Blown Away By First Grade Poets

Today I conducted a poetry workshop with first graders. Let me just say, I was blown away by their poems. For many of them, it was a first attempt at writing rhyming poetry (however, they have clearly touched on poetry and its other forms before with their fabulous teachers).

My favorite line came from a student who stood up and read his poem before both classes. The last line of his poem was, "Spring is King." It gave me chills.

As these students filed out for recess and gym class, they asked if they were coming back for more poetry. I'm not kidding...they wanted more. Watch out folks, future poets on the rise.

~Mary

April Rocks Because of National Poetry Month

I love April. Spring is in bloom (though it is still a bit chilly), the birds are happy, the children are rediscovering their favorite outdoor hiding spots, and people everywhere are writing poetry. Poets have their month in the sun to shine, to reach out and say, "YES POETRY MATTERS!" And it does, and it should be encouraged and cherished every month of the year. Once upon a time, poets were the celebrities of their towns, their countries, enriching the lives of kings and commoners alike, as they nestled in around their hearths at the close of a day. A treat...sweet words in the ear. A mystery...tugging at the heart.

O Captain! My Captain!

~Walt Whitman

"O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we

sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting.

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!!

O the bleeding drops of red

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the

bells;

Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the

bugle trills..."

All Good Things...

So I haven't been around in a few weeks....but that is because I'm busy stirring up a pot of all good things. Some exciting developments, which I plan to share around the corner. Until then, I wanted to post a few favorite writing quotes that are good for the soul.

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
~Anton Chekhov

"Love the writing, love the writing, love the writing... the rest will follow."
~Jane Yolen

"To me the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the music the words make." ~Truman Capote

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." ~Albert Einstein

"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." ~C.S. Lewis

"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out." ~Ray Bradbury

"Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar." ~E.B. White

And this last quote may seem daunting, but it inspires me to know we all must fail from time to time, and begin and again.

"Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers." ~T.S. Eliot

Signing off,

Mary

Black Turtlenecks

I have to admit, I've had my share of black turtlenecks...still do. I even have black capes and black hats; the mysterious-looking uniform of a writer. But what does it really take to be a writer. And why do some writers persevere and others give up. Watch this interview with Kate D'Camillo to find out.

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/dicamillo

I found Kate DiCamillo to be humble, down-to-earth, and purely honest. I love when, after she decided she was going to become a writer, she "bought a lot of black turtlenecks and started looking sophisticated and world-weary." She said she spent the next ten years that way, until she realized she wasn't going to be a writer unless she started writing something.

Thank you, Kate DiCamillo for your honesty, and mostly for your bravery to keep writing even when the rejections were overwhelming. Your literature has made quite the difference!

~Mary

My Connection to E.B. White

My second grade teacher once said she had nightmares about me. To think I could give a teacher nightmares at the young age of 8 shocked me quite a bit. She said something about my never ending, incessant daydreaming. Then one day, we were to present our book reports on a favorite story. I chose E.B White's Charlotte's Web and decided to adapt the story into a puppet show, with homemade puppets to boot. After my performance, and to the teacher's surprise, the class asked for an encore. That was the first inkling I would become a storyteller/writer someday.

Fast forward quite a few years later...I had just graduated from college and befriended (briefly dated) E.B. White's great (or great, great) nephew. One day, he presented me with an old book of E.B. White's letters. I knew it was a special book and held on to it for the past 12 years for two reason....inspiration, and on the off chance I should run into my friend again. Well, it just so happens we ran into each other...on Face Book. It was an interesting day, to say the least. I had just received interest in one of MY books from an amazing agent in NY (fingers crossed, faith in check), then just moments later received an inquiry from my old friend asking if I still had that E.B. White book. The timing was inspiring. And I knew it was only right for me to let go of this precious book, and give it back to my friend. I am gently sending the book along its way this week. It will be sad to let the book go, as I have a special connection with E.B. White. I can't say exactly what it is...maybe it's that he gave me courage to create stories, even when I was a teacher's worst nightmare. And I kind of hope there's a spiritual writer's torch that is being handed down to me...saying, "go forward...do your best...give them your all." I'll tell myself that and keep writing my best. Thank you, E.B.

~Mary

What Jane Yolen Said....

The Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Conference was this past weekend. And it was, as usual, a success! The conference promised, and delivered, a terrific line-up to a packed house. We had the great pleasure of listening and learning from Sarah Davies of Green house Literary; Valerie Tripp of the American Girl Series; Lonnie Plecha of Cricket Magazine; Elizabeth Carpentiere of FACES Magazine; Amanda Forr of Girl's Life; Julie Vosburgh Agnone of National Georgraphic Kids; Alvina Ling of Little, Brown; Jill Santopolo of Balzer and Bray; Allison Wortche of Knopf; Marilyn Mark of Marshall Cavendish; and our Keynote Speaker, Jane Yolen.

But before I get to Jane, let me first share with you some tips from Valerie Tripp. I really enjoyed her enthusiasm and absolute passion for what she writes. Here are a few quotes from her speech...

"Be patient....scribble. Writing is like housework, except after its finished it stays clean."

"Choose a genre that gives you purpose."

"Nurse those grudges. Forgive but don't forget." And she gave a personal example, which proved to be a great scene in one of her books.


What about Jane, you ask? Well, she had a list of 21 Writing Rules. I'll post my favorite ones here.

3. Don't let characters float on the page. Give them action....description of characters with great dialogue. "Context is everything."

4. Have fun writing. Butt in chair and heart on the page!

5. Wrinkles are far more interesting in your picture.

7. No one outside of a fairytale should have a happy ending. A meaningful ending must have a lifetime of discussion.

8. Finding the right words is the difference between a lightening bug and the lightening (this she quoted from someone...but I can't remember which writer).

11. The narrator shall be known right away in the opening line. Plan your first line well.

16. Too many writers ignore landscape. No one teaches us to see, except in art classes. Most of us miss the little things. Place (landscape) can be a metaphor or even a character.
The territory helps to shape the character. Your details must be precise, not as a visitor, but as a resident. Be an observer of nature as well as character. GO OUTSIDE. SIT IN A SHADOW. BECOME PART OF A TREE.

19. There may actually be projects you'll never complete. That's okay. Move on.

21. Just write. A writer writes and that's what matters.

Thank you, Jane, Valerie, and the others...

~Mary

Teaching Writers' Workshops

I'm teaching writers' workshops to elementary school students this year. I've started by working with fifth graders. Memories of fifth grade are especially sentimental to me, as it was my own fifth grade teacher who told me (and my parents) that I would someday become a writer. I don't know if I quite believed her back then, as I thought I would become a rock star. But somehow she knew the inevitable. A writer can't help but write.

My own workshop attendees are teaching me something interesting about life. When we have a passion and share that passion with others, we come full circle. I'm loving the kids' enthusiasm and zest for learning about the world of writing. Yes, these kids seem to be having fun and are inspiring me, too. When I received a pile of homemade thank you cards from one of the classes, it was better than receiving a bag of gold. Some thanked me for "opening up a new world," others said they started writing stories for fun, etc. I will hold on to those letters and treasure their thanks, and hope that I might see some of these budding writers in print someday.

I never tire of learning, either. I'm currently taking a terrific writing workshop with Anastasia Suen (http://www.asuen.com/). I believe a writer should never stop being a student. The craft of writing is lifelong and the art of writing is inspired by a life lived well.

"Live a good life
And in the end,
it's not the years in a life,
it's the life in the years."

~Abraham Lincoln

Cheers to writers' workshops everywhere.

~M~