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.
Looking forward to working with grades K – 4 again
My planning session with teachers at William Reid School went very well, and there is a lot I am going to be able to do during the time I will be working with their students. It looks as though I will have at least a couple of sessions with each of their classes, which is good, because we can get our teeth into the meat and potatoes of plotting, beginnings, dialogue, revision, and so forth. I’m really looking forward to meeting the kids!
Really enjoyed the “Show Don’t Tell” intensive weekend
Who’d have thought there was so much one could do with the concept, “Show, Don’t Tell?” I found there were about 7-9 different scenarios when a writer might be tempted to use narrative rather than scene (and maybe I didn’t find all the examples) and virtually every writer who ever put together a “how to” book has weighed in on it. One of my best resources, though, I have to say, was James Alan Gardner’s “A Seminar on Writing.” Clear, direct, articulate and full of good examples. The class worked hard for two days and seemed to get a lot out of it. And I had fun, too!
Gearing up for fall teaching
Busy fall: I will be teaching “Show, Don’t Tell” and the year long novel writing course, “A Novel Approach” for the Alexandra Centre, and I have been asked to be a writer-in-residence for one of the local French Immersion schools. Lots of research and planning–I always feel that when I am being paid, I really need to put my best foot forward! Looking forward to all of them.