I recommend this blog post, What Kids Have Taught Me About Writing, by children’s book author Kathleen McCleary. Those of us who read a lot of writing by children produced in schools — and I certainly speak for the staff here at Stone Soup — get tired of reading writing by children that is so obviously constrained by creative writing formulas. “Stop!” I sometimes want to shout, “can’t you ask children to write something that means something to them?” At Stone Soup we are very focused on personal experiences — writing from the heart. Not being teachers ourselves I think we probably make the mistake of discounting the value of creative writing formulas. What Kathleen McCleary talks about in her blog post is the constructive use of writing games. She mentions the “ahah moment” creative writing game by way of one example. As the “ahah moment” fits in with my own bias towards writing based on experience I actually find her description of a fill-in-the-blank project the most challenging to my own thinking. And, the most inspiring. On the face of it, what could be more dull? “Once upon a time _______. And every day ________ ……” but then, the example Kathllen offers is a story that does, indeed, take one’s breath away. A writing class taught by a novelist is probably not quite the same as one taught by you or me. It is impossible to know what inspiration Kathleen herself brings to her students in the way she framed the assignments. But what I take from her post is that if you can free up children’s creativity, if you can tap into their deep imaginative layers, then the game becomes a challenge, like the strict sonnet form in poetry. When one masters the formula (rather than be mastered by it) brilliant literature is the outcome. What Kathleen McCleary sees as the wonder of it is what all of us who are closely involved with children’s creativity see, whether it is in the realm of writing or art or music, when the stars align for children they seem to effortlessly create material that most adults would have to struggle for. This, then, from Kathleen McCleary’s blog, Writer Unboxed. Simple can be powerful. One of the exercises I do with kids is 7-sentence story, in which I ask them to write a story by filling in these blanks: “Once upon a time____. And every day____. Until one day____. And because of that____. And because of that____. Until finally____. And ever since____.” Last summer, a quiet, 14-year-old boy wrote this story, in less than 10 minutes: “Once upon a time, the sun fell in love with the moon. And every day she chased him across the sky but he always slipped just out of sight and set as she rose. Until one day she caught up to him in what the humans called an ‘eclipse’ but she called a ‘miracle.’ And because of that, she discovered that she and the moon could not ever stay in the sky at the same time, except for eclipses. And because of that, every day she felt lonely and sad as the moon set and she rose. Until finally an eclipse came again and she and the moon met once more. And ever since she has been hoping and waiting for another so they may be together again.” It gives me goose bumps every time I read it. It makes me want to be a better writer. It makes me grateful I get to work with young people.
Teaching Children
Twists and Turns
What makes a story interesting? Yes, it could be fun to read a story about a girl who spends two enjoyable weeks at summer camp, plays some archery, makes a few friends, and then goes home. But how much more interesting is it when those two weeks include a secret, two lies, a false accusation, a confession, and a mystery? Twelve-year-old Tatum Schutt wrote My Grandmother’s Earrings, the featured story from the September/October 2014 issue of Stone Soup. The story is full of interesting twists and turns. We want to keep reading to find out how it will all turn out. Cicile is the narrator of the story. Her beloved grandmother died recently, but Cicile doesn’t want anyone at camp to know because she doesn’t like to be pitied. She swears her archenemy, Jess, to secrecy before they both leave for camp. Jess agrees, but she can’t resist teasing Cicile at camp about her “old-fashioned” earrings. Cicile admits to the other campers that the earrings are from her grandmother, but, determined to keep her secret, she lies and says she doesn’t like them. The next morning, Cicile is frantic when she can’t find the earrings anywhere. She breaks down and tells her cabin mates the truth. But where are the earrings? Everyone thinks Jess must have taken them. Jess denies it and suggests that perhaps Cicile’s grandmother’s “ghost” took them. Cicile’s new friend, Nicole, speaks to Cicile privately, saying it must have been Jess. Then, on the last day of camp, right before she drives off with her parents, Nicole hands Cicile a note. She confesses that she is the one who took the earrings. The note tells Cicile where to find them and begs for her forgiveness. All is well, almost. Next to the earrings, taped to a bed frame, is a tiny bottle of her grandmother’s perfume. Come to think of it, Cicile caught a whiff of the perfume on the very first day of camp. Was her grandmother somehow watching this story unfold all along? The story ends with this mystery, as well as some other unanswered questions. Will Cicile be able to forgive Nicole? Will she patch things up with Jess, now that she knows Jess was not lying? We’ll never know for sure, and maybe it’s better that way. The story leaves us with much to think about. It draws us in and makes us wonder how we would have acted in a similar situation. Is it always better to tell the truth, or are there times when it’s OK to lie? Should we be careful not to accuse someone of a wrongdoing when we don’t have proof? Can we forgive a friend who is truly sorry for her actions? Think about Tatum’s story the next time you sit down to write. Ask yourself, what would make my story more interesting? How can I create believable characters? Real people make mistakes. Sometimes they regret their actions. Take us along with you as you explore the twists and turns that make life (and stories) interesting.
Yes He Can! Challenging Stereotypes with Fiction
Can a boy dancer be cool? Yes he can! And yet Alex, the main character in “Standing Alone,” is teased mercilessly by his classmates because he likes to dance. They call him “ballerina,” even though he actually does contemporary dance, not ballet. They make his life miserable every chance they get. Nobody likes to be made fun of. Nobody likes to be bullied. Everybody wants to be liked and appreciated. In our modern world, we think of ourselves as open-minded. Boys and girls can follow their dreams, no matter what they are. But some stereotypes persist from the past, like the one that says it’s unmanly for a boy to be interested in dance. It’s important to look at those stereotypes and see how wrong they are, how much they hurt people. Then maybe we can get rid of them and become better people. Eleven-year-old author Erin Trefny helps us do just that in “Standing Alone,” the featured story from our May/June 2014 issue. She shows us the world through Alex’s eyes – his love of dance, the cruelty of his classmates, how he deals with his problem. Some of the best stories we receive are stories in which the author is writing about his or her own experiences. In Erin’s case, though, she is a girl writing from the viewpoint of a boy. How does she do it? Maybe she knows a boy like Alex, or maybe she is really good at using her imagination and observations to put herself in someone else’s shoes (or bare feet, in Alex’s case!). Whatever her secret, Erin has created a believable character. She has placed him in a story that holds our interest from start to finish. The story teaches us an important lesson, not by telling but by showing. Read Erin’s story twice, then read it again. Each time you will notice more little details and bits of dialogue that make the people and places come to life. Most of all, notice how Erin shows us, through her well-crafted story, that it is wrong to tease, wrong to bully, and wrong to stereotype.
