October 16, 2009

A year ago, I urged you to sign up for the free Muse Online Writer’s Conference. It’s been running this week, October 12-18, and my brain is over-stuffed at the moment. (Next time I won’t sign up for 28 different workshops!)

I’ve attended lectures on voice, overcoming creative blocks, writing tight, plot points and tension, enjoyed Q & A with agents and editors, pitched my middle-grade novel to an agent and got a “go ahead,” and so much more. Forums contain lecture notes and assignments, plus postings of lessons with feedback. The handouts were especially good, and I have a small binder full.

It was also especially helpful to me this year for health reasons to be able to sit in my good office chair, sleep in my own bed, eat my own food, and get up and walk around when necessary. I Skyped with a writer friend a couple of times this week (who was also “attending” the conference via her computer.) Discussing some of the workshops was helpful.

Don’t Miss Out!

It’s been a full week, and admittedly I got behind on the assignments. Next year, if I’m lucky enough to get one of the 1,000+ spots available, I will have to be more selective. I was, admittedly, like a kid in a candy store–where the chocolate was all free!

There are so many wonderful things about the Muse conference, and directors Lea Schizas and Carolyn Howard-Johnson are to be commended for the tremendous amount of work they’ve done to give writers this chance.  I’ll let you know when it’s time to sign up for next year’s conference. You don’t want to miss this opportunity.

February 20, 2009

“Don’t teach or preach–just tell a good story. Readers want to be entertained–not taught.” I’ve heard that statement many times over the years, at writing conferences and in articles for writers. I have mixed feelings about this.

I don’t like (or read) preachy fiction, but good fiction with a message doesn’t have to preach, does it? I’ll go even further. I don’t believe you can write fiction without teaching something. Children will learn from your fiction. What are kids learning from your stories?

Caught or Taught?

Fiction is like parenting, where more is caught than taught. If you had parents who said, “Never lie” and even punished you for lying–yet cheated on income tax and instructed people to tell callers they weren’t at home–you learned to lie. You learned by watching. How many of us catch ourselves saying things or reacting in harmful ways (harmful to ourselves or others) because we had a parent who demonstrated this quality? (It’s often something we swore we would never do!)

In the same way, I contend that children learn from fiction. I think writers for children need to think about this. I’m not advocating preachy stories where an old wiser soul tells little Johnny or Susie how to behave or what to think or say. I can’t stand stories like that. But I disagree with those who say you should just write to entertain. Why? Because you may not intend to teach anything, but kids will learn from your books and stories.

By Osmosis

Books change lives. As a child, books become part of you like no other reading ever will. And I think all fiction teaches something.

The theme of your book may hint at what you’re teaching, what young readers may “catch” from your story. It may be to “look before you leap” or that “love can overcome hardship” or “laugh and the world laughs with you” or “trials can make you bitter or better.”

Unfortunately (again, in my opinion) some heroes/heroines in children’s books teach things like “it’s cute to mouth off to parents” or “win arguments with sarcastic put-downs.” Authors don’t come out and teach this, but (as with parenting), more is caught than taught. If you’ve done your job as a writer, your characters seem like flesh-and-blood people to kids. Your readers will “catch” things from them whether you set out to teach them anything or not.

Think back to books that impacted you as a child. What did you learn from fiction? Some favorites still on my shelves include:

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: I learned how families pulled together in hard times, how to grieve, how Jo’s temper cost her dearly, but also how her imagination and writing gave her such joy.
• The Secret Language by Ursula Nordstrom: I learned how to make friends and a fun way to deal with loneliness.
• Sensible Kate and Blue Willow by Doris Gates: I learned that being sensible or kind can be much more important than being pretty.

What books from your childhood made an impression on you? Why? What did you learn from them?

October 15, 2008

February 22, 2008

The pain in my side from coughing turned out to be a broken rib. Each cough is a big OWEEE. But the rib cage belt and painkillers are helping, and the cough is getting better.

Today I am going to take this opportunity to point you to a wonderful resource for children’s writers: Write4Kids.com. Scroll down on the home page for a long list of very helpful articles. They also have a terrific newsletter, Children’s Book Insider, and they’ve posted sample articles here. If you’re a children’s writer, you need this resource!