Teachers Write 7/27/20 – the “Pope in the Pool” Trick, Making Choices in Nonfiction, and a Revisiony Writing Prompt

Good morning, and welcome back to Teachers Write! Today, we’re going to talk about dialogue — and how to make it more interesting.

 Have you ever written a scene where two characters need to have a long (and important!) conversation, but it goes on so long that it feels boring? This week’s revision tip comes from a book for screenwriters, called SAVE THE CAT, whose author Blake Snyder called it the “Pope in the Pool” technique. That name comes from a script called THE PLOT TO KILL THE POPE, and in it, the writers needed to get a bunch of important information to the reader. It was too much to just dump on the page, so instead, they had people have a conversation that included all those important details while the Pope was swimming laps in the pool. We don’t think of the Pope as a normal guy who would swim laps, so that made the scene fascinating,

In my cricket-farm mystery CHIRP, there were several scenes where characters needed to have important conversations that went on for a while. To keep those scenes interesting, I made sure the characters were in action while they were talking – baking cricket-flour cookies together, or playing on a playground while they wait for fireworks to start. And the truth is, dialogue with some action happening around it is almost always more interesting than two people standing still, talking.And you don’t always need dialogue tags in a conversation, once it’s clear who’s talking. Sometimes they can be replaced with action.

Instead of:
“Is that a mouse that just ran under the sofa?” George asked.“Looks like it,” Isabelle said. 
Try: 
“Is that a mouse that just ran under the sofa?” George leaped onto the easy chair. Isabel squatted down and lifted the slipcover. “Looks like it.”
Here’s an example of a conversation that could use some action. Where might you put these two characters, and what could they be doing while they talk? Maybe they’re working out at a skating rink or building a treehouse or trying to babysit for a little kid who keeps running away. Try rewriting this scene using the “Pope-in-the-pool” trick to make it more interesting!
“I’ve been thinking about last week,” said Prima. 
“Yeah, me too,” said Avery. 
“The thing is, she didn’t mean to tell everybody your secret,” Prima said. 
“But she did,” said Avery.
“I know, but…it was complicated. You know she’s only been here three weeks, right? She couldn’t have known all that stuff about your dad or what happened with the race or — ” 
“So?” Avery said. “She knew it was a secret.” 

This Week’s Revision Tip: Making Choices in Nonfiction

This week’s revision tip is from guest author Christina Soontornvat, whose amazing book ALL THIRTEEN, about the Thai soccer team’s cave rescue comes out this fall!

One pitfall of mine when I’m writing nonfiction is that I think every single detail is interesting. Of course I do – this is my subject matter! But I have to remember that my job as a nonfiction writer isn’t just to produce a list of facts that I find fascinating. My job is to take a subject that is very specific, sometimes obscure, and tell a true story that is universally relatable. It’s that universally relatable part that makes the story interesting and makes readers care. So I often find myself in the revision process with way more material than I am going to be able to include in the actual book!

One of the filters I use to decide what to keep and what to throw out is whether the material connects to my larger themes and whether it helps reinforce the universal relatability of the story. For example, there were 10,000 people who worked or volunteered during the Thai Cave Rescue. I could have included so much more information about the volunteer efforts than I ended up with – and the book would weigh 800 pounds! In the end, I decided to shine a spotlight on the volunteers working to control the flooding on the top of the mountain who had to carry out Herculean feats with little support and inadequate supplies. Their story tied into a larger theme in my book about resourcefulness and mental fortitude.

So as you revise, look at how each piece that you include supports the bigger picture. How do the facts work together to tell a universal human story? Are you missing something that could help connect the dots and make readers care? If so, then that’s the area where you can focus your research.

This Week’s Writing Prompt from Kate

If your work-in-progress could talk back to you, what would it say?

Read through your draft; then spend five minutes writing in response to this prompt. Have some fun, and write in the voice of your personified draft. You can make it nurturing or cranky or snooty — whatever you like! This sounds kind of silly, but it’s actually a good way to distance yourself a little from your writing in order to see it more clearly. And it’s a great prompt to use in the classroom, too. I taught middle school English for fifteen years, and my students always discovered ways to improve their writing through this one (even as they laughed about writing things like “Help! I need a thesis statement!” in the voices of their essays!) 

 

Is it the end of July already? I can’t believe our four weeks together have gone by so quickly! I’m so, so glad that you chose to spend part of your summer writing and learning with me. I hope you’ll share some of these lessons & prompts with your students this year, along with my books. I know there’s a lot of uncertainty as we head into a new school year, but I also know that with your courage and creativity and commitment to your students, you’ll keep loving them and sharing stories and make it all work somehow. Thanks, as always, for the amazing work that you do.

Jen Vincent will be hosting one last check-in on Sunday. Enjoy your writing this week, and take some time to celebrate the work you’ve done!

Teachers Write 7/20/20 – What to Put in a Notebook, Story Revision Tips, and a Place-Based Writing Prompt

Good morning, and welcome back to Teachers Write!  This week’s mini-lesson is from guest author Linda Urban, who writes picture books, chapter books, and novels for kids!

Keeping a Notebook

Are you keeping a notebook this summer?

You might notice I didn’t ask if you were keeping a writer’s notebook.  That’s because, when I started writing, the idea of a Writer’s Notebook felt intimidating.  Presumptuous.  Maybe a little too precious.  Every mark I put on the page would have felt to me like it should be, if not perfect, Important.

Who can write with all those expectations?

Which is why, when I finally did start the practice of keeping a notebook, it was a blessed jumble of all parts of my life – from recipes to odd things my kids said, to doodles (mine and those of my kids), to the bits of dialogue, fragments of poetry, brainstorms and mindmaps and what-ifs that might, eventually, turn into writing projects that I wanted to pursue in earnest.

Here is an example.  My first connection to the book that would eventually become The Center of Everything is in one of those jumble notebooks.  I took this notebook to a weeklong workshop in Portland, Oregon where I was on faculty.  On the same page that I had made a note to myself about the shoes that fellow faculty-member Marla Frazee was wearing (Fluevog pumps, in case you are wondering) I also wrote my own response to a prompt I had given my students.  In it, I recalled the last exchange my dad and I had before he died, and how I wished I had said something different.  The rest of that notebook is the usual scribble and blot.

A year later, in a similarly jumbled notebook, I wrote down some thoughts about the Montpelier Independence Day parade I had just attended.  Among them was a question:  Why did the kids lining the streets get so excited?  It was the same parade as last year.  And the year before.  What could they be hoping would happen?

Which led me, a day later, to ponder about one specific kid – a kid I was only beginning to imagine – and what she might be waiting for and why it mattered so much.

Which led to more questions.  And thoughts about parades.  And some list making about the kinds of things one finds at a parade.  And a bit of freewriting . . . a narrator’s voice was starting to emerge.  There are several pages like this, interspersed with the recipes and to-do lists and doodles.

After a while, these pages started to feel more like a real project.  Like they had some heft.  And then my writing about this girl and her longing and this particular parade moved to my keyboard, and my notebook primarily returned to its happy jumble – though on occasion you can find thoughts and freewrites and scribbles of things that needed analog expression to find their way to me.

Once a draft was complete, it was time for another notebook – this time, no jumble.  This time, my notebook was dedicated to a single project.  And, because the project was now at the revision stage, it no longer felt like each word in my project notebook had to be Important.  In fact, it was the opposite.  In my project notebooks, I am able to de-important (hm… word choice?) what was already in the manuscript.  At this stage, the manuscript and all the hard work that went into it can feel a little precious, but in my notebook I could scribble and dissect and analyze.  I could keep track of what I wanted to change and what wasn’t working and play around with alternate phrasing and scenes and chapters in a free play space that was different than the space of writing, different than the space where the ultimate, final, hopefully publishable draft would be created.

Yeah, there are some mind games at work.  But mind games are part of what the writer’s practice is.  We tell ourselves stories about what can work for us and then we believe those stories enough to put in the hours and the words.  My notebooks are part of the story I tell myself about my writing process – and the story works for me.  Maybe it will work for you, too?

 

This Week’s Revision Tip 

This week’s revision tip comes from author Adrianna Cuevas, whose debut MG novel, THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF NESTOR LOPEZ comes out tomorrow!  

You’ve heard experts tell you to ‘kill your darlings’ when revising. I had to slaughter mine, completely rewriting two-thirds of my debut from scratch on the advice of my agent. I cut beloved characters, carefully plotted scenes, and meticulously crafted sentences. But in the end, those elements didn’t come together to form an engaging story young readers would love, so they had to go.

If the goal of a writer is to create a story readers will respond to, we have to disconnect ourselves from our writing and look at it objectively. Keeping the following questions in mind when reviewing your scenes will help you decide what needs to be cut and what still serves your story.

  • Does this scene advance the plot or reveal something essential about a character?

  • Does this character serve to help my main character, work against them to create tension, or provide information about the world I’ve created? Or are they just taking up space?

  • Is this sentence as active as possible? Have I taken out filler words and put my reader right in the action or am I using unnecessarily flowery language?

So be ruthless. Be ready to sacrifice your words for the sake of a better story. Yes, you should love your writing, but you always need to keep your ultimate audience in mind. And as the author of books for twelve-year-olds, I can tell you that throwing in a fart joke or two never hurts either.

This Week’s Writing Prompt from Kate

Describe a place that you love. Write a quick two-minute description. Then go back and spend one minute adding sounds to your description. Do the same thing with smells. And with the sense of touch. 

When your paragraph is done, see if you can rewrite it as a poem. Think about line breaks, figurative language, and cutting all the words that aren’t working hard. 

(This is a great activity to do with kids when you’re teaching about revision!) 

 

Ready to get writing? Have a great week, and see if you can carve out fifteen minutes to write at least a few times.  Remember that Jen Vincent will hosts your Teachers Write check-in on her blog each Sunday.It’s a chance to chat with other campers, ask questions, and share snippets of your writing for the week. You should stop by this week!

We’ll be back next week with another week’s worth of inspiration and writing!

Teachers Write 7/13/20 – Writing Picture Book Biographies, A Quick Scene-Starter, and Revision Tips

Good morning, and welcome back to Teachers Write!  This week’s mini-lesson is from guest author Jess Keating, whose newest title is OCEAN SPEAKS, a picture book biography of ocean cartographer Marie Tharp. 

Capturing the Tide:Three Tips from Writing Real Women

Feeling daunted at the thought of distilling someone’s entire life into a picture book biography in a way that feels responsible, meaningful, and entertaining? Jess Keating here — and I’ve been there!

Here are a few tips I’ve learned from writing real women.

  • Ask yourself: Am I the one to tell this story?

Unfortunately, there’s no easy quiz you can take online to help you here. But you want to read widely and reflect deeply. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started to scribble notes about someone’s life in the margins of my notebook, only to realize with utter certainty: this is not my story to tell. Be mindful. Be aware. Is your voice the best one to share this story? If yes, keep going!

  • You can’t capture the tide.

It’s too deep. Too vast. Too strong. The same goes for trying to capture every remarkable, poignant, and meaningful moment in someone’s life. Once you accept that you can’t do the impossible, your options open up. Limits serve creativity. Do you want to present a ‘slice of life’ of your subject? A chronological narrative? Something else entirely? What’s best for your subject?

  • Find the beating heart and watch the magic happen.

To date, I’ve written three picture book biographies, each about women in science who did their work in the ocean. For each, I make myself answer one central question before I submit anything to an editor: How did their passions and challenges mirror the broader picture of their life’s work?

Eugenie Clark was a female shark scientist working in a time when women were largely unheard of in marine biology. Both she and her sharks were underestimated, judged, and misrepresented. There were several beating hearts to Eugenie’s rich life, but narratively, the parallel between Eugenie and her sharks was my North Star throughout.

Marie Tharp was an oceanographic cartographer who mapped the ocean floor, thereby revealing the truth behind plate tectonics. Time and time again, she was told her work was “girl talk”. (Literally.) But her brilliant mind was as solid as the ocean ridges she mapped. She didn’t just map history — she made history.

Jeanne Villepreux-Power was seamstress-turned- scientist who built the world’s first aquarium, in turn discovering the truth behind one of the ocean’s biggest mysteries: argonauts make their shells! The gorgeous parallel behind both Jeanne and her argonauts using what they have to create space to thrive was strongest narrative thread I could have asked for!

So how do you find this narrative heart? Make two columns for your subject. Put the specifics of their life in one. Then, let your mind and heart wander into a wider space. What metaphors do you see? What themes? What constants? What mirrors? They are there! Your job as a writer is to find these threads in the tapestry and create a cohesive narrative for the world to see them too. Remember: you can’t capture the tide, but you can capture one beating heart!

I wish you luck, brave writers! You got this.

Want to grow your creativity and make your best work yet? I’ve got a special gift just for you. Visit www.jesskeatingbooks.com/10secrets for a free copy of my guide, ACTIVATE: Ten Secrets to Being Wildly Creative, and give your creative career a jumpstart. I can’t wait to see how you change the world!

-Jess Keating

This Week’s Revision Tip from Kate

Revision can feel like an overwhelming job, even for professional authors. Mention revision to a beginner, especially a young writer, and they often don’t knwo where to start. So it helps to break revision down into bite-sized, manageable jobs. This is something I do with my own work. When I get editorial notes from an editor, outlining all the revisions that need to be done on a project, that letter is often ten pages long (single spaced!) so I take time to read it and think about it, and then I underline the most important things and distill those into a one-page revision to-do list. Here’s what that looked like for my MG novel, CHIRP, a mystery set on a cricket farm! 

 

You can make your own list for revision, and so can students! Theirs might include things like:

  • Add sensory details – SOUNDS
  • Add sensory details – SMELLS
  • Add dialogue
  • Check for repetition/boring parts
  • Read aloud to catch awkward writing & missing words
  • Check on characters – are ACTIONS showing who they are?

Ready to make your own list? What might be some good revision jobs for the project you’re working on right now?

This Week’s Writing Prompt

This week’s writing prompt is courtesy of author Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. If you haven’t read her novels TWO NAOMIS and NAOMIS TOO, cowritten with Audrey Vernick, ask for them at your bookstore or library!

Create two characters, and list 5 character traits (eg impulsive, vain, thoughtful, etc) for each. Write a short scene involving the two characters preparing for a surprise party, first from one’s POV, then the other’s. What changes?  What details does each character “see” differently? What do they zoom in on? 

 

And now it’s time to write! Enjoy the journey, and try to spend at least fifteen minutes writing a few days this week.  And don’t forget that Jen Vincent will be hosting a Teachers Write check-in on her blog each Sunday.It’s a chance to chat with other campers, ask questions, and share snippets of your writing for the week.

We’ll be back next week with another week’s worth of inspiration and writing!

Teachers Write 7/6/20 – Welcome, a Creative Kickstart, Writing about History, and Tips for Revising

Good morning, and welcome to Teachers Write! I’m so excited that you’ll be writing with us this summer. This year’s format is a little different; I’m sharing a mini-lesson, writing prompt, and revision tip each Monday, and then you’ll have the week to explore those on your own schedule (and in a notebook, away from the screen if that’s your preference!) If you’re not already getting our weekly emails, you can sign up to do that here. 

Before we start today’s lesson, would you celebrate with me for a minute? I have three new books out this Tuesday!

HOW TO WRITE A STORY (illustrated by Mark Siegel & published by Chronicle Books)  is a follow-up to HOW TO READ A STORY and celebrates the writing process, from brainstorming and drafting to revision, editing, and publication, or sharing with friends! I hope you’ll share it with your young writers. You buy it anywhere books are sold, and personalized, signed copies can be ordered via my local independent bookstore. Just call 518-523-2950, or you can order online.

I’m also launching a brand new nonfiction series called HISTORY SMASHERS this week, with two books to start and four more on the way over the next year and a half. The series is aimed at undoing some of the lies and myths we teach kids about history and sharing the untold truths.

HISTORY SMASHERS: MAYFLOWER tells what really happened with the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people (and dismantles the myth of the First Thanksgiving) while HISTORY SMASHERS: WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE takes a more honest look at the women’s suffrage movement. (It was a LONG journey and some of America’s most beloved suffragists were openly racist.)  I know that many of you are working to dismantle white supremacy through your teaching, and sharing more honest stories about history is an essential part of that work, so I hope these books will be helpful to you. Again, if you’d like signed copies, I’m happy to personalize for you or your kids – just order through my local bookstore & they’ll get books out to you this week!

Writing History, Questioning, and Evaluating Primary Sources

Now…let’s talk about writing history. Authors & researchers are always emphasizing the importance of primary source documents like letters, diaries, and journals. But it’s so important to remember that those documents have biases. Much of the Pilgrims’ writing about the Wampanoag people, for example, downplays their culture. Some of this may have been due to ignorance on the part of the Pilgrims, but it’s also easier to justify stealing someone’s land if you look at them as inferior people. When we look at writings like Mourt’s Relation, one of the only two English primary sources from this era, that’s important to keep in mind.

When I write about history, I often start by making a list of things I think I know about a topic, and that’s a great starting place for young writers, too. For example, when you think of a Pilgrim, there’s a good chance you picture something like this guy on one of our History Smashers pages.

But how can check to find out if that’s what Pilgrims really looked like? We can look at portraits painted during their lifetimes, but even that gives an incomplete picture. People typically wore their best, most formal clothes to have their portraits painted, and at that time, one’s best outfit was usually black. But primary sources can help us out. When I was working on HISTORY SMASHERS: MAYFLOWER, I found that estate inventories from Plymouth (listings of what people owned) include clothing in all kinds of bright colors — red, yellow, orange, green, and violet, in addition to brown and black. That’s how we know that the classic Pilgrim-in-Black is a bit of a myth.

Revision Tip of the Week

Maybe you’re in the middle of a writing project right now and looking for ideas for how to revise. Or maybe you’re just collecting strategies to use on your own and share with students later on. Author Nikki Grimes joins us this week with some thoughts. Nikki has a new picture book biography of Kamala Harris coming out soon!

The revision process can be daunting, whether you're working on a 32-page picture book, or a 300-page novel. Where do you even begin?

Tip #1: Start by addressing the easiest element, and slowly work your way up to the element you find most challenging. That way, you won’t lose precious time stuck in neutral. As you solve your manuscript”s small problems, your confidence will grow allowing you to more easily dive into the bigger issues.

Tip #2: Work on your revision in segments. On one pass, concentrate on dialogue or voice. On another pass, tackle pacing or word economy. On another pass, focus on descriptive language, replacing trite phrases—I call them placeholders—with original metaphors/similes, etc. You may need to work on tense consistency, added back-story, deeper character development, or you may need to reconsider POV. Whatever fine-tuning your manuscript may require,
the work will seem less daunting if you tackle each element separately. At least, this is the approach that gets me from first to final draft! I hope this helps.

Writing Prompt of the Week

This week’s creativity kick-starter comes from author Martha Brockenbrough, whose new picture book THIS OLD DOG releases this fall.

One of the best writing prompts I’ve ever given students is a letter inviting them to attend a supernatural school. 

1) I come up with a list of supernatural abilities PLUS some sort of quality that characterizes the school and let students pick: The school for evil mermaids. The school for inventors of magical objects. The school for vampires with loose teeth.The school for lost flying sheep.

I do it like this because when you pair a type of supernatural with another quality, you have both physical conditions and a state of mind. This gives a writer a lot to work with.

 

All right…roll up your sleeves because it’s time to get writing. Try out this week’s writing prompt to get warmed up. Think of a topic in history you *think* you know about, and then see what primary sources you can find to support (or blow apart!) that preconceived notion. Then choose a piece of writing you’d like to work on, and give Nikki’s revision strategies a try!

And don’t forget that Jen Vincent will be hosting a Teachers Write check-in on her blog each Sunday.It’s a chance to chat with other campers, ask questions, and share snippets of your writing for the week.

We’ll be back next week with another week’s worth of inspiration and writing!

Announcing Teachers Write 2020: July 6-31

Hello, teacher/librarian/writer friends! It’s almost time for Teachers Write, my free online summer writing camp for teachers & librarians. Have you signed up yet? If not, you can do that here.

But before I share details about this summer, I want to take a minute to celebrate all of you. Really.

The work that you’ve been doing as teachers and librarians these past few months has been nothing short of heroic – pivoting to teach kids online, making sure they have stories to read, all while dealing with your own lives and families. I  cannot imagine how kids and families would have gotten through this without you. Not everyone understands that not being at school was actually more work for you — a lot more. So I want you to know that some of us do realize that. We know how much you’ve given your kids this spring, and how much you’ve given up. So thank you. I hope you’ll take some time this summer to recharge and take care of yourself.

That’s one reason I’m so excited about offering Teacher Write again. This summer will look a little different from years past. Instead of daily posts, which many of you said were hard to keep up with, there will be an email at the beginning of each week with writing lessons, prompts, and revision tips for you to work through on your own time, away from the screen if you’d like. Many will be lessons you can try out yourself and then bookmark to share with your kids later on – like this one. (It’s my favorite brainstorming strategy and works for writers of all ages!)

I’ll have more lessons, writing prompts, and revision strategies to share over the next four weeks, and I’ll be joined by some absolutely amazing guest authors!

Jess Keating will share a mini-lesson on writing picture book biographies! Her latest is about Marie Tharp.

Nikki Grimes will join us for some helpful revision tips! (And yes, that’s a Kamala Harris picture book biography you’re looking at! It comes out in August.)

Christina Soontornvat will join us with some great tips for writing nonfiction! Christina’s amazing book about the Thai soccer team’s cave rescue comes out this fall.

Adrianna Cuevas will share strategies for revising a novel! Her debut (below) comes out this month!

Martha Brockenbrough will share a writing prompt to jump-start your creativity. Her new picture book THIS OLD DOG is out in September.

Every Sunday, teacher-writer Jen Vincent will host a weekly check-in on her blog, where you can chat, ask questions, share some of the writing you did that week, and ask other campers for feedback.

And then there’s me – I’ll be talking about all kinds of writing this summer, but I’m going to have a special focus on researching and writing history. My new nonfiction series HISTORY SMASHERS launched July 7th and is aimed at undoing the lies & myths we teach kids about history. It’s illustrated by Dylan Meconis in a multimedia format that includes lots of illustrations, photographs, and graphic storytelling pages.

Teaching honest history — what really happened in America’s past and not just the sugar-coated myths — is essential to dismantling white supremacy and working toward a better, more equitable future. That’s a huge goal of this series, and I hope you’ll share it with your kids, challenge them to think critically about history, and engage them in lots of great conversations.

I also have a new picture book launching next week! HOW TO WRITE A STORY is a follow-up to HOW TO READ A STORY, which I know many of you use in your classrooms. It’s a celebration of the writing process and a great book for introducing writing workshop to kids.

If you’d like personalized, signed copies of these new titles – or any of my books – you can order through my local indie bookseller, The Bookstore Plus. I’m happy to sign books to you or your kids or your school or library. And if you leave a comment to let the bookstore know you’re a Teachers Write camper, I’ll include an extra special inscription!

I’m so excited for all of our contributing authors, and we’ll have some surprise guests along the way this summer, too! Are you ready to get writing?

To join us, just sign up here.

Camp starts on July 6th, so sharpen your pencils, charge your laptop, and get your notebook ready. I’ll see you on Monday!

Cover Reveal: THE HIGHEST TRIBUTE: THURGOOD MARSHALL’S LIFE, LEADERSHIP, AND LEGACY by Kekla Magoon & Laura Freeman

I’m a big fan of Kekla Magoon’s novels (If you haven’t read HOW IT WENT DOWN and LIGHT IT UP, you should remedy that!), so I’m delighted to be hosting the cover reveal for her first picture book today!

THE HIGHEST TRIBUE: THURGOOD MARSHALL’S LIFE, LEADERSHIP, AND LEGACY is illustrated by Laura Freeman and comes out from HarperCollins/Quill Tree Books this winter. Look at this gorgeous cover!

Here’s a bit more from Kekla about the book…

This picture book biography was really fun to write. I loved learning more about Thurgood Marshall, who I had often studied in passing in the course of writing other books about the civil rights movement. Thurgood was brilliant, and a real trailblazer. He was a noteworthy attorney of the civil rights era, and the first Black justice appointed to the United States Supreme Court. He is often credited with singlehandedly making big strides for equality under the law, but the truth was, Thurgood was always working as part of a team, always learning and always teaching. He was skilled at collaboration, and he hoped that his work would not only stand the test of time but be built upon many others.

This past week, we’ve seen two major civil rights-related decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court—one in support of equality in employment for all people regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, and another in support of the “dreamers,”  immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as very young children. I feel certain that Thurgood would look upon these decisions and stand proud of the legacy that he left for the court. At the same time, he would surely acknowledge that there is still work to be done to create equality for Black Americans across this land. Perhaps there has never been a better time to look back on the history of these movements for legal equality and opportunity, to help us understand the struggles and the leaders that helped bring us to the place we currently stand, and to help us understand where we need to go from here.

I am primarily a novelist, which means this picture book was my first illustrated project.  It was incredibly exciting to see the words of this story come alive in Laura Freeman’s art.  The cover offers a mere glimpse of the amazing work she was able to do to bring the narrative to life. I can’t wait for readers to be able to enjoy all of Laura’s beautiful work, and to dive deeply into Thurgood’s story, as I did.

You can pre-order THE HIGHEST TRIBUTE right now at Bookshop,org, which supports independent bookstores.It comes out on January 5, 2021.

The Ranger in Time Book Club

Welcome to the Ranger in Time Book Club!

I’m author Kate Messner, and with Scholastic’s permission, I’ll be sharing a chapter-by-chapter read-aloud of RANGER IN TIME: RESCUE ON THE OREGON TRAIL here on my blog over the coming weeks. I’m so glad you’ve found your way here!

Each Thursday by around 12pm EST, I’ll post a new read-aloud video with the next two chapters of the book. Readers can ask questions about this series, the writing process, researching history, what I’m reading (or really anything else you’d like!) by leaving a comment on this blog post. I’ll answer as many readers’ questions as possible after the read-aloud in the next week’s video! If you want to read more Ranger in Time books, there are eleven titles in the series, about all different periods in history, and you can find them wherever you like to buy books. If you’re lucky enough to have a local independent bookseller, please check there first! Many are offering things like curbside pickup, delivery, and shipping. Here’s where you can read about the rest of the Ranger in Time series and my other books for kids.

Okay…ready for the first two chapters? Here you go…

Ranger in Time Book Club – Week 1 – Chapters 1-2

Ranger in Time Book Club – Week 2 – Readers’ Questions Answered and Chapters 3-4

Ranger in Time Book Club – Week 3 – Readers’ Questions Answered and Chapters 5-6

Ranger in Time Book Club – Week 4 – Readers’ Questions Answered and Chapters 7-8

Note for families: Something sad happens in these chapters, so if you’re already having a sad day, you may want to pause after the Q&A today and save the chapters for another day. (They end on a happy note, though!)

Ranger in Time Book Club – Week 5 –  Answers to Readers’ Questions and Chapters 9-10

Ranger in Time Book Club – Week 6 – Answers to Readers’ Questions and Chapters 11-13

Ranger in Time Book Club – Week 7 – Answers to Readers’ Questions and Chapters 14-15 – THE END

Thanks so much for being part of the Ranger in Time Book Club this spring! RANGER IN TIME: RESCUE ON THE OREGON TRAIL is book one in the series, so if you enjoyed the read-aloud, I hope you’ll look for the other titles at your local bookstore or ask for them at your library! You can read more about the Ranger in Time series and my other books for kids here. 

Countdown to CHIRP: Copy Edits & Cover Design

Welcome to Countdown to CHIRP, a wonderfully nerdy blog series about the writing process behind my February 2020 MG novel, CHIRP. Here’s a little about the book from Bloomsbury, so you’ll understand what I’m talking about when I share all the nitty-gritty writing and revision details…

When Mia moves to Vermont the summer after seventh grade, she’s recovering from the broken arm she got falling off a balance beam. And packed away in the moving boxes under her clothes and gymnastics trophies is a secret she’d rather forget.

Mia’s change in scenery brings day camp, new friends, and time with her beloved grandmother. But Gram is convinced someone is trying to destroy her cricket farm. Is it sabotage or is Gram’s thinking impaired from the stroke she suffered months ago? Mia and her friends set out to investigate, but can they uncover the truth in time to save Gram’s farm? And will that discovery empower Mia to confront the secret she’s been hiding–and find the courage she never knew she had?

In a compelling story rich with friendship, science, and summer fun, a girl finds her voice while navigating the joys and challenges of growing up.

CHIRP comes out in less than a week! Have you already pre-ordered your copy? If not, I’d love it if you would… Pre-orders are a HUGE help to authors and in this case, pre-ordering comes with presents! If you fill out this form after you pre-order, Bloomsbury will send you a poster and set of bookmarks to share. And if you order via my local indie, The Bookstore Plus, I’ll personalize and sign your book, too!

Now…let’s talk about the final stages of making a book. After many rounds of revision, the manuscript goes off to a copy editor, who’s excellent at all things grammatical. They read and make careful notes, querying anything that doesn’t seem quite right. This marked-up version goes to both the editor and author for additional notes. Copy edits used to arrive on paper, in the mail, but they’re most often done electronically now, so the pages look like this.  

As the author, there are a few different ways I can respond to the copy editor’s suggestion. Most often, if it’s a typo or spelling error, it’s a matter of accepting the suggested change and moving on. But sometimes, I’ve broken a rule on purpose, for style or voice reasons, and the suggested change doesn’t work. In that case, I write a quick “STET” in the margin, which means the text should be left as it was.

Copy edits are the last chance I have to make substantial changes to the book, so after I’ve gone through the copy editor’s comments, I’ll do another read-through of the full manuscript. I read aloud, so I can hear what the sentences sound like, and when I hit something that feels a little clunky, I make changes as I go along. This is also the time to incorporate any late feedback from writer friends or expert readers.

After copy edits, the manuscript gets laid out as a pdf, so the pages actually start to look like pages in a book. This is where chapter headings are designed and any art is added to the pages. It’s also time for more rounds of proofreading – typically three more passes with multiple readers. At this point, the author can’t make many major changes that affect the layout, but it’s still fine (and important!) to correct any remaining errors.

While all this is happening, the book’s cover is being designed. I’ve been lucky enough to have wonderful artists and designers work on my covers. For CHIRP, Bloomsbury hired illustrator Christopher Silas Neal to design the cover art. I was thrilled with this choice. Chris is no stranger to me – he illustrates my Over & Under picture book series with Chronicle and did the cover for BREAKOUT, too!

Chris begins his work the same way I do – with brainstorming and rough drafts. He starts the cover design process by reading the manuscript and then sketching some possible ideas.

It’s hard to choose just one cover, but in this case, I loved his idea to show the girls jumping off rocks into the lake, especially because this is a story about courage in all of its many forms. Bloomsbury agreed, so Chris took that concept through to final art. The design team takes that art and works with it then, playing around with the type for the title and possible tag lines. Here’s an early version of the cover…

After some revisions to make the title and the girls stand out more – and the arrival of an incredibly generous blurb from the amazing Laurie Halse Anderson – we ended up with this as a final cover. I love it so much.

CHIRP comes out on Tuesday, February 4, so you have a few more days to pre-order. If you do that through my local indie, The Bookstore Plus, I’ll personalize and sign your copy to be mailed out on release day. And wherever you pre-order, Bloomsbury will send you a special gift – a CHIRP poster and a class set of bookmarks to share! Just fill out this form after you’ve pre-ordered.

Pre-order Chirp and get a poster and a set of 30 bookmarks for your school or library. Visit bit.ly/chirppreorder for details

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about CHIRP. I’m so hopeful that this book will find the readers who need it, and I’m grateful for the early praise it’s garnered from readers and reviewers alike…

“Kate Messner strikes the perfect balance of joy, pain, and strength in this deftly layered mystery about family, friendship, and the struggle to speak up.” –  Laurie Halse Anderson, bestselling author of SPEAK and SHOUT

“Chirp is so many things: a mystery, a family story, and a story of the power of friendship. It’s about learning to speak out when it seems the whole world would rather you shut up. Sure to be passed from kid to kid to kid” –  Laura Ruby, National Book Award Finalist and author of the York Trilogy

“Once again, Kate Messner has written a book that will be a dear and important friend to her readers. A loving and compelling ode to the joy of friendship, the many kinds of strength, and the everyday bravery of girls.” –  Anne Ursu, author of THE LOST GIRL

“Messner deftly weaves together myriad complex plot threads to form a captivating whole. . . . Rich, timely, and beautifully written.” –  Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews

“Messner addresses #MeToo themes authentically and with care as her story moves toward empowerment: Mia displays fear and confusion alongside a hope to reclaim the strength she once felt as a gymnast. Layering mystery elements, strong and myriad female characters, and a poignant analogy involving chirp-less female crickets, Messner gently guides Mia on a journey of resilience that both comforts and inspires.”

–  Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

“Messner honors middle graders by exploring important, relevant issues at their level of understanding. This book will prompt discussions of gender inequality, consent, and sexual abuse. A must purchase.” –  Starred Review, School Library Connection

Countdown to CHIRP: Let’s talk about Charts!

Welcome to Countdown to CHIRP, a wonderfully nerdy blog series about the writing process behind my February 2020 MG novel, CHIRP. Here’s a little about the book from Bloomsbury, so you’ll understand what I’m talking about when I share all the nitty-gritty writing and revision details…

When Mia moves to Vermont the summer after seventh grade, she’s recovering from the broken arm she got falling off a balance beam. And packed away in the moving boxes under her clothes and gymnastics trophies is a secret she’d rather forget.

Mia’s change in scenery brings day camp, new friends, and time with her beloved grandmother. But Gram is convinced someone is trying to destroy her cricket farm. Is it sabotage or is Gram’s thinking impaired from the stroke she suffered months ago? Mia and her friends set out to investigate, but can they uncover the truth in time to save Gram’s farm? And will that discovery empower Mia to confront the secret she’s been hiding–and find the courage she never knew she had?

In a compelling story rich with friendship, science, and summer fun, a girl finds her voice while navigating the joys and challenges of growing up.

CHIRP comes out in less than two weeks! Have you already pre-ordered your copy? If not, I’d love it if you would… Pre-orders are a HUGE help to authors and in this case, pre-ordering comes with presents! If you fill out this form after you pre-order, Bloomsbury will send you a poster and set of bookmarks to share. And if you order via my local indie, The Bookstore Plus, I’ll personalize and sign your book, too!

Okay…now let’s get back to business and talk about CHARTS.

Charts are a huge part of my revision process, from my first passes, revising on my own, through the final work that I do with my editor. Some of these are charts I use with nearly every novel, and others are more specific. But they all help me to get a bigger picture view of a book with lots of moving parts.

This is what my every-novel Big Picture Chart looked like for CHIRP.

This chart boils my entire novel down into two big pages so that I can see, at a glance, what’s there and what’s not. The numbers across the top of the pages represent each chapter of the novel. The column on the far left is a list of characters, themes, story elements, ideas, recurring themes and metaphors, and other stuff that I want to make sure is represented throughout the story. After I’ve created the chart, I do a full read-through of the manuscript with the chart in front of me. As I read chapter one for example, I’ll check off each character that appears, and each idea or theme or whatever. If that character or idea doesn’t show up in that chapter, I leave the box empty.

It takes a whole day to do this read-through, checking off boxes for each chapter as I go. But when I’m finished, I have a very clear look at the balance of my story, and I can start to see issues. If a character vanishes for eight chapters in the middle of the book, for example, readers are likely to forget about them. The same goes for mystery elements or important ideas. When I look at my completed chart, I can see where the holes are. (Fun fact: I once wrote a book where the family had a dog in chapter 1 and then it never appeared again. I had to make a lot of “add dog!” notes in that manuscript.)  Once the chart is all filled out, I go back to the manuscript to see where I might be able to work in that missing character or idea, and I make notes.

I tried this big-picture chart with one of my first novels, and it was so helpful that I made it a regular part of my process. It works for just about any longer form project. But sometimes, it’s not really enough. CHIRP is a mystery, and I found that I wanted a tool for keeping track of those mystery elements, so that I could track what was happening with clues, etc. throughout the book. For this revision pass, I also wanted to look at how the mystery elements balanced with the other parts of the story like Mia’s warrior and entrepreneurs camp, and the secret she’s keeping. So I made a project-specific chart to do all of that. It was a big one! (Warning: don’t read the actual words on this chart until after you’ve read CHIRP – there are spoilers galore!)

Here’s a closer look at the first page – spoiler free, so you can see how it works.

For this chart, each row represents a chapter, and each column is labeled for something I wanted to keep track of. I chose to include my word count for the chapters (some were still kind of fat at this point in my revision process), the date in the story when each chapter takes place, the mystery elements, the Launch Camp and Warrior Camp elements, and Mia’s state of mind with her secret. Reading through to pay close attention to these elements allowed me to see the book in new ways — something that’s not always easy when you’ve already been living with a project for a year or two. That’s why I find charts to be such helpful revision tools. They force me to assess what I’ve actually put in the pages, compared to what I think is there, based on the story in my head.

Once ALL that revision is done – from my own work, to working with critiques from friends and my editor, it’s time to send the book off to copy edits and design. (It’s almost a book now!) We’ll take a look at that last step in the process next week.

For now, I’d love it if you’d consider pre-ordering CHIRP. If you do that through my local indie, The Bookstore Plus, I’ll personalize and sign your copy to be mailed out on release day. And wherever you pre-order, Bloomsbury will send you a special gift – a CHIRP poster and a class set of bookmarks to share! Just fill out this form after you’ve pre-ordered.

Pre-order Chirp and get a poster and a set of 30 bookmarks for your school or library. Visit bit.ly/chirppreorder for details

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about CHIRP. I’m so hopeful that this book will find the readers who need it, and I’m grateful for the early praise it’s garnered from readers and reviewers alike…

“Kate Messner strikes the perfect balance of joy, pain, and strength in this deftly layered mystery about family, friendship, and the struggle to speak up.” –  Laurie Halse Anderson, bestselling author of SPEAK and SHOUT

“Chirp is so many things: a mystery, a family story, and a story of the power of friendship. It’s about learning to speak out when it seems the whole world would rather you shut up. Sure to be passed from kid to kid to kid” –  Laura Ruby, National Book Award Finalist and author of the York Trilogy

“Once again, Kate Messner has written a book that will be a dear and important friend to her readers. A loving and compelling ode to the joy of friendship, the many kinds of strength, and the everyday bravery of girls.” –  Anne Ursu, author of THE LOST GIRL

“Messner deftly weaves together myriad complex plot threads to form a captivating whole. . . . Rich, timely, and beautifully written.” –  Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews

“Messner addresses #MeToo themes authentically and with care as her story moves toward empowerment: Mia displays fear and confusion alongside a hope to reclaim the strength she once felt as a gymnast. Layering mystery elements, strong and myriad female characters, and a poignant analogy involving chirp-less female crickets, Messner gently guides Mia on a journey of resilience that both comforts and inspires.”

–  Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

“Messner honors middle graders by exploring important, relevant issues at their level of understanding. This book will prompt discussions of gender inequality, consent, and sexual abuse. A must purchase.” –  Starred Review, School Library Connection

Countdown to CHIRP: Working with an Editorial Letter

Welcome to Countdown to CHIRP, a wonderfully nerdy blog series about the writing process behind my February 2020 MG novel, CHIRP. Here’s a little about the book from Bloomsbury, so you’ll understand what I’m talking about when I share all the nitty-gritty writing and revision details…

When Mia moves to Vermont the summer after seventh grade, she’s recovering from the broken arm she got falling off a balance beam. And packed away in the moving boxes under her clothes and gymnastics trophies is a secret she’d rather forget.

Mia’s change in scenery brings day camp, new friends, and time with her beloved grandmother. But Gram is convinced someone is trying to destroy her cricket farm. Is it sabotage or is Gram’s thinking impaired from the stroke she suffered months ago? Mia and her friends set out to investigate, but can they uncover the truth in time to save Gram’s farm? And will that discovery empower Mia to confront the secret she’s been hiding–and find the courage she never knew she had?

In a compelling story rich with friendship, science, and summer fun, a girl finds her voice while navigating the joys and challenges of growing up.

Whenever I visit schools to talk about the writing process, I share something that surprises a lot of kids: I spent way, way more time revising than I do writing my first draft. After several rounds of revising on my own, I’ll reach out to writer-friends for feedback. Then – and at this point, we’re usually talking about draft five or six – I send the manuscript to my editor. Mary Kate Castellani is my Bloomsbury editor who worked on CHIRP. When the manuscript landed in her in-box, she read it through, making notes, and then wrote up a many-page editorial letter with feedback.

When I visit schools to talk about my writing process, I point out that these editorial letters always begin the same way — with a paragraph about how happy my editor is to work with me and how much she loves the book. “And then,” I tell the kids, “she writes EIGHT MORE PAGES about all the things I need to work on before the book gets published!” They gasp and laugh at this. But really, that’s how it works. And the truth is, that encouraging first paragraph helps to convince me that I’m a strong enough writer to tackle all the work that’s still to come.

If you look at the letter, you’ll see that there are some lines underlined. That’s something that I do on my second read of a new editorial letter, to help me distill all those good ideas into something more streamlined and manageable for me as a writer.

I used that underlined letter to make myself a new revision to-do list. It includes all the big-picture things that I want to work on, based on feedback in the editorial letter. I can’t show you the whole list because it contains a couple of major spoilers, but here’s a spoiler-free section.

One of the things Mary Kate talked about in her editorial letter for CHIRP was the novel’s opening, so one of my first orders of business was to scribble some notes on the manuscript about how I might rework it.

In addition to writing that big letter, Mary Kate also makes notes on the manuscript, asking specific questions about specific passages and making more notes.

As I revise, I go back and forth between the manuscript with these comments & suggestions and that big-picture letter, distilled in my to-do list. It usually takes at least two more revision passes to incorporate all of this feedback.

At school visits, kids often ask, “What happens if you don’t want to make one of the changes she wants? What if you don’t agree with her suggestions?” This happens sometimes, and it all works out. Sometimes, I’ll write back with a comment that says “I don’t really want to do this because….” and then we’ll talk about it. Usually, my editor’s suggestion is in response to a real issue – something in the manuscript that’s not quite working. Even if I don’t love her idea for fixing it, I can still find value in the suggestion, recognize that there might be an issue, and brainstorm some other ways to work on it. There’s a lot of back and forth.

The other thing kids ask at school visits is this: “Doesn’t that big fat letter make you mad when you already worked so hard on the book?” I don’t lie when I answer this one. There are times when the editorial letter feels overwhelming and makes me sigh. But once I’ve had time to do my underlining and list-making and thinking, the emotion I land on is always gratitude. Because a book that I’d worked on as hard as I could now has a chance to be even better than I could make it on my own. By the time I send that manuscript to my editor, I’m out of ideas. I’ve used every tool in my revision toolbox, and I’m out of tricks. But when that letter arrives, suddenly, I have another chance and some new thoughts to work with. So ultimately, it’s a pretty exciting part of the writing process.

Once the revision back and forth is all done, the manuscript moves on to copy edits – a process I’ll talk about in a future post.

For now, I’d love it if you’d consider pre-ordering CHIRP. If you do that through my local indie, The Bookstore Plus, I’ll personalize and sign your copy to be mailed out on release day. And wherever you pre-order, Bloomsbury will send you a special gift – a CHIRP poster and a class set of bookmarks to share! Just fill out this form after you’ve pre-ordered.

Pre-order Chirp and get a poster and a set of 30 bookmarks for your school or library. Visit bit.ly/chirppreorder for details

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about CHIRP. I’m so hopeful that this book will find the readers who need it, and I’m grateful for the early praise it’s garnered from readers and reviewers alike…

“Kate Messner strikes the perfect balance of joy, pain, and strength in this deftly layered mystery about family, friendship, and the struggle to speak up.” –  Laurie Halse Anderson, bestselling author of SPEAK and SHOUT

“Chirp is so many things: a mystery, a family story, and a story of the power of friendship. It’s about learning to speak out when it seems the whole world would rather you shut up. Sure to be passed from kid to kid to kid” –  Laura Ruby, National Book Award Finalist and author of the York Trilogy

“Once again, Kate Messner has written a book that will be a dear and important friend to her readers. A loving and compelling ode to the joy of friendship, the many kinds of strength, and the everyday bravery of girls.” –  Anne Ursu, author of THE LOST GIRL

“Messner deftly weaves together myriad complex plot threads to form a captivating whole. . . . Rich, timely, and beautifully written.” –  Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews

“Messner addresses #MeToo themes authentically and with care as her story moves toward empowerment: Mia displays fear and confusion alongside a hope to reclaim the strength she once felt as a gymnast. Layering mystery elements, strong and myriad female characters, and a poignant analogy involving chirp-less female crickets, Messner gently guides Mia on a journey of resilience that both comforts and inspires.”

–  Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

“Messner honors middle graders by exploring important, relevant issues at their level of understanding. This book will prompt discussions of gender inequality, consent, and sexual abuse. A must purchase.” –  Starred Review, School Library Connection