Putting the "New" in the New Year

Happy New Year! We're kicking off 2026 here at TeachingAuthors with a series of posts about something new we're doing this year.  

My "new" goal is to incorporate more humor into my poetry. Lucky for me, shortly after deciding that I wanted my poems for young readers to be more playful, I learned about The Poet's Studio's online workshop "How to Write a Funny Poem with Chris Harris" this coming Monday, January 12, 2026. 

I was familiar with Harris's work from reading his 2023 title My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi. You may recall that I blogged about reading Bellyache back in 2024. But I didn't mention then that the book has the most entertaining glossary of poetry terms I've ever seen--and the glossary is itself a poem! Here are the opening stanzas:

          GLOSSARY OF TERMS
          (from My Head Has a Bellyache)

     A simile flits like a songbird.
     A metaphor struts—it’s a bear.
     Personification
     Says, “There’s a gradation
     Of human in things everywhere.

     Alliterative language looks lovely.
     Consonance crackles and creaks.
     Assonance has
     A class-act pizzazz,
     While sibilance slithers and sneaks. 

          © 2023 Chris Harris. All rights reserved. 

You can read the whole glossary online, where Harris shared it as a series of posts on X. 

When I registered for the workshop, I discovered Bellyache was actually the second in a series that began with a book illustrated by Lane Smith called I'm Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups. Both books are published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 

Since rhyming is not my strong suit, I find the title especially appealing. But it's obviously not true, given the book's abundance of rhythm and rhyme. Booklist even called it "A magnificently wacky romp through verse." 

I don't know if writing poems like the ones in these two anthologies can be taught, but I'm looking forward to Monday's workshop. An extra plus: all the members of my poetry critique group will be there, too. Are any of you TeachingAuthors readers planning to attend? If you haven't registered yet, there may still be a few openings. You can learn more at Georgia Heard's The Poet's Studio website. 

Don't forget to check this week's Poetry Friday roundup by Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town. 

Happy writing!

Carmela 

HOPE in a world OUT OF ORDER

🌹Howdy, Campers ~ and welcome to Poetry Friday! Today's poem and the link to PF is at the end of this post.

In this, our year-end round of posts, we will each share a favorite something we've read and would reccommend. It could be a book, a poem, a quotation, another blogger's post, anything that moved us, inspired us, thrilled us or taught us something.

So here's my truth: 

I am Jewish. 

I am terrified. 

In these frightening times, I want to give you...hope.

In yesterday's journal I wrote:

What I can’t figure out is how to hold the world in the palm of my hands. I used to be able to do that: listening to NPR each morning was a way of putting the world in order for the day. I don’t listen to it much these days. Can’t. It’s all bad stuff. I listen to My Unsung Hero and reposts of The Writers’ Almanac. I love the intro music of this podcast.

At first I was going to share Alison McGhee's October 21st poem of the week by Joseph Fasano. But that very human poem is too close to truth, too close to home, too dangerous, too deeply frightening. So I won't.

Through a dear friend, I came across  a letter in The Library of Congress by Helen Keller. 

image description (my words appear on torn paper):
As I read it, my heart remembered how to expand. It remembered that even in darkness there is great beauty. It remembered that humans can do miraculous things--like teach a blind and deaf child how to describe to another the sounds and sights of the 1898 World's Fair.

I hope reading her letter helps your heart remember, too.

(Below is a copy of the first page only of her typed letter; here's a link to all nine pages of the letter and a much easier-to-read transcript)

Dear Campers ~ I was planning to post yesterday's poem, titled OUT OF ORDER. When I read it this morning, though, it didn't seem hopeful enough to share with you. 

But the poem that found me today buoyed me. I hope it will lift you up, too.

Here's how today's poem walked in my door:

I took the following sentence from a newsletter and used it as a prompt:
“Ikaria is famously known as the place where people forget to die.”

Isn't that a wonderful quote?  Doesn't it make your fingers itch to DO something with it?

Here's how I started:

1) I typed the word FORGET as a temporary title.

2) I let my laptop keys out of their cages.

3) And off they galloped! 

Kitty, trying to catch the keys, galloping off...

Here's the rough draft:

NEVER FORGET

Forget that you’re in the nose bleed section.
Forget about the hotdog,
and that guy in the row below chomping on it.
Forget that salty, hot-doggy smell
which you’ll never get out of your brain

until...
Martinez hits a GRAND SLAM HOME RUN!
His bat smacks,
four runners score,
the ball soars,

to the kid in the red hat in a row far below
and a little to your right
who nearly catches it
but
drops it between the seats

and a nursing mother,
holding her infant securely against her chest with one hand,
kneels down and scoops it up,
deftly turns
and tosses it to the kid.

Forget the hotdog for god’s sake
it’s Martinez,
the kid,
the mother
that’s embedded in your memory.

Until today, that is,
forty-six years
to the day
when that salty, hot-doggy smell
wafts up

and a bat smacks,
four runners score,
the ball soars—then drops beneath your seat
and you, handing your beer to your buddy,
kneel down (oh, those creaky knees!)

scoop it up,
awkwardly standing and turning
to toss it to a random kid
in a red hat
whose face breaks out in an OHMYGOD! smile.

That, my friend--
that--
you will 

never
forget.

poem (c) 2023 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
===========

After several rough drafts, I re-titled it NEVER FORGET, because beneath everything these days is that terrible drumbeat. 

And yet...look what I found in hot dog and a ball game: hope. Imagine that.

I'd love to read what you create with this same prompt: “Ikaria is famously known as the place where people forget to die.”

Thanks for reading all the way to The End.

And thank you, Buffy, for hosting Poetry Friday this week!

posted by April Halprin Wayland, 

who misses 14-year-old Eli,
her licky, lanky, incredibly sweet dog 
(Kitty is mourning the empty space her big brother left, too)

Eli as a puppy, 2011

Eli swore he didn't do it...

Thank you, Cindy Derby, for this watercolor of Eli,
which captures his personality perfectly

WHEN THEY SAY I HAVE A STORY IDEA FOR YOU

.
Howdy, Campers ~ and Happy Poetry Friday! (original poem and PF link below).

2019's first topic rumbling around our TeachingAuthors' treehouse, is How Do I Start a New Writing Project? Bobbi launched our new year asking What is your first line?; Mary Ann followed by blowing my socks off with her poetic description of beginning a new story.

You know the feeling when you read something and it's so good, there's nothing left to say on a topic? That's how I felt after reading these posts. I simply wanted to bow to my fellow TeachingAuthors and tackle some other topic...

Me, curtsying to Bobbi and Mary Ann

 I lied. It's Cissy Fitzgerald, curtsying. 

Photo by W.M. Morrison, 1895 

from the Library of Congress

...until I remembered my Hot Idea Files, which, like Mary Ann's journals, are filled with lines of dialogue, quotes that at some point stirred my insides, a misheard word, an item from my gratitude list, ideas that flew across the room and hit me like a rock, a remembered dream, a word or definition from Wordsmith.org's A.Word.A.Day ..like borborygmus (...look it up).

Here's a random jot (as Mary Ann calls them) from February, 2014:
Teaching feels as if I'm careening down on of those Olympic ski racing courses--you know, that 1½ mile downhill course where they hit speeds of 85+ mph? Yeah, that feeling. Like I'm going to hit a bump and skid off the course and die any minute. And then...the three hours of class are over and I had them. Cowabunga! GOLD MEDAL!

And here's one from June, 2017:
I think my sleep is deeper...I'm having lots of dreams. It feels as if I'm catching up on dreams that have been stacking up.

Speaking of stacking up...have you ever had someone say, "Heck, I can write a picture book on my coffee break!"?

When I hear that, I think about the process of choosing an idea for a poem, a picture book or a novel and decide that the person who just said this...
is an alien.

So—what do I do to start a new writing project? I open the door and listen to my stacks of ideas calling, "Pick me, pick me!"...choose one, and simply begin.

WHEN SOMEONE SAYS,“I HAVE A STORY IDEA FOR YOU!”

by April Halprin Wayland

I say, “How nice. 

Would you like to come inside?”
Then I walk her up the concrete steps of my brain,

open the door and move ten heavy boxes,

walk around letters stacked to the ceiling,

shove aside bulging brown bags with string.

We make our way to the back bedroom

past piles of Federal Express packages

where I stick a butterfly net

out the bedroom balcony doors

and catch a few more ideas

as they fly past.

In the kitchen, cases of canned ideas

line the worn wood floor,

unpacked sacks of fresh-picked ones

are piled on the counter.

We hold onto the paint-chipped banister

and walk down the wobbly stairs

to the cold, cement basement.

The sulfur smell surprises as I strike a match.

“Where is there room for your idea

between the wooden tennis rackets,

the rusty bird cage,

the folded music stands

and trunks of family stories?” I ask.

Crouching behind a trunk

is the one that creeps upstairs at night

to slink along the hall near my bedroom.

It's almost too heavy to pull to its feet.

This is the one I am working on now.

“Would you be kind enough to take your idea

to my storage locker downtown, near the pier?”

I say, handing her a small tin key.

“Perhaps you'll find room there.

Best to stand back as you roll up the aluminum door.”

drawing & poem (c)2019 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

What's in your Hot Idea File?  C'mon...tell us one thing. We are dying to know.

Thank you, Tara, for hosting Poetry Friday today!

posted with hope for this brand new year by April Halprin Wayland, Eli-the-dog, and Snot-the-aging-cat.

4 Apps for Writers and Creatives, and a Terrible Poem (Sorry)

.
Howdy, Campers and Happy Poetry Friday! (Links to PF and our latest autographed book drawing (!) are at the end of this post.)

Our current topic is Writer Resources. Esther's fabulous post offers five books for young writers, all of which I covet. I'd like to share four free apps I continually draw on. They enrich my life.

Meditating sometimes helps me hear that still, small voice that tells me the truth about a story I'm writing, about a life crisis, or about a relationship in flux. Insight Timer is an app I use for both silent meditations and also for its free guided meditations. I can filter them by topic (sleep, morning, energy, healing, fear, etc.), by length (from one minute to over an hour), by teacher (from all over the world), by how many thousands of times it has been played, by reviews, etc. I've been meditating for about fifteen years; this app makes it hard not to.

Adblock Plus My computer guy downloaded this popular browser extension for me years ago; it changed my life. It's free and open source and I donate to it. Why? Because if I open a web page without Adblock Plus, there are ads and moving images screaming at me. I can't focus with Las Vegas pounding on my brain. With ABP, all I see is the resource itself in a quiet field of white. Like Ferdinand the bull, instead of fighting in bull fights, I get to sit quietly under my own cork tree and smell the flowers as I write with the aid of the next two resources.

Illustration by Robert Lawson from Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf, first published in 1936

Thesaurus Many of you already use this resource. If you click on the link, you'll see that it takes you to a word which helps me write. That's the page I bookmark.

RhymeZone Another one that many of you use. 

If these last two resources were pencils, they'd be little tiny stubs, I use them so much!

Okie dokie...it's Poetry Friday, so here's my poem for today. I fully admit that it's terrible, but it was fun to write and it makes me laugh.

A RAT'S TALE
by April Halprin Wayland
                     .

Ree was a rat who lived by the Source.

She did nothing but watch the Source water course

from her lonely rat hut 'neath the sourwood tree.

Ree was inactive.

Ree had no life.

Just the Source and her hut and her hot, bedtime tea.

But Ree's life was changed

when she joined the gym.

She became a gym rat and the gym referee.

She took 20 classes

that first week on a spree.

And all of her coaches said, "Sweat is the key!"

But the more Ree worked out, the more parched she got—

sweating at night

(though Ree was not hot.)

She guzzled her tea, then looked in her cup.

She pondered, then wandered outside near that tree

then drank from the Source 'til she was filled up.

And that's when Ree realized what gumption begets—

she stood taller, was forceful...

and declared,

"I'm

Ree

Source

full!"                                                               (Sorry.)

The Scream by Edvard Munch, 1893

Readers, now's your chance to enter our drawing to win an autographed copy of Tuktuk: Tundra Tale (Arbordale Publishing), by Robin Currie, illustrated by Phyllis V. Saroff. The drawing ends February 22, 2017. click here for more information.

Thank you, dear Jone, for hosting PF today at Check It Out!

posted by April Halprin Wayland with gratitude for the love and support of you, our peeps of the Kidlitosphere

Just Listen

.
Howdy, Campers!  

Happy Poetry Friday!  The link to PF and my own poem are below.

Our new topic, beginning today, is Reading Aloud, because World Read Aloud Day is on February 24th and Read Across America is on March 2nd. And to round that out, check out StoryCorps' National Day of Listening.

One of my cherished memories of reading aloud was when my poetry teacher, Myra Cohn Livingston read poetry to us for long stretches of time. Nothing was expected of us. We’d simply lean back, listen, luxuriate in each word.

Myra taught me to read every poem aloud twice: first to hear it, then to feel it.

As I began thinking about reading aloud, I remembered how, many years ago, my friend Erica Silverman used listening to learn the craft of writing children's books.

Now Erica is a multi-multi-award winning author of  over twenty children's books, including Raisel's Riddle, Don't Fidget a Feather, Liberty's Voice - The Story of Emma Lazarus, When the Chickens Went on Strike, Big Pumpkin, the Cowboy Kate and Cocoa series, and the newest in her Lana's World series, Let's Have a Parade. (See this page of her website for all Erica's books.)

When I asked Erica how listening helps her write, she wrote:

Long ago, when I started writing picture books, cassette recorders were large and clunky. Tape wore out or broke. But I took my cassette recorder with me in the car. There it sat, on the passenger seat, ready to catch my barely-baked ideas as they came bumbling out. There it sat, ready to play back my rambling mass of words, the start of a long process of revision.

This was safer than putting pen to paper while driving (should writers even be issued drivers licenses?) But I realized that blathering into a tape recorder was not just for road trips. Turned out it was a useful way to tiptoe past the gauntlet of sneering critics that gather at my blank page daily, waiting to pounce.

And what a great learning device! When I discover a great picture book or early reader, I record it. And then I listen over and over - for rhythm, language, pacing. To catch the magic, to ponder what works.

My ancient cassette recorder is retired now. But the voice recorder on my iPhone is with me always, ready to catch my barely-baked ideas as they come bumbling out.

What terrific ideas.  I particularly love the idea of recording picture books and then listening to them as you drive. Thank you, Erica! (Perhaps those self-driving cars were created with writers in mind...?)

I used the word "listen" as a prompt for Poetry Friday:

DON'T LISTEN
by April Halprin Wayland 

Don't listen to them, said the anteater.

There's no use worrying about Jaguar.

There's no use working yourself into a lather

About what Jaguar will do to you.

Place your ants in neat rows.

Push the recalcitrant ones in line with a stick.

Stuff moss in both your ears.

Don't listen to their many-legged chatter about Jaguar.

It's Man

You need to worry about.

drawing and poem (c) 2016 by April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

==============================

And thank you, Donna, at Mainely Write, for hosting today!

And one more thing, Campers: consider liking our Facebook page. We'd love you to join us!

written with frost-bitten ears by April Halprin Wayland, from New York City after the SCBWI Winter Conference

1 Writerly Thing I Love

.
Howdy, Campers!

Happy Poetry Friday! My poem and the link to today's host are at the bottom.

Before we begin, I wanted to let you know about our 30-Day Boost Your Productivity Challenge, which starts on Monday, February 1st.  Read all about it here....and then join us!

Today I'm kicking off our series, Something I Love About Writing.  Our series could also be called These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

So--what is Something I Love About Writing? ...Surprise!  It's you guys! People I meet through this blog, classes, conferences, critique groups...the entire Kidlitosphere.

You're my Writerly Peeps.  You're one of my favorite things about writing. Here's an example of how you duck tape me together when I'm falling apart...

I am mucking through the thick mud of fear again surrounding my verse novel. 

Recently I wondered, What's the worst thing that could happen?  I asked this out loud around Barbara Bottner's magic table (see my poem about her magic table here.)

Barbara and our gang held onto the table (and me) as I swayed under the weight of that question. Then I knew. The worst thing that could happen is that I'll finish it but it will never get published. Or it will get published and go out of print, unnoticed. Or worse, it will be reviled by critics and readers.

Once I put it into words, my fear lost some of its power. Not all of it's power. But some.

I will finish my book, bundle it up, give it a lunch pail and send it out into the world. Then I will have my coffee and not worry about how it is doing out there. That's none of my business.

...with vanilla soy milk & stevia

 My Writerly Peeps. My besties.

Here are two more examples of how you keep me from throwing in the towel; then a poem; then we're done and you may go write for the rest of the day.

Example #1:

As some of you know, I write a poem a day and send it to my best friend. He, in turn, sends me his poem. Bruce can be brutally honest and I am grateful that he is. This week I sent him a poem about driving a truck up a mountain and wanting to park it. Hoping someone will come by to lead me up that dark, winding road. At the end of the poem I make it to the top but no one is cheering.

A poem about my fear, of course.

Here's what he wrote back:

This one is so powerful. It really is terrific.
Well done. 

And you are right in your thinking. What is the worst? It just means you have to do what you have to do. And we told students for a long time that you don't write for money or fame or accolades (though we want them desperately).
I will be at the top cheering for you.

See?

Example #2:

The other night I emailed a picture book to Barbara's group thinking it was pretty good, almost there...and they came back saying,"a mess...not working...unclear...possibilities..." The truly remarkable part of all this is that I could HEAR the rest of the comments. In the past, I would have heard "A mess..." and shut down in fear and shock, taking it as a confirmation that I am [doo-doo].

When I related this to Rebecca Gold, my other best friend and wonderful writer, she wrote back:

I love how you keep going and going and going .....

You're a REAL writer.

See?

So my favorite writing thing? My writerly peeps. Those who support me and tell me the truth.

And here's my poem (first you must sing the Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers lyrics to Favorite Things)

(Note that the box mentioned in the first verse was actually just delivered by UPS about 30 minutes ago. I got ten copies of New Year at the Pier and a nice note from my publisher saying that it's going OP. It'll stay in print on Kindle, of course, but bye-bye hardcover copies...*sigh*)

FAVORITE THING
by April Halprin Wayland
...with apologies to Hammerstein and Rodgers

Note: you must SING this. Out loud...I'll give you this hint:
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...
.

As I am writing this list of my favorites
I hear a box landing out on the pavement.
Is it a box full of butterscotch mints?
No—it's my book that's just gone out of print.
.

Five after midnight and I'm full of passion,
writing a book that I know I will cash in.
Next night my teacher says, "This is a mess."
All of the heads of her workshop shake...yes.

.

When my brain says, "All your work reeks"
When I feel like [doo-doo]
I simply remember my writerly peeps
And put off the urge...to quit.
.
poem and drawing copyright (c) 2016
by April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

Thanks for hosting Poetry Friday, Catherine, of Reading to the Core!

posted with love and a little too much coffee by April Halprin Wayland

49-Second Poetry Prompt Guaranteed to Change Your Writing

.
Howdy, Campers--Happy New Year and Happy Poetry Friday! Today's host and my (very odd) poem are below.

To start the new year--and we hope yours is copacetic thus far--we, at the brand-ndew corporate headquarters of TeachingAuthors, will each be offering a book, a tip, a tool--something which helps us read / write /create. 

The new corporate offices of TeachingAuthors.com

Ready? Hang on for the wild ride (or better: a wild write): Esther started us off in her post telling us about Shaun Levin's Writing Map, MY WRITING LIFE. Fascinating concept, sure to set your teeth on fire.

Today, it's my turn. As regular readers know, I've been an instructor in UCLA Extenstion Writers' Program since the invention of goat cheese. Recently, UCLA Extension Writers' Program invited its instructors to offer a writing tip in under one minute. The videos that have been filmed so far can be viewed here; more will be added as they're filmed, including mine--coming soon.

What's so cool about these is that when you're feeling parched, dried-out, and California-drought-ish, wondering what in heaven's name to write, or why the heck you think you can write, simply watch one of these babies and try the tip.

I especially like this 49-second tip by poet Rick Bursky. Could you do me a favor and watch it right now? Because what comes next assumes you've listened to him.

Okay--you've watched Rick? Thank you kindly.

So today's poem is the third draft of a poem inspired by his tip. It may not be for kids, it may not be much, but I was grabbing things from all over the internet and deep in the darkest corners of my brain, and man was it fun to write!

CHANGES
by April Halprin Wayland

Once upon a time, there was
a train came down the track faster than it was supposed to
its feet shoulder-width apart, 90 degrees to the target
but Froggy didn't feel like getting
a lawyer for Teresa Giudice, who was freed at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Ah, changes!
Ah, the ghastly smell of salmon which spoils so quickly in the refrigerator!
Ah, Old Dresser Redo, DIY Cloud Pillows, Easy Floating Shelves.
How we each, in our own little worlds,
carrot and stick,
the atmosphere of Mars,
water overflowing sidewalks of Hermosa Beach,
how we each change the world.

It's raining again
and there are mouse parts all over the house.
What has been your lollipop moment?
Have you thanked that person?
And they lived happily
A New, Easier Method To Use A Printer For Ink Image Transfers!
ever after

poem (c) 2016 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

TeachingAuthors hope our tips and tools will jump-start your writing year, Dear Reader. 

May this be your Year of Yes!

Watch for a related post on our Wednesday Writers' Workout on January 13th ~

Thank you, Tabatha, for hosting PF today at The Opposite of Indifference ~

posted by April Halprin Wayland with help from Eli, who was tearing up Mouse as I wrote the poem.

Eli swears he didn't do it

Fav Poetry Book 2015!

.
Howdy, Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday!  Buffy hosts today--her link is at the bottom.

The topic we TeachingAuthors are tossing around now? A favorite children's book we've read this year. Esther's weighed in with a touching picture book; I'm up to bat.

I almost went with the audio book of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time (read by the author!). This classic celebrated it's 50th anniversary three years ago, but it was in September, as I zoomed up the 405 freeway to pack up family memories, that I was transported by L'Engle's words...and her worlds.

But the book which electrified the poetry particles in my brain is Deborah Ruddell's inventive collection, The Popcorn Astronauts--And Other Biteable Rhymes, whimsically illustrated by Joan Rankin.

As soon as I read it, I searched for Ms. Ruddell on Facebook and (blush) sent her this fan mail:

Hi, Deborah! I just read The Popcorn Astronauts and I'm blown away by your oh-my-gosh-REALLY?? metaphors that are so out-of-the-box they leave me gasping. And inspired.  

Here's just a taste of how Ruddell sees at the world: fresh-popped kernels of corn are astronauts, a strawberry is royalty in a beaded suit, and raisins are wrinkled rocks with "the bold, enchanting taste of well-worn pirate socks." 

Raise your hand if you've ever struggled to describe peach skin. In fact, stop reading this and close your eyes. Try to imagine peach skin with fresh eyes. Can you describe it in a completely original way?

Okay--open your eyes..  Now, raise your hand if you came close to this: "flannelpajamaty skin."

Here's a snippet of Jama Rattigan's fabulous book review and interview of Deborah Ruddell this spring:

Jama: Which poem was the most fun to write and why? Which poem was the hardest? Do you have a favorite?

Deborah: NO poem is ever easy for me to write. I am a slow and tormented poet! The hardest part is when I think I’ve almost got something, but it’s just out of reach. That happened with “Welcome to Watermelon Lake.” I had the image of the pink lake and the pale green shore, but making that image work as a poem was a struggle. Just when I thought I finally had it made, my editor suggested a third stanza in which I introduce the seeds! Argh!

Deborah's answer makes me feel better--I'm not alone!  And yet, look how effortlessly that poem seem to flow (click to enlarge):

In the same interview, Deborah said that the poet who most inspires her is Alice Shertle.  Me, too, me, too! 

So check out Poetry Friday at Buffy's today...thanks for hosting, Buffy!...then find this book and feast on it!

P.S: Check out the brand-new SCBWI Book Launch Parties!  Here's mine, and here are 400+ more! 

posted joyously by April Halprin Wayland, with help from her elves, Monkey and Eli

3 Tips to Making a Living as a Writer & a Funny Story About Making Money as a Poet

.
Howdy, Campers ~ and Happy Poetry Friday!  My poem's below, as is the link to today's Poetry Friday round-up.

The topic we TeachingAuthors are knocking around this time is Making a Living as a Writer.

Carmela starts us off with a TeachingAuthors' Book Giveaway of the 2016 CWIM which includes two of her articles, once of which is aptly titled, Making a Living as a Writer; Esther addresses the many ways she's made writing pay...and other pay-offs that result, and our Wednesday Writing Workout, written by former TeachingAuthor Laura Purdie Salas, is titled Is Writing on Assignment Right for You?

So--what are my 3 Tips to Make a Living as a Writer?

1) Write a Classic.
2) Find a Secondary Occupation which actually pays.
3) Define Making a Living

(Hmm...maybe Define Making a Living should come first.)

from morguefile.com

And now for a story about making money as a poet.

I've sold poems to anthologies, testing services and magazines.  Between 1995 and 2011 I sold 30 poems to Carus Publishing Company (publisher of Cricket Magazine and many others). I'm going to brag here because it still makes me proud: in 2003 they asked me to write a poem for a progressive story in honor of the 30th anniversary of Cricket.

At the time, they paid $3 per line.

In 1997 I asked John D. Allen, my all-time favorite editor, if I might possibly be given a raise.

John's response: "As for $4.00 per line...well, I'm afraid we can't do that. Our policy is to keep the same pay scale for all poems.  Sorry. I hope that's not too much of a problem."

Okay, I wrote. Could you give me a free subscription to Cricket? My son was then eight years old.

He replied: "I wish I could offer you an author discount or a subscription credit against your sales, but I'm told I can't. We don't give out much of any discounts besides the early renewal one you checked on your form.  And shifting author payments toward subscriptions would create some sort of accountant's nightmare around here. (Actually, that's all a lie. I was told I could offer you any sort of discount I wanted, as long as the difference came out of my salary. So I thought, Well, I could make April's life a little easier, and it wouldn't cost me much--probably just the price of the cinnamon Pop-Tarts I was planning to buy for an afternoon snack. But then, well, one thing led to another, and to make a long story short, the Pop-Tarts were delicious.)

I loved working with John.  I loved seeing my poems in BabyBug, Ladybug, Spider and Cricket. I surrendered.  Sort of.

In 1998, I responded to his suggestion that I cut a repeated stanza from a poem he'd accepted:

"I'm so glad you like the poem, "Music Critic"! I have enclosed the poem as it reads without the repetition and also another version to see if there might be some way we could keep the repetition in the poem.  Do the new repeats make it any clearer for your readers? If not, I'd be glad to omit the second stanza. I do like the repetition and will probably re-insert it if it gets published again...but I also trust your judgment for your readers.

My husband Gary, who is a CPA (deep into Tax Season as I write this) asked me to ask you if you were going to pay me for the invisible stanza."

Here is the poem John critiqued--without the repetition:

MUSIC CRITIC

(THE OCEAN’S  OPINION)

by April Halprin Wayland

This guy drags his drum set onto the sand
so that I have a front row seat

takes off his jeans jacket

snaps his wide red suspenders

and lets loose:

he is in his space

sun is on his face

gulls in the air

clouds in his hair

                                                                                               

Go man, go! 

I clap against the shore,

rise up and give him a standing ovation 

More!

published in Cricket Magazine December 1999

© 2015 by April Halprin Wayland. Used with permission of the author, who controls all rights

This poem was subsequently awarded SCBWI's 1999 Magazine Merit Award for Poetry. (You're right, John!  I take it all back!)

*  *  *

If you haven't already done so, enter our latest Book Giveaway of the 2016 Children's Writer's & Illustrators Market

Now, click over to today's Poetry Friday on my juicy little universe ~ thanks for hosting, Heidi!

posted with love by April Halprin Wayland, who just got home after a beautiful and challenging six mile hike in Malibu followed by an electric car adventure (long story)

Book Giveaway, Author Interview with Greg Pincus & Poetry Friday!

.
Howdy, Campers!  
There's lots going on today, including a funny math poem (fractions!) for Poetry Friday--so let's get started!

First of all, thank you, Buffy, for hosting PF!

It is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to my friend,
Greg Pincus.

 

Greg's a poet, novelist, screenwriter, volunteer elementary school librarian, and social media consultant. He’s also a blogger, writing about children’s literature and poetry at GottaBook (including his annual Poetry Month feature, 30 Poets/30 Days.) 

Through the wonders of social media, he’s sold poetry, helped himself land a book deal, ended up in the New York Times (!), the Washington Post, School Library Journal (multiple times), and spoken to students all around the U.S.

Greg's poems for children can be playful, deceptively smart, and tender, too.  They are always well-crafted--his rhyme is pitch perfect.

But more important than all of this: Greg Pincus is a compassionate and incredibly giving person, both personally and professionally.  There is never a time Greg posts on our Los Angeles SCBWI listserv that he isn't sharing a link about our industry or practical tips on using social media or something equally helpful.  He's constantly lifting up all of us.  It's never about Greg; it's always about what he can give to you.  

Greg Pincus is on the right, helping an SCBWI member
over a publishing dilemma.

Greg is also very funny.  And so is his debut middle grade novel, The Fourteen Fibs of Gregory K (Arthur A. Levine Books) -- which you could win!  See below!

From Publisher's Weekly:
Everyone in Gregory's family adores math—everyone, that is, except Gregory. While his parents and siblings live for the yearly City Math contest, Gregory prefers writing, especially poetry...Gregory is a buoyant narrator whose extreme math phobia and obsessive love of pie (and definitely not pi) give his character an idiosyncratic shine. Hyperbolic details, like his mother's "Weird Wednesday" family dinners, are interspersed with passages from Gregory's extra credit math journal, where his ruminations on the Fibonacci sequence and "Fib poetry" give readers access to deeper reflections on mathematics, metaphor, and the places where they might overlap. Pincus's story explores struggles with friends, family, and learning while remaining exuberant and relatable, a winning equation.

The real Greg actually invented the “Fib” — a form of poetry based on the Fibonacci sequence — read about it at his original Fib post, and in The New York Times and at Poetry Foundation. (Remember I know him!  I've had had actual coffee with him!)

Pretty impressive bio and review, right? So without further delay, let's hear from the author himself! 
So, Greg--how did you officially become a TeachingAuthor?

Inertia! I was spending time as a volunteer elementary school librarian, so I was reading/working with a lot kids already. As I published my poetry and then The 14 Fibs, it was just a natural outgrowth to get into classes and not just talk about poetry and the like but teach it... workshop it... explore it. So, I did!

What's a problem you've seen students having when writing poetry?

I've found that many students simply don't know how to start writing a poem - as though there's some code they haven't been taught or some permission they need. So, besides giving permission to write a lousy draft of a poem, I also work with them on looking around wherever they are and seeing something... anything, really... that's of interest to them. And if that fails to spark an interest, we look internally, too, because there's always a feeling to write about. So far, a bit of gentle guidance has always been enough.

And when did you know you were a writer?

I always loved to write, yet I never really thought about it separate from school work. Until, that is, I was part of a writing competition - the Ready Writing Contest, competing against other kids my age (which was around 12 at the time). Yes, there I was with other kids who liked writing! That was exciting by itself... and then there was the fact that it was a competition which, well, at the time I could be a little competitive.

The funny thing is that I remember the contest being inspiring, but I haven't a clue how I did in it. And that's really as it should be, as writing isn't a competition (though since I can't remember, I'm guessing I didn't win... and lived to tell new tales anyway).

What's on the horizon for you besides pie? (There's a lot of pie eating in Greg's book...)

I'm working on a new novel to join The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. and working on a whole assortment of poems (Fibs included) and picture book manuscripts, too. Plus, I'm trying to get into the classroom as often as possible so I can share my love of poetry with anyone who will listen!

I've gotta ask, Greg...how did you decide to name your character Gregory?

Great question!  Arthur (his editor, Arthur A. Levine) came up with the title The 14 Fibs of Gregory K. when we first talked about the book in 2006. There was no manuscript at the time. Instead, there was a vague idea about a kid who writes Fibs and tells fibs. A lot of my poems are written from the point of view of a kid who was unnamed... but I used to write those poems as Gregory K. instead of Greg Pincus. We decided the book should about that kid, then Arthur used "Gregory K." as part of the title. I thought it sounded great.

That I happen to be Gregory K, too, is fun and certainly relates to how the name came to be, but it wasn't actually me making the choice! Editors do a lot - including, sometimes, naming the main character for you. Who knew?

  Greg at his book launch
Click here to watch his entire book launch, which he streamed live! 
(I'm sure Greg will agree with me when I say
you can skip the first 40 minutes)

What poem will you share for Poetry Friday, Greg?

Here's a poem from The 14 Fibs (which, remember, you can win--see below!):

THE FRACTION STORE
by Greg Pincus

I bought a quarter pound of eighths.
I bought an ounce of thirds.
I filled a bag with seventeenths that I will feed the birds.

I found a ninth of thirty-eighths.
I grabbed a single half.
The sixths and fifths were one-fourth off, and that caused me to laugh.

As I prepared to pay my bill,
Well, that’s when things got strange.
Although they’re selling fractions there, they cannot figure change.
poem © 2013 Greg Pincus. All rights reserved

Thank you so much for stopping by today, Greg. We look forward to posting your Wednesday Writing Workout right here on January 15th!

To win a copy of The 14 Fibs of Gregory K (the book trailer is below), enter via Rafflecopter. This giveaway ends at the end of the day, December 31. The lucky winner will be notified after the first of the year. Good luck!  And may you all eat pie!

Dear Campers, this is the last post on Teaching Authors until 2014.  Have a wonderful rest-of-December and watch for our posts beginning January 5th--we promise to help kickstart your writing engines in the new year!

There is so much to share with you about Greg and his book I've added some extras below, beginning with the book trailer...

If you're anything like me, you're completely overwhelmed in life and online and should be congratulated for taking the time to read this far.  Still, consider watching this 5:55 minute video on Greg's website about Fibonacci in nature.  SO MUCH FUN and jaw-droppingly amazing (I am as amazed by the girl who created it as by the video itself--how old is she???)

Need more? For a fun and wonderfully in-depth interview of Greg, complete with a video of him reading his poem,  “I Went to the Farm Where Spaghetti Is Grown,” paddle over to Renee LaTulippe's fabulous blog, No Water River. 

Greg's dog, Mocha...who's looking a little worried...
Where's my pie?

posted with a wave g'bye to 2013 by April Halprin Wayland