Innehållsförteckning för January 2016 från The Writer

A WRITER’S SUCCESS STORY The third-most-important rule on my high school varsity soccer team (after Rule One: Don’t be late and Rule Two: No Pepsi products – the coach was a retired Coca-Cola executive) was: When in doubt, kick it out. It’s not a great rule for soccer (kicking the ball out of bounds gives the opposing team possession), but we weren’t a great team. And even imperfect guidelines and boundaries give a beginner someplace to start. As an executive editor in children’s book publishing, I appropriated this rule when asked to speak at writers’ conferences about the rules of writing and revision. “When in doubt, cut it out,” I’ve told rooms full of aspiring authors. It’s a better rule in revising than in soccer, because most writers (both first-timers…

Most writers I know, in fact, most people I know, think about writing a children’s book at some point in their careers. Sometimes they remember how much they loved books from childhood. Sometimes they see how books can open doors for kids and help them think in new ways. Sometimes they know that the right book at the right time can help a lonely child feel less alone. In my (decade plus) years of teaching Writing Children’s Books through Gotham Writers’ Workshop, I’ve worked with hundreds of students. Most are delightful people, and many are talented writers, but when each new class begins, I know I will encounter many of the same misconceptions I saw in the last class and that a lot of my time will be spent helping…

When Kelly Milner Halls arrived for a school visit, the librarian warned her about a quirky third grader who would be at every one of her six sessions that day. He had checked out only one book each week: Milner Halls’ Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist. “He sat with me at lunch and got suddenly quiet,” says the author. “Then he said, ‘I never thought this day would come.’ I asked, ‘What day is that?’ and he said, ‘I never thought the day would come when I would meet someone like me.’ Those are the days when you know you’ve got a good life.” School visits such as the dozens Milner Halls does allow authors who write for children to increase both readership…

MFA FLASH FACTS Books for kids aren’t just child’s play. Many MFA programs offer tracks in writing children’s books and YA. Read about the advantages of attending one in our Class Action column “A class of its own” and then investigate a sampling of programs with this study guide. Vermont College of Fine Arts Degree: MFA in writing for children and young adults Alumni: Toni De Palma, Stephanie Greene, Kekla Magoon, Trent Reedy Student-faculty ratio: 5:1 Hours per week: 25 Website: vcfa.edu/wcya Hamline University Degree: MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Program founded: 2007 Categories: Picture book, early reader, middle grade and young adult fiction, poetry, nonfiction, graphic novel, comics Faculty: Gary D. Schmidt, Gene Luen Yang, Jane Resh Thomas, Marsha Wilson Chall Website: hamline.edu/cla/mfac Lesley University Degree:…

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION. December 6th Have YOUR story read by novelist Colum McCann! Write a 2,000-word short story responding to one or both quotes by novelist and short story writer Colum McCann (and perhaps keep in mind Robert Frost’s poem “A Road Not Taken”). What elements of duality and divergence can you include: duplicitous acts, binary oppositions, communication with the “other side,” double indemnity, twins? Let your imagination riff on taking a plot, character, setting or theme in two directions. Novelist and short story writer Column McCann will read the finalists and choose the winners. writermag.com/contests “There is always room for at least two truths." —TransAtlantic “With all respects to heaven, I like it here." — Let the Great World Spin…

In 2014, police officers choked Eric Gardner to death in New York City, shot and killed John Crawford in Beavercreek, Ohio, and shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Saddened and angered by the tragic deaths, Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely used their most potent weapon, storytelling, to write All American Boys about two young men caught in a police brutality incident. Before the authors began writing, they established a three-point policy to set the tone for the work. One: If the friendship fails, the book will fail. Two: If the book is wildly successful, they will donate money to organizations aligned with their theme. Three: If a publishing company does not publish it, they will publish it themselves on the Internet. (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books published it in September…

WriterMag.com Subscribers to The Writer have online access to information on publishers, publications, conferences, contests and agents. Go to WriterMag.com and click on Writing Resources. INFORMATION in this section is provided to The Writer by the individual markets and events; for more information, contact those entities directly. »CONFERENCES ALASKA KACHEMAK BAY WRITERS’ CONFERENCE Homer, Alaska, June 10-14. Offers daily workshops, readings and panel presentations in fiction, poetry, nonfiction and the business of writing. Manuscript reviews and academic credit also available. Keynote speaker Natasha Trethewey. Contact: Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference, Kenai Peninsula College/UAA, 533 E. Pioneer Ave., Homer, AK 99603. 907-235-7743. iyconf@kpc.alaska.edu writersconference.homer.alaska.edu ARIZONA DESERT NIGHTS, RISING STARS Tempe, Arizona Feb. 18-20. Hosted by the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Schedule includes craft classes, conversations,…

PROJECTION KEYBOARD Turn your writing into virtual insanity with this go-anywhere keyboard. This laser projection keyboard works on any flat surface for convenient typing on the go. Compatible with Apple and Android, this virtual keyboard uses Bluetooth technology and cutting-edge optics to read your fingers. The battery lasts up to two hours. $120. brookstone.com 3,000 CLASSICS If writer’s block hits, fire up your computer to read one of 3,000 classic books. This charming flash drive holds an entire library of literary favorites, including Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, Jane Austin and many more. Pick up some writing hints from your predecessors, and start your writing anew. $29.95. innovations.com.au WRITER’S REMEDY Shake loose a few inspirational words as a writing exercise or when the writing gets tough. This small jar contains more…

Kwame Alexander and The Crossover Acclaimed novelist and poet Kwame Alexander won the 2015 Newbery Medal for his book The Crossover. Written in the rhythms of a poetry jam – a rare technique for a novel – Alexander weaves a tale of basketball, family, friendship and puppy love. Alexander is also the founder of Book-in-a-Day, a student-run publishing program, and is a frequent guest in schools. He is author of more than 20 books, including the children’s book Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band and the YA novel He Said, She Said. In October, he was at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, where we caught up with him. How did you develop the technique for The Crossover? The Crossover was my first attempt at writing a novel in verse.…

JULIANNA BAGGOTT DEVELOPS CROSSGENRE STORIES OF HOPE, FAITH AND LOVE. JULIANNA BAGGOTT’S young adult novel, Pure, begins with a power paragraph. “Pressia is lying in the cabinet. This is where she’ll sleep once she turns sixteen in two weeks – the tight press of blackened plywood pinching her shoulders, the muffled air, the stalled motes of ash. She’ll have to be good to survive this – good and quiet, and, at night when OSR patrols the street, hidden.” In a good novel, the first five words make you forget you’re reading, wrote John Gardner. In six words, Baggott compelled me to read on. By the end of the paragraph, the printed page dropped away, and I was immersed in Pressia’s damaged world. The paragraph fulfills another requirement of good writing:…

The success of Julie Murphy’s debut novel Side Effects May Vary created great anticipation for her follow up Dumplin’. The book quickly took the top spot on the New York Times best-seller list for YA. A former library youth programs coordinator, Murphy writes with a keen sense of teenage sensibilities and dialogue. She first experimented with screenwriting, but quickly realized YA is a natural fit for her. The self-taught writer has earned critical and popular acclaim for her unconventional characters, original storylines and prose that conveys authenticity. In Side Effects May Vary, she went against the grain and chose a nonlinear format and a somewhat unlikable main character. Both were wise choices that effectively drove the story. In Dumplin’, Murphy features the overweight protagonist Willowdean. Rather than taking the traditional…