KateMessner is the first to admit: writing with her students made her a mentor – and – a far better teacher. Her newest Stenhouse book, 59 Reasons toWrite, offers teachers 59 Mini-lessons to help them become mentors and better teachers, too, along with prompts, Teacher-Q’s and Author-A’s and daily writing warm-ups and assignments. Walking the walk is suddenly doable – for all writers, classroom teachers or not.
An outgrowth of her online summer writing camp Teachers Write, the book’s purposefully designed to get us writing every day, whether on our own or as part of a group. Chapters move from getting started to organizing our time and stories, through narrative elements such as characters, point of view, voice, mood, setting, plot and pacing, nonfiction and fiction needs and poetry to writer’s block, revising, critiquing and reflection.
Everything we ask of our students Kate and her “faculty” of award-winning authors ask of us.
It’s the luminous 52+ faculty members who both teach and inspire, underscoring how, when it comes to writing, we’re all in this together.
Again, walking the walk is suddenly doable, thanks to this insightful, comprehensive, hands-on text.
And who wouldn’t want to learn from talents such as Linda Urban, Donna Gephart, Jo Knowles, Shutta Crum, Jenny Meyerhoff and Barb Rosenstock, just to name a few?
I was especially taken with the honest Q + A – The Best of the Q-And-A Wednesday sessions from the online summer camp.
Again, notables truthfully responded to a host of questions, including those about intimidation, making and finding writing time, connecting with our characters, handling point of view, the passage of time and too much description.
Tools, short-cuts, exercises. The list of writing aids goes on and on. Think Writer’s Notebooks, three-column brainstorming, outlining, world building, selecting and using mentor texts.
“Write,” Kate tells her readers, “because you have things to say – arguments to make, stories to tell, poems to share – and no one else in the world has your unique voice with which to say them. And do it,” she adds, “for the young writers you hope to inspire. In making time for your own writing, you’ll be crossing a barrier, joining them as real, vulnerable members of a community of writers.”
I add my “Amen!” to my sincere thanks for following her Real Revision with yet another valuable Kate Messner writing book for those of us lucky enough to be “TeachingAuthors” and writers.
You’ll be adding your thanks, too, once you read, learn, write and share Kate Messner’s 59 Reasons to Write.
Esther Hershenhorn
.
Howdy Campers, and Happy Poetry Friday!
PF is hosted by Sheri Doyle this week--thanks, Sheri! Poetry Friday hosting can be a big job, folks, so make sure you help Sheri put away the chairs and stack the dishes before you leave.
I'm continuing the
TeachingAuthors thread we're calling
Books We Recommend On Writing which
Esther began, reverently offering M.B. Goffstein's
A Writer...(which I, too, have on a golden altar in my bookshelf!) On
Poetry Friday, Carmela continued with her
top three books on the art and craft of writing poetry, and then Mary Ann offered
her favorite one or two books in three categories:
Inspirational Books,
Craft Books and
Craft Books for Kids. Jill gave us
three writing books packed with great information and inspiration, while Jeanne Marie focused on
books about plotting...and one on writing "Hit Lit."
I'm going to recommend one of Monkey and my favorite books on writing poetry,
POEM-MAKING ~ Ways to Begin Writing Poetry by Myra Cohn Livingston.
We like it because it's written for a ten year old--just about my level. For more on this book, read
Elaine Magliaro's really excellent review of it on The Wild Rose Reader--I couldn't review it any better.
Myra Cohn Livingston was the "Mother of Us All," as
Janet Wong writes. She was Poetry Mentor/Mother to me, Janet,
Ann Whitford Paul,
Sonya Sones,
Hope Anita Smith,
Alice Shertle, Kristine O’Connell George,
Deborah Chandra, Madeleine Comora,
Joan Bransfield Graham,
Tony Johnston,
Monica Gunning,
Karen B. Winnick,
Anita Wintz,
Ruth Lercher Bornstein and many, many other children's poets (Who am I missing? Let me know!).
I have
previously talked about two books I require in
classes I teach through the
UCLA Writers Program. One of the books is
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, about which several TeachingAuthors have waxed poetic in the past.
Here's a poem from that blog post inspired by Lamott's chapter on jealousy:
ANYTHING I CAN DO YOU CAN DO BETTER
or
CAN OF WORMS
by April Halprin Wayland
Varda once told us
we were all cans on a shelf.
.
Cans of chili, kidney beans, split pea soup.
I decided that I was a can of apricot halves.
She said that the shelf was only one can deep
but that it stretched out forever
.
so there’s always room
for one more.
“You don’t have to be afraid that adding another can
means
there isn’t enough room for you,”she said.
.
“You can even help a new can
onto the shelf next to you.”
.
And she never talked
about jealousy again.
.
poem (c) 2013 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.
My brilliant teacher
Barbara Bottner taught me to write about my greatest fear...because chances are, we all share it.
Monkey is writing about his fear
of writing something stupid in a blog post.
Happy Poetry Friday! Poem and Writing Workout below.
Our blog topic is reading as a writer. I'm going to modify it and list some books I'm currently reading as a writing teacher.
You may remember that after ten years as instructor with the UCLA Extension Writers Program, I'm teaching a brand-spanking-new class this summer.
My vision is to make this class as playful as the theater games class I took years ago. No matter how tired my friend Steve and I were after a day in the corporate world, we couldn't wait to get to class.
What was so special about it that energized us? We were moving or we were mediating, we were reacting to smells or blindfolded, we were hugging or we were chasing each other, we turned into gorillas or bananas.
I want my picture book students to be equally energized. I want them out of their desks with exercises that get them stretching, walking, laughing, observing, closing their eyes, tasting, singing, crying, playing group games. I'll be covering such topics as point of view, dialogue, rewriting, publishing and more. Here are a few of the books I'm using:
Writing Workout The poet William Stafford wrote a poem every morning all of his life. Since taking the National Poetry Month Challenge to write a poem a day for the month of April, I'm continuing, inspired by the book, Early Morning--Remembering my Father, William Stafford by
Kim Stafford. Today part of a sentence Stafford wrote inspired me: "At a certain sound today I hear Father turn onto the gravel drive at supper time..." It reminded me of our dog, Eli, sleeping on his couch in the upstairs bedroom as I write.
1 Comments on We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Posting....to ask for more writing exercise ideas!, last added: 6/4/2010
.JPG)
.JPG)
LOVE this! I'll be a can of macadamia nuts!
The newest quote at my desk is from Wallace Stegner:
"...loyalty to the next adventure of writing is more important than any kind of 'success.' "
I love the title (who doesn't feel that from time to time?) and the long row of cans. It's such a great way to express the idea that there's always room for more. I'm going to be thinking about writing about a fear for a long time. I share monkey's fear for sure.
Thanks for this wonderful poem and for including Monkey in your post :). I'm a can of tomato soup!
Love this post. So good to face those fears, especially when they are put in such wonderful words. I think I'm a can of black beans, you can do so much with them, even make dessert.
Fabulous poem! I love the line:
"She said that the shelf was only one can deep
but that it stretched out forever.
so there’s always room for one more."
Being the youngest of 10 kids I like the thought of there always being room for one more...=)
What a sweet post, April, so reassuring. I have the second meeting of a new writing group this coming week & I think it will be wonderful to share this with them. More are joining us this time so I suspect they will be a little nervous. I have the Livingston book & have used parts of it with students. Perhaps I should take a look for me! Thanks for all your words!
Mary Lee, Liz, Jama, Bridget, Doraine and Linda ~ Monkey was a little bit astonished that the poem hit a harmonic chord for all of you. He is so excited, he is now writing a ten-book series.
xxx
I'd like to have Doraine's recipe using black beans for desert.
I'll be a can of pumpkin. I bought too many during the holidays, so every time I open the cabinet, they look at me, just like the blank page.
Thanks for always encouraging the writer in us.
Inspiring poem filled with wisdom! Love that little brave monkey, too.
Hmmm - I think I'll be a can of peaches.
Thanks, April!
I'm a can of spaghetti sauce. With mushrooms and lots of garlic. :-) I love this poem. Jealousy is such an unpleasant emotion to feel, and I really like this way of looking at it.
That's a darn good story poem. Nice metaphors. Enjoyed it!
Margaret, Sheri, Ruth--you can be whatever can you'd like...ha ha...
And hi, Charles...why aren't you watching the Oscars?!?!
xxx
Love your post and your poem, April. I think I'll be a can of artichoke hearts. :-)