Busy Busy

I have done a horrible job of keeping this blog updated. I'll try and do better.

Since we've last talked the literature club has been quite busy, but the ultimate experience thus far in the year was the Skype conversation the class got to have with Erica Kirov, the author of the MAGICKEEPERS :THE ETERNAL HOURGLASS.

The kids asked a lot of good questions and Ms. Kirov was gracious enough to answer them all. Well okay she didn't actually answer the questions which would have spoiled the plot for later books but despite that the kids further fell in love with her and they are chomping for the next book in the series, MAGICKEEPERS : THE PYRAMID OF SOULS which is scheduled for release May 1 according to Amazon. Pre-order your copy now.




The class also selected the book we are reading for the second semester.
i so don't do mysteries by Barrie Summy is the first book in a series. Book two i so don't do spooky is already out, and the third book i so don't do makeup will be released May 11th.

The kids chose to read the first one so they would have a better sense of the character. But having read the novel I have no doubt they will quickly be hooked and be eager to hop right into the next one.

Matter of fact I read the first few chapters at our last meeting and was amused by the reaction of the boys in class. To say the least, they were reluctant at first. It was a girl book they said, but
then when the ghost of Sherry's mother showed up those very same boys begged me to keep reading.

The class has also been hard at work writing their won stories and learning the techniques to be a good writer. I'll try and update soon to pas along the lessons we've learned on the nuts and blots of writing.

Nuts and Bolts

The literature club met again this past Wednesday, but I've been struggling on how to accurately represent our discussion.

I read aloud the prologue as well as chapters 1 and 2. Along the way I stopped and discussed active versus passive writing, point of view, and the manner in which the characters were introduced and scenes set.

The bad thing is that I loaned out my copy of Magickeepers to a late joining boy so I can't reference it directly for this post. That means I'll be working from memory as I create this post.



Active versus Passive

Simply put the subject of the sentence needs to be the one supplying the action.

Active -- The bed was made.

Passive -- Billy made the bed.

Active -- Billy ran.

Passive -- Billy was running.

But active sentences alone are not enough to make the writing come alive.

Billy made his bed. Bill ran to the store.

Blah, blah who cares. The reader knows nothing of Billy, the store, or Billy's reasons for running.

Show the reader something. Give them an idea about Billy, his room or the store he is in such a hurry to get off to.

Billy pulled his Steelers comforter up and tucked it under his pillow. Now that He'd made up both mattresses of his bunk bed were made, he could run down to 7-11 and have a Slurpee with his friend Ben.

POINT OF VIEW (POV)

Point of view is the person from who's perspective you are telling the story.

Billy hated making his bed. None of his friends had to make their own bed. Of course none of them had Attila the Hun for a mother.

These are Billy's thoughts, therefore we are in Billy's POV. Books and stories can have more than one POV character but you can only be in one POV at a time. And if our POV character cannot see or hear what is going on than we cannot include it.

For example. Billy could not be making his bed and see his friend Ben sucking down his Slurpee. Why? Because Billy is not at the 7-11. Now he can imagine that Ben is already there. He can even have a thought similar to this.

Here he was making the stupid bed while Ben was probably on his third wild cherry Slurpee. Billy could almost see his friend's triumph smirk that he'd gotten there first.

The words probably and almost make it clear to the reader that while Billy can't actually see Ben he can guess to what his friend is doing.

And if you shift POV's it is important to signal the change to the reader either with a chapter break or some other means such as a page break.

With the exception of the prologue, Magickeepers is told entirely from Nick's POV as is most Young Adult books.


When introducing both new characters and new scenes it is important to clue the reader in as soon as impossible. Choose the words you use carefully and you can convey exactly what you want the reader to see.

In chapter 2 of Magickeepers, Nick's grandpa takes him to a magic shop out in the dessert. The words the author uses, such as blood red, help to not only paint a picture but also a mood and feel. Ripe apple red, or clown nose red might state the color but they would not lend the scene the proper tone. Blood makes us think of danger and fear which goes along with the scene.

The same principle applies to characters. An overweight man described as having a belly like Santa will give the reader a different idea as one having a belly that bulges like bloated roadkill.



One of my favorite quotes comes from Mark Twain and is ...

The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.

... so choose your words carefully and pick out the ones that mimic the feel of your story.

Show and Tell

Wednesday we had our first official meeting for the new literature club. Since all of the kids have not received their copies of Magickeepers yet, I focused on the craft of writing for this meeting.

I touched on POV (point of view) and active versus passive writing but only briefly and in their relation to SHOWING rather than TELLING.

To illustrate the concept I walked into the room and tripped over the trashcan.

I explained that a writer TELLING the scene would simply write ... A clumsy man walked into the room. Or ... A man walked into the room and tripped over the trashcan.

Neither sentence paints a picture and therefor a reader who did not witness my entrance would not be able to conjure a mental image of the scene or the character.

However, we could make the scene visual if we wrote something like... A big hairy dude strolled into our classroom with a goofy smile plastered to his face. That grin vanished when he stumbled over the trashcan. He nearly fell and crush our poor pet hamster, Fifi, but at the last second he grabbed the rail beneath the chalkboard. Sure he ended up with a mouth full of white powder but at least Fifi was spared.

It is always important for a writer to think of the reader as they write and remember they only have the information you provide them in order to paint the world you create.

Take this sentence for example.

Nick walked down the hallway.

I read it to the club and then asked them to tell me things about Nick or the hallway. Of course they had no idea of any details as I had not given them anything to build an image upon.

So next I read a sentence from Erica Kirov's Magickeepers .

Nick walked down the very long hallway with carpeting so thick that his sneakers sank down into it.

I asked the kids the same question and this time they correctly guessed that Nick was a kid. They said the word sneakers made them think so. So next I asked them about the hallway. The fact it was long made them all realize it was a business not a house and since it had thick plush carpet they correctly surmised it wasn't a hall in a school or hospital. That's when one little girl chimed in and said, "Hotels have long halls with carpets."

And sure enough that sentence takes place in the hall of a mega hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

From there I read a longer passage from Magickeepers,

Nick held his breath, half-expecting her to be eaten alive. She was underwater for a while, then suddenly shot to the surface screaming. He started toward the pool but then realized her scream was actually a squeal of laughter. A polar bear came up from beneath her and hoisted her on its shoulders. She rested her face against it's neck.

As a group we talked about Nick's fear and how we knew he was scared because of they way he held his breath and expected her to be eaten alive, yet the author never actually TOLD us he was scared.

We also discussed the fact that Nick's bravery was revealed when he stepped forward, toward the pool, rather than running away. Again Ms. Kirov did not have to TELL us Nick was brave. Instead she SHOWED us in only half a sentence.

One girl correctly pointed out that we did not know who she was from the passage. A true statement I explained though to be fair I lifted the passage from the middle of a chapter so in a normal situation the reader would know she was a character named Isabella.

However even though we didn't know her name we could surmise that she too was brave, simply for laughing while swimming with a polar bear. Also we know she trusts and cares for the bear.

I next had the kids all write a short six or seven sentences about the funniest thing their best friend, sibling, or parent had ever done. I instructed them to keep in mind that I wasn't there to witness this funny moment so they needed to write in the detail to make the scene come alive in my mind. I told them to imagine they and their pencils were video cameras capturing the moment. anything they left out would be gone forever.

The kids came up with some great stuff. I was surprised to see a few metaphors and similes as well as some great description. Sure there were some common errors, but this truly is a talented group of kids and I have a feeling by the end of the school year they are going to be cranking out some very solid writing.

I encourage any of you reading this, young or old to try this exercise. Write a funny moment and then have someone read it. Watch them as they do so. So they laugh? Grin,? Show any reaction whatsoever? Ask them details that maybe you didn't mention directly but meant to imply through your words. See if that subtle message came through. If not think about ways to improve your SHOWING technique.

Here are a few suggestions.

Use the five senses.

Let the reader know how that fresh pile of dog poo smelled. Or how it felt squished between your toes. Let the reader hear the smack of your Mom's backside when she slipped on that patch of ice. Explain how the cold sleet felt on your skin as you watched. Let them see that puff of hot air as it escape your lips into the frosty air.

Metaphor and Similes.

His heart thumped against his chest like a dryer full of shoes says more than His heart beat fast. But be careful of cliches. Sayings like Sharper than a tack have been used and said countless times and no longer invoke a reaction from the reader. Put you own spin on it that matches the tone and tempo of the writing. For example; your character drives a taxi. Have him describe a smart person by saying something like. Billy's wit was sharper than the corner at 58th and Vine. No the reader has never made that turn at 58th and Vine but nevertheless they get the meaning and it fits with the tempo of the story.

Know your audience and point of view character

This is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind while showing the reader the world you are creating. If you are writing a story for 12-year-old girls and you have a scene set in a garden the things you point out will be vastly different than a story geared for 12-year-old boys, or one for forty year old men. And even more so if you uses write it from those same three different points of view.

The girl, would notice the colors, flowers and beauty, unless she was a tomboy or budding entomologist. In that case like the young boy she might notice the praying mantis or toads or earthworm. The middle aged man might notice how evenly the hedge has been cut or make note of the fact he's hate to weed the flower beds. Or maybe he would spot a pink peonies that reminded him of a first date. The point is to stay true to your character and your audience. A story for a young boy about garden gnomes wanting to take over the world is not going to be well received if you spend page after page describing the deep red color of roses or the way the dewdrops reflect the the color of the sky.

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear them, so please drop a few lines in the comments section. Just to let me know you were here if nothing else.

First Book

And the first book we are going to study is ...

Get on board now and read this great adventure of a young boy who discovers that magic is not only real, but that he is at the heart of the battle to keep the world's most powerful magical secrets from falling into the hands of dark forces.

For more info about the book or it's very talented author, check out The Magickeepers official website here.

Class starts soon, so you better get to reading ...

News

Stay tuned for an announcement about this space soon.