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#TDBookWeek Day Two

5/1/2015

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PictureSadly I didn't have permission to take pictures of the kids at the high school. This my table though. We were taking bets on how quickly the books would fall over.
My first day of presentations and what a response! The kids in Labrador are just as wacky as the kids in Alberta. They are super friendly and full of amazing ideas.

The day started with me down at the Carol Inn’s restaurant looking at the menu. There was something called Toutons, which turns out to be a type of fried dough – kind of like bannock but more fluffy which you eat with syrup or molasses. I haven’t tried it yet. I figured if I was going to be teaching all day, fried bread might not be the best thing to have in my gut right off the bat. But I have tomorrow off so I’m defiantly going to give some Labrador cuisine a go!

After breakfast I was picked up and taken to Menihek high school. I did three presentations for kids in grade eight, nine, and a drama class/writing class. The stories which came out were really funny. We used the wheel of genre to randomize our genre then made characters to fit them. There was a lot of audience participation. In one story we had a Japanese drug lord who, with the help (or perhaps hindrance) of time travel, got his hands on Godzilla which he used to destroy Labrador City. Luckily our super powered hero stepped in and using a giant pizza got Godzilla on her side and saved the day. Then she went on to rebuild Labrador City into a northern New York.

After a lightning fast lunch I was off to J.R. Smallwood middle school. I had two presentations there. The kids were younger but just as fun. We learned all about story structure and made up a couple of stories including the one about Sparkle Girl who used the power of waffles to gain control of her magic wand, which had been stolen by an evil guy from Jamaica. It all worked out in the end because our Jamaican fellow learned how to fry eggs joined up with Sparkle Girl to make a sparkle waffle restaurant together. Then there was the story of the nasty hotdog vendor, who made the hero shave puppies and not return library books on time. True evil! In the end the villain turned good and the hero and the villain went into the dog wig business. I’m glad everyone had happy endings.


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The one and only - SPARKLE GIRL!!!
PictureA super enthusiastic audience!
The thing that really impressed me with all the kids was how they looked after each other. Sure, there was friendly teasing but it was easy to see that they had each other’s backs. I really liked how the more outgoing kids made sure the shy kids had a turn too. Just amazing.

Of course because I mentioned that I might bring my Red Robin action figure with me, the kids asked to see it. Some even had a picture taken with it. They were really impressed with my knowledge of teen culture too. I kept getting these looks of amazement and the statement “You know that?” Thank you Reality Is Optional kids’ writing club kids! You have made me cool. 

I think the thing that makes me laugh the most is when I read the Pokémon theme song without telling them what I’m going to read. Within two lines, kids break out in grins and laughter, some even sing along. They never suspect I’ll come out with something like that as a teaching aid.  But for all the crazy stories, theme songs, and cultural references, when I finish the kids have a clear understanding of how a story is put together and how they can write a story of their own.  

My top three highlights of today:
1)      Being told I was now a girl’s favourite person in the whole world.
2)      Meeting a really awesome youth writer.
3)      Turning the cutest little girl you ever saw into a master villain and then watching her own that role. It was the funniest thing ever.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I was also interviewed by one of Labrador City’s reporters. He was a really nice guy. Sadly I forget every name ever told to me, so I can’t tell you who he was. But he was so friendly, just like everyone else here.

I’m looking forward to my wander around Labrador City tomorrow. I’m planning on trying Toutons, tracking down the sushi restaurant, and finding the mall of shopping. Time to be a tourist. I promise to take lots of pictures!

Thank you to The Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Newfoundland and Labrador public libraries, The Canada Council of the Arts, and the schools for making this possible. I’m having so much fun and from what I hear, the kids are too.


Picture
Red Robin makes friends with a Star Wars fan.
Picture
Red Robin was not informed that it was Jersey day. He would have put on a Gotham Bats jersey if he had known.
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Summer Adventure Part One

7/20/2013

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Summer is the time for adventures and I’m planning on having a ton of them. I started the summer by teaching at WordsWorth summer camp week one. I ran a class called Action Scenes. We used a lot of stage blood. A LOT. But it was fun. We learned how to write action scenes by toying with sentence length and pacing both on the page and using video. We watched a James Bond scene to see the visual equivalent of short sentences. It was pretty cool and something I just realized days before the class. I love teaching because it’s what helps me to write better.
After getting home I built a bush fort with my daughter. A bush fort is kind of like a tree fort, but on the ground. Anyway, it’s pretty cool and has a secret passage and built in snacks come August. Of course that wasn’t the only thing I was doing (it was mainly an excuse not to weed the garden). I’ve also been working on writing a new book called Stupid. I’ve been doing about a chapter a day, though I’ve hit a bit of a snag lately with my knowledge and my writing has come to loggerheads. So today I’m out to do some interviews in order to fix this issue.
Stupid is about a kid named Martin who has been misdiagnosed as having ADHD when he really has dyslexia. He’s a film maker and really smart – but because of his learning disability, everyone thinks he’s stupid, until he meets Stick. Stick does parkour and thinks Martin’s movie making is brilliant. This is new for Martin and he kind of likes having someone in his life who is on his side. Then bad things happen and Martin’s dad threatens to send him away. I’m about a third of the way through. The outline went through a lot of changes. I had to really focus on the hero’s journey archetype, something I’m still learning. I think really getting a handle on this may help me rewrite my February novel. Once Stupid is done – I’m planning on working on that trilogy once again.
In a week (just over) I’m going to be writing and producing a one act play with the DramAntics kids. This of course means I’ll have a new play to put up on the website for people around the world to use. It’s kind of cool to have my plays out in the world even if I don’t get paid for them. Money has never been the issue for me. I mean I forgot to pick up my check from WordsWorth and only got paid because Lisa Murphy-Lamb, the director, ran out and handed me the check in the car.
So far the play is thus – A giant has been killed, Jack is somehow involved. That’s it. The kids will come up with the rest. I’m looking forward to seeing where their imagination takes them. The interesting thing is we all get to learn how to write a mystery – something I’ve never really done on this level.
And that takes me half way through the summer. I’m doing another camp right before school starts. I wonder what kinds of adventures I’ll have in August. It’s going to be fun – I know that much and I’m looking forward to it.

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There's Something Wrong

10/9/2012

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My February Trilogy hasn’t been picked up by an agent yet. My readers are complaining. I have to get it sold. But, there’s something wrong. It’s just not – I don’t know – exciting enough. I mean, sure there are gun fights and poisonings and grenades, but something’s still not right. I just can’t put my finger on it.
Then I talked to my daughter. She asked me what exactly was wrong and the more we talked the more I realized – the stakes aren’t high enough. They are in the second and third book. But the first one, it kind of falls flat.
So come November – I’m going to dive into February and pump it up. Make all those things she does life or death, because really, being a secret agent, her life is against the wall most of the time.
Now I feel better about things. Now I can fix this and finally get an agent. Did I mention my daughter is super smart.
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Goal, Motive, Conflict

6/4/2012

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Goal: What your character wants.
Motive: Why your character wants it.
Conflict: What or who is stopping your character from getting it.
External: The goal, motive, and conflict that is more apparent to other characters in your story.
Internal: The goal, motive, and conflict that has to do with the more emotional part of your character.
As a writer you need to be aware of both internal and external goal, motive, and conflicts of your main characters. Even with minor characters, goal, motive, and conflict are important to the story. Being aware of these beyond the surface - the bad guy is just killing people to be bad - gives more depth to your story. It can weave characters and plot lines together. It makes the reader relate with your characters. If you are getting stuck knowing just what your characters are supposed to do next - it might be because you are not completely in tune with your goal, motive, and conflict.
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Getting to Know Your Character

6/3/2012

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Starting a story? Had it bouncing around in your head for a while? Think you know all your characters? Maybe not.
Now, I’ve encountered some resistance when telling authors this. They don’t like to hear that they don’t know their own characters as intimately as they think they do. But calm down everyone! It’s not such bad news – and it’s an easy fix.
First – if you haven’t already done it. Write a character sketch. Those of you who play role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons you’ll already know what this is. It’s where you write out a kind of dating chart: Pets, favourite colour, weaknesses, strengths, family, race, loves, hates, etc. Basically whatever you want. There are some good ones on the internet, though I usually just make up my own specific to my project.
Next – give your character a … well… characteristic. A facial tick or special movement like sighing through clenched teeth every time something doesn’t go his way. A word or phrase. An object that the character is never without (if you take it away it’s going to be a big time plot twist). Do this for every big character (or even EVERY character) in your story). It adds dimension and makes the character easy to spot in a crowd.
Now – take your character out for a walk or a cup of coffee. Get to know them and their views on the world. Ask questions that aren’t even in your story – “How do you feel about the politics in Egypt?” “Do you like Fall or Spring?” You don’t have to write these out either. Just play it out in your mind as you’re taking a stroll or sitting in a café staring out the window. Ask yourself how your character would react to the different people you see and why.
Finally – write a short scene (and I mean SHORT, after all you need to get on with writing your original story) detailing an average day for your character. The kind of day they have before you, the writer, screw it all up.
And there you have it. Do this and you will know your character like a best friend. You may even miss them when you are done writing the story. I recommend doing this for ALL major characters: heroes, villains and secondary characters that stick around for any length of time. Although you may not use all you have written in your preparation, the readers will feel your work and it will make your story deeper and more convincing.
So give it a try and see if this technique works for you!
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    Kim Firmston

    Writer, Teacher, Mutant. What more could you want?

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