SIMON SAYS – Tips for Teachers: Author Visits Part Five – Types of Presentations
July 29, 2010 by Writing for Children
Filed under Simon Says, for children's writers
Many authors who conduct school visits on a long-term basis have a well thought out set of presentations, workshops and other material. These might be related to their own books, but also to topics such as editing and revision, for example. Authors might talk about where they get their inspiration, character development or just how a book comes together, and whenever possible they leave time for questions from the children.
In addition to the subject matter of my own books, I cover such topics as where ideas come from, story structure, editing and revision, character development, time travel stories, the superhero genre, history and research and more. I will present to up to a hundred students at a time, although the smaller the audience the more participation from children, as a rule. I also consider workshops with smaller groups or individual classes. A list of some of the presentations I offer can be found here, but I am always happy to discuss matters with teachers to design sessions to best serve the needs of their students.
An important thing to consider when deciding to host an author visit is what type of presentation you’re looking for. There are usually numerous types to choose from and all authors are different in this regard. Are you looking for an author who will just read to the children or only be there to answer questions from the students, either about their book or about writing in general? Perhaps there’s part of the school curriculum that you would like to emphasize and the author’s books are related to it in some way? Is there a project the students have been involved in to which the author can contribute, either by assisting them in getting started or in bringing it to a satisfactory conclusion? Are you looking for workshops, in which you want the children to actually do some writing or would you like them just to listen to a presentation? Are there particular general topics on writing, rather than those related to the subject matter of the books, that you want the author to focus on? Do you want small groups in classrooms or the library or a hundred or more children in the school gym? How long do you want the sessions to be, to fit in with the normal schedule of the school day? Do you want the author to actually teach the children something or simple appear almost as a celebrity guest to inspire them? These are all important things to consider when planning an author visit and ensuring that it all goes smoothly.
SIMON SAYS – Writers and Seasonal Affective Disorder Part One
February 10, 2010 by Writing for Children
Filed under Simon Says
Many of us develop cabin fever and grow sluggish during the winter months and may eat more or sleep longer when daylight is in short supply and the temperature begins to fall. It may be harder to get out of bed or for some people to even generate much enthusiasm each morning. These are common experiences related to the change in the seasons, but some individuals can have a far more serious reaction when the end of summer heralds the coming of fall and winter. Once simply known as the ‘winter blues’, the effect of less light in the winter may be severe for some and is a recognized medical condition, diagnosed as SAD or seasonal affective disorder. SAD can also occur in the summer, when it is known as Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder, but here we will examine the effects of the winter variety within the writing community.
Seasonal affective disorder is primarily a mood disorder, with sufferers experiencing normal mental health throughout the year, but becoming depressed or generally more down in the winter months. Seasonal variations in a person’s mood may be related to light, or rather the lack of it. SAD is often more prevalent in higher latitudes and in Finland, for example, the rate for SAD is close to 10%. Winter depression is a common slump in the mood of the inhabitants of Scandinavia. Researchers estimate that up to 20% of the population is affected, and there are words in the Icelandic and Swedish language that specifically refer to seasonal affective conditions. Excessive cloud cover, an aspect of daily life for those living in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, for example, may also increase the number of sufferers in a particular region. Researchers have estimated that SAD in US adults is around 1.5% in Florida, yet closer to 10% in the northern states. So how might writers be affected by this phenomenon? Stay tuned.
SIMON SAYS – Magic & Reality
September 2, 2009 by Writing for Children
Filed under Simon Says
In stories for children, it is the boy or girl who solves the problem, rather than the adult, which children find much easier to relate to. Harry Potter is just like his young readers, an ordinary child with admittedly extraordinary powers. Even those of his friends who come from magical families have the same things to deal with such as homework, embarrassing parents or annoying siblings, making it more believable and thus rooted in the real world, despite Harry’s enrollment in a school for wizardry.
Harry even has trouble becoming a wizard and struggles at school with some subjects, while his classmate Hermione streams ahead of him. On more than one occasion, Harry curses himself for not having studied the history of the magical world more deeply. In the earlier novels too, Harry
is quite simply not good enough to take on more powerful wizards.
Much of the strength of the novels is the journey of Harry from eleven years old to manhood and his learning curve along the way, which is reflected not just in his relationships with his friends and teachers, but also in his growing comprehension of the laws of magic. Although magic is the predominant theme running through these and other novels, the hero still has to overcome his difficulties though his own efforts. Magic should never be used simply as a way to solve all problems and just wish them away.
SIMON SAYS – Magic and Time Travel
August 26, 2009 by Writing for Children
Filed under Simon Says
In my own books, I have relied upon magic to effect the time travel sequences, rather than using a mechanical device, and children have found this much more engaging than reading about a machine which has intricate controls, switches and dials. In my school workshops, where students invent their own time machines and methods, very often highly sophisticated devices are created. But readers still prefer to read about something that makes them suspend their disbelief. In The Alchemist’s Portrait, Matthew visits the city museum on a field trip with his school and meets a boy his own age, trapped inside his own portrait for over three hundred years. Matthew can step into the painting from the outside and, once within the picture, he can view images from all the different time periods where the painting was displayed on walls in the past. And just as he can step into the portrait from the outside, when he is inside the picture, Matthew can step through and travel back in time, choosing the era in which he wishes to emerge based on the image shown in the frame.
In The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, magic again plays a major role in the story when Jack travels to 1483 on a desperate mission to save the Princes in the Tower of London from the clutches of King Richard III. By the use of magic, Jack is able to correspond through time by means of a scroll placed in the drawer of a wooden box dating back to the Middle Ages. When he makes his initial journey into the past, a mysterious wheel in the box has to be turned anticlockwise in order for him to travel to 1483. This is a mechanical device, to be sure, but the trip back in time is still facilitated by magic, rather than by scientific means.
In The Emerald Curse, Sam discovers that his grandfather, the world’s foremost comic book artist and writer, is trapped in a bizarre comic book universe derived from his own imagination. This time there is a magic object involved – the magical pen with an enigmatic green gemstone embedded in the barrel, which Charles Kelly used to create all his famous artwork and stories over the years. Using this same pen, Sam is able to communicate with his grandfather and by drawing himself within the panels of the story, travels into the comic book world in order to rescue his grandfather.
SIMON SAYS – The Fantasy Realm
August 19, 2009 by Writing for Children
Filed under Simon Says
Magical realms have had a place in folklore and legends in cultures around the globe for thousands of years and play a major role in fantasy literature. Sometimes, these are the author’s own wonderfully detailed imagined worlds, complete with a form of government, architecture, currency, natural features, history, myths and legends, flora, fauna and traditions.
Middle Earth and Narnia are two of the best known examples, but there are countless others. And even within these enchanted realms there are other special places, too – areas where magical forces or auras are strongest or where special rituals have to be performed for spells or curses to work properly. Parts of the kingdom where only fairies can go, rivers only certain people can cross, the lake where Arthur first receives Excalibur, enchanted woods, mystical mountains, forbidden forests, caves where monsters or demons dwell and so many more. These fantastic universes are nothing like the real world in which we live, yet still have to be realistic.
An author’s own invented fantasy universe in which magic is commonplace can be inspired by non-fictional beliefs and deeply rooted in the history of mankind’s many cultures. However, even if based on real practices, the effect, strength and rules of the magic are usually what the writer requires for the plot of his or her story. And yet, magic should never be used when it is merely convenient for the writer, to simply solve a tricky problem in the plot or to save the hero’s life. Otherwise, the use of it will lose all credibility.
