Category: TeachersWrite

Good morning! Need a quick prompt to get your creativity fired up? Head over to Jo’s blog for your Monday morning warm-up. And then come back…because we have a great mini-lesson today!

Our guest author is Anne Marie Pace, author of the Vampirina series and other picture books, including her latest, BUSY EYED DAY. She joins us today to talk about picture book revision. This is a great lesson to share with kids when you’re talking about word choice.

We’re all familiar with the writing process.  Whatever terms you use with your students, it’s basically the same five steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, proofreading, publishing.  Revision is my favorite part of the process.  I love making sure I’ve told a strong story with a strong plot in the strongest way possible.  Part of telling that story in the strongest way possible is through very careful, even nit-picky, examination of each sentence.

Personally, I tend to write clean, so even my drafts have complete grammatically-correct sentences and few spelling and punctuation errors.  (That’s not a requirement for being a writer; it’s simply something that I’m able to do. I know lots of wonderful writers who write messy and that’s fine.) So you might assume that once I’ve ensured the story is well-told, with complete sentences in the right order, I’m done.  But I’m not.  Grammatically correct sentences are fine; but I want to give more to my readers than serviceable writing. I want each word in my picture books to be the best word I can find. We know what Mark Twain said: “the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” I want rhythms that are fun to read aloud, even in prose.  I want my books to be the best I can create at that time in my writing journey—and I can do better than serviceable.

Here are some examples from some of my published and upcoming books. I’ll give you the original and revised versions and explain why I made the changes I did.

From VAMPIRINA BALLERINA

Original: If you wish to become a ballerina, you have to do more than wear a tutu and dream about dancing all day long. 

Final: If you are going to be a ballerina, you have to do more than wear a tutu and dream about dancing.

There is nothing wrong with wishing.  Wishes are hopeful and give us direction.  But here I want Vampirina to be more assertive.  Being a ballerina isn’t something you wish for, that a genie in a bottle can grant you.   Being a ballerina takes hard work, and to do it well, you must be determined to do that work.  Thus I replaced “wish” with “are going to” and it was a good change.

From PIGLOO

Original: Even though snow is flying everywhere, Pigloo keeps his eyes open so he’ll know when he’s found the North Pole.

Final: Snow is flying everywhere, but Pigloo keeps his eyes open so he’ll know when he’s found the North Pole.

In this case, the first sentence is grammatically correct, and for older readers the compound-complex sentence would be fine.  But the cause-and-effect in the first sentence isn’t necessary to the sentence’s meaning, and using “Snow is flying everywhere” brings importance to the snow and paints a picture.  “Even though” diminishes the image of the snow flying everywhere in a way that isn’t as effective.

From GROUNDHUG DAY

Original: “Oh, you know Bunny,” Moose said.  “He’s always scrambling this time of year.”

Final: “Oh, you know Bunny,” Moose said.  “He’s always holed up this time of year.”

Among other things, GROUNDHUG DAY is Groundhog missing Valentine’s Day because he goes back to his hole for the last six weeks of winter. But the final illustration of this book shows Bunny dyeing beautiful Easter eggs.  The visual joke is that Groundhog has emerged, but now Bunny is unavailable.  I liked the first version because it plays with the concept of eggs without being explicit; however, in the end, I realized that kids of picture book age tend to be quite literal. I didn’t want kids to think the Easter Bunny was going to scramble the contents of their Easter baskets! It’s not that there’s no place for word play in picture books—of course there is—but I felt the last joke had to stand on its own, without being explained to the child. And Bunny being “holed up” reflects Groundhog being holed up earlier in the book.

From BUSY-EYED DAY

Original: Glitter-eyed girl/Skitter-eyed squirrel

Final: Squirrel-eyed girl/Girl-eyed squirrel

I loved the rhyme of glitter and skitter, but in the end, I chose the version that implies the squirrel and girl are gazing at each other.  A girl wearing glitter sunglasses and a squirrel glancing around nervously doesn’t tell the same story as two beings taking note of the other, and the book is primarily about noticing, so the second version was more appropriate.

Original:

No more spider,/No more bug.

Two-armed mama/Gives a hug.

Final:

No more spiders/No more bugs

Loving mama gives big hugs.

At first I liked the contrast of all the “–eyed” constructs, which make up every couplet, with “two-armed.” But in the end, I decided the contrast didn’t add anything to the final story. Also Sammi has been away from her mother for some time, and it makes sense that she’d run to Mama for a hug after seeing a bug that made her nervous.

From VAMPIRINA AT THE BEACH

Original: Whether or not you come out on top, finishing with grace makes you a real winner.

Final: Whether or not you come out on top, finishing with grace is what makes you a real winner.

I’m usually looking for ways to cut words, not add them, and the final version is definitely wordier.  The “is what” is unnecessary to the meaning. However, the final version reads aloud more smoothly, with better rhythm.

I hope these examples have given you something to think about in your own writing.

Your assignment: Use your work-in-progress, or go back to one of your earlier writing exercises from this week.  Find a merely serviceable sentence, and rewrite it to make it sing.   If you like, share your revision in the comments!

Picture books are magical collaborations, and there are so many exciting moments along the way to their publication. As an author, when I’m writing, I’m imagining the page turns and the art, but at that point, I have no idea who each book’s illustrator will be. I was thrilled when I learned that Matt Forsythe would be creating the art for THE BRILLIANT DEEP: REBUILDING THE WORLD’S CORAL REEFS, and even more enchanted as I watched his sketches evolve and saw the words and pictures come together.

This book, about the life and work of Coral Restoration Foundation founder Ken Nedimyer, earned a starred review from School Library Journal, which called it “A book that can be used in so many ways—a study in biography, science, conservation, and volunteerism. A must for nonfiction collections.”

Now that the book is out and making waves, I thought it might be fun to share a conversation with Matt about his process for creating the art!

——————————————-

Kate: Hi, Matt! I’m so excited to chat with you about your work illustrating The Brilliant Deep, but first, I have to tell you that when I originally saw the finished art for this book, it absolutely took my breath away. And it made me wonder how your vision for this project evolved from the day Chronicle touched base to ask if you’d be interested in illustrating. I know that illustrators have to pick and choose when it comes to projects. What was it that made you want to say yes to this one, and what was your first thought as to what your approach might be?

Matt: I was really excited to see your script because:

1. It was so beautifully written
2. It had an environmental message
3. I knew your work with Chris Silas Neal, which I loved so much; so I was excited to get to work on my own nature book with you.

Before this project I had been working on an animated fiction TV show – which was great fun, but it was exciting to have the opportunity to work on a non-fiction project – about an issue that is so current and pressing.

That’s why it felt important for me to write, too. And I’m so glad you felt that connection because I can’t imagine more perfect art for this project. Could you talk a bit about your process for this book?

This was my first non-fiction book, so the visuals required much more research than previous projects.

I wanted to make sure I got Ken and his family right for each time period – even the scuba/snorkeling technology had to be right for each era – and I needed to ensure the waterlife was accurate or I knew that the fact-checkers at Chronicle would have my head!

To help me out, Ken, himself, sent me a bunch of photos of his family and his early years with the Coral Restoration Foundation. Also, the underwater life had to be specific to each location where Ken dove in the Florida reefs.

For example, at one point, I wanted to draw Manatees; but Ken said I couldn’t because manatees are actually much closer inland than his dive-spots.

So: no manatees.

Kate: I am sorry about the manatees. That would have been fun.

What media did you use for this project, or was it a mix? I know there were sketches early on, but I don’t think I ever saw the in-between stages, before final art. Can you talk a little about the steps you go through when you’re creating a piece for a book like this?

Matt: It was a mix. I always use watercolour, gouache, pencil and then gouache again – usually in that order.

The first step is a very quick, loose run of small sketches through the book to capture some energy and flow in thumbnails.

Then I enlarge those and tighten with pencil. Once we have a final sequence of images agreed upon with the editors, I might do a quick value test on the computer before I go in with a watercolour wash to establish a colour story. And then I will use gouache and pencil to get the values right.

I like the colours to move from warm to cool with the story, depending on the situations. This was a particular challenge, because the second act of the book is about dead reefs. Which are by definition, lifeless and – very visually unappealing. I tried to focus the images on Ken and his work for this part of the book; varying the angles to hopefully create more interest and movement.

Here are some examples of pencil sketches:

 Here is an example of trying to establish values before going in with paint:

More sketches:

And here’s some of the final art…

Kate: This is so interesting to see – thanks!! One last question… What are you working on now?

Matt: Right now, I’m designing a Netflix animated show called 12 Forever. It’s a really fun show about a girl who doesn’t want to grow up – so she sort of fights her fears and fantasies on this magical island. I’m getting to design a lot of the creatures on that island. It will be out in 2019.

I’m also writing and illustrating my own picture book which should be out in Fall 2019 from Simon & Schuster.

What are you working on? What’s your next picture book going to be about?

Kate: I have a few things in the works and am excited about all of them. Chris Silas Neal and I are doing a couple more books in our Over & Under the Snow series – one set in a Costa Rica rainforest and another set in the desert. And I also have an upcoming Chronicle picture book called Where’s the Next President? which I just learned is being  illustrated by Adam Rex.

Thanks again for taking time to talk process with me today! I’ll wrap up with a link to a feature about our book that was just posted on the wonderful blog, Brain Pickings, where Maria Popova sums up Ken’s work so beautifully: “What began as one man’s labor of love in the Florida Keys — the locus of his childhood love of the ocean — has become a global model of hands-on resistance to the assault on nature.”

Happy Friday! Our guest author for today’s mini-lesson is Michelle Cusolito. Michelle spent her childhood mucking about in the fields, forests, and swamps around the farm where she grew up in southeastern Massachusetts. As an exchange student in high school, she temporarily traded rural living for city life in Cebu, Philippines. These early experiences set her on her current course exploring nature and culture like the locals. She spent 10 wonderful years as a grade 4 teacher. Now, when she’s not mucking around in the world, she’s usually in her office or local coffee shop weaving these experiences into stories for children. Her new book is FLYING DEEP: CLIMB INSIDE DEEP-SEA SUBMERSIBLE ALVIN.

Like most authors, I have an ever-growing list of topics I might write about. But how do I decide which topic warrants a whole book? For me, the biggest factor is my interest level. (Tip: I have a “hidden board” called “Ideas” on Pinterest. I pin interesting stuff I find so I can come back to it later).

I spent about a year deeply researching, writing, and revising Flying Deep before it went out on submission. Once it sold, we went through many rounds of edits to get it ready for publication. Now, 3½ years after writing that first draft, the book is out in the world and I’m talking to kids, teachers, librarians, and parents about it. I need to love my topic to be able to sustain my excitement as I share it years after I first started researching it. I also need to consider what is already out in the market. How do I do that? Here are my steps:

 I start with Amazon. I narrow my focus to kids’ books and search on my specific topic and
related topics. For example, when writing Flying Deep, I searched Alvin, hydrothermal vents,
Chemosynthesis, deep ocean, deep-sea vehicles, etc.
 Then, I search my library’s on-line system to see if I can get the books delivered to my local
library. (I also use the library’s search engine, but I’ve found it isn’t as robust as Amazon’s.
Occasionally, I find some gem not on Amazon, though). Why the library? It’s free! I get every
book I can, even if it seems like it won’t be that useful. You never know.
 If I can’t find a book, I ask my librarian to search for me. I’ve gotten books from New York and
Pennsylvania this way.
 If there are books I can’t get through the library, I assess how valuable that book will be and if I should buy it. If it’s a kids’ book that’s so hard to get, do I need to worry about it? It’s clearly not widely available. On the other hand, if it’s a book that seems like it might be helpful to my
research, should I purchase it? (Note: many people tell me they have also searched on https://www.edelweiss.plus/ I haven’t done this, yet).

Ok, so I get the 5 or 10 or 20+ books currently available. Then what? Read them all, of course! I love this phase of research. It’s kind of like that dreaming phase when planning a vacation: I snuggle up on the sofa (or perhaps the hammock if it’s summer) and read every book. Instead of dreaming about places I’ll visit, I dream about what I might write. I look to see what the books have in common and how they’re different. I look for things I’m curious about that are not covered in the books. I also check the bibliography for resources I might consult later. I take notes. I also consider these points:

 Is there a lack of books on this topic? Why might that be? (A lack of books doesn’t necessarily mean one is needed- there may not be a market for it).
 Is the market already flooded with books on this topic? (Multiple books already in the market
doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t write one).
 If there are multiple books already out, what new angle might I bring to the topic. (For example,I consider what I was curious about that isn’t in the available books).

Once I’ve done all of that, then I decide if I want to pursue the topic further. If I decide to proceed, I use the information I’ve gathered to guide my research. I look for a new angle to the story and the hidden gems that will bring my topic alive in a new or interesting way.

Your Assignment: Give this a try today. What topics have you been thinking about? (You have an idea file, right?) Follow my steps to see what you can dig up that has already been published and request the books from your library. Then see where your idea fits with what’s already available. While you’re looking, be alert for ideas that pop into your mind and jot them down. (Note: If you don’t have a list of non-fiction topics and you’d like to build one, check out my Teacher’s Write post from 2016 “Follow Your Curiosity.” In it, I give more background about Flying Deep and offer tips for finding topics)

Feel free to share your reflections for today in the comments! And a reminder: If you have a work-in-progress, you can also visit Friday Feedback to share a bit, get feedback, and give feedback to others, too.

Good morning! It’s time for our Thursday Quick-Write, and today’s guest author wrote one of my favorite books of the year – Dread Nation.

Justina Ireland is also the author of the teen novels Vengeance Bound and Promise of Shadows. She enjoys dark chocolate and dark humor and is not too proud to admit that she’s still afraid of the dark. She lives with her husband, kid, and dog in Pennsylvania. You can visit her online at www.justinaireland.com.

When I think of writing, I usually think primarily in the fundamental building blocks of story: setting, character, and plot.  For me, this is the Holy Trinity, and manipulating any single one of these elements will impact the other two.  Is your character a plucky girl from 1880s Wisconsin? That’s going to make her a lot different than a plucky girl from 1980s Wisconsin. And moving either of these girls to California would also change them as characters and would require some manipulation of the plot.

But keeping these three elements in mind when writing means that improving any of them requires us to look critically at the other two. To fix a broken plot means to consider both the character and setting.  To change a setting means modifying character actions and plot development, and so on and so forth.

So the exercise I have for you today involves thinking about your character critically, and using a modification of setting to understand them on another level.

Your Assignment: Every character has a place where they are comfortable and uncomfortable, and a common exercise involves writing a scene where your main character is somewhere they would love and somewhere they would hate (in Dread Nation this is the main character killing the dead in the woods around Miss Preston’s and killing dead at a university lecture, respectively).

But a better way to fully understand the depth and breadth of a character is to completely remove them from their time period.  How does your 1980s girl fare in the 1880s? What trends does she love and what does she miss about home?  Writing these kinds of quirky, irreverent scenes can help to get you out of the rut of your plot, and help you build a deeper, more nuanced character.

So: take your main character and write a scene with them a hundred years in the future or a hundred years in the past. As you write keep the following in mind:

What do they love about this new time? What do they hate?

How well do they adapt and what does that look like?

What is the hardest thing for them to overcome about the time shift? What do they miss most about their own time?

Feel free to share a bit of what you wrote in the comments if you’d like!

Got questions about writing?  Wednesday is Q and A Day at Teachers Write Virtual Summer Writing Camp, and we’ll have some great guest authors answering. Today’s author guests are Grace Lin and Emma Otheguy!

Before Grace Lin was an award-winning and NY Times bestselling author/illustrator of picturebooks, early readers and middle grade novels, she was the only Asian girl (except for her sisters) going to her elementary school in Upstate NY. That experience, good and bad, has influenced her books—including her Newbery Honor WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON, her Geisel Honor LING & TING, and her National Book Finalist WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER. But, it also causes Grace to persevere for diversity as a New England Public Radio commentator and when she gave her TEDx talk “The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf,” as well as her PBSNewHour video essay “What to do when you realize classic books from your childhood are racist?.” In 2016, Grace’s art was displayed at the White House and Grace, herself, was recognized by President Obama’s office as a Champion of Change for Asian American and Pacific Islander Art and Storytelling.  These days, Grace is most excited about her new picture book, “A Big Mooncake for Little Star,” out at the end of August. Grace is offering exclusive, limited edition moon calendars to readers who pre-orders her book. See  (link below) for more info!  http://www.gracelinblog.com/2018/05/pre-order-big-mooncake-for-little-star.html

Teachers & librarians – Feel free to ask your questions in the comments.  It’s fine to ask a general question or to direct one directly to a specific guest author. Our author guests have volunteered to drop in and respond when they can.

Note from Kate: I’ll try to be here for Q and A most Wednesdays, too. Please be patient with me if you’re a first-time commenter – it may take a little while for me to approve your comment so it appears.

Got questions? Fire away!

Tuesday and Thursday are Quick-Write days at Teachers Write, so our guest authors will be coming by with some writing prompts to try out. Do as much or as little as you’d like with each mini-assignment, and feel free to bookmark those you’d like to use with students later on. Teachers Write posts don’t go anywhere after the summer ends. They’re always here for you to use and share with student writers.

Our guest author today is Traci Sorell, who writes poems as well as fiction and nonfiction works for children—the type of books she sought out in her school and public libraries as a child. Her debut picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, focuses on the universal spirit of gratitude in contemporary Cherokee culture across the four seasons. Illustrated by Frané Lessac and published by Charlesbridge Publishing, the book shares Cherokee celebrations, history and experiences beginning with the new year in fall and ending at the tribe’s National Holiday in late summer. Traci is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and grew up in northeastern Oklahoma, where her tribe is located.

My debut picture book focuses on Cherokee people expressing gratitude in every season, not just when something good happens or when something asked for has been provided. In Cherokee culture and many others worldwide, cultivating gratitude for both the blessings and struggles experienced is critical to maintaining balance and perspective on life’s journey. It is an intentional practice and a muscle to be strengthened daily.

Your Assignment: Take a moment, close your eyes and reflect on recent blessings and struggles experienced this spring or so far this summer. Sketch or write those down.

Now review what you’ve remembered. Place a star next to the one that speaks most to you. Use this as the basis of a poem, short story, free-write, sketch, picture book, song, etc. Select the method that best resonates with your experience and create! Feel free to share some of your work in the comments if you’d like.

Hi there! Happy Summer! And welcome to writing camp! Jo Knowles starts our weeks off with a Monday Morning Warm-up, so please visit her blog to get your creative ideas flowing – and then come back here for today’s lesson! 

Teachers Write is a free virtual summer writing camp for teachers and librarians.  To get daily posts delivered to your in-box, please click here and fill out your name & email on the form on the right side of the page. 

A quick note about blogging your Teachers Write experience:  Our guest authors have given permission for their lessons & prompts to be shared on the Teachers Write blog only. Please do not copy and paste any mini-lessons or writing prompts to your own social media feeds or blogs – publish only your own writing there. If you’d like to reference the ideas shared here, providing a link is the best way to do that. Thanks!

Our weekly schedule will look like this:

I’ll be popping in to comment, and I know many of our guest authors will, too, but since this community has grown so much (we’re more than 3000 teacher-writers strong now!) you’ll also need to commit to supporting one another. When someone decides to be brave and share a bit of writing in the comments, or when someone asks for advice or feedback, please know that you are welcome (and encouraged!) to be mentors to one another as well. Watching this writing community grow is one of the best things about being part of Teachers Write.

The first time you comment, I will have to “approve” your comment before it appears. This is to prevent us all from being besieged by online trolls. So when you comment, it will not show up right away – sometimes, it may be later in the day when your comment appears. THIS IS OKAY. Please don’t post more than once. I’ll be traveling for conferences & research some of the summer  but promise to check in whenever I get wherever I’m going each night. Be patient with  me, okay? 🙂

Now…let’s get started!

Another Point of View

When I was working on my June 2018 novel, BREAKOUT, about a small-town prison break and manhunt that change the way three kids see their neighbors and the place they call home, I wrote the first draft in first person point of view, from the point of view of Nora Tucker, the prison superintendent’s daughter. I revised. And revised. And somewhere around my third draft, thanks to feedback from writer friends, I reconsidered that POV decision.

How might different elements of this story look different to different characters? How would their backgrounds and life experiences change the way they saw things? And how might different documents – letters, poems, text messages, emails, news articles, signs, etc. – be useful in sharing those different perspectives?

This exploration ultimately led me to rewrite the entire book with a different structure, as a novel-in-documents.

I loved working on this project with this challenging puzzle of a format. (And I really hope you’ll want to read BREAKOUT and share it with your students- you can pick it up from your favorite bookstore!)

My next book won’t be a novel-in-documents because every story is different, and this one (a mystery set on a cricket farm!) will be better served with a different structure. But I’ll still take some time to write letters and poems in my characters’ voices, even though those pages probably won’t end up in the final draft. Writing from different points of view is a helpful way for writers of all ages to explore character, whether or not the final story will be told in multiple points of view. Often, when I’m writing a novel with an antagonist who doesn’t feel fully fleshed out, I take a break from the manuscript to journal in the “bad guy’s” point of view. It always helps me to understand more about my villain’s motivation and the backstory that shaped them.

So for today’s mini-lesson, let’s spend a little time playing around with point of view and structure.

Your assignment: 

1. Go read this article about a pet owner who lost his cobra in a Florida neighborhood a few years ago. While you read, brainstorm a list of different characters who might be part of a story inspired by this news article and think about how their perspectives on what happened might differ.
2. Next, brainstorm a list of all the different kinds of documents that might be part of this story if you were to write it using that format. Would there be text messages sent? From whom? What would they say? Who might write letters or diary entries or emails? What might a poem from one of the characters in this story look like? Could there be a rap battle? Petitions? Related news stories or editorials? Cartoons?
3. Choose one of the documents you brainstormed and write it. Keep in mind which character(s) created that document and what their perspectives might be.
4. If you’d like, share a little of what you wrote by copying & pasting into the comments. (If you link to a blog or other website, most people won’t see it.) And feel free to read some of the other posts to see how different writers handled other points of view!
5. If you’re not ready to share quite yet, you can also just introduce yourself in the comments & say hello! I’m excited to meet everyone!

And here’s a little extra incentive to participate in the comments today. If you share a snippet of your writing and/or an introduction, I’ll enter you in a drawing to win all four of these amazing MG novels by TW guest authors, past and present. And they’re ALL signed! Deadline: 11pm EST on July 9th.

Teachers Write is a free, online summer writing camp for teachers and librarians. This summer, our program runs from July 9th to August 3rd. You can learn all about the program and sign up to join us here. 

The best thing about Teachers Write is that you’ll have the opportunity to write with and learn from many of your students’ favorite authors!  Here’s our amazing line-up of guest authors for Summer 2018. Please take some time before July to visit their websites, read some of their books, and get ready for a great summer of writing!

Mini-Lesson Monday – July 9 – Kate Messner shares a mini-lesson on perspective and point of view using her new novel-in-documents Breakout as a mentor text.

Tuesday Quick-Write – July 10 –  Traci Sorell, author of the upcoming picture book We are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, shares a quick writing prompt to get your pencils moving (or keyboards tapping – whichever you prefer!)

Q&A Wednesday – July 11 – Guest authors Grace Lin and Emma Otheguy are your hosts for Q&A Wednesday. They’ll be answering questions about writing in the comments section throughout the day. Grace is the Newbery Honor author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and an upcoming picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Emma’s debut picture book biography, Martí’s Song for Freedom/Martí y sus versos por la libertad, came out last year.

Thursday Quick-Write – July 12 – Justina Ireland, New York Times bestselling author of Dread Nation, joins us for a writing prompt that challenges campers to use anachronistic historical moments for character development – a fun way to understand a character on a deeper level and provoke a more meaningful character arc in a story.

Mini-Lesson Friday – July 13 – Michelle Cusolito, author of the nonfiction picture book Flying Deep: Climb Inside Deep-Sea Submersible ALVIN, shares a mini-lesson about writing & revising nonfiction.

Mini-Lesson Monday – July 16 – Anne Marie Pace, author of Vampirina Ballerina and Busy-Eyed Day, shares a mini-lesson on revising picture books.

Tuesday Quick-Write – July 17 – Debbi Michiko Florence, author of the Jasmine Toguchi chapter book series, shares a quick-write prompt on using traditions (cultural and family) to spark story ideas and creating characters.

Q&A Wednesday – July 18 – Mike Jung and Jess Keating are your hosts for Q&A Wednesday today! Mike’s latest middle grade novel is Unidentified Suburban Object. Jess’s nonfiction titles Pink is for Blobfish and Shark Lady.

Thursday Quick-Write – July 19 – Heidi Schulz, author of Hook’s Revenge, shares a prompt that challenges writers to look at setting as a lens for character.

Mini-Lesson Friday – July 20 – Erin Dionne, author of Lights, Camera, Disaster, shares a mini-lesson that challenges writers to take a closer look at sentence structure. She’ll offer tips for getting rid of passive voice, distancing words, etc.

Mini-Lesson Monday – July 23 – Sarah Albee writes MG nonfiction like Poison and Dog Days of History. Her mini-lesson is about how history is made up of the stories we choose to tell about the past, and how each generation writes its own history from its own historical present. 

Tuesday Quick-Write – July 24 – Hena Khan will share a writing prompt inspired by the first title in her new chapter book series, Zayd Saleem: Chasing the Dream: Power Forward. Hena also writes picture books (Golden Domes & Silver Lanterns and Crescent Moons and Pointed Minarets) and MG novels (Amina’s Voice).

Q&A Wednesday – July 25 – Phil Bildner and Tanya Lee Stone are guest authors today. Phil is the author of the Rip and Red series, including Most Valuable Players. Tanya is best known for her nonfiction; her new picture book is Pass Go and Collect $200: The Real Story of How Monopoly Was Invented.

Thursday Quick-Write – July 26 – Jen Petro Roy, author of P.S. I Miss You and Ammi-Joan Paquette, author of The Train of Lost Things, team up today for a conversation and quick write that focuses on writing about tough topics for kids.

Mini-Lesson Friday – July 27 – Linda Urban’s new books are an early MG novel called Road Trip with Max and his Mom and a picture book called Mabel and Sam. Today, she’ll share a mini-lesson about notebooks and how writers might use them to inspire creativity and play.

Mini-Lesson Monday – July 30 – Chris Tebbetts, co-author of the Middle School series (Middle School: The Worst Years of my Life), shares a mini-lesson called “Three Steps to Character Dimension: Internal Conflict, Contradiction, and Shadow Traits.”

Tuesday Quick-Write – July 31 – Today’s writing prompt is from Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, author of Two Naomis and the forthcoming sequel Naomis, Too, both with Audrey Vernick.

Q&A Wednesday – August 1 – Meg Medina and Ann Angel are your hosts for our final Q&A Wednesday. Meg write picture books (Tia Isa Wants a Car) and YA novels (Burn Baby Burn), and her first middle grade novel, Merci Suarez Changes Gears, comes out in September. Ann Angel writes both fiction and nonfiction, including the YA biography Janis Joplin: Rise up Singing.

Thursday Quick-Write – August 2 – Tracey Baptiste, author of The Jumbies and Rise of the Jumbies, shares a prompt that challenges writers to think about nonverbal communication.

Friday Farewell  – August 3 – Kate Messner & guests

And don’t forget that we’ll have Friday Feedback with Gae Polisner, Sunday check-ins with writer-educator Jen Vincent, and amazing writing prompts from Jo Knowles, who shares her Monday Morning Warm-Ups to kick off each week, too!

Every time I look at this lineup, I get more excited about the summer to come. And it’s almost time to get writing! Have you signed up for Teachers Write 2018 yet? Go ahead and do that now! 

Then take some time to check out the links above. Buy some books. Get to know your guest authors. Follow them on Twitter & find them on Facebook if you like to hang out in those places, too. We’ll be back Monday, July 9th to get started!

It’s hard to believe that our four weeks of writing together are winding down already, but please know that even though we’re not blogging every day, this community doesn’t go away when it’s time to sharpen pencils again. Being a teacher-writer isn’t a one-time professional development goal, so we hope your writing habit lasts far beyond September. Gae has one more Friday Feedback for you today. And Gae, Jo, Jennifer, and I – and most of your guest authors – are always around on social media. We’ll keep cheering for you (and your students!) throughout the school year.

Today’s writing prompt is one that I’ve included before, but I can’t say it any better for this year’s group of brave writers, so I’m sharing it once more…

You all showed up here in early July – some of you veterans, some of you brand new to Teachers Write and even new to the idea of putting words on paper and sharing them. It’s been an amazing summer of learning and writing. You’ve written bravely and shared with joy and fear and courage and all the other emotions that go along with opening up a bit of yourself to friends and strangers who are being brave, too. You’ve made me smile and laugh and cry sometimes, too, in all the best ways, and I am so proud of you.

So here’s one last assignment…

(You are being granted special time-travel abilities for this one.)

Write a letter to yourself of 4 weeks ago.  It will be sent back through time and delivered to you on July 9th, 2017…right before you begin Teachers Write.  What advice would you give yourself?  What can you tell yourself about what the experience will be like and how it might change your writing or teaching?

Here’s the letter I wrote to my back-in-time self after our first summer of Teachers Write, back in 2012…

Dear Kate,

Today, you are going to notice some of your Twitter teacher-friends talking about their goals to write this summer, and it will occur to you that it might be fun to set up a virtual writing camp.  Go ahead and do it, even though it’s not going to go the way you’re imagining.  You’re probably picturing a dozen people, right? Maybe twenty? Multiply that by 100 and you’ll be a little closer. It’ll freak you out at first when you see all those people signing up, but don’t worry — they are amazing people who will be happy to be here and patient with your summer schedule. Besides, tons of generous and talented authors are going to show up to pitch in. This probably doesn’t surprise you, does it? The children’s and YA writer community is amazing like that.

What will surprise you is just how much you are moved when you sit down to read the comments every day. These teachers and librarians will be so smart, so brave. They will try new things. Some will be afraid at first, but they will be so good to one another, so supportive, that new voices will emerge every week.  And these voices will be full of passion and beauty, humor and joy and poignancy.  They will be amazing, and they will make you cry sometimes, in the best possible way.

So go on… Write that introductory blog post, even though you’re biting off way more than you know. It will be worth every second, and when August comes, you will not be ready to let go. Not even close.

Warmly,   Kate

Your turn now…  Put today’s date on the paper, and then write your message to be sent to yourself, back through time. We’d love it if you’d all share this one in the comments.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer and have an amazing school year with your student writers. Be sure to tell them about your writing this summer. They’ll be so proud of you.

xo

~Kate

Ready for your final Thursday Quick-Write of the summer? Our guest author today is the brilliant Alicia Williams, whose debut novel comes out in the fall. Alicia is a graduate of Hamline University’s MFAC program. Her debut middle grade novel will be GENESIS RISING, with Atheneum/S&S. She started her storytelling as a folk storyteller and captivates audiences young and old with the Breh Rabbit and Breh Fox tales. She also writes and performs one-woman historical plays, featuring the likes of Sojourner Truth, Margaret Garner (slave that Toni Morrison based BELOVED on), Mamie Till (Emmit Till’s mother), to name a few. Alicia is also a Master Teaching Artist, combining her love of storytelling and acting, to teach writing based on an arts-integration pedagogy.