This post was originally sent through my author newsletter on August 12, 2022. To subscribe to my newsletter and receive up-to-date news, musings, and more, click HERE.
It's the moment you've all been waiting for: giveaway time!!! The subscriber who will win a trio of Class Critters hardcovers, chosen by Random.org, is...
Kathy Daugherty!
Congratulations, Kathy! I will email you at the address you gave me when you subscribed—a.k.a. the account you're reading this email in now! If I haven't heard from you in a week, I'll choose another winner, so keep an eye out for a message from me. :)
If you didn't win today, stay tuned for more giveaways—including a massive group chapter book giveaway featuring ten (10!!) new titles from some big names (including me...am I a big name?). The group giveaway goes live this Sunday, August 14th, and will be open for one week. Check my social media starting on Sunday for all the details!
It may be over 90 degrees as I write this, but it's back-to-school time in many parts of the country. My own kiddo goes back after Labor Day, and her first big-kid backpack just arrived in the mail. (She chose a Frozen design, with her name monogrammed in purple.) But my daughter's impending kindergarten launch is only one reason I have back-to-school on the brain.
I mentioned two weeks ago that I have a school visit on the horizon! I'm super excited, because this will be my first in-person school visit since Covid...and thus my first in-person visit about Class Critters ever! I'll be at Sam Houston Elementary School in my hometown of Maryville, TN, speaking to 2nd and 3rd graders, all of whom will receive a paperback copy of either Tally Tuttle or David Dixon. (Yay, books!!!)
Over the past two weeks, I've been polishing my presentation, which I'm currently calling "Recipe for a Story." What are the ingredients needed to write a story? How did those ingredients come together for me as I created Class Critters? After I talk about my process, we'll do an exercise together, using a prompt: What if you turned into an animal for a day?
After an admittedly stressful and emotional summer, it's been really nice to get back to the basics of my craft. What are the ingredients of my storytelling process? How can I clearly and engagingly convey to elementary schoolers how I build a story, giving them tools that they might be able to use to get creative on their own?
Here's where I've landed—at least, for this particular presentation. Boiled down to bare bones, the ingredients of my creative process are:
Ideas
Questions
Research
Imagination
The idea is the story's first spark. It's the thing I jot down in a notebook or in the Notes app on my phone while I'm doing other things. It's what grabs me. But like every writer, I have a lot of ideas. How do I know that this one is meant to become something more?
It makes me ask questions. Who, and what, and where, and when, and how, and why? Questions make ideas bigger, and when each question I answer leads to more questions—more ideas—I know I'm onto something.
Some questions can only be answered through my own ingenuity (or through trial and error, a.k.a. writing things wrong repeatedly until finally finding the right solution...). Other questions require research. For Class Critters, I did a ton of research. In order to help my characters move through their environment as animals in a realistic way, I needed to know a lot about how painted turtles, dachshunds, and mice behave. Research is also great for generating...you guessed it...more ideas!
Imagination is where all the pieces come together. It's where the magic happens. (And here's where I'll talk a bit with the kids about things like plot, character, setting, and motivation.) How can I use the ideas and questions I have and the research I've done to create a compelling story with a beginning, middle, and end?
I want to leave the kids who attend my presentation feeling ready to write a story of their very own, whether it's one about being an animal for a day or something else they come up with that sparks their creativity.
I also want this to be the first of many school visits this year. So, if what I wrote above sounds interesting to you, and you work in a school, have school-aged kids, or simply have connections with a school that brings in authors—please reach out for more info! I want to offer in-person visits where it's feasible, such as within driving or train distance of Brooklyn, but I can also do virtual presentations. (Here's the School Visits page on my website.)
Did you ever get to meet authors when you were young? What did you want to ask them? When did you first learn about the ingredients that make a story?
~Kathryn
Next week, you'll get the sixth and final (for now?) installment of Creating While Parenting, the short interview series I've been running this summer with fellow parents who work in creative fields. Did you enjoy reading these interviews? Did you want more? Or are you glad the series is over? Feel free to send me some feedback!
And don't forget, Madison Morris is NOT a Mouse! releases on 8/16/22. Have you ordered your copy yet??
What I'm:
Reading: I read two romance novels I really enjoyed over the past week: Something Wilder by Christina Lauren and Very Sincerely Yours by Kerry Winfrey. Something Wilder is a romantic adventure about two people who broke each other's hearts a decade ago and end up reconnecting on a wild west outdoor adventure–turned–treasure hunt. Meanwhile, the premise of Very Sincerely Yours is basically, "What if Mr. Rogers was hot?" It's about a woman who's feeling aimless after a breakup who falls for a children's TV show presenter who is a little too committed to his work. I think you should read both of these books!
Watching: As I write this, we've just finished "Umbrella Academy" season 3, which means we're starting either "For All Mankind" season 3 or "The Sandman" next...
Listening to: I'm in a slump. I need recommendations. Something fun and poppy, perhaps? But with clever lyrics? Or maybe a wailing indie chick? Argh, I don't know. Who are you obsessed with listening to right now?
Eating: I scored a free ice cream machine from our local Buy Nothing group a few years ago, and it ended up in the back of our hall closet. I finally dug it out and put it into action! The result was DELICIOUS. Can't wait to make more.
Loving: Soaking up the last rays of summer even as we prepare for school in the fall.
