Beginnings: BAMBI Meets GODZILLA

Okay, I mentioned yesterday that two goals for your beginning are to get attention and create pathos. One way to do that is a technique I call "Bambi Meets Godzilla." Watch the video first, then read below it:

The technique is simple enough--create a pleasant mood, and then SQUASH IT! Look how Dudley Clendinen accomplishes it in the beginning of "The Good Short Life":

I have wonderful friends. In this last year, one took me to Istanbul. One gave me a box of handcrafted chocolates. Fifteen of them held two rousing, pre-posthumous wakes for me. Several wrote large checks. Two sent me a boxed set of all the Bach sacred cantatas. And one, from Texas, put a hand on my thinning shoulder, and appeared to study the ground where we were standing. He had flown in to see me.

"We need to go buy a pistol, don't we?" he asked quietly. He meant to shoot myself with.

"Yes, Sweet Thing," I said with a smile. "We do."

I loved him for that.

See what I mean? Slow and peaceful, then hit 'em hard! Give it a try for your next opening and let me know the result...

BEGINNINGS? Get PATtention!

So often, when studying short fiction, we've been taught that "ski slope" diagram by English teachers--you know, the one that begins with "character" and "setting" at the beginning, peaks with "climax," and ends with "resolution." Trouble is, we haven't always been taught how to WRITE an effective opening, middle, or ending. Today, let's focus on BEGINNINGS...

In my mind, an effective opening accomplishes two tasks:

1. It gets ATTENTION.
2. It creates PATHOS.

Getting attention is critical. If you don't attract the eye of the reader, the page is flipped quickly to someone who DOES accomplish that.

Pathos is the feeling the reader has for a character. It's important that the writer makes the reader care about the character BEFORE the conflict. Otherwise, if readers don't sympathize with the character, they won't care what happens to that character. Let's look at a few examples:

Opening paragraph from "YOU OWE ME," by Miah Arnold:

The children I write with die, no matter how much I love them, no matter how creative they are, no matter how many poems they have written or how much they want to live. They die of diseases with unpronouncable names, of rhabdomyosarcoma or pilocytic astrocytoma, of cancers rarely heard of in the world at large, of cancers that are often cured once, but then turn up again somewhere else: in their lungs, their stomachs, their sinuses, their bones, their brains. While undergoing their own treatments, my students watch one friend after another lose legs, cough up blood, and enter a hospital room they never come out of again.

Opening paragraph from "HOUSEWIFELY ARTS," by Megan Mayhew Bergman:

I am my own housewife, my own breadwinner. I make lunches and change light bulbs. I kiss bruises and kill copperheads from the backyard creek with a steel hoe. I change sheets and the oil in my car. I can make a pie crust and exterminate humpback crickets in the crawlspace with a homemade glue board, though not at the same time. I like to compliment myself on these things, because there's no one else around to do it.

The two stories above get our attention and make us care about the main character. The first, a nonfiction personal essay, begins with children who have terminal cases of cancer AND the writer whose job it is to work with them, seeing child after child die. We end up caring about the children AND the writer. The second, a short story, has a very strong character we admire--one who seems to be able to do almost anything on her own--but we care because of a few of the words that opening ends with: "there's no one else around." We WANT this person to find someone to love (cue the Queen music now:"Find me somebody to love...").

Want to create an effective opening? Get ATTENTION and create PATHOS. Put them together and what do you get? Get PATTENTION!

Off to the WRITE start! Here comes 2013!

Yes, it's time to talk about that GOAL-SETTING monster, but...

Here's what I've learned about setting goals over the years:

1. It's important to write them down.
2. It's important to write them down.
3. It's important to WRITE THEM DOWN!


You need to have the goals where you will see them regularly. For me, this is the inside cover of my journal. I have that good habit established, writing daily, by hand, with pen and paper, no matter the day or circumstance. That means I see that journal daily and I'll see my goals daily. Last year, I set 23 writing goals, and reached 14 of them. But what's even more important to me than having the goals there where I can see them, is this:

REVIEWING what I've accomplished during the year so far. It's easy to forget what you're doing well after you've read your latest rejection letter, especially if it's one of those form letter rejections. When you see goals that you HAVE attained, it's a bit of a buffer--it adds some tough hide to that rhinoceros skin you need to develop as an author who sends work out to others.

I also think that, contrary to the current teaching of setting a few goals and focusing on those, I believe in setting many goals--some that I believe are attainable with hard work (writing so many poems, short stories, or novels within a year, for example); some that are somewhat outside of my control and depend on others as well (winning a major writing contest or landing a book contract); and some that are dreamlike (winning the Writer's Digest contest, the overall prize that includes $3000 and a trip to NY along with a fully-paid for conference and private meetings with agents and editors!). Last year, I met all of my production goals, and won two major contests, including one I'd never even been shortlisted in before. I also had a "dream" goal come true--hearing established, best-selling writers gush about a story of mine in front of 800 other writers at a conference (in my dream, there was more champagne involved, but still...!). It's a moment I won't soon forget, and Jack Whyte and Diana Gabaldon's comments will stay with me in those dark times when others say, "It's not right for us at this time."

For 2013, I aim to write 1 new novel, 6 new short stories, 20 poems, publish work in at least three major Canadian literary journals, land a book contract, do better in 2013 than I did in 2012, along with 21 OTHER writing goals which include an important one...

...to update this blog DAILY with writer ideas useful to others who may find there way here! Here's to a successful 2013--I hope you meet your writing goals too!

Happy New Year! from Ace Baker

SCARY STORY WINNERS

Ok, our Tri-city Scary Story contest results are in, and out of three cities of entries from students between the ages of 11-18, three of the seven winners are students I have the privilege of working with:

3rd place, in the 11 to 14 category, is Hanna Hofer's story, "ESCAPE,"

Honourable Mention, in the 15 to 18 category, is Anna-Maria Angelis' "TOO MUCH TIME," and

FIRST PLACE, in the 15 to 18 category, is Emma Hoffard's "THE DARK"

Congratulations on creating such creepy stories!

NANOPLANNING PART FOUR: Character summary

Today is step four of seven in our quest to prepare for Nanowrimo 2012. Today, we get a bit more inside the mind of some of our main characters. Use a sentence or two for each of the following six sections for each major character in your novel (or at least the two you did character profiles for):

Character snapshot: Briefly, who are these people? For example, in the new novel I'm working on, Arietta is a cross between Robin Hood and Joan of Arc. That should already put some of her qualities into your mind...

Motivation--why are the characters acting the way they are now, in the present? Backstory.

Goal--related to motivation, but bigger. What do these people want out of life? Future-oriented.

Conflict--What's the main problem that's preventing characters from getting what they want?

Epiphany--What are they going to learn? How will they grow and change?

Direction--where the character is generally headed in life.

INNER CIRCLE:

Look at the handout I'm giving you today to see a full character summary on Roxy Lee, a character in one of the novels I've written in the past. Keep in mind that instead of a Monday deadline, you're looking to have these ready for Friday, when we look at step five...

NANO PLANNING PART TWO

So you have your single sentence to describe your novel? (See, Tiam? I started a sentence with "So...")

Part two involves E X P A N D I N G that sentence into a small paragraph (which will end up sounding a bit like a back cover blurb):

Sentence #1 Story setup / backdrop

Sentence #2 Conflict / disaster #1

Sentence #3 Conflict / disaster #2

Sentence #4 Conflict / disaster #3

Sentence #5 A HINT of the ending or resolution--don't give anything away...

Keep in mind that this is a GUIDELINE, and I won't be counting sentences, or anything like that. Just be sure to have the five parts covered:

Blake Mack is a thief who, while fleeing police, veers off onto a logging road and slams into a cyclist, whose identity he assumes. he enjoys his new start at first, but then a young hotshot police officer with something to prove starts making his life more difficult. To make matters worse, he discovers a shocking secret about the true identity of the man he has become. when a new love interest betrays him, he has no one to turn to. He's on the run--from the law, from "The Company," and from a broken relationship; his only way out may be to start all over again...will he get the chance?

NANO PLANNING: STEP ONE

Can you believe it--Nanowrimo is just one short month away! It's time to start planning...and to do that, let's start small...with a single sentence:

STEP ONE (of SEVEN)

     We start with your dream--seeing your novel on the New York Times bestseller list! If it was there, you would see a one-sentence description of it, like some of the ones from today's list:

1

WINTER OF THE WORLD, by Ken Follett. (Dutton, $36.) In Book 2 of the Century trilogy, members of five interrelated families from five countries, some of them children of characters in the previous book, “Fall of Giants,” grapple with the tumultuous historical events of the years 1939-49.

2

1

A WANTED MAN, by Lee Child. (Delacorte, $28.) A carload of people involved in a conspiracy pick up a disheveled hitchhiker, Child’s vigilante hero Jack Reacher.

3

2

GONE GIRL, by Gillian Flynn. (Crown, $25.) A woman disappears on her fifth anniversary; is her husband a killer?

4

3

THE TIME KEEPER, by Mitch Albom. (Hyperion, $24.99.) A fable about the inventor of the world’s first clock, who returns to our world after centuries of banishment; from the author of “Tuesdays With Morrie.”

LOW PRESSURE, by Sandra Brown. (Grand Central, $26.99.) A woman makes disturbing discoveries — and acquires a stalker — when she writes a book about her sister’s murder.   INNER CIRCLE: You have two days (although I know most of you will finish it today) to write the one-sentence description of the bestseller you are about to write in November, 2012. Step two on Wednesday!

September 11th, 2012: HOW TO FRAME A STORY

Basically, with any narrative, there are three general sections to consider: B M E.

BEGINNING

In the beginning, your job is to first of all get the attention of the readers so they want to read on. Now, if you're a famous writer who is well known, you may be able to cheat and put in more development or backstory at the beginning; your readers will be patient because you are who you are. For the rest of us, we're not allowed that luxury.

Even in the blog post comments on September 5th, look at how many people were led to read the selections they chose because of a title or a first line. Never overlook the importance of those two elements.

We also have to meet the characters (especially the main character) and get to know them a bit early on. Otherwise, if we don't care about the character (PATHOS), it doesn't matter what happens in the rest of the story. Try to get us cheering for the main character so that when bad things happen (CONFLICT), we'll care.

MIDDLE

In the middle, we get the conflict--mental, psychological, emotional, spiritual, physical, or a combination of those. Also, the conflict SHOULD get worse in some way, meaning that it's rare for an author to begin with the worst possible conflict. Throw your character into trouble, then deeper trouble, and maybe even...well, you get the idea. The middle is like the introduction of the "villain," whoever or whatever that may be.

END

Now, I know what most English teachers will say here. Have an ending that ties up all loose ends. Unfortunately, in quite a bit of short fiction today, that just doesn't happen. In many cases, if the piece of writing is "character fiction," focused on a person's growth and change, there may be MUCH left up to the readers' imaginations at the end of the tale. What I would say is that it's important to leave off at a scene that makes sense. If stopping there will make your readers stop and pause and think about what comes next, it may make sense. If you'd like to tie up all the loose ends in a surprising way that makes sense when the readers look back to earlier parts of the story, go for it. The main point to keep in mind is not to have a "convenient" ending. In reality, our enemies never get struck by lightning or a car (ok, I know of one freaky story where the car thing happened, but still), and nobody loves reading through thousands of words to discover "IT WAS ALL A DREAM!"

Inner Circle:

Today, we're actually dissecting some technique in Kate Cayley's short story, "The Summer the Neighbours were Nazis" (issue 122 of the new quarterly). Think of how she creates empathy for Richard and how she slowly slides in details about the narrator, his younger sister. How does she create the mystery within her story to hook you, and then how does she finish it off in an unexpected way? What were the clues along the way that were inserted so that the ending would make sense? Which objects became important symbols by the end of the story? Which visual descriptions stick in your mind the most? Then,

• Choose a character of your own that readers would empathize with.
• Select at least one object that is going to be significant in some way in your story. Have it appear near the beginning of your story, and come back to it a few times, or at least at the end, where it takes on added meaning.
• Create a compelling title and first line.
• Think about the kind(s) of conflict your character would struggle the most with, and put him or her in trouble, then more trouble.
• Choose the kind of ending you're going for...one that ties up loose ends, or an indeterminate one, but HAVE A REASON for ending it where you end it.

For this first piece of short fiction, don't worry about word count. Write the story you want to write, and see what you can do with it!

SEPTEMBER 7th: SCALES? FOR WRITERS?

Musicians and singers know scales...very, very well. When they play or sing the scales, it's a way of warming up, of getting in touch with a process that is familiar, one they're likely fairly confident with.

Well, writers need scales too. Some call them story starters or sparkers, but really almost ANYTHING can become the start of something penned on the page. There are MANY books out there that contain these starters, and what I've found is that often, if you begin by writing what they give you first, it gets your pen moving (try to do these pen and paper, please). Once the pen is moving, it has a way of continuing, and before you know it, a page or more is filled with ideas.

For the INNER CIRCLE:

In your BOUND JOURNAL, try one of the following two starters or scales. Give yourself at least ten minutes to explore the idea.

The first comes from a book called The Pocket Muse, by Monica Wood:

 

I could have avoided all that trouble if only I'd remembered to...

 

 

The second comes from a book called The 4 A.M. Breakthrough, by Brian Kiteley:

 

 





 

ADDICTED TO LOVE. Write a short piece of fiction in which the central character is addicted to love--but not necessarily addicted to sex. This character seeks a new conquest with some regularity not because she wants the experience of new lust, but because she wants to feel the early stages of love again.

SEPTEMBER 5th, 2012: WRITERS ARE READERS!

One lesson that took me a LONG while to learn is that great writers are great readers. They read in a wide variety of subjects, genres, and styles, and invariably, they learn from others: techniques, approaches, syntactic structures, and powerful forms. I used to believe that I should mainly read what I want to write. If I want to write poetry, read poetry. If I want to write short stories, read short stories. Now I see that reading widely, fiction and nonfiction, in a variety of subject areas is the best recipe to inspire ideas.

FOR THE INNER CIRCLE:

We'll start with literary journals. Choose one, read through it, and find the poem, short story, or creative nonfiction piece that speaks to you most. Then read it again AS A WRITER. How did the author make you enjoy what he or she wrote? What did you like about it? Are there favorite lines or phrases that stand out? What makes it so good for you?

Add a comment to this blog that begins by naming the piece, its writer, and the literary journal (including the date or issue number) it came from. In it, tell me what you enjoyed about the writing that made you choose it most of all. Feel free to mention content, technique, descriptions--anything at all you like about it.

Ace Baker's sample comment:

Right now I'm reading a poem by John Steffler, one called "Since Life Values Nothing Higher than Life," in the Summer 2012 edition of CV2 (page 23). The poem speaks about items of war that last long after the wars have finished--"hard tools for cutting and slashing," including "axes, spears, arrows, swords and daggers." What makes the poem unique is that Steffler doesn't focus on the destruction caused by them. He does a complete 180, and mentions that they are there also to PRESERVE life. They are often the objects left over through the ages that help archaeologists learn about a particular culture. Unlike softer items, "flowers or tongues," they last, persisting through the ages to teach us about the people they belong to. I think that's the most important thing poets do: they see something everyone else sees, but in a different way. I really DON'T like the final two lines of this poem. I understand he's aiming for emphasis, but I feel it's a bit overdone. If you read it, let me know what you think.

INSPIRATION...TIMES 3!

Ok, so it was roughly a week after the SIWC convention, and I was STILL running on pure adrenaline from it! I decided to put some of that energy into writing, of course, and I penned two poems I'm very proud of--one of which I think is contest-worthy for next year's SIWC contest. I have a second that I edited as per Patricia Young's suggestions, so that may be my second poetry entry.

Then I looked at the criteria for the writing for young readers challenge, and saw the 1500-word limit. 6 typed pages, eh? I started thinking about the kind of story that could be told in that small space. I started with character, then created a slightly humorous, slightly macabre situation to put her into, and then came up with a twist ending that can be interpreted two different ways. The end result, after many edits and much fine-tuning? My entry into the YA category for next year's SIWC contest! SWEET!

I don't think I'll try the nonfiction category, although I have published magazine articles and personal essays in the past. That leaves the storyteller category. I'm taking my time with that one--not rushing anything. I'm planning on reading PILES of short stories between now and then, studying pacing, setting, character, imagery, symbolism, figurative language--everything AND the kitchen sink, basically (hey, I have some good kitchen sink ideas, ok?). IF I come up with something I think can win it, I'll enter. If not, I'll chalk it up to more experience and learning for my writing obsession.

But three new pieces that I'm proud of? In a week? I LOVE SIWC! It's the energy drink for writers...

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM? #001, in a series

I'm often asked where my ideas come from. It's not unusual for me to be working on multiple projects (while working hard to finish off one that's almost complete), and I never seem to run out of ideas. While it's easy to say, "Read widely," or "Read in areas you don't normally read," or something like that, I decided it's easier to show what I mean...

WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM #001: THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC????

Don't knock it until you've tried it. The National Geographic is filled with exploration, precarious situations, dangerous creatures that are all too real. Overall, though, it is about people from different pockets of our planet. Here are a Baker's dozen (thirteen) lines ripped from various issues, to get your creative juices flowing:

1. It was white-knuckle time.
2. We ask about that story and are met with a stony silence.
3. The vehicles reminded me of a wolf pack, sniffing the wind for prey.
4. It all came too quickly, many say.
5. "We owe them something."
6. "This is my chance not to feel helpless," he says.
7. "No one knows why," I say. It's the only answer I can give them right now.
8. "I've been doing these things since I was 14."
9. "People love to watch this," she says. "But not many want to do it."
10. It disappeared into the thick brush on the right.
11. They come in the night.
12. "Brace yourself."

And an extra:  "The day I drove away, I peered through the dusty window of my Jeep and saw them waving."

NOW: Take action! Choose your favorite prompt from above and do some freewriting with it. See where it takes you...don't wait--do it NOW!

BAD LUCK that turned GOOD?

I had a tremendous bit of bad luck today. That's right--BAD LUCK that was good for me. While I was lining up  to get appointments with agents today, the names of two of the ones I wanted to get appointments with were rubbed off the board. I was about to turn tail when another YA writer told me about an agent who didn't have YA in her bio description, but who had agented many YA books to publication. I decided to give her a try.

As the volunteer organizers started walking down the line to see who each person was hoping to get an appointment with, I was fourth from the front. Thank goodness none of the three in front of me wanted to see her, because she had one spot left and it was going to happen in about 5 minutes, so they pushed me to the front of the line. I met with her and pitched not one, but two of my YA novels.

The result? She asked me to send the first 100 pages of each to her! I also showed her a sample of the writing itself, and she said she liked my writing style--it was appropriate to the audience. What made me feel best of all was that she GOT my books...she even seemed excited to find out about them.

It felt...right.

I like her AND her energy, and I would do backflips through flaming hoops

 to have her represent me and my work.  I won't name names yet, but I am REALLY hoping this works out. We had a real connection and I think we'd work well together, so I can't wait to get her reaction to those 200 pages! Onwards!

PATRICIA YOUNG...THANK YOU!

Today, I finally had a chance to attend a workshop given by poet Patricia Young. She's a poet who has published 10 books so far, and she has won basically every poetry award there is in Canada: the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, the Dorothy Livesay Award, the Bliss Carmen Award, the National Magazine Award, the League of Canadian Poets' National Poetry Competition, and Arc's Poem of the Year contest.

 But here's an even bigger rush: she and her writer husband sat with me at lunch today, and she looked at 7 or 8 of my poems at the same time, and told me she enjoyed them. She encouraged me to publish more poetry, did a bit of blue pencil work for me, and then she took out a copy of one of her own poetry books, An Auto-Erotic History of Swings,

 autographed a copy of it and GAVE it to me. What a sweet gift! Here's the message, at least until I scan the one from the book:

For Ace--with admiration. All the best with your poems. Patricia

I.........won? ... I won............... I WON!

Ok, so when winners for the SIWC poetry contest were SUPPOSED to be e-mailed by the 15th, and the 17th rolled around and I STILL had no e-mail, I had gone through basically all 7 stages of grief and (sort of) moved on. THEN, I got THE e-mail. The one that said, NOT that I had won an honourable mention, but that my poem, "Silver Anniversary," had WON THE CONTEST! $1000 and publication. It accomplished two of my writing goals in one shot:

1. To win a major writing contest.
2. To be paid $1000 for a single sheet of paper.

But what I learned that was even better was:

1. Being acknowledged in front of 800 or so other writers--what a rush!
2. Having people ask me to sign their anthologies who told me how much they enjoyed my words while I was autographing their book. I mean, poets being asked for autographs? How cool is that? Tricia and Dana, you made my weekend!

THE GOOD NEWS...THE BAD NEWS...THE GOOD NEWS...

Ok, so the good news is that SIWC 2011 is finally here! The bad news is that I was so fired up about it that I woke up at 2:45 a.m. The good news is that means I have a quiet house at the moment and more time to write today. The bad news is that by the time the evening meal and awards banquet roll around, I would have been up for, oh, 16 or 17 hours? I'm not sure I'll make it to the night owl session...

I'm really excited about pitching to Kaylan Adair today. She's an editor with Candlewick Press, and they handle every kind of writing I do--picture books, chapter books, and YA novels. So the good news is, this is exactly who I need to pitch my work to; the bad news is that I only have 10 minutes, which is about enough to pitch, oh, one of my six books. I'm hoping she'll agree to see me outside of the pitch times so that I can show her all that I've been working on in the past year : Joanie Ark: Dragon Slayer, and If Volcanoes Spewed Tomatoes (picture books); The Abracadabra Amulet and Galaxy Girls: Fire and Water DO Mix! (chapter books); and One-Way Ticket and Arietta: Summer of Blades (young adult novels).

WE'RE ALMOST THERE AT SIWC...AND I'M SUPER EXCITED!

Ok, in two days, the yearly SIWC event will be GAME ON in Surrey again! I'm hyped about it for several reasons (one of which I'll blog about AFTER the first day of the conference), but I'm thrilled to have so many works I'm proud of to pitch to agents and editors: two picture books, two chapter books, and two novels. I hope I can get appointments to see the agents and editors I want to see...

I am the most prepared I've ever been for this conference this year, so I know it'll be a busy time and it will FLY by in no time. I'm hoping that agents and editors will request partial and full manuscripts and that I take that next step to seeing my books in print! I know I'm getting close...I have a few small publishers who have expressed interest in two of my earlier works, although I still don't have any contracts in hand. I'm hoping 2011 / 2012 will be my breakthrough year and I'm going to do all in my power to make that happen!

JAZZED about SIWC...

Ace Baker

Keeping the WOOLF at the door!

I recently read how VIRGINIA WOOLF managed to deal with depression and the rejection that ultimately comes with being a writer. It all comes down to one word...CONSISTENCY! No matter what she felt like, no matter whether she wanted to put the words down or not, even if she was writing page after page of garbage--she kept going! She trusted in the power of consistency. If you're writing garbage, you'll soon write yourself out of it. Keep going!

I've been in SINGAPORE for the last month to visit family and enjoy a family vacation, but while I was there, I made sure to get up early and get down pages of writing before mostly anyone else was awake (Pop, my father-in-law tends to be the first at 5:15 most days!).

But the results of my consistent writing during a vacation surprised even me. First of all, I took ideas I'd sketched out for a new chapter book series for girls and wrote the entire first book of that series--6000 words, roughly 24 typed pages! Even more amazing, I worked on my latest novel, and pumped out 27000 words for it--more than 100 pages! I even started a new thriller that I more or less mapped out and wrote the prologue and first chapter for! I jotted down ideas for my tutoring business, created new business ideas that involve writing as well, played with a bit of poetry, read a few great novels by writers I love--all within the first 24 days of my vacation.

And I still got to do snorkeling, fishing, zip-lining, downhill lugeing, roller coaster rides, a tour of a cultural village during a four-day side trip to Sabah, and a full exploration of Universal Studios Singapore with my family. Looking back at my journal, I see that there were many days I felt exhausted, when I didn't want to wake up and get those pages down...but out of 24 days, there were only three where I absolutely could not. I felt a little guilty about those three, but I usually came back the next day with a renewed vigor and pumped out enough pages to make up for it. My average page count while on vacation? 5 and a half pages (1375 words). My goal at the beginning? 3 pages per day or 750 words. After all of that, there's only one thing left to say...

Thank you, VIRGINIA!

GRASSHOPPER: Where the Student(s) Become the Teacher!

Ok, so in the past few posts, I've let you know about  a few of my students who have had works published that had some kind of connection with works I've published. But today, let me tell you about two other writers I was lucky enough to teach this year--and they've done something I haven't been able to do...

The Vancouver Readers and Writers Festival is HUGE--plenty of big name authors converge on Granville Island each year, and for a week, the place is filled with readers and writers. Their writing contests are also prestigious and highly competitive. While I was shortlisted in the poetry category for adults two years ago, I have never won. But this year, two of my students won their age groups. Grade 11 student, ROBIN GEORGE, won for her story, "A Child's World," and Grade 12 student, SALLY ARANG, won for her story, "The Boa Bandit."  Sally also won the overall youth award. Three first prizes, in one class--I was proud and jealous at the same time. In any case, here's a photo of them and the younger winners. Sally is on the extreme right, and Robin is next to her, wearing the purplish pink checked coat:

The author they're with is Sarah Leavitt, a writer they got to spend a day with in a workshop, working with their own writing, as part of the prize. I'd call them lucky, but I KNOW the hard work that went into the pieces that won it for them...! Here's a link to the page:

YOUTHWRITES WINNERS

THE VALUE OF SPINOFFS

Ok, yesterday, you learned how a headline led to hundreds of articles and article ideas, thousands of dollars, and even mystical connections with writing from one of my success story students. But that article did much more for me than that--it also gave me my first bit of fan mail, which appeared in a December 2004 issue of Writer's Digest, and it caught the eye of the editor of a sister publication of theirs whose editor offered to reprint my article in Writer's Guide to Creativity...also put out by Writer's Digest. It was my first experience with reprint rights (second rights), but pleasurable nonetheless. Those two articles caught the eye of the editor of a book called Writer Profits: How I Got the Gig, and I was paid to write a 5000-word chapter for that book. You just never know where a few words (like a headline) might take you!