Yeah, it’s not writing. But working for my writers’ group (we run a short story contest every year that is very cool), a writers’ festival (WWC encourages cross-fertilization among a zillion different writers’ organizations) and teaching adults how to write novels (through the Alexandra Writers’ Society) can also be very satisfying. So–okay–no fiction this week. But next week, for sure!
Love working with students!
I had a super time working with four classes of grade 3/4 students this week. The first two days I was able to have extended sessions with each class to go into depth on story planning, using the try/fail cycle, and the third day I was able to help the students deepen and add detail their own story plans–along with trouble-shooting story ideas that missed the mark or didn’t have enough conflict. The kids worked hard and created really detailed plans and seemed to enjoy the process. The best part, for me, though, was when one of the teachers told me that after I left her class, the kids dove into their planning and “you could hear a pin drop.” One of her students who sometimes has difficulty staying on task asked at a later point to go back an add more ideas to his!
School visit next week
So, how cool is this? Monday I start at a local school to teach writing as their artist in residence! I will work with four, grade 3/4 classes for eight half-days in January. This week, I met with the teachers to finalize plans and also joined them for a tour of a local aboriginal museum,to
Almost another chapter complete
Nice, over the holidays, to have a few quiet days–finished three and a half scenes out of the next (four-scene) chapter. That’s fourteen! January may be a less productive month as I have my own grant applications (just one, this year, though I should check to see what grant applications I am missing) as well as those for When Words Collide (three). Also, I am teaching eight half-days as an artist-in-residence–in a French school! Have to brush up on my French. And, start letting people know I am eligible for the Aurora, Hugo and Nebula awards. At least I already updated my website with access to all the stories I can. Oh, and–this just in–I made it past the first cut of the Green Man Anthology! Yay! (And if I find a little time, I have an idea for a series of watercolour paintings…) Oh, and did I just volunteer for positions on the Robin Herrington Short Story Contest committee, and maybe SFWA? Hmm.
Backfill
Went back and added a few lines of dialogue to plant the info I needed for the next chapter. Very straightforward to start the next chapter–carrying on from a scene 2 chapters back that ended on a high note.