“Colorful Me” Field Trip

Brown
My face.
Milk-tea brown.
I am brown. I am beautiful.
Brown.
Your face.
Sienna brown
or cocoa brown,
café con leche brown or
radiant ocher brown.
Our hands, our fingers.
Cinnamon brown
or rich coffee brown,
sandalwood brown or rosy adobe brown.
Our ankles, our feet.
Nutmeg brown or mocha brown,
dark chocolate brown or tawny golden brown.
Our eyes.
Luminous topaz brown or sweet cappuccino brown,
shiny sepia brown or twinkling brown.
Our hair.
Spruce brown or bay brown,
russet brown or deep tamarind brown.
We are brown. We are beautiful.

From Tan to Tamarind:Poems About the Color Brown by Malathi Michelle Lyengar

My second field trip with Open Books was based on the book Tan to Tamarind and was dedicated to the idea that no matter what color is your skin, you are BEAUTIFUL! Each poem in the book celebrates different shades of the color brown  and the role it plays in many human experiences and rituals.

At the end of the workshop the 4th graders created their own poems describing the colors they associate themselves with.

Before writing their poems, the kids learnt about simile and metaphor because they had to craft metaphors to write the poems. Here are just a few examples of the beautiful descriptions students came up with:

“My lips are a smooth peach.”

“My hair is a bright morning sun.”

“My nails are a yellow sweet fresh melons which my mother brought from the market.”

“My eyes are two green ripe apples from my garden.”

It is always a great pleasure for me to work with children and inspire them to open up and share beautiful ideas they have!

Adventures In Creative Writing Field Trip

Pencils raised in the air: “I am a writer! I have important stories to tell! I will not stop writing!” With this Author’s Pledge proclaimed by writing coaches and their students finished my first Adventures In Creative Writing Field Trip with Open Books. It was themed “Celebrating Our Loved Ones” and involved 4^th graders from Monroe Elementary.  The task of the writing coaches-volunteers was to guide the students and help write their own small piece of prose about a person/thing they love at the end of the trip. Not only did the kids have to compose a story, but first learn the ways to depict a character. Funny and engaging field trip coordinator Julia talked about direct and indirect description, protagonists and antagonists in stories. In order to better illustrate the material students read and discussed extracts from “Matilda” and “Charlotte’s Web” where the main characters were masterfully described. As a practice before individual writing each group of students got a task to describe a random person on the picture given by Julia  – come up with his/her occupation, hobbies, likes and dislikes etc. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the kids’ boundless fantasy and enthusiasm to participate in the conversation. Their eyes lit up when the time came to write about their special people because they were given a chance to express their own thoughts, write about their own life. To guide them in the right direction, we gave the kids worksheets to fill out with questions to help the students “dig up their story”.  It was particularly amazing to connect with the shy ones and let them open up to you and turn on their imagination. I really enjoyed working individually with each student in my group and developing their story into a concise and engaging piece of writing. All stories were very touching, mostly about their teachers and mothers and showed an emotional depth of young people. At the end of the workshop ten students wearing a pencil costume (like on the picture) read their work to the applause of the audience.

The kids left proud of themselves, knowing that they became published writers-Open Books will type all the stories and make a book out of them. Copies will be given to the school and also distributed in the Open Books bookstore. Each student was also given a coupon for one free book which they could use at the Open Books bookstore and a personal journal where they could keep on writing.

All in all, it was a very fulfilling experience for me. I will keep you posted about other field trips I will take part in.

Surviving As a Freelancer: Tough But Not Impossible.

You know how they say you shouldn’t quit your day job to become a full-time writer? Well, last Thursday at David Wolinsky’s workshop at “Open Books Chicago” on freelancing I met three(!) people who did exactly the opposite – they quit their well-paid corporate jobs to pursue another career: writing. I left empowered and encouraged to start investing more in the dream of mine: dedicate all my time to writing for kids and freelancing as a travel journalist rather than working for someone 9-5.

David started with describing things as they are in a freelance world: not promising at all. He said that nowadays people think that “freelancing” means writing for free. It’s not a joke, and some editors hope in the future that’s how it will be. Layoffs, buyouts and other scary things like content aggregators(special software that accumulates data from various websites for an article thus eliminating a necessity to hire a person to do a research and all “writing” in this case comes to “content architecture”-combining pieces of already written information) await everyone who dares to enter the industry.

So, what if you still want to write? It’s tough, but not impossible!

-Find gigs, not assignments. It’s the closest thing to security freelancers can get.

- Cultivate variety, meaning:where you’re working; are you doing it full-time? subjects you’re covering.

-Start publishing your stuff online. The more, the better.

- Internships are another great way to enter the industry.

- Set goals, deadlines, specific places to write for, certain amount of money you want to earn(pocket-money? legit second income?).

David stressed that to get started in a freelance world, it’s crucial to find people whose work you respect and reach out via email and let them know you enjoy their writing. It can look something like this(from David’s presentation):

SUBJECT: RE: Your (Smithsonian list) on (tall building)

Dear Gervasius,

My name is(your name) and I’m a writer and a (day job) in Chicago. I came across your(publication piece) and just wanted to let you know (your opinion). I especially enjoyed your (observation) that the (Superdome) resembled (a can opener). I hadn’t thought of it before, but now it’s all I can think of!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

(Reader Readerson).

Give them 7-10 days and if they don’t answer-move on.Most probably they will if you mention that you are a writer as well:) Networking is a key in the freelancing world. They might get you in touch with an editor whom you can pitch.

David also mentioned a great way to find out what magazines are currently interested in:  they have a Media Kit link on their websites where they mention a list of things they plan to publish soon.

Thank you “Open Books Chicago” and David for conducting such a useful workshop!

By the way, my first volunteering field trip with “Open Books” will take place this upcoming Thursday, May 24th and I will keep you posted.

For all those who want to make an impact on a child’s life through literacy promotion and who live in Chicago, click this link and enroll in volunteering with “Open Books” now!

Finding time to write is easy as one, two, three!

Recently I visited an open house presentation at Story Studio Chicago – a growing community for writers in Greater Chicago Area which focuses on creative and business writing classes as well as customized writing instruction. This time a workshop was about how to find time to write for those who complain they are completely overwhelmed with other responsibilities in life. Our presenter shared three effective ways to do so:

1. Write in “wedges”. For instance, you have a goal to finish 90.000 words novel as soon as possible. You know that in one day you can complete a piece of 600 words. If you dedicate 5 days per week to your novel then you can have 3.000 words in a week. It will take 30 weeks(or 7.5 months) to finish 90.000 words manuscript. If you spend 2.5 months on revising then in a year your novel would be complete. 600 words a day should be easy for any writer and can be written anywhere from 20 min-hour. You can spend 10 minutes in the morning, lunch time, and evening writing 200 words every time. At the workshop we did a writing exercise to show that it’s possible to write 200 and more words in 10 minutes if you write non-stop. The main trick is not to pay attention to any distractions and not to take pen off the paper(or hands off laptop keyboard:).

2. Make yourself accountable for your writing progress. One way of doing this is to have a “writing buddy” -  a person who can supervise your writing process and make sure you stick to your goals, and, of course, read your work. Another way is to have a critique group once per week or three times a month. In this case you will enhance your writing discipline by making sure you have something to present at the next critique session.  As for me, my best friend and co-author of several pieces is my “writing buddy”. I tell her how much I want to finish in a week and she controls me by sending, hmm.. not friendly emails if I fail to do so:)

3. Create a rewards system. If you finished 3 chapters in a week and are satisfied with the results – treat yourself! Buy that dress you like, go to spa-salon or take a weekend trip. The most important thing is to keep yourself excited about completing your goals.

 

Back to childhood in search of an immense source of creativity.

My first “books” written when I was 5 and 6 y.o.

Some kids liked to spend their days at the playground, some couldn’t be pulled away from videogames – I was writing stories. I learned to read and write earlier than a majority of my peers which I owe to my grandmother. My favorite part of the day since I was 5 was reading time. I loved to get cozy in my room and immerse myself into the world where characters from Grimm’s fairy-tales or Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers” were my best friends. At some point I found myself composing stories of my own. I turned them into small books made of folded paper and created my own “illustrations” as you can see on the photo:) (Mind that they are written in Russian which is my native language). Recently when going through the boxes with my childhood stuff I came upon these precious pieces of memory. Among the “books” were: a fairy-tale about a magician who decides to teach a kid disobeying his parents a lesson; a story about a sailor in love with a beautiful girl and his evil secret twin; a volume with epic adventures(because there were 100 pages total:) of a lost puppy in search for his home. The last one was actually turned into a play at the local children’s theatre and I remember I had to write a screenplay with the help of the director. Besides happiness from my discovery, I also felt gratefulness – I finally was able to finish a middle-grade novel I was working on. I was debating between two endings and couldn’t decide for a long time already. Then, reading the ending of the story about the magician which appeared to have a similar plot with my novel, I realized – that was the ending I had to work on! I grabbed my laptop and in three hours the first draft was finished! In addition, a few weeks ago I visited Margaret Mitchell’s house and was surprised to find out that she began her literary journey when she was seven. As a teenager she was writing stories about Civil War and the South; scenes from many of them were later included in “Gone With The Wind”. Perhaps some of you have similar first “masterpieces” hidden somewhere in the attic of your parent’s house. If you find them, I’m sure you’ll get an incredible wave of energy for your current work and an inspiration to start a new novel, because reading your first scribbles will be like a magical conversation with a childhood YOU who was already a great story-teller:)

Groovy SCBWI Summer Conference in Los Angeles’12

    You are a chilren’s book author and you would looove to dance at the poolside costume party and to mingle three days in a row with publishing industry insiders? Then SCWBI Summer Conference in Los Angeles is definitely something to consider when you plan your next writing getaway!  In August 2012 I was blessed to attend it and want to share this experience with you.

        I will start by saying that it was my first SCBWI conference. As all newbies I was a little bit nervous – there was no familiar face among 800+ people that attended. However, after a new attendees orientation where we were explained how things “will work” and were encouraged to get acquainted with each other all uneasiness disappeared. We also had a bird sign on our name badge so other attendees were extra attentive with us:)

Besides this, there were plenty opportunities to mingle and make friends with other writers as well as editors/agents. One could get a feedback about his/her manuscript at Peer Group Critiques; enjoy Yoga sessions at the pool of the hotel the conference was at; get books signed and talk with published authors or browse entries in Portfolio showcase; attend Illustrator, International Social, or LGBT Q&A. Being originaly from Ukraine, I naturally couldn’t miss International Social and was blessed to meet colleagues from Canada, Australia, Great Britain, Japan, France, and many other countries. It started three friendships for me with people living so far away, but sharing the same passion – passion for children’s literature!

Me with two Regional Advisers from Southern Breeze Chapter-Heather Montgomery and Jo Kittinger

On the second day The Hippie Hop Poolside party gave everyone a chance to get loose and take part in a Flesh Mob. Everyone danced their feet off in hippie costumes(they even had a contest for the best one!) to the groove of 60′s.

The faculty of the conference consisted of the most knowlegable and successful figures in our field- Arthur Levine, Tony Diterlizzi, Linda Pratt, Jill Corcoran, Matthew Kirby, Krista Marino, Dan Gutman, just to name a few.

Among the keynote speeches I heard, Ruta Sepetys’ “You Can’t Break The Broken: Writing Emotional Truth” was the most inspiring and touching. She told the story behind her novel “Between Shades of Gray”. Her father was a military officer in Lithuania and knew that Stalin was coming for him. He and his wife escaped and made it to a refugee camp before the Soviets got to them. Only in 1949 they made it safely to the US. That was the only piece of information Ruta had about her ancestry. To learn more, one day she flew to Lithuania to meet with some of her father’s relatives. She discovered that when the Soviets came for her father and discovered he had escaped, they took twelve members of their family and deported them to Siberia as a punishment. Only one of them survived. She faced a shocking truth: her family’s freedom in the US was paid for by the relatives left behind. Since then Ruta wanted to write about the experience of her people, Lithuanians, in the Soviet prison system. But she needed to do an in depth research first. In order to experience the brutality of what her relatives had gone through, she went to a Latvian prison for a stimulation-against everyone’s advice! She was beaten and imprisoned there for almost 24 hours. One of her quotes that lingered with me is: “Share the truth behind your fiction so that you can make it better for another human being.”

The workshop that I enjoyed the most was Krista Marino’s “The Importance Of Firsts”(Krista is an Executive Editor at Delacorte Press). We all know that what hooks the reader from the very beginning is that intriguing first line, first page or even first five pages. Krista gave advice on how to make them more appealing. She pointed that the first sentence has to: inspire to question; introduce your main character; give sence of setting; establish voice of the story. She said that common mistakes are: authors start with the weather; they start describing characters who are looking in the mirror; address the readers directly; let their protagonist wake up from a dream. The first page needs to build more tension so the reader will go on asking questions. It should make a hint or introduce the main problem and continue introducing the protagonist. The first page most importantly has to establish the story’s setting, genre and tone. In the first five pages, Krista said, the tone of the book should be kept. There shouldn’t be any changes of POV or dialogue out of space(assign pre-setting and characters). She mentioned that common mistake that she sees is that the authors tend to introduce too many characters at one time and often wander off to tell the back story in the beginning. These tips helped me to rewrite the first page of a novel I was working on.

Bonnie Bader(Editor-in-Chief of Grosset and Dunlap and Price Stern Sloan) gave an invalubale insight on a niche in publishing market that is quite empty nowadays: transitional readers. She said there are not enough books for kids whose reading levels have advanced beyond easy readers but who are not yet ready for full-length juvenile fiction/nonfiction(kindergarten-2nd grade). These transitional books usually have up to 100 pages of text and large, easy-to-read typefaces. They have corky, memorable characters and simple plot. An example would be “Captain Underpants”.

 I will wrap it up with the best writing advice I got  from Tony Diterlizzi at the conference (author of “In Search Of Wondla”): “Remind yourself of childhood. Write what a 6-10-12-15(choose necessary) year old YOU would want to read!”

In front of a huge bookshop we had. I got home literally with an extra bag of books:)

Golden Kite Luncheon and Awards.

SCBWI conferences: an invaluable resource of knowledge and inspiration for writers of all levels.

          Joining SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) two years ago was a smart decision that I made as a pre-published writer, since I exposed myself to a professional network and got access to up-to-date information about a publishing world. One of the benefits of being a member is a chance to attend conferences (international and regional). This is an excellent way for a starting writer to improve his/her skills and get closer to agents/editors/publishers.

             During past two years I’ve attended quite a few conferences and meetings and would like to share what might be useful to know. I’ll start with the most recent one I’ve been to – Springmingle’13(SCBWI Spring Conference for Southern Breeze Chapter (includes states of AL/MS/GA)) that took place 22-24th February, 2013 in Atlanta, GA.
For the first-time conference attendees my advice would be to research conference faculty beforehand. Usually it consists of major publishing houses’ editors and literary agents as well as professional writers and illustrators. Check out their bios and what they are currently looking for(for editors/agents) and a list of published books (for writers/illustrators) so you’ll choose in advance which of split sessions besides general sessions to attend in order to learn what you’re specifically interested in. At the beginning of each conference there is also a panel where each of the faculty members presents him/her.
This time the faculty consisted of Jill Corcoran (Literary Agent at Herman Agency), Katherine Jacobs (Editor at Roaring Brook Press), Diane Hess (Editor at Scholastic Books), Beck Mcdowell (Author), Carmen Agra Deedy (Author), Nikki Grimes (Author), and Chad Beckerman (Art Director at Abrams Books).
Springmingle conference started off with an inspiring keynote speech by a renown Carmen Agra Deedy (author of The Library Dragon, The Yellow Star, Martina The Beautiful Cockroach, The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale, and 14 Cows for America). She described how she came to realize her talent and love for books even though she hated reading as a child (she was diagnosed at some point with dyslexia) and dealt with cultural barrier since she was originally from Cuba and came to the US as a refugee in 1964. I quote:”Excellence (in writing) is not only about passion, but also about doggedness!”
Nikki Grimes (author of Bronx Masquerade, Dark Sons, The Road to Paris) was talking next about an importance of patience in the writing world. Being an “impatient perfectionist” as she called herself, Nikki said that it’s vital for a writer not to be in such a rush so that he/she settles for a good story, instead of a great one. Sometimes we have a great idea; however, we lack skills to write it down and thus can ruin the whole project. She gave an example of her “patience battle” when she was creating novel “Jazzman Notebooks”. Working mainly in verse, it was hard for her switch to prose at first. Her editor told her to “just keep on writing and you’ll figure it all out”. Which she did:) Nikki focused on small pieces instead of the whole project and became more comfortable with prose with time. She also gave advice not to revise until after the first draft is completed.
Dianne Hess with Scholastic pointed out two interesting things. 1. Digital age pushes more publishers to make sure their books are available as eBooks. Being so, Scholastic launched Storia eReading application recently. One can create an account and buy books for all kids’ levels (birth-18) and price ranges. All Storia eBooks include an age-appropriate dictionary that instantly provides definitions using text, images, and optional Read-to-Me narration. Other standard features can include a highlighter and note-taking functions. 2. Parents and teachers are interested to see more books that support Common Core Program, the new educational standards the goal of which is for students to aim “for college and career readiness”. On a sales and marketing end, it could mean a peaked interest in high-concept picture books, historical fiction, biographies, and works representing diverse cultures.
Katherine Jacobs during her session “Plot and Pacing” compared two types of structure used in a manuscript: Freytag’s Pyramid and The Three Acts Structure. Freytag’s Pyramid stands for how we are all used to divide a book into “pyramid-forming” parts – exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement. In this case exposition and denouement, rising action and falling action should have same or similar length respectively. Katherine underlined that nowadays The Three Acts structure is encouraged to be used more, especially in screenwriting, in order to create a dramatic, life-like writing. If you could tell your story in 120 minutes, then Act 1 where we find out what the main problem of the story is should be told in 30 minutes. Act 2 should occupy around 70 minutes and must include the following: the complication and the destruction of the protagonist’s plan. In Act 3 the resolution of the problem should be told in 20 minutes.
Finally, a dialogue between an author Beck McDowell and her agent Jill Corcoran was very helpful for those writers seeking an agent. They talked about mutual expectations between two parties. For Beck, the most important features in her agent are: professionalism; enthusiasm about what she is writing about; being responsive, approachable, nurturing, flexible, and financially savvy. Jill gave advice on what questions to ask an agent who offers you a representation: How much do you edit? How much will you be in touch with me? Who makes a final decision when selling the book to a publishing house?

I also found out  that Jill Corcoran recently co-started “A Path to Publishing Workshops” – workshops via a powerful interactive video chat platform that allows you to not only watch presentations but also participate with faculty directly. You can find more about it on her blog. I’ve already signed up for the one on March 6th,2013 with Walden Pond Press Editors.

Besides all of these useful sessions, Springmingle had a bookshop where one could purchase signed books of published authors in the region and sometimes even mingle with them:) Among my precious findings were Beck McDowell’s “This Is Not a Drill” in which readers are allowed into the minds of two high school students who are volunteering in a classroom when a crazed parent with a gun holds the young students, the high school students and the teacher hostage; and Janice Hardy’s “The Shifter” in which Nya, an orphan who has a gift – with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body – is struggling to stay alive and save her sister during war. I used both books to research character development because both authors succeeded in creating an incredible emotional depth of their characters’ inner worlds.
I also took advantage of both “written only” and “formal face-to-face” critiques. You will be able to read an article on my impressions about each of them in Summer edition of Southern Breeze Newsletter.

In the next blog posts I will continue with an International Summer conference’12 I attended in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, go ahead and treat yourself for the next writer’s conference!

Volunteering in a local bookstore is an excellent way for beginning writers to observe their audience-kids, get creative with them and, of course, get some publicity. And you get to read books as much as you wish for free!:)

They say independent bookstores thrive to survive nowadays. It’s true only to some extent. “Open Books” in Chicago, IL that  I visited recently is an example of how a passionate work of volunteers through engaging programs can create a competing alternative to major bookstores not only because of the price of the books, but because of an extra value it creates for children and their parents. “Open Books” is a non-profit organization, which means almost all of its employees are volunteers. All profits from book sales are used to fund various educational and literacy programs.

It impressed me how many books the store had in every genre and for kids of all ages! The most amazing thing was that all the books were donated! During the time I was in the store, four new boxes of books were brought in.

If you are from Chicago or an area nearby, it might be interesting to learn how you can volunteer and get closer to your potential audience in your community. Others can do long-distance volunteering with the “Open Books” or you can see which programs this bookstore has and find similar in your local venues.

The Store Manager Kevin took time to explain me about four major volunteering opportunities this bookstore provides. They are as following:

1. Book Buddies. Being in a bookstore, I talked to volunteer Joan who did this a year ago. She was paired with a second-grader boy, and read books with him for over a year. She said, at first she would bring a box of books at the meeting and would spread them on the table in front of him. The boy  would pick which book they would read. After she learned that stories about Spongebob excited him, she would bring similar books to their “buddy readings”. It helped the boy to be passionate about reading and more consistent with the time he spent on it. Joan said that she noticed definite improvement in his reading techniques during a short period of time because she was always there to correct him when needed or explain a hard word. These meetings are usually held twice a week.

2. VWrite is a long-distance volunteering that can be done via emails or phone. It’s concentrated mostly on post-high school coaching on business writing (i.e. job applications, resume writing).

3. ReadThenWrite. This program is done by volunteering in specific classrooms in public schools. It’s a sort of a book club with a unique flavor. Members of the club meet every week to read a book. It’s usually picked up by the kids. Literacy coaches make sure it’s related to a high school life. The second time they meet that week they focus on writing their own pieces which would be similar to the book they are reading with the help of the coaches. Kids also have a chance to publish their work.  They choose the pieces they want to see in print, and the bookstore publishes a compilation book with lulu.com.  “Open Books” then has an Author Event several times per semester when children present their book and make a public reading on the “stage” of the boostore. Every child-author gets a copy of the book;  it’s also sold in the store. Currently 3 schools participate in this program. Next Author Events: launching of the book “It’s All About  Awesome Poets” from Fairfield Academy will take place on February 7, 2013 at 3:30 pm in the bookstore; February 20, 2013 4:30-6 pm  7^th and 8^th grade students of Mitchell school will present an anthology of memoirs “Now You Know Us” inspired by David Klass’ s novel “You Don’t Know Me”.

4. Field Trips. 2-hour writing workshops are held in the classrooms at the bookstore and are also led by volunteering adult writers.  At the end of the workshop kids get to perform their work and get a feedback from their peers and a professional coach. There is a small entry cost; however, at the end of every meeting each child gets one coupon for a free book in the store.

Store volunteering opportunities are also available. Each volunteer is given three slots a month to choose from. Responsibilities will include assisting customers, making inventory (systemizing, shelving of the books), ranking the books, and many other.  To apply for any volunteering opporunity, just go to the bookstore website and fill out the form. After they contact you, you’ll be invited to attend one of their orientations where you can choose which days and hours you’ll work. Store volunteering is a great way to see what kind of books  in your specific genre kids like to read. And imagine what impact you might have on children in your community by simply spending time with them and reading!

 

I already signed up for the volunteering in the store and can’t wait to start!

I hope you’ll also grab the opportunity and engage yourself in an amazing world of children’s literature in your local bookstore!