Enter TWO give aways!...and an Author Insecurity Poem for Poetry Friday.

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Howdy, Campers!  Happy Poetry Friday!  I’ve been OUT AND ABOUT.  But before I tell you about IRA in Chicago and ask for your advice about my poem, don’t forget to enter both of our contests:

Followers know that we are celebrating our THIRD blogiversary.   Enter our Blogiversary giveaway contest to win one of THREE $30 gift cards from Biblio.com, where you can purchase new and used books from independent booksellers around the world, often with free shipping!!! There are three ways to enter, so get crackin'!

In addition, you can enter our SEPARATE autographed book giveaway: win Guest Teaching Author's Karen Schreck's brand new book, WHILE HE WAS AWAY.

Spring, spring, spring--as I said, I've been out 'n about! The trees were green-leafing, the flowers a-blooming along the slick avenues in rainy Chicago, (our own Esther’s beloved hometown) this past week.  She and I were honored to have taught in a full-day Institute at the International Reading Association there.

Our Institute was birthed, developed, structured and nurtured by Albuquerque author and educator Carolee Dean.  The other authors Carolee pulled on board were: Kersten Hamilton, TeachingAuthor EstherHershenhorn, Kimberley Griffiths Little, Carolyn Meyer,
Uma Krishnaswami, Caroline Starr Rose, Lisa Schroeder, et moi.  (For details and our handouts, click here.) I’d only met most of them online; it was a delicious pleasure to meet each in person. 

Here are a few snippets from IRA:

Someone in our group said, “Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale,” which I’d never heard before, though when I Googled it, it’s all over the web, without an author. I love this quote.

At another session, Jane Yolen said that a child asked her,

“Did you write a Christmas book?” 

“Yes,” said Jane.

“But I thought you were Jewish,” he said.

“I write murder mysteries, too,” Jane replied.

On my final day in Chicago, the skies cleared. One last breakfast with Esther, one last walk past fast pedestrians along Michigan Avenue. 

Bright orange and magenta tulips, in cement boxes lining the bustling streets, which were just blooming when I arrived, were no longer bright, tight blooms—instead they were faded and splayed open, like unmade beds.

I was thinking about how short their stay is...Bingo!  I found my topic for this day’s poem!

Here are three drafts of the eight or nine I’ve written so far…I need your thoughts!  I’m thinkin’ I went overboard in the last one draft..it needs to be more condensed, right?  Just get in, get out—bam!  What do you think?

1) AN AUTHOR TO A TULIP

by April Halprin Wayland

Nice bloom.

Fading fast.

When’s your next?

Books…er, blooms don’t last.

2) AN AUTHOR TO A TULIP

by April Halprin Wayland

I saw you flower in spring.

Good red.

When’s the next one due?

Next June?

Don’t you know

you’re only as good

as your latest book...er, bloom?

3) AN AUTHOR TO A TULIP

by April Halprin Wayland

I saw you flower this spring.                                                 

Great read…er, red (nice bling.)                                            

So…when’s your next one due?                                            

Uh-oh, you say next June?                                                     

If you’re not on some list,                                                      

you simply don’t exist.                                                          

You must create one soon                                                      

so rush to publish…er, bloom.  

poems © 2012 by April Halprin Wayland—all rights reserved

WRITING WORKOUT

I love Chicago!  I love fellow authors!  I learned so much this week!  I’ll leave you with a writing prompt Uma Krishnaswami taught us, inspired by her wonderful picture book, OUT OF THE WAY! OUT OF THE WAY! 

In her free downloadable activity kit for this book, Uma writes: “The tree in this story became a meeting place for the people of the village, a spot where children could play and grownups could talk…Do you know of a special tree that holds a story for you? A tree that you climbed? A tree that provided shade for picnics? Write your tree story.”

I found this to be an extremely evocative prompt.  Do you?  Try.

 Poetry Friday's at Wild Rose Reader this week--thanks for hosting, Elaine!

 

P.S: If you've read this far, you deserve a bonus.  Check out Amy Goldman Koss' blog post this week, "Why Write?" (Warning: you will become addicted to her blog posts, so watch out.)

A Five-Star Revision Tip and Tool!

     R is for revision
           You see your draft anew.
       A second chance,
          to make tales dance.
               Lucky, lucky you!

Ironically, almost 2 years to the day the above poem appeared in my Sleeping Bear Press book S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, I need to revise the second word in the third line so it reads….

                …another chance.

The revision process demands more than two passes to get the story, the telling and the language right.
In fact, way more.
The Good News is, as shared in the Robert Cormier quote that appears at the bottom of S is for Story’s R page,
“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.”

To celebrate IRA’s “Revision Week,” my fellow TeachingAuthors and I are offering up helpful insights, resources, tools and books gleaned from our at least 120 years total experience writing for children.

Here’s my offering, a five-star revision tip and tool if ever there was one:  before you’re ready to write your very last revised draft, write the book review you wish to receive, then keep it nearby to reread often, stuck or not. 

For the record, it helps to read reviews of similar, comparable books to the one you’re writing – in genre, in format, in subject matter, in time or setting, in style, before you write your own review.  It also helps to read several reviews of those similar, comparable books as expressed in different review journals.

If you’re writing for children, the most notable print review journals, available at your local library, online or by subscription, include the American Library Association’s Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center of Children’s Books, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and The Horn Book.  Each review journal has its own style, its own set of elements on which the reviewer focuses.

[FYI: reading all of the above journals helped me learn my craft – as well as - the stellar body of children’s literature and my Children’s Book World residents and players.]

No matter the journal in which the review appears,

• note the one-sentence description that summarizes the book for the reader – the what’s-it-all-about-anyway statement;
• study the brief outline of the plot, usually accomplished in 5 or so sentences that usually include the story’s major turning points;
• focus on the theme and its connection to the storyline;
• pay attention to critical comments concerning elements of narrative – i.e. characterization, voice, plot, etc., as well as the story’s craft and the writer’s talents;
• consider the selection of and reference to comparable, similar titles;
• read and reread the reviewer’s opinion as to the book’s value and its likely impact on readers.

What I love about this tool? 

Writing the one-sentence summary and multi-sentence synopsis requires my mastery of the story’s action.
The critical comments force me to assess how I crafted (1) the key elements of narrative and (2) my use of language.
Citing comparable books shows me how I want my book to distinguish itself from the others on the shelf.
Best of all?  Most of all?
Writing the review I wish my book to receive helps me remember why my book grabbed my heart in the first place, the reasons that kept me going no matter the revisions necessary, what I so want my book to do for my readers. 
I stay atop my story’s physical and emotional plotlines, but also tuned in to my own writer’s vested heart.

Though non-fiction, here’s the review I kept on my desk top while writing the last draft of S is for Story:

"Hershenhorn’s thoughtful and spirited telling of this abecedarian
journey through a Writer’s Life and Process is certain to inform, inspire and
ready young writers, not to mention once-young writers who remain
young-at-heart.  A joyous celebration of the all-important Reader-Writer
Connection, the rhymed verse for younger readers and the accompanying
side-bar narrative for older readers serve as mini-lessons to keep writers
writing.  Peeks inside a writer’s life, the inclusion of Writer’s Tips and the
appearance on each double-page spread of treasured authors’ meaningful
quotes multiply each lettered entry’s value and enjoyment.  Pullen’s 
singular, imaginative illustrations successfully offer a narrative all their own
while underscoring how lucky writers are to write.  Re-title this Writer’s
Alphabet “S is for Stellar.” 

I’m happy to share  the boxed Booklist review, written by Gillian Engberg – to prove the revision tool proved five-star indeed.

"Among sleeping Bear’s growing collection of themed abecedarian titles for middle-graders, this engaging, instructive introduction to writing stands out. The concepts paired with each letter cover elements of story (plot, characters); technique (revision, journaling); and basic practices for fostering creativity (observe). Short poems; clear, enthusiastic explanations; tips; and quotes from well-known children’s authors appear on each page, and a “P.S.” includes more interesting facts. The large color illustrations, featuring sometimes oddly proportioned figures, don’t shine as brightly as the warm, substantive text, which both teachers and students will return to repeatedly for reference and inspiration.” —Gillian Engberg, Booklist (Boxed review)

Looking for elements of a good book review? Try the folks at Scholastic (How to Write a Book Review by Rodman Philbrick).

Finally, Kathleen Horning’s revised and updated From Cover to Cover (HarperCollins) is considered the definitive guide to reading, reviewing and critically evaluating children’s books since its original publication in 1997.

Re-view. 
   Re-vision. 
      See your draft with new eyes.
Another chance to make tales dance.
      Lucky, lucky you!

Happy Revising!

Esther Hershenhorn

Note from Carmela, added 9/25/11: Esther's post is mentioned in the September YA Lit Carnival. You can see the carnival here.

Revision! A LINGO poem! Poetry Friday! and a Play Doh exercise!

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Howdy, Campers!  Happy Poetry Friday!

Poetry Friday is hosted by Secrets and Sharing Soda this week. (The direct link to the roundup is here.)

Thank you, Katie!

Our topic this week is REVISION, inspired by The International Reading Association (IRA)'s "Revision Week"--September 5-9, 2011.  Visit the IRA's Engage: Teacher to Teacher Blog this week to read/hear comments about revision from several well-known children's authors, including Cynthia Lord and Kate Messner.

We've written LOTS of posts on revision, because, of course, we're always revising.  ALWAYS.  Also, ALL WAYS.  

Oy.  Sometimes it feels as if an editor is asking me to kill my first born.  Ever feel that way to you?

This is me, off to revise:

Actually, sometimes revising is my favorite part.  I mean, at least I have the bones of the story or poem--now I just have to...have to...have DO something with those bones!

I thought I'd write a LINGO poem on editing and revising.  A Lingo is a brand new poetic form!  It's also fun to write.  See my last post.

The terms in bold are from this glossary of copyediting terms.  I chose the juiciest ones to play with and here's the result:

EDIT, CUT, KILL

by April Halprin Wayland

The guy was a legend.

He grew up rough, an orphan; 

he wore ragged right shoes,

cooked his meals on a boilerplate.

You shoulda seen his face.

I don't wanna justify nutin', but the dingbat had it coming.

When I finally found him in the gutter, 

it was a clean kill—he was dead copy.

They did it Chicago style, 

with a backslash, 

using a dagger.  

Or a bullet.  

Or maybe it was a flush and hang—hard to tell.

I tried to clean up the crime scene,

tried to redline it,

tried to flag someone down.

Finally I made an em dash for the door.

I don't have proof, mind you, 

but it looks like it coulda been 

a serial comma.

For today's WRITING WORKOUT, I'm reprising an exercise on revising which was at the end of a post that ran in August, when you were on vacation. 

You'll need:

• twice as many small cans of Play Doh as you have students
• plastic forks, knives and spoons
• writing materials

1) Let each student choose one can of their favorite color Play Doh...then scatter other cans on everyone's desk so they can share.  Make plastic forks, knives and spoons available, too.
2) Give them five minutes (or more) to make a person, animal or other creature.
3) If there's time, let everyone walk around the class to look at each creation.
4) Now tell each student to move to the next desk and make one radical change in the figure there.
5) Have them return to their desks and let the class walk around again, looking at the changes.
6) Discuss.  How did it feel when someone changed your art?  Do you like what it looks like now?  Which do you like better?

In one of the classes I teach through UCLA Extension Writers Program, most of my adult students are surprised that they like the changed creature best.  One woman admitted that she liked the changes...but also missed her own creation and felt slightly violated.

Yes...that's exactly how I feel when an editor or my critique group wants to edit (gasp!) my work.  Hurt, resentful, violated.  Sometimes, if I sit with the suggestions, I end up liking them.  I can see how it can take a village to create a vision bigger than my own.  Sometimes, though, I reject the changes.

If you'd like to make this more of a writing exercise, you can have your students write a story or poem during the process.  You might decide to have them write as soon as they've made their creature, before it is changed.  If you have time, you can also have them write after the changes--either about the changed creature or about how they feel now that it's different.

So--dive into Play Doh!  Let your room fill with its delicious perfume!

And remember to write with joy!

poem and drawings (c) 2011 April Halprin Wayland, all rights reserved

Revision Week, Random Acts of Publicity, and Blogosphere Buzz

The International Reading Association (IRA) has declared Sept. 5-9, 2011 to be "Revision Week." Visit the IRA's Engage: Teacher to Teacher Blog this week to read/hear comments about revision from several well-known children's authors, including Cynthia Lord and Kate Messner.

Classroom teachers often tell me that one of their greatest challenges is helping students understand that a first draft is only the first step in the writing process. And many adult writers also dread the "R" word: Revision. Yet, as Kate Messner says today on the Engage: Teacher to Teacher Blog: “Revision is where writing really happens.”
(In the audio interview, Messner also talks about making time to write while working full-time and raising a family.)

One of the best ways I've found to help writers of all ages appreciate the benefit (and necessity) of revision is a bit of "show and tell." I "show" the drafts of my novel Rosa, Sola with all the post-it notes from my editor and I "tell" about how that feedback helped me polish that story. You can see some photos of one of my drafts and read a bit about that process in this post from last year.

For both young students and adult writers, it's often difficult to look at our own work objectively. Below is a revised version of the Writing Workout I shared last year. (Yes, even blog posts and writing exercises get better with revision!) The Workout is intended as a way to help trick ourselves into reading our work as though it were written by someone else.     

Speaking of revision, the next session of my Craft & Critique Workshop, which is held in Oak Brook, IL, begins on Tuesday, Sept. 27. That class is ALL about revision. For more information, see my website. If you don't live in the Chicago area and are looking for some feedback on your writing, check out the Blogosphere Buzz below for help finding a critique partner.

In addition to Revision Week, this is the third annual Random Acts of Publicity week, a chance to celebrate and publicize the work of our fellow authors. I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that THREE of the TeachingAuthors have new books out this year. If you're new to our blog, please read these posts to learn all about them: JoAnn Early Macken's Baby Says "Moo!", Mary Ann Rodman's Camp K-9, and Esther Hershenhorn's Little Illinois.
 

I'd also like to celebrate a wonderful new nonfiction book by my friend, April Pulley Sayre: Rah, Rah, Radishes! A Vegetable Chant. This book is a fun way to introduce children to the beauty and wonder of vegetables. (And maybe even get them to eat a few!) Click the photo below to learn more:
 

Blogosphere Buzz

• If you're looking to connect with a fellow writer to get feedback on your manuscript, check out agent Mary Kole's "Critique Connection" post on her Kidlit.com blog.
• There's a brand new Carnival of YA literature site, courtesy of Sally Apokedak. The TeachingAuthors have a link on the inaugural roundup, which you can read here.
• A member of my critique group sent me a link to an interesting blog post by an Australian writer on Whither the Children's Book? Some good food for thought.   

Writing Workout:
Revision=Re-seeing (Revised edition!)

To gain perspective on a manuscript, it helps to let it "cool off" by putting it away and not looking at if for awhile. After you or your students have completed what you believe is a polished draft of a piece of writing, try the following:

1. If the work is on a computer, print it out in a font you don't typically use. For example, if you usually print in Times New Roman, try an Arial or Verdana font, and maybe change the font size to slightly smaller or larger, too. If you're working with students who have written something by hand, have them type up and print out their work. If possible, print the draft on colored paper. I picked this suggestion up form Newbery-winning author Sharon Creech, who blogs about it here and includes photos of her drafts.)
2. Put the work aside for awhile, preferably, at least a month.  No matter how tempted you are, do NOT look at the manuscript at all during this time.
3. While the work is "cooling," keep reading and writing. Read the kinds of things you like to write and/or books about the craft of writing. At the same time, start a new writing project, brainstorm future writing topics, or write daily in a journal, even if for only a minute. (See April's post about this.) This step is VERY important--you want to continue your growth as a writer while your story cools.
4. At the end of the month, pull out your "cooled" draft. When you read it, pretend it was written by someone else. What do you like about the piece? What don't you like about it? What would make it better?

Happy writing (and revising)!
Carmela

Out and About in the Clover-dash-Shamrocks!

I’m Out-and-About and in clover today, wheeling to Springfield, Illinois to join four of my five fellow Teaching Authors for our Workshop tomorrow afternoon Thursday at the 42nd Annual Illinois Reading Conference.

(And, for the record, I care little o'bout the variety of the three-leafed plants that surround me – red, black, white or otherwise, all of which can be classified as Shamrocks. My Chicago River’s flowing green today!)

Visit us Friday to view photos of our singular workshop we’re co-presenting with Dr. Roxanne Owens and Dr. Marie Donovan of DePaul University’s School of Education – “Flabby to Fab-y: Writing Workouts to Shape Up Your Curriculum.” Thanks to you, our readers, we’re able to focus on the Top Ten Teaching-Writing Issues Teachers Face Daily and ways Young Writers can stretch, flex and bend.

You can exercise, too, of course, by checking out this year’s Children’s Choice Book Awards list, a joint project of the Children's Book Council and the International Reading Assocation.  Each year publishers submit hundreds of titles for consideration by five teams of some 12,000 young readers from across the country. Share the voting opportunity which began Monday, March 15, with your students, children, grandchildren, library patrons - AND/OR - use the list to acquaint yourself with titles children already enjoy. We children’s book writers need to know The Best of the Best as determined by – drum roll, please – our readers.

Finally, please remember: 11 pm today Wednesday is the deadline for our current book giveaway of Johanna Hurwitz’s I Fooled You: Ten Stories of Tricks, Jokes, and Switcheroos.

Keep those insightful questions comin’!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Esther Hershenhorn

*Credits for photo
http://www.lycoming.edu/
http://www.rhapsodyinbooks.wordpress/

Announcements and Sneak Preview

We received many original and fun submissions for our latest giveaway contest in celebration of TeachingAuthor Esther Hershenhorn's S is for Story: A Writer's Alphabet. I have drawn a winner, but have yet to hear back from her. If she doesn't reply soon, I'll choose a new winner. Meanwhile, I'd like to share some other news. (See the end of this post for an updated announcement regarding our winner.)

First off, congratulations to our own TeachingAuthor Mary Ann Rodman. Her middle-grade novel Jimmy's Stars was named a 2009 Children's Choice for grades 5-6 by the International Reading Association and the Children's Book Council. See the complete list of winners here.

And if you're thinking of using Jimmy's Stars in conjunction with a study of World War II, be sure to check out the wonderful online resources set up by Usborne Publishing, the book's UK publisher.

Speaking of wonderful online resources for teachers, our friends April Pulley Sayre and Gretchen Woelfle of the group blog INK: Interesting Nonfiction for Kids have announced the launch of a free online database of nonfiction books called the InkThinkTank. The database is designed to help teachers, librarians, and homeschoolers find the books they need to meet curriculum requirements in grades K-12. We've included a link to the database in our sidebar.

Our loyal readers may have noticed some other new features in our sidebar, including:

• more links to reading lists, websites, graduate writing programs, and author/illustrator blogs 
• a new "search" function that allows readers to search for posts containing a word or phrase not listed in our subject index
• a "Bookmark and Share" link that lets you quickly add our blog to social bookmarking sites like Delicious and Digg, and/or share our blog with your friends and colleagues
• and, in addition to receiving our blog posts by email, as a Google follower, or via an RSS feed, you can now include it in your JacketFlap blog reader.

As always, if you know of other resources that would be helpful for aspiring writers or writing teachers, please let us know.

And now, for our "Sneak Preview:" In case you haven't heard, next Tuesday, October 20, is the National Day on Writing, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

According to NCTE:

Today people write as never before—texting, on blogs, with video cameras and cell phones, and, yes, even with traditional pen and paper. People write at home, at work, inside and out of school.

The National Day on Writing is meant to celebrate all forms of writing. In conjunction with the event, NCTE has created a National Gallery of Writing, a digital archive of writing samples showing how and why Americans are writing every day. The Gallery will be unveiled on Tuesday.

This Friday, October 16, we will begin a series of posts to commemorate the National Day on Writing. We will also join other Kidlitosphere bloggers by submitting our posts to the local Gallery called A Lifetime of Reading, curated by Franki Sibberson and Mary Lee Hahn, two teachers who blog at A Year of Reading. We hope you'll make plans to take part in the National Day on Writing, and post those plans here on our TeachingAuthors blog!

I'm updating this blog post a few minutes past noon on an overcast day here in the Chicago suburbs, but the sun is shining on our latest giveaway winner: Kristy Worden of Fort Myers, Florida! For her entry, Kristy wrote:

"I say, A is for Arc. Your story must get from its compelling beginning through the challenges of the middle and finally arrive at a most satisfying conclusion."

I'm happy to say that Kristy's entry led to a "most satisfying conclusion" for her. For those of you who didn't win, we hope you'll enter our next giveaway, which will be announced in early November.
Carmela

Celebrate Spring!

Posted by JoAnn Early Macken

For me, winter is a long, solitary season. My only contacts with the children’s book world are online and in occasional meetings with my brilliant writing group. Even writing sometimes feels like (gasp!) drudgery. At last, along with wildflowers and migrating songbirds, children’s books are bustin’ out all over. Apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein, but truly, children’s book lovers have reasons to celebrate.

In spring, with travel less risky, schools open doors to visiting authors. What joy! My spring school visits with enthusiastic students remind me of those first glorious warm days when everyone abandons a jacket on the playground.

This year, May 1-7 marked the first annual National Picture Book Writing Week. What fun! I wrote one on an airplane, a couple at my desk, and several in the backyard. The stories are all dreadful, but I have something to work with. Yippee!

I spent Tuesday, May 5, at the 54^th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association in Minneapolis. I strolled through aisles between wonderful books, rubbed elbows with enthusiastic teachers, stood in line for autographs of amazing authors, and shared my thoughts about writing poetry. Wandering through the convention center, I recognized Susan Marie Swanson signing her award-winning book The House in the Night and Jacqueline Woodson, author of many award-winning books of her own.

I turned a corner and found Phyllis Root signing copies of her adorable new picture book Flip, Flap, Fly.

I bumped into Kimberly Willis Holt, who contributed to a Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market article I wrote about writing fiction inspired by real life (a future Teaching Authors topic, thanks to a reader request).

I met Laura Purdie Salas for a quick conversation and recognized a dedicated poet and teacher.

The teachers who attended my workshop ("Write a Poem, Step by Step: A Simple, Logical, Effective Way to Write Poetry With Your Students") plunged right into the process. A few shared snippets of their work. Many said they were surprised and pleased by the results. I was pleased, too, but not surprised. As the IRA Mission explains, teachers are always looking for new ways to advance the quality of literacy instruction. These teachers, from elementary, middle, and high school, diligently wrote their own poems, step by step, so they could understand the method inside out and use it to help their students write poetry. Writing is work, and here you can see every teacher hard at it.

On Saturday, May 9, I met Kevin Henkes at the Council for Wisconsin Writers Annual Awards luncheon. My nonfiction picture book Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move received an Honorable Mention (the thought-provoking Mousetraps by Pat Schmatz received the main award) in the Tofte-Wright Children’s Literature category. Kevin Henkes received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to children’s literature. He spoke about his creative and publishing history and read hilarious, heartfelt letters from young fans. To quote his Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse, just about all I can say is “wow.”

In spite of the dismal economy, school budget cuts, and upheavals in the publishing industry, readers still read, teachers still teach, and writers still write. Although Children’s Book Week is officially May 11-17, for everyone who loves children’s books, every day (especially in spring) deserves a celebration. Hooray!