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Inspiring Kids to Write

1/24/2016

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I have a dilemma. My 11 year old granddaughter hates to write. I mean she really hates to write! She loves to research. She loves to develop stories. And, she has literally thousands of ideas that she wants me to write about, but when I try to get her to write them down it's a struggle for both of us. Her usual reply is, "I'll tell you the story and you write it down because I hate to write." Oh, she will write her school assignments begrudgingly and slowly--very, very, very slowly. But, her sighs, head slaps, rolling eyes, and slouching shoulders make me feel like an ogre when I tell her she has to finish the assignment. So, how do I inspire her to write her stories--or anything--down?

There are numerous websites and books that attempt to teach parents (and grandparents) how to inspire kids to write, and I have tried all of them. 

We've tried asking questions like, "If you were a Princess, what would you wear?" I gave her ten minutes to write two sentences. Instead, she designed her perfect princess dress and colored it in. I tried the family time capsule idea from the ​Great Kids website. the whole family writes about who you are today, includes pictures, and seals it in a box to be opened at some later date. That didn't work either. She wanted to take video instead of writing and put it into the box.  We tried making a picture book (she has several fantastic stories that would really work), but nope that didn't work either. Then, we stumbled on an idea. I say "we" because it was a joint inspiration on a frightfully long day of, "Are you finished, yet?". These are three ideas we have for inspiring kids to write:
  1. Create a photo journal of the day with captions. A caption is just a few words that identifies the picture, who is in it, and if you like, what you were doing.
  2. Make a video diary. After dinner, turn on the iPad ( or phone, or whatever) and record what your day was like. Then, in a paper diary write the date and one thing that stood out from your video. Here is one from her, "January 15, 2016 I won another Pokemon." Hey, it's a start!
  3. Create a book idea notebook. This is just a small notebook that holds anything that represents an idea for a book. It can be a picture, a drawing, a possible title, or even a sentence or two. When an idea hits, she puts it in the book so we can discuss it later.

Now, I'm not saying these ideas will work for everyone, but the important thing is it works for us--so far. Do you have other ideas that can inspire a child to write?


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Getting the Word Out--Whew!

1/17/2016

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 This is what my head feels like after spending the last two weeks trying to get the word out about the release of my first tween adventure novel. Who knew there were so many avenues to investigate, and so many rules on where you could go. I sure didn't. 

There is Thunderclap, a crowd-speaking platform. It will send out a promotional blurb for my book, Search for the Red Ghost, on release day. Great, huh? But--you knew there was a but right? But, you need to garner 100 supporters willing to let Thunderclap send out a message on the supporters Facebook page, Tumblr page, or Twitter account. 

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Fiction or Non-Fiction? That is the question.

1/10/2016

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I am in the throes of a decision, and it is driving me nuts! "Do I begin writing another non-fiction book or do I continue to write fiction?" The two are very different in some ways and similar in others, and there lies my dilemma.

Writing about an event such as the introduction of camels into the southwest was exciting because of the research. I love digging out little treasures from a multitude of archives. And quite frankly, I enjoyed writing the narrative explaining the event. Plus, I seem to be driven to non-fiction when I write magazine articles for my audience--kids. Not that it is an easy task. Writing non-fiction is actually labor intensive. Some authors take years researching and then writing about their subjects. I spent almost a year gathering the official diaries and correspondences necessary to get my facts straight for The Great Camel Experiment of the Old West. Then it was another six months to write the narrative. I'm not even going to talk about the length of time it takes to publish--sheesh. However, out of the research came a piece of information that led to my desire to write fiction. 

When I decided to write Search for the Red Ghost, I couldn't wait to start. The research was already firmly planted in my mind, so my brain took over and wove a story of what ifs. What if I found my mother dead and I couldn't identify the animal that did it? What if my father refused to hunt it down? What if I believed that no one thought my mother was worth enacting revenge on her killer? What if I thought I was old enough to do it myself? All these what ifs and a thousand more bounced through my head until the story demanded to be told. It wasn't difficult to create Jake. My brother, John, is a master hunter with the heart of a true mountain man. If he was in the position that I put Jake, my brother would do the same exact thing. He is the epitome of Jake. So, that made the book somewhat easy to visualize. Every time I put Jake into a dangerous situation, I asked myself, "What would my brother do?" and the answer flew onto the page. Now, don't get me wrong, this book was difficult to write because other than a few short stories and a couple of almost novels, I wasn't sure I had enough talent, skill, or ability to write it. 

So this is where I am today--do I continue writing what is comfortable--non-fiction? Or, do I stretch myself and write fiction? 

Presently, I have four books started, and all of them are fiction. However, I have a burning desire to write a memoir of sorts based on the dark journey I've been on since we lost our eldest daughter. Losing a child, regardless of their age or time in life, is catastrophic. It actually kills a piece of your heart, and at times makes you consider giving up. I know I would have fallen into that pit if it had not been for my youngest daughter, my husband, and the two beautiful girls my daughter left behind. But, I am also somewhat of a realist and as such am not sure I could write something so personal yet. Then there is the mountain of files I have collected concerning real live events that I have found very little written about for younger audiences. There is a world of knowledge out there just waiting for someone to find the right angle and share it with kids. And, actually, I also have four non-fiction books outlined. I know, it seems like I like the #4.

​So while I work through my indecision, what would you suggest? Yes. I am asking you--the you who is reading my blog. Non-fiction or fiction? And, yes, that is the question.




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Search for the Red Ghost

1/3/2016

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It's almost time! January 19th is the official release for my first tween adventure novel, Search for the Red Ghost", from MuseitUp Publishing. 

Here is the book trailer created for my release by fellow author, Kevin Hopson. 

​

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    Photo bySamuel Ferrara on Unsplash

    Sherry Alexander

    Dreamer, believer, reader, writer

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