Handouts for Stormy Weekend Writing the Supernatural Story

The following are the handouts which will be given at the upcoming workshop, “Writing the Supernatural Workshop” during the Stormy Book Weekend Festival. The workshop is on Saturday, November 7 from 3-5.

The Human and the Ghost

setting and landscape writing

The following is a suggested reading list of supernatural stories. The list is by no means inclusive as this genre is expanding daily. This will not be given out at the workshop, but feel free to download here.

Supernatural Reading List

Why Mentor?

High school seniors in the Everett School District are asked to have a mentor as a part of their culminating exhibit project. About a month ago, a young lady posted her need for a mentor on the Seattle SCBWI Chinook Blog. She wanted to work on writing a picture book story. I responded to her call and agreed to mentor her for the semester.

Yesterday, I got an e-mail from a teacher asking if I knew of resources for two of her students who were working on writing projects too. She wanted to know how to find local writing mentors for them and what resources they might pursue.

All of this made me think, So, why should a children’s writer, or any writer, mentor a young/teen writer?

1. Inside Scoop--If you write for teens or tweens and mentor–you have an instant inside scoop to their lives. For example, my mentee showed up to our last meeting in a bit of a flurry. She had brought the wrong notebook. Instead of grabbing her writing notebook, she grabbed her physics notebook. My eyes lit up. Goldmine! My YA romance is set partially in a physics classroom! That notebook was research!

2. Childhood Fun –Last Saturday, my mentee and I went to see Where the Wild Things Are. Is it a movie I would have seen on my own? Sure. But it was much more fun to see it with her. Afterward we talked about how the picture book story had been brought to life on the screen–plus she got to count it as hours toward her project.

3. Get Over Yourself--Let’s face it. Writing can be a bit…self-absorbed. It’s easy to get lost in what agent will buy my book, how much might I make, etc…. Giving your time to a hopeful young writer reminds you of what writing is really about–the love of story.

4. It’s Payback Time–I’m going to guess that most writers were at some point in their career mentored by someone. It may not have been a formal mentee/mentor exchange. It may have been simply taking a class from a published working writer. But somewhere along the way, a writer learned some of their craft from another writer. The first writing class I took was in Rochester, NY. I was a college student and took Scott Russell Sander’s summer writing class. The best piece of advice he gave to me was, “Go live your life before you try to tell stories.” I didn’t want to hear it, but he was right. I needed about ten years distance on my growing up life to be able to write objectively. Giving your time to a teen writer is a way to payback that time that was given to you.

5. Connections–Mentoring a high school student gives you connections with educators that you might not have had otherwise. It’s an “inside” to a teacher or librarian who just might want to buy your book (multiple copies of your book) or even hire you for a workshop or two. That teacher or librarian also has friends who just might want to buy your book, or hire you for a workshop. Don’t discount the power of local connections–they’re priceless.

So…Writers–I challenge you to find a teen to mentor. You’ll be glad you did!

Three Markets for Young Writers

MAGIC DRAGON
http://www.magicdragonmagazine.com/
—
Magic Dragon, a quarterly publication, presents writing and
art created by children in the elementary school grades.
Objectives are to encourage the development of creativity in
children and to provide a medium to share their creative talent.
Encouraging children in the elementary grades to be unafraid
to express their creative ideas will increase their chances
of becoming adults unafraid to apply a creative approach to
all aspects of their lives and work. Stories and essays can
be up to three pages, poetry up to 30 lines. Each writer and
artist whose work is published in Magic Dragon will receive
two copies of the issue in which the work appears.

SKIPPING STONES
http://www.skippingstones.org/submissions.htm
—
Skipping Stones is an award-winning, international magazine.
Celebrates ecological and cultural diversity, facilitates a
meaningful exchange of ideas and experiences. Young readers
of Skipping Stones, ages 8 to 16, hail from diverse cultural
and socioeconomic backgrounds. Skipping Stones provides a
place for writers and artists of all ages and backgrounds to
communicate creatively and openly. Writings (essays, stories,
letters to the editor, riddles and proverbs, etc.) should be
typed or neatly handwritten and limited to 750 words and poems
to 30 lines. We encourage writings in all languages with an
English translation, if possible.

CREATIVE KIDS
http://www.prufrock.com/client/client_pages/prufrock_jm_ck_wg.cfm
—
Creative Kids magazine is the nation’s largest magazine by
and for kids. The magazine bursts with games, stories, and
opinions all by and for kids ages 8-14. In the pages of
Creative Kids you will find such fun activities as: brain
teasers, contests, stories, artwork, poetry, pen pals,
mysteries, and much more. The most exciting aspect of
Creative Kids is that it is written by kids. Students from
all over the world write for the magazine, so it includes
exciting examples of the most creative student work to be
found in any publication. Many kids get started by writing
for the magazine’s “Write On” section. Here, kids express
themselves by writing short opinion pieces about issues they
face on a day-to-day basis.

Writing Supernatural Story Workshop for Teens

I will be presenting, Writing the Supernatural Workshop for Teens (ages 12-18) at the Stormy Book Weekend in Manzinita, Oregon. The workshop will take place on Saturday, November 7 from 3-5 p.m.

“Writing the Supernatural Story” is a fun interactive workshop that explores the supernatural world. Teen writers will discover how to create characters not of this world and dive into settings designed to send chills up your spine.

Thanks to the Hoffman Center, the workshop is free for the teen writers!

Register Form Can Be Found Here

Flat Stanley Writing Contest

Last spring, a friend’s daughter mailed me her Flat Stanley so he could have adventures in Lake Stevens. Flat Stanley got to watch the Final Four Basketball Games and he got some new clothing–in particular rain gear for Seattle winter weather.

Now, Flat Stanley is having a writing contest.

Kids ages 7 to 12 are asked to  write a 150-word Stanley story.

Flat Stanley is a book character created more than 45 years ago. In the first book, he got flattened by a bulletin board and then discovered that being flat allowed him to do all sorts of cool things. Since then, Stanley’s journeys have continued in many books . The goal is to raise kids’ awareness of geography.

Story-writing winners will be chosen in three age groups. Each winner will get an Adventures by Disney vacation for four.

Rules and entry materials can be found at www.flatstanleybooks.com/adventuresbydisney .

The deadline is Nov. 30.

Lifeline Poetry Writing Exercise with Youth In Juvenile Detention

Most of the time when I’m working with the young men and women in juvenile detention, I kinda forget they are in jail–at least during the poetry workshop.

But yesterday, two comments were made which made me pause. First, a boy asked, “Have any new songs come out in the last 30 days or so?” Not five minutes later, I was talking to another young man about how the leaves are turning colors. He looked at me and simply said, “I don’t know. I haven’t seen them.” I realized he’d been in detention since early August.

When I write with the youth we do everything from open topics to very specific structured topics and formats. One thing the youth struggle with (like most writers) is one of the following:

1. How do I begin?
2. I’ve got a good start, but now I’m stuck
3. I can’t figure out how to end

4. I don’t have a title for the poem.

In order to help with those problems, I came up with “Lifeline Poetry.” I always enjoyed watching “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire” and the lifelines of call a friend, ask the audience, or 50/50.  In this poetry exercise, I wrote prompts on small pieces of paper and put the paper into a basket.

We passed around the basket and each youth drew one of the “lifelines.”  I told the youth they could use the line to begin their poem, in the middle of their poem if they got stuck, at the end of the poem, or even as the title of the poem.  The following were the “Poetry Life Lines”

Beware of…

Nobody can say…

I used to…

I’ve always wanted to tell you…

You see me as…

But really I am…

What they don’t tell you is…

At first he/she told me..

But then…

I never told you…

I never wanted…

Memory of Norma Fox Mazer

Norma Fox Mazer died this weekend at the age of 78. Elizabeth Bluemle has posted a great tribute to Norma on her blog.

Norma was my mentor into children’s writing. In the summer of 2003, I was one of the few adults chosen to attend the National Book Foundation Summer Writing Camp. Norma was on the faculty.

Besides from attending the Writing Camp, I was also combining that trip East with a trip to see my Dad–someone who I hadn’t seen for ten years. At the time, I was just beginning to work on what would later become my tween novel, Girl on a Thin Wire. A story which would evolve to be about artistic mentorship.

Norma’s workshop was at the end of the Summer Writing Camp, and my nerves were shot. Nervous and anxious about the upcoming visit with my Dad, and on overload from the writing week, I dissolved into a serious crying fit in Norma’s workshop. She patiently sat with me, handing me Kleenex and comforting me, while I sobbed. It was as if all the grief I’d ever felt had chosen that moment to erupt.

After I finished crying and sheepishly wiped my eyes, Norma suggested that I apply for the Vermont College MFA Writing for Children Program. It was something she had been encouraging me to do all week–but this time I heard her.

A year later, I walked into the Vermont College office on my first day of residency and there was Norma–welcoming me with a warm smile and a hug.

I never had Norma as an adviser during my time at Vermont, but she was always there during residency giving me hints about what to work on next and reminding me to be sure and work on short story. When it came time to give my graduate lecture, Norma quickly rearranged her schedule to be at that lecture.

Norma’s legacy to me was mentorship. I think of her often when I work with the youth in detention, or mentor young writers. The picture below, which was taken at the National Book Foundation Workshop Group, hangs on my bulletin board. If you look very carefully, you will see Norma peaking out from the middle of the group behind the young lady in white. The picture looks down on me as I write–reminding me of Norma’s spirit and legacy….to tell the story which means the most to you and be giving in your time and talents.

National Book Foundation Summer Writing Group

Scream YA Short Story Anthology Cover

The cover has been released for  Scream–a YA horror short story anthology published by Bridgehouse Press (UK). The book should be out in a few weeks.

My young adult paranormal romance short story, “Ghost in the Batting Cage,” is included in the collection. In the story, seventeen-year-old Max is a run-away and living in a high school batting cage. However, in the cage, he meets and falls in love with ghost, Angelina. She helps him to tell the truth and get out of the cage.

Cover for Scream--A YA Short Story Anthology (Bridgehouse Press/UK)

Teen Poetry From Denney Juvenile Justice Center Poetry Workshop

Each year, the Blanche Miller Art Exhibit Program has hired me to be a writer/mentor for the youth at Denney Juvenile Justice Center. Besides from the volunteer work I do in running the weekly poetry workshop with the youth, I also am hired to work individually with a select group of kids. The Blanche Miller Trust also pays to publish a collection of the youth’s poetry.

The books are published under the guidelines that first and foremost they go back to the youth included in the poetry book. They are also handed out each week in the poetry workshop to the youth who are in detention. The books also go out to lawyers, judges, educators, counselors, and anyone who might work with the youth.

I have been working on editing our fourth book of poetry, Please Brave Me: Dry These Tears. The following two poems are included in the collection.

Powerless–Poetry by Denney Juvenile Justice Center Youth

Teen Girl

POWERLESS

They think I’m Powerful
Because I do whatever I want
Because I tell everyone to screw off
Because I don’t listen to anyone
Because I run for months and I am never spotted

But, I am Powerless
Because my friends are backstabbers
Because I can’t trust anyone
Because I was raped
Because I was jumped
Because my Mom doesn’t want me in her house
Because I cry everyday
Because I’m an addict
Because I miss my old, happy life.