Our dear friend Edgar Allan Poe was nicknamed the master of macabre, which translates to the master of all things ghoulish, ghastly, grisly, gruesome, horrid, morbid, and deathly. I'm not too sure that's a reputation I would be comfortable with, but for Edgar and many other writers, it's exciting to focus on the dark side of life. Nowadays,  people say not to be so negative. Stay positive and you will bring positive things into your life. Does that mean Poe's obsession with the shadows was a negative force? Certainly not! Death is as much a part of life as birth. 200 years ago, people were much more comfortable with the idea of death. Employing this theme into poetry and prose can be a very positive and healthy activity.

To master the macabre like Poe did, it's essential to take stock of symbols that represent what's come to pass. A few categories to consider are plants and animals, colors, environment, and psychology.

We can begin by looking at Poe's famous raven, the black and unpleasant sounding bird. There's also the crow, which was used in a very dark movie in the 1990's aptly named, "The Crow." Other dark symbolic animals are black cats, rats, spiders, and bats and even amphibians like frogs and toads that thrive in wet and slimy creeks. Anytime these animals are included in a writing piece, a very dim atmosphere is created for the characters. Deep forests, vines and twisty, knotty trees can also enhance this effect.

Black isn't the only "color" that supports deathly themes but sticking to dark shades when describing character's clothing is a good idea. However, red, the color of blood, is also a decent choice. One exception is the innocent, naive character. He or she can be adorned in powdery blues, whites or anything that acts as a stark contrast to the cold and shadowy backdrop. Speaking of setting, some classic environments include thick, wintry wooded areas that encase log cabins as in "The Tell-Tale Heart."

Eerie animals, muted colors and scary, cold unwelcoming environments all set tone for macabre characters that are usually very close to death. Sometimes, they have just lost a loved one, like the precious Lenore or maybe they themselves are fighting a dark force that wishes them gone. But if it's real depth you're looking for, be sure to include a character that may be a little bit insane. Nothing is scarier than losing your mind! So, don't be afraid! Get out there and write some good and healthy death stories!

In Connecticut, where I live, I awoke this morning to see ice on the pond and snow flurries dancing in the air. I love flurries, and I also love the word flurries. It is one of those magical words that perfectly fits the thing it names.

How can a sound describe something soundless? There is another category of words that fit their subject in a more subtle way. Non-auditory onomatopoeia, you could call it. (However, even those kinds of words mimic an imaginary sound, rather than reflect an ineffable quality).

Flurries--say it--is soft and light. The singular, flurry, doesn't have a harsh or heavy consonant in it. No Js or Zs or Ks. Even its vowel sound, short U, is quiet. It doesn't howl, whine, or whoop. The Y sound at the end, the long E sound, is playful.

Flurries. Flying, floating, fluttering flurries. Winter's coming on.

What other words can you think of that fit their subject perfectly? Send us your examples with a brief explanation of why you think the word fits its subject.

It's a ton of fun to create your own myth if you use the great legends that have come before as a guide and source of inspiration. But where to start…

The most important element of a myth to consider is which kind you want to write. Do you want to write a creation myth that describes how the Earth came to be like The Legend of Turtle Island, or do you want to explain why we need to honor a value or belief? We saw an example of why the Tewa tribe believes it is important to uphold their spiritual way of life in Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden.

Next, and probably the most exciting part is picking your supernatural characters! Myths are packed with gods and goddesses that interfere with the fate of the living like the buckskin-robed spirit in Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden. They even have animals that talk like the loon in Sedna, and elements such as the wind or water personified. Your choices are limitless. Take a look around your home or go outside and just sit quietly to observe your surroundings. Maybe the pigeons have a message for human beings about being wasteful? Maybe the gods turned a tribe of humans into pigeons because they wasted the food they hunted, so now they must forever scavenge the cities for the castoffs of others? See how fun this can be?

Heroes, Helpers, and Villains
The supernatural characters you create are only the tip of the iceberg. Just think of all the other important characters needed to tell a story of mythical proportion. Sometimes myths have heroes or heroines that must overcome a difficult challenge. Whether they fail or succeed is up to you. It's also up to you who they are. American Indian heroines were often humans like Sedna, but they don't always have to be. Maybe your heroine is your dog? Or the rabbit in your backyard that always outsmarts your dog? Maybe your hero is you?

Similar to other stories, characters in myths have sidekicks or helpers that enable them to succeed, and evil characters that contribute to their downfall. Sedna's legion of sea creatures certainly help condemn her father to the depths of the sea!

Finally, what ever gods, animals or force of nature you choose as your characters, keep in mind that their actions must be symbolic. They must represent more than the ordinary. Ideally, your character's actions will allow your readers to understand the lesson or moral you or trying to impart. Or, if you are writing a creation myth, your characters will shed light on how something came to be. So dig deep into that creative mind of yours and think about what's important to you. Then, unleash your inner mythmaker and send your myth to us to share!

Editor's note: WORD is thrilled to welcome our new blogger, Jennifer Hickey! Jenn is an adjunct professor at Mercy College in New York City. Although Jenn teaches writing and literature to college students, she is very excited to be speaking to readers of READ! Click on Jenn's image to read her profile.

Have you ever been somewhere like a train or the dentist's office ... or maybe at your very old, very eccentric Great Aunt Tilda's musty house ... and then suddenly became inspired to write about something unusual or ironic? But all you had to write with was a napkin or a field trip permission slip and not much time? Well, I have the perfect poetry form for you!

Back in the day, poets created gnomic verses or small poems that had some sort of riddle or proverb within the lines. These ancient Greek poets referred to these poems as simply, gnomes, meaning "an opinion". Gnomic poetry was also popular in Medieval times. Medieval poets considered gnomic poetry to be an excellent tool for commenting on the world and expressing truths. Sound difficult? It's easier than you think. Check this out:

Great Aunt Tilda's

So many things
that were once new now
permeated by moth balls and
her age old recipe for matzo ball soup.

Tada!

Here's how I did it... I'm at Great Aunt Tilda's apartment and the whole place just reeks of moth balls because for some reason she thinks it's much better to have a smelly apartment than the possibility of a few holes in her sweaters. As for the soup, well, she loves it and I always think of her when I see matzo ball soup, so, I added that into the poem. The word permeated is both literal and figurative because it refers to the smelly moth balls and the idea of Aunt Tilda's soup.

What does my gnomic verse say about Aunt Tilda's? I believe it's a commentary about who she is! A matzo loving lady who fears moths enough to endure stink! And that's quirky and funny, which is a huge part of being old.

Here's a few gnomic verses by the poet Robert Creeley:

Toffee
Little bit patted pulled
Stretched set let cool.

Here
You have to reach
Out more it's
Farther away from
You it's here

Winter
Season's upon us
Weather alarms us
Snow riot peace
Leaves struck fist.

Poetic inspiration is everywhere and autumn is filled with stimulating events for you to create some gnomic witty banter. You too can follow Robert Creeley's example.  Write a verse or two about your favorite presidential candidate. Oh wait... the election is over. Well then write a gnome to President Elect Obama! Possibilities are endless!

Editor's Postnote: Have a question for Jenn or want to leave a comment... or a gnome? Feel free to do so in the comments section below.

We Do!!!

Happy Punctuation Day Yes Today is a big holiday Bet you didnt even notice Hey if we can celebrate things like groundhogs hearts and fools then we can certainly take a day to honor the humble punctuation mark

Today September 24 is the 5th annual National Punctuation Day This great holiday was founded by Jeff Rubin a former newspaperman who now dons a red cape to reinvent himself as the superhero Punctuation Man to inspire schoolchildren to love the poor underappreciated little puncs

According to Rubins website httpcolonbackslashbackslashwwwdotnationalpunctuationdaydotcom National Punctuation Day is and I quote a celebration of the lowly comma correctly used quotes and other proper uses of periods semicolons and the ever mysterious ellipsis

Of course on the site that quote is cluttered up with these funny little doodads that look like this “ , , , . ” Whatever they mean

Myself Im a big fan of the dash I find it quite dashing

And hey how about that cute little comma Is it not adorable

And lets not forget parentheses those mirror image identical twins are very affectionate why just look at how they embrace an interjected explanatory or qualifying remark

Well I could go on and on about the philosophical virtues of the question mark and the joie de vivre of the exclamation point and dont get me started on the semicolon

Check it out for yourself Here Ill make it easier for you

Click here for Student Writing Showcase 2008.

That's not much fanfare! Well, I could tell you about all the great student writers we have showcased this year. I could discuss the wonderful authors who have leant their voices and commentary (like M.T. Anderson, Karen Cushman, and Cynthia Leitich Smith). I could describe the way neat-o video version of 1,000 Words. I could tell you all about the Letter To Self article and writing prompt. I could write up a super-duper self-promotion that shows in detail how each one of these things makes for a really cool place to chill out, read some excellent student writing, get inspired, and moves you to write whatever your heart desires! I could... and I kind of just did... but I think I'll just pipe down and let you check it out for yourself.

AND if you do get inspired and DO write something. Send it to us at word@weeklyreader.com. We're always looking for the best student writers to publish right here on WORD!

Cheers mates! Enjoy!

OK, this is really random. And no, for once this isn't going to be an entry about the on-going writers' strike. (Although, I did read that the strike might be ending soon. Yay!) But I was doing some writing today--as is required in my line of work--and I thought I did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. But writing is so subjective. What if all my adoring fans don't like it?

Remember that scene in A Christmas Story (I'm sure you've seen it--they practically play it 24/7 in December. Not that I'm complaining, because it is a hilarious movie.) where Ralphie has to write a theme for his teacher on what he wants for Christmas?  He writes this empassioned essay about how he wants "a Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time." Then he imagines his teacher saying, "Poetry. Sheer poetry, Ralph! An A+!" Well, when he gets the paper back, there is no A+. Instead, scrawled across the top, it says "You'll shoot your eye out!"

Sigh.

Sometimes, doesn't it just feel like that? You put your heart and soul into a piece of writing, and all you get back is the proverbial "You'll shoot your eye out."

Anyway, my point (I do have one) is that it shouldn't matter what you write. OK, yes, for school, if you're assigned an essay, please follow your teacher's requirements, and do the studying and all the preperation and all that. I don't want any angry letters, please. But anyway, I really feel that it's most important to write about something you care about. And enjoy doing it. It's not the subject that matters.

So write on. Don't worry what people think about it. As they say, you can't please everyone. As long as you enjoy writing, that's all that matters. And the more you do it, the more confident you'll get with your writing, and the better you'll get.

And if you do write about how you want a BB gun, be careful.

After all, you don't want to shoot your eye out.

This past Friday I was in New York. The city. Ask me if the brights are light. Go on? ... Well they are.

The YPulse Tween Mashup was held at the Jacob Javits Center. If you've never been there, it's this big, long building that houses, among many other things, the Book Expo America.

YPulse is this whole other web site out there in www land. It's also a finger on a pulse (the name is not accidental). It is dedicated to understanding what makes tweens tick. Cuz as it turns out... you're quite an interesting bunch. :)

Hosted by Anastasia Goodstein (YPulse's puppet-master and author of Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens Are Really Doing Online), the event was a mix of old school practices and the wave of the future. There's a whole lot of both out there. You probably don't remember this, but there was a time long ago when there were no computers. There were no cell phones or emails. No iPods or earmuffs. Nah, I'm just kidding. The world has always had earmuffs.

Here's a question for you: Which do you prefer?
a) texting your friends
b) emailing your friends
c) talking on your cell
d) writing a letter in longhand scripture using a quill and ink before having to walk all around the house searching everywhere for an envelope and a stamp and then having to, after all that work, walk to the mail box or the post office and mail the thing

No! It's a serious question! Leave a comment below. Tell us a, b, c, or d... and tell us why.

But that's what the Mashup was all about. It was a bunch of old folks sitting around in a room, scratching their heads and saying, "Um. Does anyone understand tweens? ... Hello? ... lil' help?"

So have you ever heard the word "tween" before? Maybe sometime 'tween lunch and dinner? Well, it's nothing to be afraid of. It's not a label or a brand name. It's just a way of classifying. Like Gen X or horseshoe burns on a bull's... no, I kid. Here's what the Urban Dictionary has to say about it:

Tween: A word that is used by marketers to describe youths between the ages of 10-13. Although some believe that tweens are actually between the ages of 10-15. Despite the fact that tweens have always existed, marketers continue to lay claim to discovering them. ... No one discovered the tweens.

Ha! Right on. Embrace your 'tween-dom while you have it, friends.

So as a tween, what are your favorite web sites? Keep in mind, this is not a ploy. If you say, "WORD", you will not get a free tee shirt (although we will be flattered). Just curious is all. Tell you what though, if you write up just a few paragraphs about your favorite web site, we just might post your writing here. Put "favorite web site" in the subject line of an email and send it to word@weeklyreader.com. Make sure and tell us why you love it!

YPulse: It's a neat thing. In this day and age, we're all wired. The old and the young alike. We might as well have some dialogue about this cyberspace place... right?

What's up?

Later this week: More from the YPulse Tween Mashup...

It was a dark and stormy night ...

Clichéd? Yes. Hackneyed? You betcha! Bad writing? Well now, that's the point!

That famous line is the inspiration for an annual contest that salutes bad writing. The contestants must come up with a really bad first line to a non-existent novel. This year's winner combined awkward syntax and bathroom humor, among other things.

This is the winning entry: "Gerald began -- but was interrupted by a piercing whistle which cost him ten percent of his hearing permanently, as it did everyone else in a ten-mile radius of the eruption, not that it mattered much because for them 'permanently' meant the next ten minutes or so until buried by searing lava or suffocated by choking ash -- to pee," Gleeson wrote.

What a novel idea! (Get it? Oh, and on that same note, contestants can get awards in several categories, one of which is "vile puns." I could totally win that!)

No, seriously, I think this is a really cool contest. There are so many bad writers out there, but to do it purposely, that takes some finesse! And it's definitely harder than it looks.

Here's my attempt:

"Mike looked into Sally's bright blue glowing orbs, her eyes, the windows to her soul (streak-free, no less!), which were as deep and mysterious as the ocean and brought back memories of when he was a lifeguard that summer five years ago and that little girl--why hadn't she listened to him?--had gone out too far and was carried away by a massive riptide; suddenly, Mike no longer wanted to swim in Sally's waters."

Go on, give it a try!

Hey, kids! We're going to learn some grammar. Yay!

Calm down, calm down. Don't get too excited there. Yes, I know, learning grammar is awesome. What? Do I detect sarcasm there?

OK, fine. So maybe grammar isn't the scholarly equivalent to a trip to Disney World. But if you want to be a good writer, you have to know certain rules. And who doesn't love following rules …

Anyway, just let me quickly tell you easy ways to remember some tricky grammar rules. Then you can get back to your regularly scheduled lives of pool parties, barbeques, and the like. (By the way, I don’t recall receiving an invitation to any of those parties. Must have gotten lost in the mail.)

Lie or Lay?

People lie. Well, duh. Every teenager who sneaks out of the house knows that. But it's also the case in lie vs. lay, and a great way to remember this rule. Someone lies down, but you lay your clothes out on the bed. And, by the way, I know you were out past curfew. Don't you lie to me!

If I were vs. If I was

Follow the Fiddler on the Roof  rule here. It's like that song, "If I Were a Rich Man." OK, OK, do you need a modern reference? Well, Gwen Stafani and Eve redid the song a few years ago as "Rich Girl."  (Actually, their version is a cover of Louchie Lou and Michie One's song. They did the first reggae version of "Rich Girl." But I digress.) Anyway, my point is, remember the song. So you would say "If I were."

Where you at?

Just don't. It's wrong, and it sounds dumb. Say "Where are you?" OK? Thanks.

The following blog entry was written by Sarah Chassé, a copy editor of READ, Writing, and a whole bunch of other Weekly Reader magazines.

Watching TV rots your brain, right? Not necessarily. I spent last night learning some great new vocabulary words from my television--and no, there isn't a new reality show called Playing Scrabble With the Stars. We're talking the finals of the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which aired live on ABC.  The competition, held in Washington, D.C., featured 286 spellers from the United States and Canada. In the 13^th round, eighth grader Evan M. O’Dorney of Danville, Calif., spelled the word serrefine (seh-ruh-FEEN) to become the Super Bowl of spelling’s newest champ.

OK,  so maybe serrefine (an adjustable spring clamp used in cardiovascular surgery) isn't the most useful word—you can't exactly drop it into casual conversation. But it's still a cool word to know. Here are some other unusual words from the Scripps finals you can dazzle your friends and family with:

rascacio: (rah-SKAH-see-oh) a scorpion fish found in the western Atlantic Ocean from Cape Cod to Brazil

bouleuterion: (boo-leh-TEE-ree-on) a council chamber in ancient Greece

schuhplattler: (SHOO-plat-luhr) a traditional folk dance from Bavaria and Austria in which dancers rhythmically strike their thighs, their knees, and the soles of their feet

grognard: (groh-NAHR) an old soldier

aniseikonia: (ah-nigh-sigh-KOH-nee-uh) a defect of binocular vision in which the two retinal images of an object differ in size

My favorite word from the bee was definitely schuhplattler (just don't ask me to demonstrate it). Have a favorite word of your own that you'd like to share? Drop us a comment! (And make sure you spell your word correctly!)

I wanted to tell you that Writing just published its inaugural, first-ever electronic issue. It's a special, bonus edition all about revision. Check it out and/or download it here.

So Jjust what is revision, you say? The word revision comes from the Latin revidere, which literally means "to see again." When you revise your writing, that's exactly what you are doing--you are looking at the words you put down on a page with a fresh eye. You are making choices about what words to keep or cut, how to arrange paragraphs and sentences, where to begin and how to end.

Revision is not easy--but all writers (even famous ones) do it. My favorite part about of pulling putting together this issue was learning about the revision habits of authors such as Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, Judy Blume, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, E. B. White, and Lee Bennett Hopkins.  (See "The Revision Files" for yourself.)

Knowing that E. B. White wrote eight different versions drafts of Charlotte's Web (one of my all-time favorite books) always gives me encourages me has taught me to keep ploughing plough ahead with my own writing even when I'm tired or frustrated. If they had to do it - and they were wizards of the written word - who am I to give up?

As you can see, even writing a short blog entry like this one involves revision. If I had time, I'd probably go back and fix even more things, but I have hundreds of the Take Me Away contest entries to read. So, if you have time, let me know how you would revise this blog entry! (You can also check out these pointers.)

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

For those of you who have sent in your submissions for the Take Me Away Writing contest, thank you! They look great!

For those of you who are still working on your submissions for the Take Me Away Writing contest, keep on pluggin' along! But remember, the deadline is coming up soon. When? All entries must be postmarked by WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22. That's soon, my friend. That's super soon.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about. Click here to learn more about the specifics of the contest and to download the official submission form.

Best of luck to you all! ... Not that you need it though. You know you've got what it takes. You know there's an ace of a writer inside you. Of course, you also know that in order to win, you have to start writing something. SO WRITE SOMETHING!!! Come on! Wow me with your poetry or prose! And most importantly...

TAKE ME AWAYYYYYYYYY......

Wow, college is fun!  I'm taking my first college Creative Writing class -- "Intro to Short Fiction" -- and the 3-hour class goes by much too quickly.  Imagine, reading and writing short stories for "homework"?!  Those are things I love doing for fun! 

I've learned in my class that other people will always have different opinions about your writing.  There are eighteen students in my class, and each week, we critique two or three short stories submitted by our classmates.  Not surprisingly, each week there are eighteen different opinions on how to improve each story!  I've learned that if there is a suggestion about one of my stories that the majority of the class agrees upon -- maybe I need to add more character description, or tighten up the dialogue -- then it is something I should pay attention to.  But trying to please everyone will drive you crazy -- not to mention, it's impossible!  As my writing friend Elizabeth Berg wrote me in a letter, "First, please yourself." Good advice for any area of your life, I think. 

E.B. White's birthday is today. You know E.B. White, don't you? Come on! You read Charlotte's Web, right? Well, he wrote it. And you knew that. I know you did. Good job.

Well, you may be surprised to know that E.B. also co-wrote The Elements of Style with William Strunk Jr. This is a very tiny book but it is filled with some of the most explosive grammar advice this side of the Mississip! Seriously, if you thought grammar was fun before, just wait until you pick up this gem of a book! It will knock your socks off! I say this as a person who has had his socks knocked off before. It's a long story about a fire-breathing dragon and an evil sorcerer with a weird obsession with feet. I won't bore you with the details here. We're talkin' about grammar, baby! Yah! Bring it! And do you know what else? This book can fit in your back pocket! You can read it on the train! At the movies! Even swimming in the ocean or climbing Mount Everest! No more making excuses for skipping that trip to Mars this year! You've got The Elements of Style to make the journey all the more exciting!

The New York Times says, "Buy it, study it, enjoy it. It's as timeless as a book can be in our age of volubility."

What's volubility? I don't know! Let's look it up!

vol·u·ble  

1. Marked by a ready flow of speech; fluent.

Awesome! Yah! I knew that! I think. Maybe a long time ago. Maybe now? I don't know! Woo hoo! The point is that yes, we do live in an "age of volubility." Everyone uses big words and sharp sounding syllables. Listen up! Get a vocabulary! Work it! Yah!

Hey, I have a joke for you. What's the differerence between "regardless" and "irregardless"? Give up? About the same as the difference between "can't" and "cannot". Ah ha! Ahh ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh! Somebody stop me! Seriously, regard the irregardless on page 50 of William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White's masterpiece grammar phenomenon, The Elements of Style.

Be the first on your block to own The Elements of Style. Impress all your friends with nonrestrictive modifiers and auxillary verbs! Is some bully stealing your lunch money every day? Shove a sentence fragment in his face and then don't tell him why what you've said was grammatically wrong! It'll drive him nuts! Observe:

"Hey bully! Because muscle mattered slightly!"

"Huh?"

"Yah Yah Yah! Take that, you embodiment of future insecurities!"

Buy this book! Buy this book! Buy this book! Buy this book!

One more thing, here is a beautiful quote from E.B. White. He proclaimed it one time when he wasn't personifying barnyard animals or partying up the grammar world:

"All I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world."

Word.

Are you traveling this summer? Here's a nifty tip to keep the writer within you churning out ideas: send yourself a postcard each day!

I went to Europe for the first time this summer, and every day for the two weeks I was there, I sent a postcard to my address back home. The thought of writing an entire journal entry each day seemed too time-consuming with all the sight-seeing and and traveling I was doing, but I still wanted to remember every minute of my trip. Writing a postcard every day was the perfect solution. It was like a daily journal of my experiences, and because a postcard is so small, I was easily able to find five minutes to fill one up each day. I wrote down funny stories, snippets of dialogue, story ideas, descriptions of places or people I saw ... goldmines for future writing! And I chose pictures of places I had visited, so each postcard has an added bonus of being a visual reminder of my trip as well. 

A twist on this idea is if you are traveling and staying in touch with friends or family via e-mail, send the e-mail to your address, as well. That way, when you arrive back home, you will have an inbox full of "diary entries" in the form of letters back home. 

So you see, a vacation away from home doesn't have to be a vacation away from your writing life! :)

Do you ever look at something so much that you don't really pay attention to what it's saying? I do, all the time. Last night, for example, I was writing a letter on a notepad when I actually stopped writing and looked at it closely.

I bought the notepad when I visited the Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, California two summers ago. The trees were immense, tall, and the kind that you want to put your arms around. (I'd never thought of myself as a tree hugger even though one of my favorite children's books is Aani and the Tree Huggers, but there I found myself wrapping my arms around a tree trunk and relishing its sturdy stability.)

At the end of my hike, I wanted to buy a souvenir under $5 to take back. That ruled out a tee-shirt and left me with choices such as pen and magnets. Since I wanted something even more "special," I kept browsing through the racks until I found my notepad.

The notepad was made from recycled paper. A fuzzy beige, it had a sketch of a looming tree and these words:

Advice from a tree: Stand tall and proud - Sink your roots deep into the earth - Be content with your natural beauty - Go out on a limb - Drink plenty of water - Remember your roots - And enjoy the view!

Aha! Perfect! I paid for it and took it home.

But did you ever notice that sci-fi characters rely heavily on lasers?

"Uh oh, captain, there's a giant lizard coming at us!"
"Shoot the laser at it."

"Uh oh, captain, how do I get to the planet's surface?"
"We'll shoot you down there with a laser."

"Uh oh, captain, I have a horrible disease."
"The doctor will shoot a laser at you and cure you."

"Uh oh, captain, our space ship battery is out of power!"
"Let's all shoot our lasers at it to charge it up."

"Uh oh, captain, I'm hungry!"
"We have a laser that makes food."

Yes, sci-fi is fun, but it can get a bit wacky. Science shouldn't be an excuse for lazy writing. New inventions have to be presented carefully and realistically in a story.

You have to do it right, the way Jule's Verne did in 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and H.G. Wells  did in The Time Machine.

Otherwise things just get silly.

Click "Read More ..." to make fun of futuristic cars and practice writing about the future of science.

Stuck for a fictional story idea? Use strange news events as inspiration. Here's a good example:

Imagine that you are a bank teller in Jackson, Mississippi. It's 10 a.m. on a Friday morning, and everything is quiet. You are waiting for the lunch rush of workers cashing their paychecks for the weekend.

Suddenly, a mummy walks into the bank!



Only its eyes and lips are visible. Its arms, face, and head are covered by bandages. Over the bandages, it's wearing normal street clothes.

The mummy walks up to the counter and asks for help. Before you can figure out what to do or say, the mummy jumps over the counter, shovels handfuls of cash into it's clothing, and bolts out the door!

This is a true story.

Ready to write? Are you hungry for writing fun?

Hungry like the wolf? By the way, have you ever been so hungry you wolfed down your dinner?
(Woah ... hold on. In that first question I used wolf as a noun. In the second question I used wolf as a verb.)

Is that right? Can I do that? Sure I can.
Do you know why? I just did, and so can you.

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

So begins Song of Myself, arguably Walt Whitman's most famous poem. Whitman was an American poet who believed in nature, body, soul, and the entire universe contained within every single thing, within a blade of grass.

I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

Song of Myself, although quite a long poem in and of itself (what you see here in green is only the first section of the 52 part poem), is just one poem in Whitman's exceptional collection Leaves of Grass. In his lifetime, Whitman wrote nine different editions of Leaves of Grass. He was constantly working on it, improving it, becoming a part of it. In the preface of his very first edition, Whitman wrote, "Here are the roughs and beards and space and ruggedness and nonchalance that the soul loves." Even on his first effort, he knew that his poetry was to be a continuous work of art. He also knew the truth behind the beautiful words he had written, and how the reader's soul would soar.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.

Whitman's style had little to do with rhyming or form. He was a free flowing poet to the core. One who wrote with reckless abandon while at the same time a perfectionist, poring over his lines with such intricate detail, to find the perfect center. The spaces between his words are as charged as the words themselves.

Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.

I admit it. I'm not a poetry guy. I appreciate good poetry when I read it. I strive to feel poetry when I hear it. But in the end, I usually opt to read a novel. Not with Uncle Walt though. You don't read Whitman's work. You become a part of it. He reminds you about everything that exists and has existed and he brings the universe to its knees before you. Check him out. Dig in. Breathe along.

He's my boy.

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819. He lived a long and full life until March 26, 1892.

His words live on forever.

Ahhh, sweet summertime! School for me ended last week, and with homework, final exams, and term papers blissfully out of my life for the next two months and seventeen days, I arrived back home and prepared to write up a storm! However, between visiting friends, sleeping in, and whittling away hours on the Internet and running errands, I soon found that I was putting a lot less time into my writing than I had originally planned to. This became all-too-clear yesterday afternoon, when I logged online to send my friends from college my "Weekly Update" about my life (it's our way of staying in touch over the summer.)

Hmmm ... what have I done this week? I thought. Watched a couple movies, cleaned my room, voted for American Idol ... But not much on the writing front. I realized that sometimes having "all the time in the world" to do something that really matters to you (which, for me, is writing) causes you to procrastinate or push your passion aside because you can always "get to it later." The past week, in fact, I got less writing done than I had accomplished the week before, when I was busy studying for final exams -- because last week, working on my short story for half an hour had been a blessed release. Now, even though I have all day free to write, I still need to schedule a specific block of time, to make sure I actually get around to writing!

Click here for a few tips I learned the hard way about beating summer procrastination.

Do you see a lot of plays? Maybe not, but if you subscribe to READ magazine, you sure do read them! Even if you aren't a theatergoer in the Broadway sense of the term, you are familiar with the stage in some sense or other. Surely your school puts on a play at least once a year? Does it not? Have you ever attended one? There's something magical about a play that you cannot get from a movie or (dare I say it) even a book! When you are sitting in front of a live performance, you can feel as if you are actually a participant in the different scenes and characters' lives on stage... even if it is only as a silent observer, a good play can push away the reality of the audience and allow you to dive right in!

And then you can write about it.

A great way to extend that dizzy feeling you get from living in someone else's drama (or comedy) is to leave the theater feeling good and go home feeling good and go to sleep feeling good and wake up feeling... like you just have to write about it. How did you respond to the characters? Were the actors believable in the roles they played or did they fall short of making the most of the fantasy? Was the ride you experienced smooth and flawlesss or was it bumpy and agonizing? You are the writer! Tell it how it is!

Emotion is something that should come second though. First and foremost, you have to make sure to get all your facts straight. Bring the program home and spell everybody's name right in your review. There's nothing an actor hates more than seeing his name butchered in the paper. Write down the basic plot of the play without giving anything too important away. If a main character dies in the play, DO NOT mention that in your review! I cannot stress this enough! How would you like it if someone told you the ending to a movie you were just about to see? Right, you'd probably punch him in the face! (See Disclaimer below.) Don't be that guy who ruins the play for everyone else. Just write the basic BASIC beginning of play plot points and then get out.

Now you can talk about how individual actors portrayed their parts. Did an actor or actress have certain or subtle quirks about them that you think would be interesting to your reader? How well did the play come together as a whole... and NOW... how did it make you feel? You know what? You don't even need that part, really. I just tend to put that stuff in because I'm a shamltzy writer.

You can see a review I wrote for a play that is currently running at The Wilton Playshop in Wilton, CT called Over The River and Through the Woods by clicking here.

(Disclaimer: Weekly Reader Publishing does not condone any acts of physical violence. If it were up to us, the whole world would be full of happy people singing happy songs and holding hands... well... maybe not to that extreme.)

Our trip to Chicago for the annual International Reading Association convention was not without its fair share of culture and good times. Some of us went to the art museum, some of us ventured to the top of the Hancock building, and on Wednesday evening, some of us drenched ourselves in soul, rhythm, and blues at the world famous Kingston Mines Blues Club.

As we sat there listening to Jimmy Burns and Andre Taylor & the Blues Alley Cats, Jeff Ives (known to one and all as "Jives") came up with the brilliant idea that we should let the music inspire us to write. So that's what we did.

You can read the story we came up with by clicking below. And when you're through, you know you can always try one on your own. It doesn't necessarily have to be a story inspired by the blues. You can use any kind of music to move you... even the sound of silence.

Our strange, sad story, Dancing Aloud, was written in turns by Jeff Ives, Sandhya Nankani, Julie Alissi (One L, Two Ss, Two Is, One A) and myself. If it feels jumpy or if the flow is uneven at some points, that's just because it was written by four different folks with four different visions of what lay inside the sultry baseline of the classic downtown sound that was hittin' us from all angles.

You can read the words that the blues man inspired by clicking here. Enjoy.

Plagiarism is no laughing matter. If you are found guilty of doing it, you can fail a class or be expelled from school. In the real world, the penalties are much stiffer. In 2003, a 27-year old New York Times reporter Jayson Blair lost his job after he admitted to copying other journalists' writing and faking reports. Another high-profile example is reporter Stephen Glass, once a rising star at The New Republic. Glass lost his job and became the black sheep of journalism. He was also the subject of the 2003 movie Shattered Glass.

This week, the person in the spotlight was Kaavya Viswanathan.

Last year, the sophomore at Harvard was given a $500,000 advance by the publishing giant Little, Brown to write a novel about an overachieving high school senior's attempts to get popular and gain admission to Harvard University. The book: How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life.

In February, I read an advance copy of the book with much interest. It's not everyday that a new "young literary genius" is discovered and publicized by a major publishing company. Kaavya was 17 when she got her book deal; she was the youngest author signed by Little, Brown in decades.

My friend and colleague Pooja read How Opal Mehta ... too. The following week, we got together for lunch and talked about it, dissecting it bit by bit. Literary tastes aside (there were a few things about the book that bothered us), we decided that any 19-year-old who could write a 250+ page novel deserved to be credited for her accomplishments. After reaching this conclusion, we sat back and waited for the book to come out--we were curious to know what others would think, whether our concerns would be mirrored by critics and readers, and whether the book would be as big a hit as the publisher had hoped for.

On April 1,  Kaavya Viswanathan's much-anticipated book came to life in bookstores. A flurry of reviews followed in all major newspapers and literary outfits. Then, things took an unexpected turn. The downward spiral began.

Finish reading the article by clicking here.

Want to know more about plagiarism? Download plagiarism.pdf (75.11 KB)

It's been a stressful couple of weeks.  Final exams are looming large and near, and my schoolmates and I have been fretting over term papers and tests.  However, this weekend my school hosted a "Relay For Life" event to benefit the American Cancer Society.  Students form teams (ranging from a handful to hundred people) and take turns walking around the track to show support for cancer victims and the search for a cure.  The event lasts 24 hours, and the goal is for each team to have at least one member walking around the track at all times, even in the wee hours of the morning.  I signed up to take part back in February, when I had no idea it would be such a busy weekend for me.  Now, the day of the event, part of me wished I didn't have to go, and yet I thought of my day-care sitter Jeanie and our dear family friend Karen who both passed away from cancer, and I knew I had to do something to honor their memories.  So I tore myself away from my desk and headed across campus to the track.    

Well, before I knew it, an hour commitment turned into three hours, then four ... walking around the track, I met new people, made new friends, and listened to cancer survivors -- some of them my age! -- tell their stories.  Indeed, being involved in the Relay for Life really put everything in perspective.  In the big picture, worries like term papers, tests -- and writer's block! -- seem trivial and insignificant.  What really matters is spending time with those dear to you, and striving to make the world a bit better place, one step at a time.

Writing-wise, getting involved opens your eyes to new experiences and ideas, if only in that it is a way for you to  meet interesting and inspiring people to write about.  As I was finally tearing myself away from the Relay for Life to go back to my room and get back to studying, volunteers were lighting candles to symbolize cancer victims, survivors, and a hope for the future.  Everyone who had been somehow touched by cancer lit a candle and carried it around the track.  I saw this ceremony through a writer's eyes, mirroring the way experiences illuminate your writing hopes and dreams -- and also how as a writer, you can touch people with your words and give them hope for a brighter future.

For more information on the Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society, please visit www.cancer.org.

Two weeks ago,  Gregory K. Pincus, a writer in Los Angeles posted an invitation on his blog GottaBook. He invited readers to write "Fibs" - six-line poems that use a math formula called the Fibonaci sequence.

The pattern is like this - each line must have a certain number of syllables which equals the sum of the syllables in the line above. Before you think it's too complicated, here is the basic six-line pattern:

1
1
2
3
5
8

Within a week, news of this invitation had spread like wildfire across the Internet - and more than 100 blogs were linking to GottaBook--and piles and piles of Fibs were pouring in. The New York Times even wrote an article about this! 

Here's our Fib:  

This
Blog
Calls for
A round of
Applause from all you
Dedicated fans out there.

Want to post a Fib on WORD? Post a comment.

A narrative story is a retelling of a personal experience that has had a significant impact on your life. I recently assigned the wririting of a narrative story to my 9th grade class. “But nothing important has happened to me yet,” my students moaned and groaned. I explained to them that determining whether or not something is “important” is all relative.

“25 years from now,” I told them, “moving to a new school district in the middle of the year may seem insignificant, but right now, at 15, it can be the biggest event of one’s life.” Once they looked at the assignment from that angle, their pens started moving. The topics students chose to write about varied a great deal and included everything from the birth of siblings to the loss of family members, from stories of their best friends to playing on sports teams.

Once the assignment was written, the students read them aloud to the class. Many were nervous, as some of their narratives were very personal, but ultimately, this turned out to be a wonderful experience for the whole class. Some students became emotional telling their stories. They were all very supportive of each other, though.

Before my students completed this assignment, I read them an example of a personal narrative of my own. It is about the 5 people I lived with in college. Although it was an experience my students had yet to have, I chose a tone and language that was appropriate for them. I believe that the story did reach them and even inspire them a bit. I even had a few students urge me to send my story to the friends I had written about, which I did. And now, I am sharing my personal narrative with you. My hope is that, by the time you are done reading, you will have a better understanding of the personal narrative and maybe even try to write one of your own! Enjoy!

      We couldn’t have known that this place would affect us so profoundly—the six of us. We couldn’t have known that this place would teach us anything about who we were, what we wanted in life, what we feared, how to love. The house was nothing special, just a faded blue ranch with a finished basement that always smelled like a swamp. It was small. It was ugly. It was ours, for one year. On a sweltering June day in one of the last years of the millennium, we moved into 88 Sunset Avenue, a little blue shack planted awkwardly in a cul-de-sac on a street a block away from abandoned train tracks. Our neighbors were made up of grouchy retirees, fellow college students, and a few folks who redefined for us the word “redneck.” We were walking distance from our college campus, but we never did seem to get up in time to actually walk there. Weekday mornings were often spent frantically running around looking for keys, books, and shoes in our disastrous living room. Weekend mornings were usually spent sleeping well into the day, then emerging from our rooms like vampires from their coffins, eyes averted from the sun, arms outstretched for sustenance. Sometimes others were there too, strewn about in blankets and sleeping bags, victims from the previous night’s escapades, but usually it was just us. We liked it that way, after all. We weren’t just six people living in a house, we were Sunset. A clan. A tribe. We spoke our own language and had our own rituals. Sure we had plenty of parties and visitors, but at the end of it all, in the wee hours of the night, the six of us shared a secret world.

      Have you ever lived with people who you are not blood-related to? It’s strange how seeing each other in your pajamas and sharing the same bathroom instantly creates a kinship between people. There’s a magic that happens between anyone sharing the same roof. You hear each other snoring at night. You drink out of the same milk carton. Your laundry finds its way into the same wash, underwear and socks all happily mingling together in a sudsy pool. There is something so intimate, so personal about a simple thing like laundry sharing the same basket.

      Make no mistake; we were all friends before we lived together—me, Kerry, Bryon, Dave, Dave, and Dave. Yes, three Daves in one house. Sharing that house, though, it changed everything. The word friends became too small for what we were, yet the word family implied that we were somehow forced to love one another, the way you are forced to love your mother’s great, great, Aunt Marie whom you’ve never even met. We had chosen to live together in that hideous excuse for a house, and once we moved in together, everything was somehow new. I never had a sister, so living with a girl who was not my mom was strange for me….and wonderful. On Wednesday nights at eleven o’clock Kerry and I discovered this little known television program in its very first season. It would go on to redefine lifestyles for single women in cities all over the world, but we just knew that it was our Wednesday night-bonding time. No boys allowed. Cocktails and facemasks and girl talk. I had never spent so much time with a girl who wasn’t my mom. Kerry was the older sister I never had, there to give me advice and build my confidence when I had none.

So I saw the SpongeBob SquarePants movie last night. Why? I dunno. Because I sometimes have the mentality of a 6 year old, I guess. That's not necessarily a bad thing either, you know. Do you remember what it was like being 6? I have a vague recollection of laughing all the time and being totally worry-free.

Anyway, it was a very funny film. I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. SpongeBob is quite a character. And that's an understatement. I mean look at him. Just look at him! He makes you dizzy with glee. Most of the movie was about SpongeBob and his best friend Patrick doing ridiculous things. But there was also a message: it's OK to be a kid.

Of course, I couldn't just watch and enjoy the movie without thinking about how I could blog about it later. So this is what I came up with:

Try writing a story for little kids. You can use SpongeBob as your inspiration or any other silly character you may know of. What is it about these zany characters that draws younger audiences to them? Is it their innocence? Their lack of responsibility? Or just the way they smile?

Who knows, maybe you'll come up with the next great Kindergarten phenomenon? And if not, you've at least had some practice in writing a characteristic. You can use that in your future writings. Score!

Oh yeah, and take SpongeBob's words to heart: "You don't need a license to drive a sandwich." Always remember that. It may just save your life one day.

Today I attended the Celebration of Teaching and Learning in New York City. It was an all day event in which educators from all over came to share their love of what they do... and get free stuff.

One of the highlights of the day (and there were many) was getting to hear Frank McCourt speak about what it means to be a teacher and writer. Long before Mr. McCourt won his Pulitzer Prize for his novel Angela's Ashes, he was an English and Writing teacher in New York Public schools for over 25 years!

McCourt was born in Brooklyn and his family moved to Ireland when he was very young. There, he endured grim poverty, witnessed horrific illnesses, and suffered an alcoholic father. One of the reasons McCourt is such a respected writer is that he illustrates who he is and where he comes from with such shameless honesty and humourous bravado that, in reading him, you feel as if you are walking alongside him through his life.

When he returned to New York from Ireland at the age of 19, McCourt set out to become a Writing teacher. After a few bumpy years of rooting out the teacher he so wanted to be, McCourt began to light his students' creative spark by asking them to pen the pages of themselves. "I tried to show my students the significance of their own lives which they sometimes thought insignificant," McCourt once said. "I hoped they'd realize the value of their own lives, that they were good enough to write about. So they took the plunge and they wrote and some were willing to read to the class and I think they were glad they did."

That is what makes an effective writer of non-fiction, my friends. When writing about your life, hold nothing back. Be unafraid to delve into the deepest sections of your heart--so deep that even you have yet to find them. You can discover the most wonderous things about who you are, once were, and who you aim to be, just by writing. And it can be as secret or public as you like. You can write your innermost fears and desires in your journal and lock it away under your bed... or write what makes you happy and share it with all your friends and family... or write what makes you different from the rest of the world and submit it to a popular magazine--perhaps one that has a blog (wink wink :).

However much you care to disclose is completely up to you. Just remember to never be ashamed for who you are and never ever lie about yourself when you are attempting to get at the real you in your words. You're in there. Don't deny it. Write it.

You can purchase and/or read an excerpt of Frank McCourt's new book Teacher Man here.

Hey, it's Spring!

Write something.

Word.

Going to college in a big city like Los Angeles, not only am I lucky to be surrounded by a variety of people and experiences to write about, but there are also unbelievable cultural and artistic venues right down the street.  I recently had the thrilling opportunity to see Billy Crystal's Broadway show "700 Sundays," which is now playing in L.A. at the Wilshire Theater.  Crystal is one of my favorite actors -- I fell in love with him the first time I saw the movie "When Harry Met Sally"  -- and I was blown away by his charisma and talent as an actor.  What impressed me even more, however, was the way he wrote the dramatic autobiographical script, weaving real-life events from his childhood together to create a poignant, funny, touching 2-hour play. 

Whether you enjoy writing fiction, poetry, nonfiction, or plays, I think all writers can learn from Crystal's example of the emotional power of bringing real experiences into your writing.  Even though "700 Sundays" took place in New York in the 1950s -- a time and place distinctly different from my childhood in California at the turn of the millenium -- I felt so in touch with the play's characters and their plights.  Why?  Because Crystal wrote his script from the heart.  When I write fiction, I try to do the same thing, and draw on my own feelings and experiences when writing experiences of the characters.  I think this emotional awareness in turn resonates with the reader -- and, like Crystal's play has stayed in my mind, your work will stick with your audience as well.  In the writing world, that's what I call a standing ovation! :)     

How does this relate to writing? I want to encourage everyone out there to try something completely new to them this year. Pick something you have never done before, maybe because you were afraid of failure, and just go for it! The biggest thing I've learned in the first four weeks of "Intro to Guitar" (which, by the way, has people in it who have played the guitar for four and six and even eight years!) is that it's an amazing feeling to push your boundaries in new directions. This applies to pushing your writing boundaries by trying to write in a new medium -- for example, try poetry if you typically write novels, or leap into a short story if you usually pen nonfiction, etc. Also, by pushing your boundaries in other arenas of your life, you will have more amazing life experiences to write about!  Get out there and *live*!

Now, if you'll exuse me, I'm going to go practice guitar.  "Mary Had a Little Lamb" has never before seemed such a wonderful song as when I played it for the first time on my guitar!  Now I'm on to "Amazing Grace."  Woo-hoo!

It's miserable out there. I'm going to try to describe today's weather on the Eastern seaboard without using the standard nouns and adjectives -- winter storm, snow, sleet, cloudy, wintry mix, icy, or slippery ...  

My coat is tightly buttoned. My fleece hat is pulled down over my ears. And, my feet are firmly entrenched in water-proof boots. 
   "I can do this," I think to myself as I walk to my car, breathing out into my woolen scarf.  
   My optimism fades quickly. The sky is covered with a giant grey blanket and is raining down pellets of crunchy marshmallows all over me. I blink away the moist flakes of cold from my eyes and tread gingerly on the ice-rink beneath me. 
   I sigh. This is going to be a long day.

Hmm... that was a fun exercise. It forced me to show, not tell - and gave me an opportunity to create a scene and to instill a feeling in my reader.

Now it's your turn: Write a paragraph describing a room that the reader absolutely not want to go into.  Do this without using a single negative adjective. Submit your paragraphs to us in the "Comments" section below.  

Have you ever wanted to take a writing course but didn't have the money or the time?  Believe me, I can relate -- sometimes it can be hard to find time in your busy schedule to write for fun, much less enroll in a writing class!  But I've found that just writing for a few minutes each day can really add up to pages and pages of writing -- and a writing class provides structure and ideas to help you stick to your writing goals. 

If money's an issue, there are plenty of writing classes out there that charge minimal amounts, or even nothing at all.  My personal favorite is the program created by amazing teen writer Elisabeth Wilhelm at www.learning.absynthemuse.com.  If you're between the ages of 13 and 22, you can go on the website and enroll in writing courses for *free*!  :) There are all sorts of topics available, from finding your own writing voice to promoting your work to the class I am teaching about writing short stories. 

If you're interested in my class, there are still spots available, but act quickly -- the registration deadline is this Saturday, February 25, as the class starts on February 26 and runs for six weeks.  The key code to register for my "Writing the Short Story" class is "lightening bug."  Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!

Geez. That's one of my biggest pet peeves actually and I do it all the time. "Finding the Write Mood". Oh how delicious! Do you see what he did there? Instead of "right" he used "write"! It's oh so clever you see, because he is writing about writing and not righting! Oh jolly good. Chuckle chuckle. Grr. Anyway...

I'm not in the right/write mood. I'm working on a play adaptation of... something that will come out in a future issue of READ... and as much as I stare at the book in front of me or hover my fingers over the keyboard, I just know that anything I attempt will come across as unpleasant and sub-par. I didn't even want to write this blog entry about it. That's how much I'm spacing right now. Heh. spacing.                           Get it?

Anyway, something good must come out of this. Someone must help me. Surely you know what I'm tallking about? You have deadlines in school that have to be met. Do you ever sit down to write a paper and soon find yourself face first in your book? Or slamming your forehead into your desk? Or screaming internally? The phase passes in time, but as you stew in it, it seems as if there is no end to the non-creative pit of doldrums you slog about in. Is it laziness? Sure it is. It's also a normal part of being a writer (or any kind of artist for that matter). There will be good. There will be bad. And God help us, there will be ugly. When you're pressed with a paper's deadline or due date and you're stuck in the awful land of nothingness, try something like this.

Just write.

Forget the paper and spout out all your bad feelings. Write about how you can't write. By the time you're done with your tirade, you might actually find that you're rejuvenated and ready to go. Then again, you might feel worse. If that's the case, walk away. Go for a run. Watch bad T.V. Eat a cookie. Eat twelve cookies. Turn up the music and dance on your bed. Play catch with your Dad. Play frisbee with your dog. Go shopping. Buy me something nice. Read a book. Call a friend. Do a handstand. Ride your bike. Take a hike. Eat a snickers. I hear they really satisfy you. Think of new and better slogans for existing products. Post a comment on this blog. Tell us how you can't stand writer's block. How it pains you. What you do to overcome it. What you do when you can't overcome it. Pick a star out of the sky and name it.

Start all over again.

The mood isn't always there and you can't always find it and you can't always fight it. But at least you can write about it. Right? Right?!?!

I dunno. Let me know.

So. I don't have a significant other. This isn't something I usually dwell on or even really think about - except, of course, on Valentine's Day. 

Some of my non-writer single friends buy themselves chocolates and flowers and watch sappy chick flick movie marathons. Always a fun option, but I like to take things a step further. Every Valentine's Day, I write a love letter ... to myself.

Before you think I'm crazy, let me explain. Many of us - especially writers, who are constantly editing their work to make it better and receiving writing critiques from others - tend to naturally focus on our insecurities and what we are trying to improve about ourselves. This is good in that it helps us strive to become better individuals, but at the same time can be damaging in the self-esteem department. So this Valentine's Day, I challenge you to take a few minutes to reflect on what you really *love* about yourself. List all your wonderful qualities and talents - maybe you are an incredible ballerina, or know how to play an instrument, or visit senior citizens at a nursing home every week. Perhaps you pride yourself on being honest, or compassionate, or always being able to make people laugh. Instead of only focusing on goals you want to accomplish in the future, think for a bit about all the amazing goals you have reached thus far. You're a pretty neat person! I can't think of a better time than Valentine's Day for the most important love of all: self love.

Have you ever noticed that when you're thinking about something a lot, you see many things related to it all around you? It happens to me all the time. I'll be thinking about going to Florida and I suddenly start spotting lots and lots of Florida license plates on I-95 while I'm driving to work. ... (I bet you have tons of examples from your own life to share. Click on the "comment" link below to help me make a list.)

So, elephants have been on my mind for the past couple of days. The next issue of Writing has a fun image of an elephant on a red bicycle on its cover ... (Why? you ask. Well, you'll just have to wait and see!) ... and I've been reading and re-reading a pretty cool poem about a spotted pink homeless elephant (The poet shall remain nameless until April, when you crack open our magazine). 

Anyway, I was reading The New York Times today and bumped into a story about Babar, my favorite literary and seemingly immortal elephant.

Did you know?

• This year marks the 75th anniversary of Babar's creation.
• Babar is French.
• "Babar might have passed away prematurely when his original author and illustrator, Jean de Brunhoff, Laurent's father, died of tuberculosis in 1937, six years after bringing the popular character to life. For almost a decade, Babar was in literary limbo. But at age 21 Laurent, who studied art at the same Paris school his father had, decided to resuscitate Babar ..." Why? Read the full article to find out.
• Babar does yoga.
• Author Laurent de Brunhoff is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from Child magazine tonight in NYC.
• Babar's latest adventure has taken him on a World Tour. Check it out.

Those of you who are smirking at my excitement about Babar: Hey, it's never too late in life to look at a picture book. Next time you are at a bookstore, go to the children's department and pick up a Babar book ... or one of your childhood favorites. Notice how a picture can sometimes convey a 1,000 words ... and how a few words can tell so much of a story. Both are great writing lessons for all ages.

OK, so that was a tangent. Reading about Babar made me start thinking about monkeys, which reminds me of Curious George. Tune in tomorrow to find out what Babar the elephant and Curious George have in common.

2006, eh?

Word.

Yes, it is true that we have been gone for quite some time. The holidays allowed us to recharge our creative batteries with lots of sleep and tons of food. I must loosen my belt just remembering... Did you all have a good holiday break? Are you back in school now? You must be. We're back at work. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy to trudge in here yesterday. Half the state was blanketed in snow. Not us. We only got rain. Am I really blogging about the weather now? Wow, I really am out of practice.

Well, rest assured, we are here and although this is a pretty ridiculous way to start off the new year in BLOG LAND, writing always takes a little bit of warming up before anything meaningful comes out. Sometimes, nothing comes out at all and that's OK, too... so you keep writing.

Argh.

OK, well, whatever... in the coming days (weeks?) we will be changing a few things around here. The most important change is that we are going to begin posting Student Writing here on the blog... as entries! So submit often, visit us often, and um... write more often than not!

2006, eh?

Happy New Year.

Well, today was fun. I accidentally kicked over my computer box. (I think it's called the "hard drive" actually, but computer box sounds less stuffy. In any case, it's the big, rectangular, black lego piece that sits at my feet and holds all the stuff.) When it hit the ground it went THUNK! And my screen went black. Oops.

Luckily for us here at Weekly Reader, we are protected by a swell duo known as The Computer Guys! (Actually, I'm pretty sure they're known as I.T., but that's a bit complicated to get into and way beyond the point I will be eventually making.) I ran over to the computer guys and told them of my problem. Within minutes, they had me hooked up to a brand new computer and showed me where all my stuff had been saved.

In The Missing Manatee by Cynthia DeFelice, 11-year old Skeet Waters finds a dead manatee. He tries to track down the killer and .... (well, you have to read the book to find out what happens next!)

On page 46, Skeet says:

"When I finally got to sleep, I had some very weird dreams. The manatee killer appeared. As I fought him, he turned into a giant hammerhead shark, laughing at me, his big mouth open to show rows of shark teeth."

Write about one of your crazy dreams. Submit it to us.

I just found out about some neat poetry contests for teens. Here they are, in order of upcoming deadlines:

The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers is open only to high school sophomores and juniors. The winner receives a full scholarship to the Kenyon Review Young Writers workshop and has his/her poem published in The Kenyon Review. The second and third place winners will also see their poems published. Deadline: Nov. 30, 2005. How to enter...

The Christian Science Monitor's 10th Annual Young Poets Contest will publish winning poems of students in preschool through high school in its national edition in January 2006. You can submit one to three poems. The judging will be done by poet Elizabeth Lund. Deadline: Dec. 2, 2005. Get "Ten Tips for Writing a Poem" and download an entry form.

Ann Arlys Bowler Poetry Contest sponsored by READ magazine is open to students in grades 6-12. Choose up to three of your own original poems to enter. Poems may be in any genre (such as open verse, rhymed, narrative), but each poem must be no longer than one typewritten page. Deadline: January 31, 2006. Rules ...

These are good opportunities, but there isn't much time left to send out your work. So pull on your writing gloves and get ready to spin out some verse!

Hello November and welcome to National Novel Writing Month. Anyone interested? Go to www.nanowrimo.org to sign up to participate. 50,000 words in 30 days. No problem. Right?

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha... well, it should be interesting to try anyway.

Today's guest blogger is Carmelita Seufert. Carmelita is a teacher in a New York high school. She has a very interesting perspective on using the works of Stephen King in the classroom and we are happy to welcome her to WORD.

My very first encounter with the terrifying world of Stephen King was about 25 years ago. My much older cousins decided that 'Salem's Lot was an appropriate film to view while babysitting four-year olds. Needless to say, I viewed most of the film from behind my aunt's couch cushions. The image of that vampire floating up into the open bedroom window haunted me and my brother's imaginations to the point where we convinced my mother that a crucifix in our window would be our only salvation.

Cut to today. I am on the phone with a parent who is beside herself because I have just assigned her daughter, a student in my 9th grade Honors English class, an essay on King's short story, "Suffer the Little Children" (from the book Nightmares and Dreamscapes).  The woman is distraught that I am teaching such a "disturbing" story, yet when I remind her that I am using it in conjunction with Edgar Allan Poe, she claims to approve Poe's work because he is "a classic." 

She has just stepped on sacred ground. 

I am one of those individuals who grows furious when King is denied a spot on the shelf with Poe and the rest of the "classics" gang.  From a teacher's perspective, King is one of the most "teachable" modern writers we have.  While there are some issues with mature language and sexual content, many of King's novels and stories feature characters and themes that adolescents can easily relate to and become excited writing about--which is one of my main goals each year.

This morning, when I came into the office, there was a stack of envelopes piled up on my chair. Loads of submissions are rolling in for our annual writing contest. Bryon had many envelopes to slice open too. One of them was a poem written by a teen survivor of Hurricane Katrina. (It was beautiful and may get published in a future issue of READ magazine, if space permits.)

A few hours later, I got an e-mail link to a feature story about how writing is helping many young Katrina surivors heal: 

"In Baton Rouge, faculty and students at Louisiana State University quickly organized the Katrina Writing Project, offering evacuees of all ages a notebook to write down their thoughts or compose poetry - whatever they wanted. Before long, people were seeking out volunteers to ask for a notebook." Read the full article and some survivor stories.

The article reminded me of Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg's book Write Where You Are: How to Use Writing to Make Sense of Your Life. In it, Goldberg writes:

"Writing heals your hurts and sings your songs ... it gives you a place to save and savor your memories and insights, your thoughts and wishes, your feelings and goals. Writing can help you create and re-create ... Writing can also help you express your true feelings and understand yourself better. Most of all, it can make you feel more alive."

I so agree with Goldberg.

Some people sing to let off the steam in their lives. Others dance. Still others run. For me, writing is the best therapy.

I've been keeping a journal since I was 11 years old. Each and every one of my diaries is stacked in a huge wooden chest. Whenever I crack the lid open to thumb through the pages of my notebooks, I wonder: what would I have done without writing?

My journals still keep me afloat. Whenever I am going through a rough spot, or if I've had an irritating day, I just pull out a pen and start writing.

Even if I do nothing but make a long list of:
"I'm angry/upset/irritated/annoyed/hurt because _____________"
on a blank piece of paper, I instantly start to feel better.

It sounds so simple, but it always does the trick. I start to breathe easier, I stop frowning, and I wipe away the frustration. 

Try it. It really works.

Is it too soon to be talking about November? I think not.

First, I would like to welcome Anastasia to WORD. We are very excited to have her and we anticipate great literary insights from her in the future. In fact, she's the person who brought this super cool web site to our attention. They call themselves NaNoWriMo. And yes, at first glance it appears that they are some kind of newly discovered dinosaur, but no! Quite the contrary! Can a dinosaur write a novel in 30 days? I'd like to see him try!

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It's brilliant! It's crazy! It's... well, I can't really say what it is exactly because I haven't tried it yet. But from my early surfing of their web site, it promises to be an awesome time.

WORD is pleased to introduce our new guest blogger, Anastasia. Check back here every Tuesday to try out one of her writing prompts.

The National Book Award nominees were announced last week! Bestselling author John Grisham made the announcements at Rowan Oak, the home of William Faulkner in Oxford, Mississippi.

One of the books in my writing prompts blog, Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles was nominated in the Young People's Literature Category.

In Each Little Bird That Sings, Comfort Snowberger's family owns a funeral home, so she has attended 247 funerals. When her Great-Uncle Edisto dies, she writes a poetic obituary for him and submits it to a local newspaper, calling it a "Life Notice." When her Great-great-aunt Florentine dies too, she writes another Life Notice for her. Comfort also compose a list of "Top Ten Tips for First-rate Funeral Behavior." Read an excerpt from the book, and then, try this writing prompt:

What would you write about someone you loved after they died?

In our September issue of Writing, we invited you to send us your writing-related questions and promised to send them to some our guest authors to answer.

Question No. 1 was for Ralph Fletcher, author of The Writer's Notebook and Marshfield Dreams. It comes from Chelsea Groyohann:

Dear Ralph,

I'm responding to your letter. For one thing I always can't think of anything to write about. It takes me a while to think of what to write about. Usually when I do finally think of something to write about I can't stop writing. I LOVE Dunkin Donuts. It's like the best place to go in the morning. My favorite drink there is iced lattes. Well, anyway I have a few questions:

   1. How was China?
   2. Was it very different from where you live now?
   3. Did you get any good ideas for something to write about?

Well, I liked your article, and I hope you do great in your future writing.

Sincerely,

Chelsea

This is what Ralph Fletcher had to say:

Dear Chelsea,

Nice to hear from you. You and I share a love of writing and iced lattes at DD. Yes, China was great. So wonderful to get into a completely different culture. And the shopping was great (lots of inexpensive cool stuff!). I didn't get any ideas to write about but I'm sure China will somehow figure in my future writing.
   Hard to come up with ideas, huh? I wish I had an easy answer. You might try making a map of a special neighborhood (where you visited, or where you grew up). 
   On the map, mark: 1) a place where something happened 2) a favorite place 3) a secret place.
   A "story map" like this will generate lots of ideas. Good luck!

Your friendly author,

Ralph Fletcher

More writing tips for young writers from Ralph Fletcher.

Question No. 2 was for Amy Krouse Rosenthal, author of Encylopedia of an Ordinary Life. It comes from Maryellen Carrigan.

On Saturday, as the rain fell in buckets from the pregnant gray sky, I was asked: "What do you dream of doing on a rainy day?"

Blogger Keri Smith has come up with a pretty good list of almost 100 creative ideas. Here are some more of my own:

Invent a dessert. I made an angel food cake with pears, mango, and chocolate.
Splash in a puddle. Then write a poem about wet feet.
Clean out your backpack, wallet, or pockets. Stick all the scraps of paper you find into a blank notebook, and make a word collage of your recent trails.
Listen to your favorite song. Then write your own, using one of the lines you like best.
Play Scrabble in a foreign language. It's not as difficult as you think. A lot of words in English are borrowed from other languages. 

The forecast calls for rain for the rest of this week and the Farmer's Almanac says it's going to be a long, cold winter.  Guess I'll just keep working my way down my own list - and adding to it! Any suggestions?

Sometimes when I'm stuck and can't think of anything to write, I take a few steps from my comfy, red couch over to my bookshelf. I close my eyes and run my fingers along the spines of all my books and pick one (without peeking, of course!). Then I open the book to the first chapter and read the first line. 

   That, I decide, is going to be my inspiration.

Publisher's Note: The following blog entry contains graphic details about the wonderful game of tennis. Please read all the way to the end for the writing tip.

I love tennis. I love it. I do. And Andre Agassi has always been "my guy." These days, he's an old man in the tennis world. At 35, you have to begin to realize that retirement is in your near future. But last night in the Quarterfinals match at the U.S. Open, Agassi was young and brilliant again... and I missed it.