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Spilling Ink
: a young writer's handbook by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, illustrated by Matt Phelan. Roaring Brook, 2010
Over the years I have purchased many 'how to write' books for my entlings. Avid readers all, they have all embarked on a writing life in one way or other.
Spilling Ink is by far the best, most easy to read, and helpful "how to think about writing" handbook I have ever encountered for young (and not so young) writers.
Mazer and Potter have created a book that is chock full of help, advice, and concrete ways to jump start characters, plots, settings, and dialogue. They offer methods for revising and critiquing. Each of the short chapters is signed "by Ellen" or "by Anne" and concludes with a "I Dare You" challenge that underscores the point of the chapter. Just perusing the "I Dare You"s will start imaginations spinning.
I DARE YOU: Think of an event that you wouldn't ordinarily consider suspenseful. It might be waiting or the school bus, walking the dog, or visiting your grandparents. Create a situation in which this every day event suddenly becomes incredibly suspenseful.
Their suggestions are practical, not abstract. They share their own struggles with humor and candor. They interview each other at the end of the book, sharing their early inspirations and adding more background about their writing lives.
The book's design and organization is thoughtful and well planned. There was not an index in my ARC but the table of contents can be scanned quickly. Nicely-sized print with easy-on-the-eyes spacing encourages dipping in at any point or reading from the first page straight through to the end. Excellent use of white space and strategic placement of Matt Phelan's illustrations further enhance the readability. His boys and girls are of diverse ethnicities so any child can picture themselves as young writers. Phelan shows kids writing on computers, in notebooks, at desks and on window sills.
We have been blogging for two months today! Wow. The time has flown, and we have learned a lot. We've also 'met' some amazing writers, and feel incredibly privileged to have been able to share our thoughts and our journey with you all. We wanted to say thank you. So. YAY! Thanks VERY much for all you help and support!!!!!! Second, we wanted to do something to mark the anniversary. We were going to do a contest, and I posted a poll last week to help us choose the prize. Then we started the
Underappreciated YA Book Nomination Giveaway, and doing another contest lost its appeal.
We decided to give away the prize chosen in the poll to our top commenter instead. Then we had two commentors who were running neck and neck. So, we have to do two giveaways. And we decided to add a twist. You all picked the knowledge-packed
The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman, and we'll give that away along with
The Writer's Guide to Crafting Stories for Children by Nancy Lamb.
We're going to ask you to help spread the knowledge. We hope our winners will read the books they receive and do a giveaway on their own blogs to pass them along again. Or we will be happy to have them back here to host the giveaway on our blog. We just want the chain to continue.
The winners and top two commenters are:
Ann Marie Wraight
Julie Musil
Thank you so much, ladies! We will sign these books and get them out to you. Read them, sign them, and pass them on to reward the other writers you know who support each other and work on the craft.
Thanks to you ALL for being awesome and giving us so much love,
Martina and Marissa
P.S. -- Julie and Ann Marie, send us your mailing address by email or twitter; first response gets first pick.
Thanks to Deb Gersh Hernandez (@DebGH) for pointing me to Penny Sansevieri's (@Bookgal) post in the Huffington Post on
Why (Some) Authors Fail. Important advice for authors on the importance of knowing your market, your fellow writers, and your craft.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri/why-some-authors-fail_b_534629.htmlHappy reading,
Martina
Here's a wonderful reminder about the limitation of shortcuts and how-to manuals when it comes to learning the craft of writing. My favorite quotes?
This one:
If you really want to learn how to write, do that. Read Shakespeare, and all the others whose work has withstood time and circumstance and changing fashions and the assaults of the ignorant and the bigoted; read those writers and don’t spend a lot of time analyzing them. Digest them, swallow them all, one after another, and try to sound like them for a time. Learn to be as faithful to the art and craft as they all were, and follow their example. That is, wide reading and hard work. One doesn’t write out of some intellectual plan or strategy; one writes from a kind of beautiful necessity born of the reading of thousands of good stories poems plays… One is deeply involved in literature, and thinks more of writing than of being a writer.And this one:
To my mind, nothing is as important as good writing, because in literature, the walls between people and cultures are broken down, and the things that plague us most—suspicion and fear of the other, and the tendency to see whole groups of people as objects, as monoliths of one cultural stereotype or another—are defeated. Read the full article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/04/how-to-write-in-700-easy-lessons/8043/Enjoy,
Martina
Plot as a noun is what happens in a story. More specifically, the plot of a story is the dramatic action that transforms the main character and provides meaning.
Plot as a
verb is both to represent the plot of a story on a graph and connect the scenes
(Plot Planner) and / or to formulate a plan with purpose.
For fiction writers and memoirists, I work with plot as both a noun and often as a verb, too. The writer tells me the scenes and/or ideas they have for their story. I assess their piece on both the plot and structural level either by plotting out the scenes on a Plot Planner or in the form of notes. I also offer guidance toward coherence and the continuity of their piece.
When I work with writers on a non-fiction project, I work only with plot as a verb = I help the writer formulate a plan with purpose.
"How-to" books are the biggest selling non-fiction books on the market today. More and more people, be they writers or not, are finding that their expertise can be turned into a book and sold either in the traditional form = a New York publishing house or in the more current form = as an eBook on the Internet.
The latest project involves a writer who knows more about her field -- a cutting edge, up and coming phenomenon -- than anyone else I have ever met. Her enthusiasm and knowledge is so contagious, I have to consciously direct myself to keep on task for her project when what I really want to do is pump her for information about all my personal ideas and projects and dreams!
Conflict of interest? Perhaps, but this writer, for all her passion and knowledge, desperately needs help to keep on track. In order for her to complete her book, which has the potential to be a best-seller both in the traditional route and the more current form, she knows herself well enough to know she needs help.
She is eager. She knows how powerful the final product can / will be. However, the instant she thinks about the book as a whole, she breaks down, becomes overwhelmed, and quits.
Organization and accountability are the keys to her success.
She craves discipline. Someone to take her by the hand and walk her through the process step-by-step. She demands blinders to put on. Given specific homework. My job is to break down the whole into manageable parts. I feel incredibly honored to be chosen as her guide...
Luxbacher, Irene. 2009. 1 2 3 I Can Collage! (Starting Art series). Kids Can Press.
This book is part of a series, the Starting Art series. Earlier titles include 1 2 3 I Can Draw, 1 2 3 I Can Paint, 1 2 3 I Can Sculpt. Granted I've only read this title--1 2 3 I Can Collage--but if the other titles are anything like this one, I must say that they'd all be must-haves for the classroom, the library, and the home.
(I think they'd be great to have if you homeschool your children. They might make you feel more comfortable, more confident, in introducing art to your children's day without feeling overwhelmed because you yourself are not an expert.)
We have within the book step-by-step projects. Everything sounds so simple, so straightforward, so direct...and so fun.
I love the note she includes for parents and teachers:
3 Tips to ensure a good collage experience every time
1. Use inexpensive materials and make sure your young artist's clothes and the work area are protected from spills. This way it's all about the fun, not the waste and the mess.
2. Focus on the process rather than the end product. Make sure your young artist is relaxed and having fun with the information instead of expecting perfection every time.
3. Remind your young artist that mistakes are an artist's best friend. The most interesting collage ideas and paper combinations are often discovered by mistake.
© Becky Laney of Young Readers
Tonight, my final holiday blog. I don’t mean to shortchange Canada, but since the trip there was mainly to visit the Webmeister’s wonderful relatives, not to mention the fact that we were kind of museum’d out, we kept sightseeing to a minimum.
But we did go to the Royal Ontario Museum , affectionately known as the ROM, with it’s new addition, “The Chrystal” designed by none other than Daniel Libeskind. It’s a beautiful space, but most of it wasn’t opened and the gallery that was open seemed to be an underutilization of the space. Not that I’m an art expert or anything. But that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.
In the older part of the museum, they had a really cool exhibit of old typewriters. Can you imagine writing your novel on this?
Frankly, I love looking at the old typewriters but for writing I’ll take my MacBook any day.
Afterwards, I convinced the Webmeister that we should go see the new Harry Potter movie, as my kids had already seen it in the UK so I didn’t have to wait until they got back to see it myself. On the way to buy tickets, we stopped at Indigo Bookstore so I could buy HP7, because despite the fact I had my Amazon copy waiting for me at home, I just.couldn’t.wait. And yes. I’ve finished it. And I won the $5 bet I had with my son about whether Snape is good or evil. But I won’t say who bet what just inc case you haven’t read the book yet. I’m not one of those mean spoiler people. Well, except when it comes to American Idol viewers on the West Coast :>)
After I’d made my HP purchase, the Webmeister said, “You should check if they’ve got your book.”
“Nah,” I said. “They won’t.”
Fortunately, the Webmeister has more confidence in me than I do. He ran a check on the in-store computer and lo and behold:
Funny, you didn’t know that Confessions was written by David Lubar, did you?
Of course, I couldn’t block David’s book, which was the one that was really face out
So I left my book face out next to David’s blocking the spines out section of C.S. Lewis. I figured I need the sales more than he does (CS Lewis, that is) him being, you know…dead.
Liked the movie of HP5 more than the book, which seems like heresy for me but HP5 was my least favorite book of the series.
Across the street from our hotel was this amusingly named pub:
Oh no, you dirty minded Yanks! It’s not that…Spotted Dick is an English pudding made of suet which has caused much mirth to visiting friends from across the Pond. My cousin Paula caused mirth to the Brits, however, when the waitress came for the dessert order and she asked for “A spot of dick.”
Ok, enough of that. This is the clean blog, after all.
We also went to Pardi Gras at the Distillery District which as a real blast. Or at least it was till we went back to the garage where we’d parked the car to go to visit The Webmeister’s cousins and found this:
Fortunately, they only grabbed the Webmeister’s overnight bag, which was bad enough, but we both were having palpitations over the thought that they might have taken our computers, which were in the back along with the rest of the luggage, but weren’t immediately visible like his overnight bag was.
Anyway, we had a marvelous time visiting the relatives, and even went to Canada’s Wonderland for our last day. I sat and read HP7 while the Webmeister went on the barf-inducing roller coasters.
This officially ends my holiday blogalog. Now it’s back to my basement lair, which now that I’ve finished my freelance piece, I plan to take the time to finish unpacking and organizing. Pictures of that another day!
Many thanks for this lovely review!