How Writing a Nano Novel is Different than “Normal” Novel Writing

On the ride to NCCAT with Joyce Hostetter, my fellow presenter, we talked about our NaNoWriMo books. This is my first foray into historical fiction; this is Joyce's fifth book. Her story is about a teenager who for unexpected reasons finds himself working in a mental hospital in the 40's. I was curious to know how writing a book within the framework of one month has been a different experience than how she normally writes her books.

"Before I started NaNo I actually used "Create a Character" from Teaching The Story." (Of course I was delighted to hear that!) "It pushed me to identify major people in my character's life and formative events and helped me to know his back story. I don't usually intentionally sit down and brainstorm about my character first; usually I just discover my characters as I go along.

"I haven't had as much time to research as I would have liked," Joyce admitted. "I have books on my shelves that I haven't even had a minute to read. For example, I want to read the memoirs of a mental hospital employee from WWII but I've been so busy trying to write that I haven't even been able to contact him yet.

"The other difference is that before I had high speed internet connection and the distractions of Facebook and blogging, I would just get up every morning to write. Now, I get up and check my e-mail, and troll around the web and it is all very distracting. NaNoWriMo has helped me to remember what it feels like to create a character and to have my mood lifted by the writing process itself. It energizes me. After recently experiencing the tediousness of proofing the copyedits for Comfort, the sequel to Blue, it is exciting to have a new story and a fresh new character."

Joyce and I became so engrossed in talking about our experiences with NaNoWriMo, that we missed our exit coming here. Fortunately, we figured it out before we drove too many miles out of our way. Get two writers together and that's what happens! But we arrived with plenty of time to set up and lead 24 teachers in the process of exploring, "Is there a Children's Book in You?"

This is Joyce sharing how to create characters with voice. Hopefully a character who doesn’t miss her exit driving along I-40 West in the Appalachian Mountains!

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A Writing Lesson Plan for November 14

I'm giving all of the teachers out there a present for this Friday. Since Saturday November 15 is "I Love to Write Day," take a minute and click on the link on the first paragraph on that site. If you don't find a novel writing idea that will fit your classroom, why don't you look at MIGUEL ANGEL ARENAS HARO's website. At the IRA's 22^nd World Congress on reading in Costa Rica he placed a large white strip of paper on the floor and let it snake throughout the conference hall. He then invited participants to write poems on it. "The Giant Poem is very classical," he was quoted saying in the Oct/Nov issue of Reading Today. "It puts the paper close to people and gives them a chance to read their own words."

Why not try creating a giant poem that meanders down the hall of your school? Or how about one that goes around the perimeter of your school cafeteria or up and down the bleachers of the gym?

As for me, I think I'll celebrate by trying to add another 2000 words to my novel. It is now at 14,317 words and has a new working title: Half the Truth.

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Literary Odds and Ends

Since working on NaNo depletes my brain, this blog will be a consortium of quotes from other people who are inspiring me at the moment. Appropriate for writers as well as teachers, I hope these words inspire you too:

This is how I feel when I am writing: "Writing a first draft is like creating clay out of nothing, just dirt and water." John Green, winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature for Looking for Alaska.

This is what I struggle with (see last post):

"For the same reason that active verbs are generally better than passive verbs, a lively present tense will beat a sodden past tense every time. It's the difference between a saunter and a trudge." James Kilpatrick, "Why because? Since is sounds better, that's why," November 8, 2008 column.

This is what I have to remember: "I firmly believe the story knows itself and the really good stuff just pops up when we let down our guard." Joyce Hostetter, author of Blue and Healing Water.

This is what I'm doing now and later:

"Of course we [Joyce is also in the middle of NaNO] can layer in what we know for now but we don't have to know everything. We can leave _____________s for filling in later or make up something totally not accurate. I do have some sensory details and little descriptions of what is going on around my character but I expect to have tons of stuff to layer in later (and lots to take out)."

This is what I have to think about:

"Novels that last and please readers are written because the novelist is intoxicated by the delight and the endlessly renewable joy that comes from engaging with imaginary characters—with story; and that engagement always begins with reading; and if it catches you, it never lets go. Write a novel if you want to win a competition, or impress your friends, or possibly make some money—do so by all means. But if you're not a lover of stories, a passionate and devoted reader, don't expect your novel to please many readers." Phillip Pullman – from his NaNo Pep talk on 11/7/08.

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The Teacher Learns to “Show, Not Tell”

I'm thick into NaNo and realizing that I can describe something to death-- but making up something that hasn't ever existed except in my mind is really HARD for me! As I push along at the keyboard and struggle to produce (gulp!) 2,000 words a day, I barrage myself with hundreds of questions: What will Anna Katherine, my 12-soon-to-be-13-year-old protagonist say or do next? What words would she use? What hand gestures or facial expressions would show her feelings? I am aware that every snippet of conversation can take her and my other characters in multitudes of directions and the possibilities overwhelm me.

I feel like I'm floundering in deep water with some knowledge of how to swim and hoping I can finish the race. Although I talk about show, don't tell in lots of workshops, I am at home doing that in nonfiction. This plunge into fiction is another story all together. (Pun intended.) I am more comfortable narrating what Katie (her nickname) did last summer than showing what she is saying, thinking, or doing in the moment.

So what is helping me? Remembering my own acronym for showing a character- FAST.

• F- Feelings
  
• A-Action
  
• S-Speech
  
• T- Thoughts
  

It's nice that my own book is informing my writing! I am convinced that this foray into fiction will not only move me toward making my dream of writing a book for young readers become reality, but it will make me a better writing teacher also.

Last night at a writing workshop at South County Library I happily concurred with my teen participants that "plot holes" happen. Now I know the pains of dialogue that doesn't sound authentic; the reality of making all of the details fit together into a cohesive whole.

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Let the Writing Begin!

When friend and fellow author (and soon-to-be partner in a crazy writing adventure) Joyce Hostetter asked me to join her at NaNoWriMo when other out of their mind writers attempt to write 50,000 words during November...I thought, I can't do that. I have a presentation for the NCAIS coming up and a week of teaching at NCCAT with Joyce. And Thanksgiving and kids home from college and a trip to Wilmington and how could I ever write a book in one month?

Then I visited the NaNo website, saw that it was built for people like me, who keep saying they're going to write a novel (in my case the YA historical novel to take place here in Charlotte in 1950) but seem to never get around to writing it, and I signed up.

So, tomorrow the non-editing, gush-it-out-and-don't-look back-writing whirl commences. I'm wondering if my family can abide dust balls, dirty dishes, wrinkled clothes, and peanut butter for lunch and spaghetti for dinner. I'm wondering if my eyes will grow weary from being glued to the computer and I'm scared that nothing will come out of these fingers.

But next time you hear from me I should be several thousand words into this adventure. Hey, I may not make it to 50K--but I'll sure get a lot more pages written than I have right now! I'll keep you posted and...let the writing begin!Technorati Tags:
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It's nice when someone else does your work for you

Last week I spoke at Holy Family University in Philadelphia and today I forwarded pictures of the event to one of my editors at Maupin House, Emily Raij. She kindly put together a blog on Maupin House's site. When I got done smiling, I realized the next blog Emily had posted was a review of my book by my hostess at Holy Family, Dr. Lynn Orlando.

This was the first time that I presented this 2 hour workshop on "Reading, Writing, & Technology" and it was well received. Using the new technology mini-lessons that Steve Johnson wrote for my second edition, the students used PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, a SMART Board, and a wiki to practice Show, Don't Tell writing and to see how fun revision can be.


Here's another picture from that event. Dr. Orlando is on my right, and the hero of the night, David Slowik (the technology wizard) is on my left. We grabbed a few students as well as Sally Jo Reid, a local teacher to complete our photo shoot.

It sure is nice to have friends in all the right places!
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Seven Laurels

There aren't too many novels which I can personally relate to. This will date me, but as I read Seven Laurels, which progressed from 1956 until 1994, I kept thinking, I was alive then.

But living in southern, suburban New Jersey is a universe removed from rural Alabama.

So although I can tell you exactly where I was in 5^th grade when I heard the news that JFK was shot, my experience of life south of the Mason Dixon Line didn't begin until I moved to Charlotte, NC in 1986. Certainly I thought little about the southern African American experience while I attended high school and college. And my knowledge of Alabama didn't extend much beyond visits to Birmingham to see my in-laws and to present at the Mid-South Reading and Writing Institute. Seven Laurels, written by Linda Busby Parker, took care of those knowledge gaps.

Parker's award winning book was recommended by Doyle Boggs, Executive Director of Marketing & Communications at Wofford College and a South Carolina history aficionado. It eloquently tells the story of the life and struggles of Brewster McAtee, a talented carpenter who experiences the pains of prejudice and segregation. Parker told it like it was: showing the relationships between the whites and the blacks, the family conflicts that played out in their lives, and the joys of the accomplishments gleaned.

I often think that a well-written novel must have a great story and be written with beautiful, expressive language. Parker succeeds in doing both. I particularly enjoyed the way she wrote about Brewster's son Laurel's passionate piano playing. Laurel is an exceptional musician and in this passage, is competing in what will become a series of piano competitions:

"[Brewster] knew Laurel would be the only black student to perform. He wondered if this made his son nervous, to be the only black player in front of an all-white audience, if he carried the burden of his race as had Joe Lewis and Jackie Robinson, if he carried the burden into this new age in this new area, in front of black and white piano keys, at a white Methodist college in middle Alabama." I will remember the allegory of the white and black piano keys. This magnificent musical instrument needs both to produce the sonatas and jazz improvisations that Brewster's son loved. "Laurel took old pieces and made them new, adding his own syncopated rhythms, adding parts of his own self that came through his arms and down past his elbows to the tips of his fingers."

An adult novel, I would recommend this book for older, mature teenagers as an accurate historical picture of Alabama during the second half of the 20^th century. Although there is no gratuitous sex in the book, there are several explicit scenes involving the main characters which parents may feel uncomfortable having their children read.

I appreciate Boggs recommending this book. As I proceed into writing my own historical fiction (to take place in Charlotte, 1950) this helps me to be informed about a time and a place that was far away from Cherry Hill, N.J.

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Reading (and writing) in the 21st Century

At the Pennsylvania Reading Association conference this week (KSRA) I listened with interest to Dr. Donald Leu, a professor of Education at the University of Connecticut, speak on Technology and Literacy. "The Internet is this generation's defining technology for reading," he told his audience of reading specialists, literary coaches, and language arts teachers. "We place our students at risk if they're not prepared."

To be honest, I hadn't thought about the skills that students need to decode websites. Dr. Leu was quick to fill in my knowledge gap. "First a student must be able to look at a website and see who wrote the material and discover the author's bias," he told us. He demonstrated this by showing what search results for Martin Luther King turned up. The first Google hits were websites for bookstores which would not give students the information they sought.

Once a seemingly suitable website was located, Dr. Leu pointed out that student researchers must find out who hosts the site so that they can discover the author's bias in presenting the material. This would prompt critical evaluation and discussion in the classroom. He emphasized the two reading skills which are exercised at this point: locating information and then evaluating it. New literacies of online reading comprehension include identifying important information, reading to synthesize the information, and reading to connect answers to other material. Visual aids such as photos and videos can aid comprehension, particularly for slow learners.

Obviously there are issues with online reading. Students must go beyond Wikipedia searches (although as a novice wiki user there is a definite place for wikis in the classroom- my wiki at http://redfontandrevision.pbwiki.com/Welcome%20to%20Carol%20Baldwin%27s%20Red%20Font%20Wiki shows what I presented at KSRA). But wikis can be edited and thus they are less reliable as a source of information. Teachers must make sure that students are reading in depth and not simply scanning a site, and of course when it comes to writing, there are plagiarism issues with a "cut and paste" mentality.

By the way, did you know that you can have your students filter their work through a website such as http://www.turnitin.com/static/index.html which checks a document for originality? I heard of this site the day before KSRA, when my friend's teenagers told me they had to submit their papers through this website before turning them into their teachers.

Check out New Literacies Reading Lab at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Leu is the director of a team who researches the new reading comprehension and learning skills that 21^st century students will need as technology changes the nature of our classrooms.

Online reading leads to online writing (e-mail, blogs, wikis, Facebook, etc) and as a writing aficionado, how can I argue with that? After all, this is the 21^st century.

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Using Life Experiences to Pump Up Your Writing

Here is my technical support as well as my young adult novel consultant, Anna Sattler.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Webster!

Today is the 250^th anniversary of Noah Webster's birth. Where would writers and teachers of English be without the American Dictionary of the English Language? I can't help but wonder what Webster would have thought of dictionaries embedded into slim machines that weigh less than the tome he wrote and published.

Webster was more than just a eminent lexicographer (how's that for a 50 cent word!) Before he wrote his famous dictionary, he wrote a speller that had 385 editions in his lifetime and, according to Wikipedia, taught children how to read, spell, and pronounce words. "It was the most popular American book of its time; by 1861, it was selling a million copies per year, and its royalty of less than one cent per copy was enough to sustain Webster in his other endeavors."

Aspiring writers be encouraged! Webster supported himself on a book that earned a penny a copy…and become a national treasure that is still used two centuries later.

And who hasn't suffered the embarrassment, sweaty palms, and knotted stomach of a classroom or school-wide spelling bee? Thank Mr. Webster for that too.

This week, Anu Garg, the wordsmith behind A Word A Day, is honoring Webster with words about words. Today is Dictionary day. Celebrate Webster and words by playing The Dictionary Game!

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The Second Edition is Here!

I'm excited to announce that Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8 is now at the printers. You can order this expanded version from Maupin House at 10% off the cover price of $23.95 until mid-October. Not only will you find more ideas on how to teach short fiction to 4^th & 5^th graders, but there are almost 20 new technology mini-lessons that infuse technology into the writing process maximizing differentiation in your classroom. You and your students will enjoy learning how wikis, podcasts, and virtual worlds can help them jazz up their writing and create more well-written and original fiction. Steve Johnson, a technology facilitator in North Carolina who I met at NCCAT, did a great job writing the technology mini-lessons. I can't wait for all of you to see what a fine addition these tech lessons are to the book.

Let me know when you get your copy!
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