The Story of my Story - Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story

 When I close my eyes, I am right back in that moment when the story of Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story jumped into my heart.  I don’t find stories.  Stories find me.  Once they find me, they haunt me until I tell them.  It’s a funny relationship we have.

      

     I am a public-school kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles.  My school is located in the Mar Vista/Venice Beach area.  We are a waystation for monarchs so it’s not unusual to see these beautiful creatures grace our playground.  In fact, they are our official mascot. They flit, flutter, and swoop as children's laughter and sounds of play can be heard in the background. 

                                                           

                  

     One day at recess time, I was walking on my way back to the classroom from the main office.  In between the classrooms, a majestic monarch butterfly fluttered about, landing on the flowers in the garden boxes.  I was mesmerized by the moment.  I wondered, “ What must that butterfly see and experience?”  As I wondered, I was struck by the sad, bittersweet thought that the life cycle of this monarch was almost done.  It had only about two weeks to live.  I was fascinated by both the strength of this creature and the fragility of life.  In that moment, the  character of Orange was born and the story of the little caterpillar who wanted to grow up and fly with it, found me.

                                                                          

     I am a great lover of irony.   The story developed around the  friendship between a young caterpillar at the beginning of its life cycle and an elder butterfly at the end of its life cycle. The story was  anchored in the two points of view from the different stages of the life cycle and the  perspectives each can offer the other.  A caterpillar who sees everything in life for the first time  and can’t wait to grow up and fly with its friend and a butterfly who fondly remembers its youth while sharing the beauty and wonder that comes with experience and age.  It was important that the story not just focus on the perspective of the adult,  but  respect the voice of the child, giving equal value to both viewpoints.  

     It was an ironic story of longing. Youth wanting to catch up with age, and age savoring its memories of youth. The two at different stages of their lives, meeting in that wondrous two-week window when both were able to connect, love, appreciate, and admire each other. 

       

     I am always surrounded by the joy of 5-year-olds. The story came to life in my kindergarten world of youthful energy.   Originally titled Orange, it was a story of friendship, love, loss, grief, and renewal. 

      One of the first times I shared my story with a large, public critique group of children’s book authors, I read the manuscript not knowing what to expect.  The story was rough and unrefined. I didn’t understand rhythm, lyrical language, or  word choice.  It was both exhilarating and terrifying to reach the end and experience the response.  A woman sobbed.  She had connected with the grief in the story.  It had triggered her own loss and touched her. The room was moved. The story had taken listeners to a place where they had felt big emotions.  I thought I had done my job as a writer.  But the manuscript had miles to go and so did I in my development of craft.  

        The word count was way too long and suddenly, the manuscript was a play.  I was delighted to work with my young students to build the story and present it at a dedication ceremony to unveil a section of our campus, known as, The Wildlands.   The characters became more fully developed as I co-created with the 5-year-olds in my class.  The play was performed 7 years ago by students who  culminated from our school last year, the same year the book debuted.   Bittersweet.   I can still hear their youthful and poignant delivery of the lines as they flit, fluttered, and flew around the outdoor native garden.   It was the beginning of a journey.  

                                                                           

                                                                                   

                                                                                  

     My story of the little caterpillar and Orange had come to life, but it was still not ready for submission.  The manuscript  stretched beyond what was reasonable for a picture book, well over 1200 words!  Like many novice picture book writers, I did not yet understand the concept of word count and the process of precise word choice.  It went through many revisions. Then, it went through many rejections.   Rejections inform revisions.  Revisions made me a stronger writer.  They helped me develop my craft.  

      In the beginning, like most writers, my craft was not developed enough to tell the story in a way that was industry worthy.  I joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in the early spring of 2014.  I thought I was ready.  I had a story that made grownups cry and children flit, flutter and fly.  I only needed one yes.  I was confident and naïve. I entered the contests, but never won.  I queried agents and editors, but always got a no.

     Like so many authors who had gone before me, I queried way too early. It takes time to hone your craft.  I joined critique groups and listened to my critique partners.  I worked the text over and over again. And when I thought I was ready, I queried again.  But, it also takes time to learn to query.

     As a kindergarten teacher, I read picture books every day.  I’m lucky.  It’s part of my job.  In addition to reading constantly, I wrote more stories.  Different stories.  I moved on and didn’t put all my eggs in that one basket.  I attended a class at Otis College of Art and Design and was mentored by an amazing children’s book author, Deborah Norse Lattimore.  Who knew that so many stories would find me and expect to be written?  And with each story, my craft improved.  Orange, was in the distant past.  A bit forgotten.

     A different story poured out of me in January 2018.  This manuscript caught the eye of that one yes I needed.  An agent, a friend of my fabulous teacher, agreed to represent the manuscript, Egyptian Lullaby.

     Egyptian Lullaby, wound its way through many editors who expressed interest and then passed.  Finally, an editor was interested but there were developmental edits to make before an offer would be considered.  So close, but no book deal, yet. And then, suddenly a curveball. Someone else was also interested.  I had to make a choice and ultimately placed that manuscript with a home I felt was the most appropriate for the subject matter.  In making that difficult choice, disappointment was expressed. I wondered if the manuscript, Orange, had some of the same elements that the manuscript I had just sold elsewhere had.  I wondered if the editor would be interested in it.  I felt like it was a much better fit.  And it was!  After more developmental edits on the manuscript of Orange, I now had two book deals. Two years later, it was not the first manuscript, Egyptian Lullaby, but rather a renamed Orange (Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story) that I debuted with.  

     As I prepared to do my part to release this book, I thought with my head, with my logic, and  I leaned into my experiences as a teacher.  I expected that teachers would be most interested in the scientific principles embedded in the story. This book was a useful tool for educators to facilitate the learning of concrete and tangible science concepts like the life cycle of the monarch. What got lost along the way as I focused on marketing and sales, was the essence of the story.  

     When my mother read the story recently for the first time, she finished by saying, “Wow, that’s kind of a sad story.”  I’d forgotten the impact that the initial story had as a whole. 

     And then the Corona Virus hit and life as we knew it was turned upside down.  The global pandemic stopped everything in its tracks.  My debut book release in May of 2020 and all the events that were planned, my daughter’s senior year in high school and all the activities expected, my student’s kindergarten year and all our unfinished time together. And then the unthinkable.  

     I unexpectedly lost my own beloved aunt to Covid-19.  Numb and paralyzed,  sometimes it takes great disturbances in the universe to shake you to your core, to bring your sense of purpose and meaning back into focus.  

     

     It all came bubbling up and I was back full circle.  I had written a book about the monarch butterfly life cycle with my head, but with my heart I had written a story about friendship, love, loss, and renewal.  This was a grief book. A story to help children make sense of their world during a senseless pandemic that we were all struggling to understand.    

     I am heartbroken to think of the children who have lost their beloved grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles.  So many elders lost.  

     I hope I have done my job as an author and given children who have suffered a loss, a path to their healing.  I hope I have done justice to this story that found me so many years ago, a story of connection, cycles, transformation, and last goodbyes.

By Zeena M. Pliska

Hello, Little One:  A Monarch Butterfly Story

Written by Zeena M. Pliska Illustrated by Fiona Halliday

Published by Page Street Kids

Published on May 12, 2020

Egyptian Lullaby

Written by Zeena M. Pliska Illustrated by Hatem Aly

Published by Roaring Brook Press

Coming Spring 2022

To learn more about me click here

MY VERY FIRST - TERRIFIC - TEACHINGAUTHOR!

I began my Writer’s Journey writing picture books pre-Internet, pre-J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter $ucce$$, pre SCBWI when it was minus the I.
Barbara Seuling had yet to write her first edition of How To Write A Children’s Book and Get It Published!
But Richard Peck was right. “We write by the light of every story every read.”
Had Marjorie Weinman Sharmat’s picture book I’m Terrific not shone so brightly for me at the start of my career, I’d likely have remained a Children’s Book Writer Wannabe

I discovered the book, illustrated by Kay Chorao, with my almost-three year old son on the New Books shelf during a Library Moms-and-Tots visit. The cover grabbed our attention: an obviously self-contented smallish bear, admiring his image in a paw-held mirror.  A robin sat nearby, a soon-to-be-awarded gold star in his beak.

Once checked out and read aloud, that small bear’s story struck a chord in my toddler’s heart. Yet the tale and the telling struck a chord in my heart, too: the first-ever picture book I was writing looked and felt the same. So I read and re-read I’m Terrific, only minus the toddler and wearing my Writer’s Cap.

Admittedly, I was first looking to learn the how-to of the picture book format. I began by typing out Sharmat’s text as it appeared on the pages, leaving triple-spaces for each successive page turn.  I indented where the author indented, placing characters’ words within quotation marks.  Dialogue, I sensed, contributed immediacy and energy, and that fine balance between narrative and dialogue moved along the story. I noticed repetition of both phrases and sentence structure. The sentences themselves offered noun-verb clarity, yet my fingers felt the rhythm of Sharmat’s playful words.

Jason’s three friends - Raymond Squirrel, Marvin Raccoon and Henrietta Emily Bear, appeared within the building scenes, always in the same order, creating the expectation necessary for young listeners. Jason’s Mama claimed the transitional scenes. Each scene called for a new and different setting. A star-studded Jason spoke the story’s final words.  “Thank you,” he said, once his friends dubbed him “terrific.”

Next, I revisited Kay Chorao’s soft, penciled illustrations.  I covered the text and let the pictures tell me the story, as my toddler son did each time he re-read the book.  The pictures said it all, amplifying characters’ actions, re-actions and emotions.

Finally, I cut apart one of my carbon-ed (!) text copies, paragraph by paragraph, then re-pasted the words to the pages of the blank 32-page book I’d created.  I left space for the front matter, then room for the accompanying illustrations.

Ah, I thought: the picture book story’s told across fourteen double-page spreads, creating, sort of, a play’s three acts. And, Oh! Within each newly-set changing scene, the characters speak their thoughts and feelings as the action worsens. And, Yes! Everything comes together at the end, tied up with a bow. There wasn’t one part of Jason’s story hanging out, un-tethered.

                                        (My well-worn copy of I'M TERRIFIC)

But to my surprise, it wasn’t just the text that showed me the way forward on my Writer’s Journey.  It was THE BOOK in its totality that taught me what I needed to know!  The front flap copy showed me the importance of hooking a reader – child, editor, agent.  The title page introduced a publisher (Holiday House).  The Library of Congress listing showed me both the book’s plot summary (“Jason Bear thinks he’s terrific and even awards himself gold stars for superior performance in his chores.  His friends don’t like to be around him.”) and its themes and curriculum connections (Pride and vanity, forest animals).  The dedication encouraged me to consider my book’s dedication, a someone in my life likely to keep me keepin’ on (namely, that almost-three-year-old son of mine). The book’s back flap author and illustrator copy connected me to other books Marjorie Weinman Sharmat wrote as well as the work of Kay Chorao. Soon I was discovering other illustrators of Sharmat’s books and other authors illustrated by Chorao, which meant other publishers, whose catalogues I studied, other formats, other structures, other genres. I deconstructed and rebuilt Sharmat’s Nate the Great to learn how to write easy-to-reads; I did the same and learned novel writing, thanks to Sharmat’s Maggie Marmelstein.

Reading I’m Terrific as a reader, the book amused and delighted me, as it should have. Reading I’m
Terrific as a writer, the book informed and inspired me, as only it could have. Jason Everett Bear and Mesdames Sharmat and Chorao deserve buckets of gold stars for all they taught me.

I still turn to children’s books to learn and hone my craft; I encourage my students and writers to do the same. I consider each published book a Teacher-in-Waiting. Or even better, a TeachingAuthor!

As luck would have it, Holiday House published my very first picture book There Goes Lowell’s Party! one year after re-issuing I’m Terrific to mark its twentieth anniversary. (My now-grown toddler and I knew a good book when we saw one.)  When I found myself seated across from Kay Chorao at the Holiday House ALA Dinner that year, I shared how I’m Terrific illuminated my writer’s journey.  “Thank you,” she said.  Then she graciously signed my copy, drawing stars that lit the page.
Speaking of stars, thanks to My Juicy Little Universe and Heidi Mordhost for hosting today’s Poetry Friday.

Happy learning! May a terrific book light your Writer’s Journey!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.
If you’re seeking a human TeachingAuthor to light your way, one or two spots remain for my MANUSCRIPT WORKSHOP, July 14-19 at The Landgrove Inn, Landgrove, VT.
You can read more about this long-time workshop, created by Barbara Seuling, by scrolling to the bottom of my TEACH page on my website. Fortunately, bags fly free on Southwest so I’ll be bringing lots of relevant mentor texts from Chicago for my writers.


 

3-in-1: Poetry Tool, Song a Writing Exercise

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Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday! The link to PF is below.

 TeachingAuthors' posts this round are about the various ways we continue to school ourselves in the craft of writing. Bobby kicked us off by discussing a new book on craft she's studying while also re-reading a favorite classic. Esther shared about being inspired by a new collection of essays from fellow teacher Sharon Darrow. Mary Ann also turns to books for her re-education, not only craft books but new fiction, too. In contrast, Carla's ongoing education comes from talking to and working with other writers. Carmela went "back to school" by attending the SCBWI-Wisconsin 2018 Fall Retreat and Conference held in Green Lake, WI. 

And I've gone back to school singing.

We're four weeks into my ten-week class on Writing the Children's Picture Book at UCLA Extension. This week we learned about some of the poet's tools (rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, metaphor, simile, sounds, repetition). Can I teach them everything in one three-hour class?  I can't. So I focus on my favorite:                                                 
                                             REPETITION

There are so many books from which to choose! I usually read aloud: YOU NEST HERE WITH ME by Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y.Stemple, illustrated by Melissa Sweet; WAIT, written and illustrated by Antoinette Portis (a story written in 18 words...99% are either "hurry!" or "wait!"); BUZZ by Janet S. Wong, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine (all the ways "buzz" is in our lives); RED IS BEST by Kathy Stinson, illustrated by Robin Baird Lewis ; WHEN I WAS YOUNG IN THE MOUNTAINS by Cynthia Rylant (fabulous details), illustrated by DianeGoode; MILLIONS OF CATS by Wanda Gag, first published in 1928; ALL THE WORLD by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee (we saw how much heavy-lifting illustrator Marla Frazee did to tell this story; give the illustrator room to dance!), and the classic, WHAT DO YOU SAY, DEAR by Sesyle Joslin, illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

Repetition makes words playful or powerful or mournful or hopeful. Listeners can't help but join in.

Next, I teach them to sing this sea shanty:

Deep Blue Sea (traditional) lyrics may vary

Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea (3x)
It was Willy what got drownded in the deep blue sea

Wrap him up in a silken shroud (3x)
It was Willy what got drownded in the deep blue sea

Dig his grave with a silver spade (3x)
It was Willy what got drownded in the deep blue sea

Lower him down with a golden chain (3x)
It was Willy what got drownded in the deep blue sea

....................................................................................

Then I tell them that musician Jim Bell changed the words but followed the format of this song. He writes: “When my daughter was 6 ½, she said as we were driving to school one day, “Daddy, they won’t have a war before I’m 21, will they?”  Before I could respond, she added, “Or at least they don’t shoot little girls before they’re 7, do they?”   Not long after this I was singing her to sleep and found myself taking an old tune to form a song of reassurance that we adults can sing to the children of the world.”

Deep Blue Sea new words by Jim Bell

Deep blue sea, baby, deep blue sea (3 x)

Now there’s peace in all the lands & o’er the deep blue sea

Sleep my child, you are safe and sound (3 x) for

Now there’s peace in all the lands & o’er the deep blue sea

Just yesterday war clouds hung so low (3 x)

But now there’s peace in all the lands & o’er the deep blue sea

Love of life finally turned the tide (3 x)

And now there’s peace in all the lands & o’er the deep blue sea

words © 1982 John Bell

Next, I show them lyrics I've written to this melody:

Take my hand, baby, walk with me (3 x)

Sing a song and I’ll harmonize (3x)
Once a seed, baby, now a tree (3 x)
Reach across towards the other side (3 x)

Hold me close and I'll hold you, we'll watch the bright sun rise.

words © 2018 April Halprin Wayland

And finally, leaving the traditional lyrics up at the front of the class as a mentor text, I give them time to write their own words using the pattern of this song.

Try it yourself--with this song or with one of your favorites and see where it takes you, where it takes you!

Thanks for hosting Poetry Friday at Friendly Fairy Tales, Brenda!

posted with hope by April Halprin Wayland, with help from Timmy the tin boy on his goose (Timmy is acting out today and refuses sit up straight...)

TeachingAuthors indeed!

It never fails, no matter the Workshop or class I teach, no matter my students, their ages and/or experience:  I always learn as much as my students,
most times even more,
courtesy of those students.

Pictured below are seven of the eight talented writers enrolled in my Chicago’s Newberry Library Summer Workshop “The Write Place,” a facilitated children’s book writers group, who literally became my TeachingAuthors June 6 through July 18:

back row, left to right - Debra Mitchell, Nancy Lee Wells, Philippa Norman, Susan Halko, Sarah Hoban; front row, left to right - T. Kari Lewis, (Susan Bazargan in absentia) and Carrie Golus.

Became, as in my June 6 post “It’s never too late!”

We were definitely watched over. 

The uncharacteristically-small class size, the commonality of story subjects and formats, the previous Newberry Workshop attendance and overlapping work experiences made for a palpable positive group dynamic.
Two Chicago students lived but two streets apart, and didn’t even know it!

The variety of formats my students were writing demanded I fill my Summer ReadingPlate to overflowing, with picture books, early chapter books, middle grade fiction, graphic novels and Readers Theatre scripts.

It was mind-boggling, the bounty the right and successful children’s books offer when read aloud and/or showcased, then parsed for Teachable Moments.

There are always considerations when telling a good story well to young readers and I was more than happy to share them with my students: the format’s demands, the readers’ needs, the appropriateness of story, the appropriateness of writing style; there’s originality; there’s the marketplace; there’s an existing body of literature and of course, the elements of narrative.

My Summer Writers excelled at considering. J

We all came to see, though, again and again, what I’m forced to re-learn with each book I write: when a writer is stuck, when a story remains flat, when a plot lacks tension or begs for subplots, the characters hold the answer, always and ever.

It sounds so simple, so formulaic, right? 
Except, as Marian Dane Bauer writes in WHAT’S YOUR STORY? (Clarion, 1992), a writing guide for middle grades I recommend to all writers,
the writer truly needs to know who his character is and what he needs and wants and why he needs and wants it, not to mention who and what stand in his way. 
Period.

Week after week, I’d share and declare, “Invest in your characters!  Learn their Back Stories cold!”
And in return, my TeachingAuthors this Summer did a swell job underscoring that Truth for me, ensuring I do as I say (and preach).

I’m happy to report: My Summer Writers also became a Writers Group, meeting online, as well as in person seasonally.

My Summer Workshop proved a Win-Win Situation indeed, for my students-dash-authors who came to know their stories and themselves, but also, thankfully, for me.

Esther Hershenhorn

Writing Workout

Following my first class June 6, each of my writers declared a project for the seven-week workshop – for example, revising a picture book manuscript, defining a book’s setting and world, creating a GPS of sorts for a second revision, writing a first chapter of a first-ever novel, simply figuring out what a story’s about.

Periodic checks allowed writers to note their progress.

 For the last class, July 19, writers came prepared to list Five Things they didn’t know June 6 about (1) Writing for Children, (2) their stories, (3) their writing and (4) themselves.

Think about your writing and your most current project.  In your journal or Writer’s Notebook, list Five Things you didn’t know when you first began the project about (1) Writing for Children, (2) your story, (3) your writing and (4) yourself.

Declare a Fall Project/Goal for Extra Credit!

The Teacher as Student: Studying Climactic Scenes

Last year at this time, I wrote a post that began:

I love learning. If I had unlimited resources, I'd be a full-time student for the rest of my life. Instead, I'm a teacher, which is the next best thing.

In that post, I talked about how I study craft books regularly, looking for ways to help both me and my students grow as writers. This fall, I've gone one step further--I'm actually sitting in a classroom again as a student! I'm attending a 4-part workshop called "The Climax or Breaking Point in Short Stories and Novels" presented by Fred Shafer at Off Campus Writer's Workshop (OCWW). I have to drive an hour and a half in rush hour traffic to get to OCWW, but it's worth it for a class with Fred. He is an amazing and inspiring teacher. In the first two sessions, he's already given me several ideas for how I can make the climax of my historical young adult novel more powerful. So even though I've already sent the manuscript out, I'm revising it again. (As Mary Ann discussed on Monday, I wish there were a "never mind" command that would allow me to retrieve my emailed manuscript.)

One of the things I really appreciate about Fred is that even though he doesn't specifically teach "writing for children and teens," he has a tremendous respect for stories for children. He says in a recent online interview:

"There are many things that all writers can learn from books written for children, because of the close contact those books share with fables, fairy tales, and stories told to listeners.  Too often, writers for adult audiences lose track of the basic spirit and force of storytelling.  By reading stories for children, they can renew their awareness of the rhythms of plot and the power and beauty of narrative sentences."

Fred's respect for children's literature comes through in his workshops. He frequently uses examples from stories for children to elaborate on the points he makes. The books he's drawn from for his current Climax workshop include two of Eve Bunting's picture books: The Train to Somewhere, illustrated by Ronald Himler (Sandpiper) and Little Bear's Little Boat, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (Clarion); Patricia Polacco's The Junkyard Wonders (Philomel); City Dog, Country Frog by Jon J Muth, illustrated by Mo Willems (Hyperion); and the young adult short story "Gettin' Even" from You Don't Even Know Me: Stories and Poems about Boys by Sarah G. Flake (Hyperion). If you're looking for examples of effective climactic scenes and you're unable to attend Fred's class, I recommend you study these books.

Now excuse me while I go back to revising my novel's climax.

Happy writing (and studying)!
Carmela

The Teacher as Student, and a Giveaway Reminder

I love learning. If I had unlimited resources, I'd be a full-time student for the rest of my life. Instead, I'm a teacher, which is the next best thing.

[Speaking of teachers, if you're a teacher, librarian, or homeschooling parent, be sure to read the end of this post for an update on our current giveaway contest. And if you're not a teacher, librarian, or homeschooler, please help spread the word to those who are.]

For me, being a teacher is as much about learning as it is about teaching. To prepare for my classes, I not only reread the assigned text, I also research supplemental resources. Currently, I'm reading Stephen King's On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I don't read horror stories, so I'm not a fan of Stephen King's fiction. However, I've heard wonderful things about this craft book for years. Ten years, to be exact, as the 10th Anniversary edition came out this past July. So I decided it was about time I read it.

I have to say, the timing is perfect. I'm currently teaching a six-week "Craft & Critique Workshop." The first aspect of craft I discuss in the workshop is characterization. Last night I shared with my class two things about characterization that I learned from King's book:

“Everything I've said about dialogue applies to building characters in fiction. The job boils down to two things: paying attention to how the real people around you behave and then telling the truth about what you see. You may notice that your next-door neighbor picks his nose when he thinks no one is looking. This is a great detail, but noting it does you no good as a writer unless you’re willing to dump it into a story at some point.”

And,

"Skills in description, dialogue, and character development all boil down to seeing or hearing clearly and then transcribing what you see or hear with equal clarity . . . ." 

These aren't exactly new ideas for me. I received similar instructions from my teachers at Vermont College. But sometimes, I forget. That's why I consider myself fortunate to be a teacher--it forces me to remember, and it prods me to "practice what I preach."

Last week, Esther posted about Signature Quotes. The following is another quote from Stephen King's On Writing. It's rather long for a Signature Quote, but it really spoke to me when I read it:

     "You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair – the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page.
     I’m not asking you to come reverently or unquestioningly; I’m not asking you to be politically correct or cast aside your sense of humor (please God you have one). This isn’t a popularity contest, it’s not the moral Olympics, and it’s not church. But it’s writing damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can’t or won’t, it’s time for you to close the book and do something else."

If you're ready to take writing seriously, I suggest you go "back to school" this fall by reading (or re-reading) a book on the craft of writing. Below, I list a dozen books that have helped me as both a teacher and a student. Do you have a favorite that's not on this list? If so, please share it in the comments.

• Bauer, Marion Dane: What’s Your Story? A Young Person’s Guide to Writing Fiction (While this book is aimed at young people, it’s a great introduction for adults, too.)
• Bell, James Scott: Plot & Structure: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Plot that Grips Readers from Start to Finish
• Bell, James Scott: Revision & Self-Editing: Techniques for Transforming your First Draft into a Finished Novel
• Burroway, Janet: Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft
• Card, Orson Scott: Characters & Viewpoint
• Frank, Thaisa, and Dorothy Wall: Finding Your Writer’s Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction
• Hemley, Robin: Turning Life into Fiction
• Kress, Nancy: Beginnings, Middles & Ends
• Novakovich, Josip: Writing Fiction Step by Step
• Stein, Sol: Stein on Writing
• Strunk, William, Jr., and E.B. White: The Elements of Style
• Wood, Monica: Description (This book has the clearest explanation of point of view that I’ve read so far—I recommend it to ALL my students!)

Happy Fall!
Fall begins today, Sept. 22 (if you're in the northern hemisphere).

And now for the Giveaway Update I promised: There are only 12 days left to enter our giveaway contest for classroom teachers, librarians, and homeschooling parents. You can win your choice of either a 30-minute Skype visit from a TeachingAuthor or a set of six autographed books—one from each TeachingAuthor! The odds of winning are great, as we've had only two entries so far. (Is everyone waiting until the last minute to enter?) Read this post for details. And if you're not eligible to enter yourself, please spread the word to all the teachers, librarians, and homeschooling parents you know.
Happy writing, and happy fall!
Carmela

Memoir and Remembering

Craft books can be a huge help, but I don’t always read them straight through. I often find some nugget that inspires me enough to make me go off to write instead. I figure the more helpful the book, the less I have to read, and I save the rest for later.

This semester, I’m teaching a class on writing memoirs. As I usually do when I’m preparing to teach, I checked out a stack of books from the library. A couple of them are familiar, reliable resources—I’ve read them before and found them useful: Natalie Goldberg’s Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir and Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington. Others were new to me, and I enjoyed exploring the subject from their varied points of view.

Even if you are not writing a memoir, such books can help in several ways:

• by providing a glimpse into another writer’s approach
• by reminding you that writers keep writing in spite of obstacles
• by bringing up true stories that can inspire leaps into fiction, memoir, or something else
• by sharing exercises that might help you move forward

One book grabbed my attention not only for its playful tone but also for its helpful format: Thinking About Memoir by Abigail Thomas. Instead of suggesting exercises and then giving examples of how they might be done, Thomas tells stories first and then provides writing prompts on topics that flow from the stories.



She writes about seeing a buzzard far away on a beach. After watching it awhile, she decides to walk up for a closer look and discovers a stick with a plastic bag tangled around it. Her instruction is to write about mistaking something for something else.

She says her sister suggests that “a good way to get going on memoir is to write your will. You have to decide who gets all your treasures, and this involves looking at them, and remembering where you found them.” Her assignment: write about your treasures.

She describes a trip with her sister after they had each been given a box of six truffles. “The tiny print said two pieces contained 310 calories,” she writes. “We were sitting on the bus headed downtown, quietly doing our calculations: Judy was dividing by two and I was multiplying by three.” This story cracked me up; the assignment that follows it is to write about a time when you recognized a difference between you and another person.

In the spirit of Thinking About Memoir, I’m including a memory from my childhood and a choice of writing prompts that stem from it.

Writing Workout: Begin with a Memory

One Sunday morning when most of my family had gone to church, I decided to make everyone breakfast. My father was asleep upstairs. I remember scrambled eggs and bacon, so I must have been old enough to use the stove on my own.

I was thinking about how surprised my family would be when I heard a loud crash outside. I ran out and saw a car halfway up our front steps.

My father came out and discovered that the driver was a woman whose husband had recently died. She was on her way to the cemetery with a vase of flowers on the seat next to her. When the flowers started slipping off the seat, she reached to grab them and lost control of her car.

As soon as he found out she was not hurt, my father told her not to worry. He would fix the steps himself. I don’t remember the woman, the car, whether anyone called the police, or what happened when the rest of the family came home, but I do remember his kindness.

Assignment:

Write about a time when you were home alone.

or

Write about someone being compassionate to a stranger.

Arts and Crafts

How many writers have strange word associations?  (Maybe I'm kidding myself that it's a writer thing and I'm just weird.)  Names remind me of food.  Rebecca = tomato soup with rice (explain that one).  Margaret = butterscotch.  Okay, this is sounding weirder the more I type.  Gary = ground beef (courtesy of Gary Burghoff on M*A*S*H, who was the only Gary I'd ever heard of at age 3).  And so the word craft = Kraft Mac & Cheese.  Nothing fancy.  A comfort food.  Dependable, easy, satisfying.

Perhaps it's because I read John Gardner as a beginning writer and he scared me into thinking I was certainly in the wrong field, but I realized early on that I do not write literary fiction and, perhaps sadly, don't aspire to.  While the "art of fiction" is certainly a very worthy pursuit, I am more inclined to view myself as a journeyman than an artiste. 

While other artistic endeavours (music, visual arts) involve skills honed through years of specialized study... we all write.  I am not a "morning pages" sort (though I admire those who are).  I hope I am not deluding myself when I say that I believe that every time we put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), we are honing our craft, exercising our writing muscles, in effect doing our scales.

The first craft books I read in my first serious writing class (6th grade) were the old standby, Strunk & White's Elements of Style; and Writing Well, by Donald Hall.

I also adore George Orwell's essay, Politics and the English Language.  (Today's political discourse would certainly resemble a more honest dialogue  were its principles observed by more of us -- but I digress.)

Through the years, I have added the following to my "required reading" list:

Line By Line: How to Edit Your Own Writing, by Claire Kehrwald Cook.  This one was recommended by Jane Resh Thomas (writing teacher extraordinaire) at Vermont College and should, in my opinion, be read in very small doses -- tough to slog through and absorb, but well worth reading.

And, by my late, great mentor (though not a craft book per se): It's a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World, by Olga Litowinsky.

I also heartily second the Anne LaMott and Jon Franklin suggestions. 

***
As in the art of writing, the most extraordinary teachers among us have an inborn gift.  But even these blessed few must spend years working and studying to perfect their craft. 

When I began to teach English 101, my boss recommended I read The St. Martin's Guide to Teaching Writing, which she said taught her everything she knows.  I am still a neophyte teacher, but I can certainly attest to its helpfulness! 

For primary teachers, I am a big fan of Educating Esme and the website http://www.planetseme.com/, tremendously useful for instilling a love of literature in young readers.  (I love reading it as a writer, too.)  I'd bet that most of us who are children's book writers had at least one teacher like Esme when we were young to whom we owe many thanks for our enduring love of words and story.

What’s So Hard (for Me) about Writing Picture Books

I love wordplay. I savor the delicious way words feel in my mouth. The taste of an especially yummy combination—one that tingles with rhythm, rhyme, or alliteration. The way exciting language tickles my ears. I search for tangy, succulent, flavorful words.

Sometimes the sounds of words almost feel more important than their meanings.

Eeek! Halt! Hold everything!

When I get so enamored with sounds, I know I’m sliding off track. Because something else is much more important. Those tantalizing words have to say something. Mean something. The ideas they express have to take precedence over the sounds, no matter how delectable they are.

When I work on a picture book, I write by hand in purple ink on legal pads, over and over and over until I feel each stanza, each line, each word is pulling its weight—fitting into the pattern, portraying an emotion, saying what I want to say. Something grabs me, I play with it, I sink into the words and ideas and sounds and images and write. And write and write and write.

The hardest part for me is recognizing and incorporating something that resembles an actual plot—a story with a beginning, middle, and end—that adds the necessary depth to those strained-to-attain scrumptious sounds.

When I sold my first picture book, Cats on Judy, the editor asked me to add details that implied the passing of time so that the text felt more like a story. The same thing happened with Sing-Along Song. Do you see a pattern here? I didn’t, at least not at first.

Many of my rejection letters say that the text is “slight.” What does that mean? How many rejections have I received over the years for the same reason? I’m afraid to count.

Not too long ago as I worked on a new picture book idea, something clicked—almost audibly—like the flick of a light switch.

Eureka!

Somehow right after I finished the first complete draft, I knew it was weak. It needed something more to propel it beyond a simple counting book with rhythm and rhyme. After all these years (and rejections!), I figured it out for myself. I recognized slightness when I saw it (at least in this one manuscript) and took it back to my desk to tear it apart and start over. Now it’s more than a counting book with rhythm and rhyme; it’s an actual story—with counting elements woven in in alternating stanzas—and I’m also adding nonfiction back matter. I hope it works!

Some writers seem to attain the necessary depth in a picture book manuscript without a conscious thought. Or they know enough not to begin writing unless and until all the elements are in place. Not me. I have to work at it, word by flavorful word. But at last, I understand the meaning of slight—lacking that strength, that depth, that extra layer that makes a manuscript more than just what meets the eye at first glance and makes readers want to read it again and again.

Addendum to "Ideal" vs. "Real" Life

I meant to mention yesterday that my "ideal" day varies based on my current priorities. At the moment, my "ideal" schedule focuses on a young-adult novel. When I'm not working on a novel or teaching, I may be focused on revising a picture book, writing a freelance article, preparing for a school visit, updating my website, etc.

I also devote regular time to honing my craft. I do this by reading and studying books on writing, and by attending writer's conferences and workshops. The craft book I'm currently reading is Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. (Perhaps "honing our craft" would make a good topic for future blog posts?)

Thanks for all the feedback so far. I'm looking forward to reading what the other Teaching Authors have to say on this topic.