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I write this post enormously grateful for how smart each fellow blogger has made me these past two weeks thanks to her posts that addressed the telling of our stories, whether true or not.
As I read Mary Ann’s, April’s, Bobbi’s and JoAnn’s posts, all I could think about was the tiny blue Post-It Note I’d affixed long ago to my first desk-top computer: “It’s the STORY, stupid!”
We are, as Kendall Haven wrote, story animals; we are, as Lisa Cron tells us, wired for story.
I’d originally titled this abecedarian book W IS FOR WRITING. Brainstorming with my CPS Alcott School fifth graders helped me choose writing-associated words to represent the letters A through Z. But even once I fine-tuned those choices to ensure they totally embraced the writing information I needed and wanted to share, I knew those twenty-six words in no way told a story.
And they needed to, if I was to pull in readers and keep them turning the pages.
My fifth-grader Alberto said it best. “You should change the title,” he boldly advised me. “W IS FOR WRITING sounds like a textbook. I’d never want to buy it. But if you call it “W IS FOR WRITER,” he added, “I’ll think you wrote a book about me.”
Alberto wanted hard facts, inspiration and encouragement. But most of all, he wanted – and expected – a story about writers with which he could connect.
So here’s what I did to tell that story:
(1) First I thought about my take-away, what I wanted my reader thinking when he closed the book – i.e. writers are readers!
(2) Next I thought about what I wanted my reader thinking while he was reading my descriptive and explanatory poems and sidebars – i.e. young writers and award-winning authors share the very same writing process!
(3) I then made sure the true facts I chose to include - about children’s books, about children’s book authors, about the writing process– served as concrete details that supported my story's take-away’s.
(4) Finally, I did my best to create a narrative arc, addressing the reader while moving him from the all-encompassing people, they and their in the beginning alphabet pages….
to the inclusive we,us and our in the middle pages…
to the focused you and your in the final pages.
Thanks to Alberto, my twenty-six letters told a story - of a writer's life and process, A through Z.
Happy STORY-telling!
Esther Hershenhorn
In September, 2000, I presented a workshop at Fort Wayne, Indiana’s Science Central – “Let Lowell Piggot Help You Think Like a Scientist!” – based on my meteorologically-themed picture book There Goes Lowell’s Party! (Holiday House).
I promise you: every single Science Teacher who ever taught me, who ever awarded me the “D” I’d – barely - earned, elementary school through college, was rolling over in his or her grave.
(That did not include Ms. Lowenstein, my college Biology lab instructor, who listened to me highlight my fetal pig’s fallopian tubes during my final exam, then announced I’d failed because my fetal pig was male.)
That’s how I feel now writing about The Digital Age and how it impacts my teaching and authoring.
If not a card-carrying Luddite, I am definitely a sympathizer.
Ned Ludd, of course, was the imagined leader of the English textile workers whose protests and machine breaking shook England in the early 19th century and who lent his name to opponents of technology.
As noted in Monday's post, Jean Marie’s Dad insisted she learn the Word Processor manual; mine insisted I learn how to type on a portable Royal typewriter. (“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party.”)
When it comes to any kind of technological change, be it early 19th century textile machinery, my Kindle or my digital camera, I enter the room kicking and screaming.
But do notice: I used the active voice!
For better (mostly), I have indeed entered this Brave New World of ours, one digit at a time, so to speak - first delicately dipping my Big Toe to test the waters, then gingerly tapping my right index finger in search of whatever the machine’s correct key.
And, I’m happy to say (on most d
Since early September
I’ve been out-and-about,
to
Chicago and its Parks – Lincoln, Hyde and Rogers,
plus Vernon Hills,
Orland Park,
Winnetka,
Aurora,
Palatine,
Springfield,
Ann Arbor,
Reno,
Virginia City
and the Kidlitosphere,
visiting
classrooms,
gymnasiums,
learning centers and auditoriums,
libraries, bookstores,
conference centers and universities,
Veterans halls,
0 Comments on B is for Book Tour as of 1/1/1900
Find out about our Teaching Authors Book Giveaway running all this week! Click here for details on how to enter for a chance to win your own autographed copy of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet. And be sure to try out the related Writing Workout at the end of this post.
Now here's the fifth and last in our series of Q & A posts related to Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.
JoAnn: Each book is a ribboned and bowed gift—for the writer as well as for the reader. What was the surprise for you when you unwrapped this book?
Esther: I’m smiling just thinking about my answer.
My book’s closing Y and Z words and their accompanying entries shout to the world, “Writing is a gift!”
The word
story comes from the word
history, which means a narrative of events. And history’s story? It comes from the Greek word
historia, which means to ask or inquire to learn and know.
“Writing,” I tell my reader, “helps you learn the story behind
your story.”
Y is for Your Story
Yours to live and grow,
Of all you do,
And where you’ve been and where you hope to go.
My writer’s story, to date, told of fictional picture books and middle grade novels.
But writing
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet opened all sorts of doors to writing nonfiction.
The learner in me loved researching the bounty of possible supportive details for each of my entries. I was lost in thought, I was in the flow, as one fact led to another.
The wordsmith in me loved the doable concreteness of crafting 180-word pieces; I found the cutting, refining and polishing oddly satisfying.
I was teaching again, via words on paper, as I did when I long ago published for the educational market.
My journalism degree served me daily and well, enabling me to focus on each entry’s important facts.
I was telling
my story – my Writer’s story, my Teacher’s story, my Author’s story, my
Teaching Author’s story, up close and personally, all in the service of helping young writers tell
their stories.
My current project? I’m writing a picture book biography of a little-known slave the world needs to know.
My “Z is for Zorro” entry reminds readers that we need to sign our names beneath our singular stories, maybe with three quick sword-drawn lines, as Zorro did, or with a John Hancock-like bold hand or a telling mark. Perhaps, I suggest, we could use a signature quote, words that tell the world something about us, the way the quotes throughout my book tell something about writing.
Each day brings me new and meaningful quotable words to place beneath my name. For now, though, as I sign off with thanks to my fellow
Teaching Authors for their questions and support the past seven days, I choose Milo’s words from
The Phantom Toll Booth.
Esther Hershenhorn
“Anything is possible as long as you don’t know it’s impossible.”
FYI:
Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing. Visit
Zak’s website to learn more about his work and other books.
My website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
Visit my website’s newest page,
Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
Click
here for Sleeping Bear Press’s Teacher’s Guide to
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.
Writing Workout
Many writers today place a famous quotation beneath their names when they sign letters, emails and reports. Such quotations are called signature quotes.
Bartlett’s Book of Familiar Quotations sits on the reference shelf of most libraries.
A Gift of Days: The Greatest Words to Live By (S & S/Atheneum) offers powerful words from 366 artists, writers, political figures and visionaries.
What quote would you choose to write beneath your name to show the world you’re here and just who you are?
Think about your favorite books (Winnie the Pooh, the Harry Potter series), movies, characters, poems, ads, tag lines, song titles and lyrics, sports figures, musicians and games.
Find out about our TeachingAuthors autographed Book Giveaway running all this week! Click here for details.
This week we’re celebrating fellow TeachingAuthor Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book, S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.
April:
Can you give us a feel for the time-line of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, from the story’s spark to its first review?
Esther:
I loved sharing with readers in my D is for Drafts side-bar text that Abraham Lincoln spent seventeen days crafting his 272-word Gettysburg Address! S is for Story’s time-line totaled 971 days, from its January 11, 2007 story spark to its September 9, 2009 official release.
But, who’s counting anyway?
And, unlike Lincoln, I saved my many drafts.
Here’s how my book’s plotline played out across 2 2/3 years, in scenes that moved forward to its happy resolution, despite the twists and turns.
January 11, 2007 My story’s spark: a writing alphabet!
January 13, 2007 Submission of Book Proposal to SBP editor Amy Lennex
October 10, 2007 Amy’s phone call, offering me a contract : )
Note: Sleeping Bear Press planned to publish the book in September, 2009; my completed manuscript was due May 1, 2008.
Brainstorming the book idea with my Chicago Alcott School 5th graders
January 7, 2008 Submission of my 26 selected alphabetically-ordered words
Note: I’ve titled this particular Plot Episode “Esther’s Lost Weekend” because that’s what preceded the submission of my letters. My driving question? What story was I telling? What was my narrative arc? I simply could not alphabetically list word after word. My Aha! Moment? When I realized this book was my School Visit, wrapped and ribbon-ed and tied up with a bow, shouting, when opened, “Writers are readers!”
My welcoming, affirming narrator’s voice would address the reader, moving the story from WE writers (and readers) to and through writing’s Magic and on to writing’s gift, namely YOU and YOUR story.
My 26 words needed to offer a balanced representation of (1) the writing process, (2) the six traits of writing, (3) the elements of narrative and (4) the writer’s life.
My quoted and referenced children’s book authors, titles and characters would reflect a multitude of formats, genres and ethnicities.
January, 2008 – March, 2008 Research! Googling! Reading! Oh, My!
Selection of supportive concrete details and a relevant quote for each of my 17 double-page spreads
Note: I’d never solved such a challenging acrostic-like puzzle! I needed to represent award-winning authors living and dead, male and female, inclusive of all genres, formats and ethnicities, whose words enhanced my selected subject word
March, 2008 The writing of my book’s rhymed text – 26 poems that convey,
for my youngest readers, the essence of my chosen subject word.
Note: Writing these poems, adhering to my established meter, yet varying the sentence structure and word choice in unique and original ways, took me all 31 days! I have a new respect for the always-admired Mary Ann Hoberman and Lisa Wheeler.
April, 2008 The writing of the 180-word text for each of my 26 side-bars.
Note: The word count included my chosen author’s quoted words. Revising, cutting and refining my copy proved editor Jean Karl’s advice right on: a writer can always cut five words more. I actually loved this challenge. Verbs became my best friends.
April 30, 2008 Submission of manuscript, electronically to Amy Lennex!
May, 2008 A few minor revisions requested and honored
May 23, 2008 An arranged conference call that included Amy Lennex, the Art Director Melinda Millward, the book’s chosen illustrator Zachary Pullen and me!
Note: I’ve never been offered this opportunity before.
I shared how I came to write this book and why I loved it so.
Zak shared that he was thinking about following a given set of young writers through the book’s many pages. Our respect for young writers came through loud and clear.
August, 2008 Amy shared Zak’s rough thumbnail sketches
October, 2008 I honored Amy’s request to choose a new U and X;
Note: my original U was for Uses and the X was for Rejection;
my revised U was for Unstoppable and X was for eXpression.
November 24, 2008 Amy Lennex’s emailed revision requests, with an attached document.
Note: Though still full of Good Will from Turkey Day,
I was not instantly thankful for Amy’s sharp, smart editorial eye.
In fact, it took a good two days for me to see the wonder of her comments, each posed as a question. Amy was reading my words on behalf of my readers, young and old, who deserved utmost clarity. I twinge now rereading the draft I thankfully revised. I also needed to tweak 25 of my 26 poems, again for clarity, again for my readers. After but one phone conversation with Amy, I was on my way, eager to get my words and story right.
December 22, 2008 I emailed Amy my completed revisions. : )
March, 2009 I received color images of Zak’s cover and a few letter pages –
B, C, D/E, F/G,M, P, Y/Z. I joined the chorus of viewers’ “WOW’S!”
April, 2009 Line-editing/proof-reading
Note: Over several days, I continually marveled at the fine eye shown my every word, with evident and much-appreciated respect for the author.
June, 2009 Completion of Zak’s art
Shipment of book to China for printing.
August 27, 2009 Arrival of books in SBP warehouse!
September 9, 2009 Official release date
September 13, 2009 Chicago Tribune review
Mary Harris Russell’s enthusiasm for our book was palpable.
“These attention-getting pages – often featuring unusual angles on a scene – slow readers to an appreciative pace for each piece of Hershenhorn’s advice. Hershenhorn is experienced as an author and writing coach; that dual expertise show. The words chosen for each letter are distinctive and strongly central for writers: genre, journal, notebook, revision and voice. She is not talking down. Her allusions are to a variety of writers children know and like – Ann Martin, Richard Peck, Beverly Cleary, Sid Fleischman, as well as to Superman, Longfellow and text-messaging.”Somewhere in my cartons of drafts, emails, sketches and auxiliary materials sits the Chicago Tribune Sagittarius horoscope for Saturday, January 13, 2007, the day I mailed my Writer’s Alphabet proposal to Sleeping Bear Press. Georgia Nicols advised me to muster patience and trust in a Bigger Plan: I was planting seeds that in time would grow to bear prized fruits beyond my imagination.
FYI:
• Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing. Visit Zak’s
website to learn more about his work and other books.
• My
website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
• Visit my
website’s newest page, Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
• Click
here for Sleeping Bear Press’ Teacher’s Guide to S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.
Writing Workout:A Reading and Discovery OpportunityDr. Seuss figured he could knock off his
The Cat in the Hat in a week. After all, he wasn’t using more than 250 words. Imagine his surprise when after one year, he was still working on the story. Page through Philip Nel’s
The Annotated Cat, Under the Hats of Seuss and His Cats (Random House) to see and study Dr. Seuss’ revisions.
What are some of the changes Dr. Seuss made in word choice and the story’s action?
[Note: book images used with permission.]
By:
Carmela Martino and 5 other authors,
on 10/6/2009
Blog:
Teaching Authors
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Find out about our
TeachingAuthors Book Giveaway running all this week! Click
here for details on how to enter for a chance to win your own autographed copy of
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet. And be sure to try out the related
Writing Workout at the end of this post.
Now here's the second in our series of Q&A posts related to Esther Hershenhorn’s newest book,
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, an A-to-Z journey through a writer’s life and process.
Can you share with our readers, Esther, how being a
TeachingAuthor informed your book?
Esther:
My Inner Child wasn’t the
only one keeping me company while I brainstormed, grew, and wrote
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.
The Teachers in me, plural (former fifth grade and writing) couldn’t sit still, checking off subjects each insisted I include.
For instance, elements of narrative, such as character and plot.
The Four Kinds of Writing, from Persuasive to Descriptive.
What about Word Choice?
Don’t forget Voice.
Remind young writers: mechanics are important.
The Author in me seconded the Teachers, before promptly adding a few Musts of her own.
Introduce Journals.
Recommend Notebooks.
Share Writer’s Tips.
Share the glory and the fun.
Let writers know the need for revision and drafts.
Inspire writers with stories of success.
It was the
Children’s Book Author in me, though, who helped me reach my story’s heart.
I’d personally learned my craft by reading, studying, typing out, and taking apart children’s books, across all formats in a multitude of genres.
I still read as a writer.
I still write as a reader.
All of me celebrates the Reader-Writer Connection.
What better way to Show, Don’t Tell as well as support my chosen content than to reference children’s books, their authors, their characters?
What better way to affirm today’s young writers than to let them know: they are not alone?
E.B. White’s eight drafts of
Charlotte’s Web.
Dr. Seuss’ 1 ½ year-long revision of
The Cat in the Hat.
Christopher Paul Curtis’ surprising Writer’s Journey.
Beatrix Potter’s letter-writing.
Sid Fleischman’s magic.
My book’s sidebars teem with All Things Children’s Book.
Each double-page spread offers a treasured author’s words.
Andrew Clements’ words close the double-page B spread.
“I don’t know a single writer who wasn’t a reader first.”
FYI
• Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing. Visit
Zak’s website to learn more about his work and other books.
•
My website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
• Visit
my website’s newest page,
Tour, to learn the What, When and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
• Click
here for Sleeping Bear Press’ Teacher’s Guide to
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet.
Writing Workout Writers are readers! Readers are writers!
Reading biographies of children’s book writers helps you learn how other writers kept on working to learn and hone their craft, no matter their disappointments, doubts, and early failures.
Check out these writer biographies:
Jen Bryant:
A River of Words:
The Story of William Carlos WilliamsSid Fleischman:
Trouble at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild WestKaren Hesse:
The Young Hans Christian AndersenKathleen Krull:
The Boy on Fairfeld Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss The Road to Oz: Twists, Turns, Bumps, and Triumphs in the Life of L. Frank BaumMark Nobleman:
Boys of Steel: The Creators of SupermanYona Zedia McDonough:
Louisa: The Life of Louisa May Alcott[Note: book images used with permission.]
Lucky you!
An autographed copy of my newest book,
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet, can sit on
your bookshelf, too - in your home, classroom, library or writing room, ready to ready writers young and young-at-heart.
All you need do is (1) read and consider the twenty-six A-to-Z words
I selected to best represent a writer’s life and process (listed below), then (2) submit via the comment form at the end of this post, using twenty-five words or less, the lettered entry
you would have included and let us know why.
Be sure to provide your name and email address – and - submit your entry
before midnight Monday, October 12 (CST). And if you haven't entered one of our giveaways before,
be sure to read our general giveaway guidelines. My selection process was ripe with challenge.
I considered what my readers (ages 6 through 12) likely knew about writing.
I asked, “What might they want to know?”
I weighed, “What do they need to know?”
I pondered my story’s narrative arc and how my words could both inform and inspire.
Finally, I brought my book’s idea to Ms. Jenny Vincent’s talented ’08 fifth graders at Chicago’s Louisa May Alcott Public School, inviting them to help me brainstorm further.
Their brilliant insights earned them my gratitude as well as
S is for Story’s author’s dedication.
My Writer’s Alphabet offers up the following A-to-Z words:
Alphabet,
Book,
Character,
Draft,
Edit,
Fairy Tales,
Genre,
Heroes and
Heroines,
Ideas,
Journals, (Four)
Kinds of Writing,
Letters,
Notebook,
Observe,
Plot,
Question Words,
Revision,
Story,
Tall Tales,
Unstoppable,
Voice,
Word Choice, e
Xpression and
Your Story.
My M word? The Alcott School Young Writers gifted me with the (perfect!) entry that sits smack dab in the middle of my writer’s alphabet.
As for my
Z word, check back Monday, October 5 when I begin the first of five posts to answer my fellow
TeachingAuthors’ questions. Each post will also offer a
Writer's Workout.FYI:
Zachary Pullen’s singular, compelling
S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet’s illustrations reflect his respect for young writers and writing. Visit Zak’s
website to learn more about his work and other books.
My
website offers Young Writers Extras – opportunities to write, read, and discover, at home, in school, or at the library.
Visit my website’s newest page,
Tour, to learn the What, When, and Where of my out-and-about book events, signings, school visits, conference engagements, writer presentations, teacher workshops, and upcoming October-through November Blog Tour.
A
Teacher's Guide is available at Sleeping Bear Press’
website.
So, what lettered word would
you have included were
you creating a Writer’s alphabet, and why?
Perhaps
A is for Author.
B is for Biography.
M is for Mechanics.
Or
P is for Punctuation.
Maybe
S is for Sentences.
W is for Writing.
X is for Rejection.
Or
Z is for Zeal.
Remember: once you decide, it’s ABC-easy.
And, be sure to submit your entry (including name and email address)
before Midnight, October 12, 2009 (CST). The winner will be announced Wednesday, October 14, 2009.
An autographed copy of S is for Story: A Writer’s Alphabet could soon be yours!
Esther
(Note: book images used with permission)
This truth both grabbed and guided me while writing – forgive the coincidence – S IS FOR STORY: A WRITER’S ALPHABET (Sleeping Bear Press).
Three cheers for you, Esther! Look at what you're doing online these days. Not only is your post's contest wonderful, but it's beautiful to look at too. :-)
And the fetal pig story made me laugh out loud!
Esther, your admission of powerlessness in the face of technology enables you to ask for help. It takes a village for me, too!
Thanks, Marti and April, for your support.
I was clearly hanging out my technological vulnerabilities and short-comings for all to see.
Here's an encouraging comment from Brigid Zachar who helped me work the Smart Board during my Ridge Family Center for Education school visit:
"Enthusiasm always makes a difference in facing the Challenges of technology. Hang on to that and In no time at all the techie in you will Emerge :)"