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Taking Stock of Writerly Weaknesses and How to Avoid Overwhelm

By on October 9, 2019   /   Articles, For Writers, Writing, Writing  

One of my graduate students once told me that as she was reading a craft book on writing, she suddenly felt that everything she read about was a technique that she had failed to apply to her work-in-progress.

I laughed with recognition. It’s like a medical student who thinks she has every disease in her textbook.

This can feel a bit dire, even scary, as well as a little overwhelming.

However, just like a solid protagonist, you must comfort your flaws in order to achieve growth.

Today, my musings will be posting on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews. And I will sit in synagogue and take stock of my behaviors, actions, and habits. This is a designated period of forgiveness as well as renewal.

As a writer, I try to also take stock of my areas of weaknesses and consider practices I might like to change. It is one of the greatest joys in writing—this idea that we can always grow, always learn.

But how to stop the overwhelm of it all?

Once when I was in graduate school, I visited my professor and I was really upset. She had read my submission, and I felt she had been too easy on me. “But what about setting?” I said. “I’m horrible with exposition. And my characterization and my rhythm and… and… and…”

She told me to take a deep breath and realize that it’s crazy making to try to fix everything all at once. Read a chapter for just one or two issues. For example, you could look at it to see if the dialogue sounds naturalistic and then edit with that in mind. Then you could examine how you’re dealing with tertiary characters, for example.

But after you’ve looked at a few craft areas, she recommended putting the piece down for a bit.

Although I didn’t believe her at the time, I do now.

There is be wisdom in putting your WIP on pause. You might, after a few months, have fresh eyes on your writing project. This does not mean to give up. Sometimes a little vacation can be healthy. You might even keep a notebook and, as you get an idea for revision, write it down, but not actually apply it right away. The WIP can be something you can attack when you feel ready and excited about it.

So, I guess, what I’m saying is take stock of what you want to fix in life, and in writing, but don’t feel like you need to remedy it all at once.

Tomorrow, PG&E will shut off my power for two to five days (I live in a wildfire area of California). It feels appropriate to me, on this day of awe, to take a pause, a break.

Although it seems a bit daunting, I’m actually looking forward to it.

Hillary Homzie is the author of Ellie May chapter book series (Charlesbridge, 2018), Apple Pie Promises (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2-18), Pumpkin Spice Secrets (Sky Pony/Swirl, 2017), Queen of Likes (Simon & Schuster MIX 2016), The Hot List (Simon & Schuster MIX 2011) and Things Are Gonna Be Ugly (Simon & Schuster, 2009) as well as the Alien Clones From Outer Space (Simon & Schuster Aladdin 2002) chapter book series. During the year, Hillary teaches at Sonoma State University and in the summer she teaches in the graduate program in childrens’ literature, writing and illustration at Hollins University. She also is an instructor for the Children’s Book Academy. She can be found at hillaryhomzie.com and on her Facebook page as well as on Twitter.

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STEM Tuesday –Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and More! — In the Classroom

By on October 8, 2019   /   Common Core & NGSS, STEM Tuesday, Transportation  

 

This month’s theme looks at transportation–something students might think as ordinary. But as the books we’re highlighting show, plaines, trains, and automobiles have rich histories and lots of science going on.  They’re perfect starting points for different science activities and discussions in the classroom. Here are a few to try.

 

Save the Crash-test Dummies by Jen Swanson, illustrated by Tamika Grooms
Explore how autos are made even safer by using crash-test dummies for design. An entertaining look at the history of car production, as well as the science and engineering behind these machines we can’t seem to live without.

  •  Make a timeline of the evolution of the car bumper.
  • Research the science behind how car bumpers absorb energy from a crash. Have students design the ultimate car bumper, listing what it can do during a crash and labeling its parts on a drawing.
  • Have students imagine a crash-test dummy’s perspective of being tested in a car crash. They can make a comic or write a story about the dummy’s experience.
  • Watch “The Physics of Seat Belts” video from the Smithsonian Channel and ask students to list three reasons why seat belts are important. Have them make a public safety poster about why it is important to always wearing a seat belt when riding in a car. They should include their reasons on the poster.

 

 

Milestones of Flight: From Hot Air Balloons to Space Ship One by Tim Grove

Grove gives readers a look into transportation history and science in this book. Illustrated with photographs, documents, and diagrams from the Smithsonian’s collection.

  • Did one inventor make flight possible? No, like many inventions, the ideas developed from one inventor to another. Ask students to pair up and discuss how two different inventors added to the history of flight.
  • Who was Charles Lindbergh? What did Robert Goddard do?  This book is filled with interesting people vital to the development of flight. Students can pick one and research that person. Then have them act as their character, wearing a costume if they’d like, and tell the class who they are and what they did related to the history of flight.

 

 

Green Transport: Exploring Eco-Friendly Travel for a Better Tomorrow by Rani Iyer  

More on eco-friendly alternatives as transportation industries strive to create green options. This comprehensive title explores traditional energy sources and their impacts, alternative fuels, and mass transit issues as cities move toward more sustainable solutions.

  • Vehicles contribute to climate change, but what else affects the climate. Let students explore the causes of global warming on this site: https://eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/warming5.htm
  • Have students create a train development timeline, listing the fuels used by different trains throughout history and how they affect the environment.
  • Ask students to imagine transportation of the future and have them design a plane, train, ship, or car that runs on clean fuel that does not harm the environment. Have them describe what this fuel is and how it makes their futuristic vehicle run.

 

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Karen Latchana Kenney loves to write books about animals, and looks for them wherever she goes—from leafcutter ants trailing through the Amazon rain forest in Guyana, where she was born, to puffins in cliff-side burrows on the Irish island of Skellig Michael. She especially enjoys creating books about nature, biodiversity, conservation, and groundbreaking scientific discoveries—but also writes about civil rights, astronomy, historical moments, and many other topics. Her award-winning and star-reviewed books have been named a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, a 2015 Book of Note from the TriState Review Committee, a 2011 Editor’s Choice for School Library Connection, and Junior Library Guild selections. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and son, and bikes, hikes, and gazes at the night sky in northern Minnesota any moment she can.

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Interview with Kirk Scroggs, Author of The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid

By on October 7, 2019   /   Author Interviews  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

We are in for a treat today! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was for this interview. As some of you know, I’m a huge comic fan, and Swamp-Thing, in particular, has always been among my favorites. So, when I found out that I was going to get to interview Kirk Scroggs, author of a new adaptation of Swamp Thing geared toward Middle Grade readers, I was absolutely thrilled.

 

JR: Hi, Kirk and thanks for joining us today.

 

JR: Before we begin, can you tell us a little bit about the DC’s middle grade books and The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid?

KS: DC’s middle grade graphic novels are meant to introduce kids to graphic novels and their iconic characters. I have to give them credit for approaching writers from all genres and age groups and encouraging them to think outside the box right off the bat. With The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid, I pushed it a little further and said “What if I did a graphic novel that’s also diary fiction with a hefty dose of chapter books thrown in?” It’s designed to look like a real kid’s spiral who’s been spilling his guts onto the page and doodling a lot of monsters when he should be paying attention in class. In the process of reading his thoughts and doodles, we learn a lot about an outcast kid just trying to make through middle school while realizing his own budding superpowers and saving his school from dark forces at the same time.

JR: I love the idea of these iconic superheroes as kids. With yours, after I finally managed to wrest it away from my kids, I devoured it. I’m a huuuuuge Swamp Thing fan and loved what you did with the story. So, it seems like DC gave you the freedom to explore any story you wanted?

KS: I am so thrilled you liked it! It sure was fun to play around in DC’s sandbox of great characters. They presented the opportunity as a list of heroes/villains they were interested in developing with no limits on what we could do with them, as long as it was for young readers. There were maybe fifteen characters on that list and, honestly, once I saw Swamp Thing on there, all I could see was green. I whipped up a fake cover and the first four pages, complete with a spiral notebook background I had scanned. My first stab at it was called Swamp Teen. They loved it but quickly reminded me of the age group. So, Swamp Kid was born!

 

JR: You’re also involved with another huge cultural franchise, The Muppets. How has that experience been, and seriously, what’s Kermit like behind the scenes? I mean, nobody is THAT nice.

 

KS: That whole experience seemed like a dream. My biggest influence might well have been Jim Henson so getting the opportunity to write some bad puns and silly gags for those characters was like winning the lottery. And Kermit— what is it with me and Swamp Creatures? I’m still waiting to catch the real Kermit in the act. He seems so perfect. There’s gotta be a little diva under that felt facade, but I never saw it.

 

 JR: I read that you love monsters. We’re kindred spirits that way. What was the first one you remember loving and also which are some of your favorites?

KS: As a kid, I loved anything monsters. Ghostbusters, Gremlins, Monster Squad. Every day was Halloween in my brain. I vividly remember seeing King Kong in the theater at far too young of an age, and during the scene where the giant snake attacks Kong on Skull Island the bulb in the projector went out so we could just hear the battle happening. I remember being outraged, and terrified. King Kong and Swamp Thing, and certainly Frankenstein, have that tragic quality to them. They are sympathetic and misunderstood under all the fur and moss and nuts and bolts.

JR: You named a lot of my favorites! Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey getting to this point? 

KS: I got lucky with getting an agent a while back. I had written a little tale called Dracula Vs. Grampa which became the first entry in Wiley and Grampa’s Creature Features. It was a long road to getting the first one published, but I’ve been very fortunate to always get to do my own illustrations. I’ve been building up quite a catalog of monsters and madness ever since. Little Brown Books really believed in me and now DC.

 

 JR: That’s fantastic! Can you also tell us a little bit about what your writing process is like?

KS: It really is like Swamp Kid’s journals. I sit down, sometimes on the floor with a spiral or just some blank white paper and start doodling. Sometimes I even cut and paste with actual scissors and scotch tape. Once I’ve got a good game plan I move to the digital world and whip up a rough draft that I send to my amazing editor, who then mercilessly slashes it to ribbons!

 

JR: What was your favorite childhood book?

KS: Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends is still unbeatable in my book. Those scrappy little drawings he did for it and the level of humor at work.

JR: What’s your favorite movie?

KS: Jaws is my favorite movie and that’s the complete opposite of a sympathetic monster!

 

JR: That’s required once-a-year viewing in my house. Something people would be surprised to learn about you?

KS: I was a classically trained tenor in Milan where I played the role of Othello. Just kidding! That’s a tough one. I actually didn’t read a lot of superhero comics as a kid except for Swamp Thing. Mad Magazine was my thing and I loved spooky comics. Tales from the Crypt, Weird War Tales, Creepshow.

 

JR: Also a fun movie! What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received and is there any you can give to writers looking to break in?

KS: I can’t remember who said it, but it was don’t write for kids, write as a kid. It works out for me because I have the brain of an eighth-grader! As for breaking in, my advice is to be yourself and show us something new. Even if you’re doing a spin on a classic character, maybe one with a lot of moss hanging from him, do something fresh and original. Give us a couple of scenes that pull the rug out from under us or leave us thinking.

 

JR: That’s great advice! What are you working on next?

KS: I’m currently in the early stages of another DC project! I’m hoping to use a similar format and I’m guaranteeing multiple monsters.

 

JR: Multiple monsters works for me! How can people follow you on social media?

Check out kirkscroggs.com. I’m on something called Instagram and Twitter too. And the face book of course.

 

JR: I’d like to thank you once again for joining us today!

KS: Thank you, Jonathan! It was a treat!

 

Well, that’s it for now. So, until next time, thanks for reading!

Jonathan

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