writers someday.”