Summer Vacation: See you in September

It's summer, time to escape the Southern Ontario heat (well, maybe not this year!), stock up on trashy novels, do some joywriting, and recharge the batteries, all on a very special beach in Nova Scotia. See that lighthouse? I'll be seeing it every day for a couple of weeks, just as I do every summer. I'm off to our little cottage at the Point, overlooking the Northumberland Strait.

Summer vacation: see you in September!

How To Turn Kids Off Reading: Start With School

When my son’s school sent out the required summer reading list, I took a look and (privately) groaned. So did my 13-year-old son (loudly). Not a good sign.

This summer my reluctant-reader son will be sitting down with a Canadian YA novel that is completely issue-driven. Shattered by Eric Walters is contemporary, meaningful, and relevant. It’s a school book, assigned as required summer reading by a teacher who probably wants to get the jump on the Holocaust unit the students will be studying in Grade Eight.

I read it, because I wanted to, and my son will also read the book, of course. He might even find things in it that resonate. But he won’t enjoy the reading experience, and that’s a shame. (How do I know this? His Grade Seven novel study was The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis, another contemporary, meaningful and relevant novel about real issues. “Mom,” reported my beleaguered son, “it was dreadful.”)

There are so many entertaining and significant books out there (the novels of Arthur Slade and Kenneth Oppel come to mind), but a shadow continues to loom over classrooms. Ouch! That’s the sound of kids being hit over the head with a curriculum full of “meaningful” issue-driven books.

And if you listen closely, you can also hear the sound of reluctant readers running hard in the other direction—away from the pleasures of reading.

Joywriting 101

Writers are, by the nature of the job, solitary creatures much of the time. No matter what kind of writing we do – fiction, journalism, corporate – the very act of transforming our mental images into words on a page (or screen) is one that we do alone, alone, all all alone (to quote Coleridge).

We like it – that’s why writing is our vocation. But sometimes, just sometimes, it would be nice to have some company.

That’s why so many writers join professional associations (such as PWAC, the Professional Writers Association of Canada, or CANSCAIP, the Canadian Society for Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers). Some writers form groups or collectives, either meeting in person or through technology using regular email check-ins or chat forums to stay in touch and share their work, challenges and feedback.

For the month of July, my writers’ group (we call ourselves the Storytellers and meet once a month in a café downtown) is trying something new: we’re going to write something every day and ping the rest of the group with a one-word email: “Done.” It’s a challenge, a way of setting a goal and attempting to meet it. Call it a deadline, even - something writers have a love/hate relationship with!

The purpose of the exercise is to encourage each one of us to carve out time for fun writing every day. We call it ‘joywriting’, a term coined by my 13-year-old son. It’s when you turn your attention to the project that is calling your name, the fun project, the one that allows you to escape this world and enter the imaginary one that only you inhabit. Joywriting.

We may all be joywriting alone, but that “Done!” email will connect us to each other - and challenge us too.

Writing When You Don’t Really Feel Like It

A recent blog post on the website of my local chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada referred to a handy site that forces you to sit down and write for a selected period of time (10 minutes, 2 hours). If you stop writing, dire consequences result, such as loud, annoying sounds, or, even worse, the word-by-word disappearance of whatever you’ve already written. The point of the site is to get you writing and keep you at it, even when you don’t feel like it.

Welcome to one of the writer’s biggest challenges: self-discipline. Writing when the words aren’t there. Writer’s block. Lack of inspiration. Waiting for the muse. Call it whatever you like.

Consider my sad situation. The sun shines on the dewy green grass outside my window. The birds chirp and sing and hop across the lawn. The gardens bloom. It’s summer, finally. And I’m writing about…

CURLING!

Yes, that winter sport played inside on long stretches of man-made ice. It’s a great sport, but it’s an environment about as far away from the one I’m currently living in as the North Pole. No matter. I have a deadline, a group of people waiting for me to show up with this book project, on time and on budget. Not only that, but they expect the book to express all the joy, excitement and pride they feel in their curling club and the sport they love.

Well, I love curling too, but not on a shiny summer morning that is calling me outside.

The bottom line is that I will stay at my desk and write about curling. I’ll use every trick I can to evoke the sound of rocks sliding down the ice and voices calling the sweep. I’ll turn a blind eye to sunshine and climbing temperatures – and I’ll get the job done. That’s what writers do.

(Photo by Kelly Atkinson)

Reader Feedback: Thick Skin vs Thin Skin

This weekend, my husband sat down and read The Toymaker’s Son for the first time. The book only recently went into print, and the marketing campaign is still in the works for Fall 2009, but I was eager to get some feedback from my biggest fan.

The verdict? Two thumbs up. (Insert huge sigh of relief here!)

Feedback from readers is something that fiction writers probably shouldn’t think about during the writing process. But if your story gets published, then eventually someone is going to read it. You come face-to-face with The Reader. And let me tell you, The Reader can be scary. The Reader might not like your work - and if not, then it feels as if The Reader doesn’t like you, either.

This is where the thick skin comes in. I don’t have it, unfortunately. Someone once wrote a negative review of Wild Dog Summer that left me paralyzed for weeks afterwards: I doubted myself so completely that I couldn’t write a word.

What helped me was receiving piles of letters from readers – kids in classrooms, mostly – who had read my book as part of their Language Arts program, and who loved it. Not all of them, of course. But no book is going to please everyone, that’s just a given (especially when it’s assigned reading with tests attached to it!) Knowing that readers out there, somewhere, were enjoying my story helped me put aside that one negative review and get writing again.

Thick skin, thin skin. I’ll never enjoy negative feedback, but it’s part of the writing game, and the secret is to keep all that feedback in balance. And even more importantly, write the story that you want to write. Chances are, there's a reader out there just waiting to give you two thumbs up.

Taking a Break - And Getting Back On Track

One of the reasons I thought blogging was not an option for me was the fact that I know myself: disciplined as I may be in food choices, exercise habits, work deadlines and family commitments, my writing sometimes takes a back seat to (what shall I call it? Oh, I know…) Life.

Life is (thank goodness!) everywhere. If you don't believe me, check out the photo of the baby robin whose nest was right outside my window this Spring. And everyone’s Life is different, of course. Maybe you’re a student with homework and a social life and family issues. Or you’re a parent with two jobs: the one that pays the bills and the one that involves such everyday necessities as feeding children, conversing with your spouse, organizing after-school activities, or even just buying groceries and cleaning the bathroom. No matter who you are, you're living your Life and doing the best you can.

But sometimes Life gets challenging. We’re just plain tired or something distracting happens. The workload becomes overwhelming. People disappoint us, or we disappoint ourselves. It's all just too much trouble! We have to confront and deal with everything that Life throws at us because, after all, that's the point of living, isn't it?

The way to meet Life's challenges is to forgive ourselves for slipping away for a while, pick up our tools, and start again. That's my goal: more writing! What's yours?

Hello to Ms. Wadlegger’s Grade 7 Class!

I’m delighted to hear that you’re reading Wild Dog Summer, and thanks for getting in touch. As you’ll see from my blog, I had a chat with a class in Alberta earlier this year, and they posted lots of questions about the book and also about my life as a writer. It was a great way to connect!

Feel free to browse my Shout-Out to them (February 24, 2009) and my answers to their questions (February 25, 2009). You might find some of your questions already answered.

In fact, feel free to read any of my blog posts – they’re all about writing and reading. For instance, my most recent post presents a conversation with the photographer who creates the covers of my books.

Above all, feel free to post your questions as comments. I’d love to hear from you, and I’m always happy to answer questions and talk about books and writing.

Let me start by asking you a few questions. First, what do you think of Wild Dog Summer? Are you enjoying it? What do you think is going to happen next? Do you know anyone like BJ? Or Craig?

I’m looking forward to reading your questions and comments – write soon!