They also showed me their “heart maps,” where they wrote down things that were most important to them as a way of brainstorming for the books they will be writing in the next few weeks. I thought it was a very clever approach to the old adage, write what you know.
While I wasn’t actually in the room, we had a great and engaging conversation. I thought being on a screen would be limiting, but it worked out really well. I think we all took something away from the class, and I can’t wait to see how their stories come out.
This was the second school program, I’ve done recently. Just last week, I had a great afternoon with the students at a Jewish school in Morristown. I was thrilled by the enthusiasm of the kids and their great questions. My favorite was did I ever give up and not finish a story. (There was a long, long answer to that one and a good idea for a blog down the road.)
What was really interesting was that students from both schools had the same question — how did you make the picture on the cover and can your next book have pictures inside? Well, I’m not sure about the pictures inside, but I did tell them that the cover was made by a fantastic artist named Dena, and I have no idea how she did it. (I have absolutely no drawing skills.)
If you’d like me to come in and meet with your students and talk about how a writer gets their ideas, how to use words to say what you want the reader to see and more, please let me know.