I visited with some seventh graders last week and talked about “the writing life.” Today I received a packet of thank-you notes in the mail. Here’s one of them:
Dear Robert Young,
I love writing and I have never met a author and I really wanted to. I really enjoyed when you gave the pros and cons of being an author. I will strive to be the best one I can be.
Sincerely,
Savannah
Feedback like this is one of the reasons I visit schools. Thanks, Savannah!
Last week I extolled the advantages of the writing life: choice, variety, being your own boss, choosing your own hours. Notice that I did not mention fame or fortune. That brings us to the other side of the writing life. The not-so-good side.
Let’s get the fame and fortune part out of the way first. The chances you will become rich and famous by writing is…well..a longshot, to put it mildly. “But what about Stephen King?” you say. “What about J.K. Rowling?”
Those are the exceptions. Thousands upon thousands of people compete to get their works published. A small percentage are successful. I feel grateful to have had more than twenty of my manuscripts made into books. This, however, has not led to fame nor fortune.
Of all those authors who are talented and fortunate enough to have their work published, only a small percentage of them are able to make a living from it. That’s why most authors have other jobs, to pay the rent and buy food. For me, it’s been teaching. Not only do I feel like it’s a worthwhile career, it keeps me in contact with the audience (kids) for whom I’m writing, and it offers lots of free time (summer break, holidays) to write.
Writing takes lots of time. And patience. Imagine having an idea for a book, then working on it every chance you get for a year, or even more. When you’re done, you send the finished work to agents or publishers. They hang onto it for six months, maybe longer, then send you a generic postcard or letter saying your manuscript is “not right for our list.”
That’s what usually happens to most writers. And not just once. Over and over and over. Twenty-five times, fifty times, until you either find your manuscript a home or you give up.
So, why bother if it’s so frustrating and your chances are so slim in becoming successful? That’s a question that every writer has to answer. Every writer also must decide what “success” is? For me, it’s not about the money or the notoriety. I’ts about contributing my ideas, sharing my words, and encouraging thought, curiosity, and exploration. That won’t pay the rent, but then it doesn’t have to.
Okay, so it’s a dumb name-nonfiction-but it’s an important type of reading and writing. It’s essential to success in school and a key to getting a job as well as getting promotions. It’s what we mainly utilize after we leave school.
A study sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2010 found that each day the average kid in the U.S. spends about four and a half hours watching TV, two and a half hours listening to music, an hour and a quarter playing video games, and about 25 minutes a day reading. How much of that time spent reading n…fiction? Less than 4 minutes!
Enter the Common Core State Standards, with its heavy emphasis on n…fiction. A good thing? Absolutely! And I’m not just saying that because I’m the author of 24 n…fiction books, either. I’m saying that because it makes sense.
Reading about real things helps build background knowledge, an important variable in student achievement. Better than that, it helps motivate kids by connecting them with their curiosities and interests.
Why is n…fiction a dumb name? Because it’s based on what it is not. Not fiction. When I do author visits to schools I share my disdain for the name and then give the kids an example: “From now on, there is no such word as boy,” I tell them. “Those guys sitting among you are non-girls.”
Of course this gets a wild “Hahaha” from the females in the group. And then I reverse it. The kids get it. Then I ask them to come up with a new, improved name for n…fiction. We get some interesting suggestions:
Realia
Realiisim
Factical
Faction
Realwriting (see my website name)
Try this with your class. What do they come up with?
Yes, there is life east of the Cascade Mountains. And it’s civilized, too. I should know; I just returned from a road trip to the eastern border of the wonderful state of Oregon. Along the way, I stopped at schools and ESDs to talk with administrators, teachers, and yes, students.
It’s encouraging and uplifting to experience the vibrancy going on in schools: enthusiastic conversations with staff, colorful artwork on the walls, the smiles of kids in the hallways, and their unbridled voices on the playground.
I like to be around places where people are learning and growing. It’s inspiring and hope-producing. I am looking forward to returning these places that may seem out-of-the-way to some but are the right spot for those living there.
Thank you to schools in LaPine, Bend, Burns, Vale, and Ontario for opening your doors to me. A special thanks to the Junctura District, where I had an opportunity to speak with all students and staff as they ate lunch (staff = 2, students = 4, with 2 absent). What a trip!
Juntura Elementary
The second difference between argument and persuasive writing involves the technique for each. In persuasive, the writer blends fact and emotion in an attempt to convince the reader to agree or to do something. The technique used in argument writing is to provide reasons, facts, and evidence to demonstrate the writer has made a credible case.
Chew on that awhile. More differences to follow…
It’s only when a season ends that I am able to properly reflect upon it. Since we’re officially into fall, summer is open for mental business. As for the summer of 2013, I am proclaiming it “The Summer of the Biting.”
It began with a bite, a real bite, by a real dog. It happened while hiking, one of my favorite pastimes. I had wandered off the main trail onto a path that looked to be getting some new wear. I had heard about a homeless camp nearby and thought I would investigate.
The path wound through a stand of fir and scraggly oak trees. About a quarter mile in, I heard a man’s voice. “Come on up,” he called.
The path led uphill to tents – three of them – spread across a small clearing. “Don’t mean to intrude,” I said as I closed on the camp and saw a bearded, middle-aged man standing by one of the tents. Then I heard the dog.
It barked furiously, flew out of one of the tents, and ran straight at me. It was a pit bull, thick and powerful, and not the least bit happy. The man grabbed for it, but it darted from him, raced back behind the tent, and charged me from a different angle.
I braced myself and planted my walking stick in front of me, hoping to deter the dog. Instead, the stick enraged it and the dog lunged and snapped at it. I backed away, shouting at the man to get a hold of his dog.
He scrambled for the dog, but it escaped him again and came straight at me barreling past the stick, lunging, and ripping into my leg with its teeth. I swung the stick hard, but the dog was already retreating, barking, and snarling all the way.
I grabbed my bear mace (which I should have done earlier), snapped off the safety and was ready for another charge. “Get a hold of your dog, or I’ll spray it!” I shouted.
“That’ll be the last thing you do!” the man retorted.
Oh, great, I thought, the guy’s not only got a vicious dog; he’s got a gun too. As I slowly backed away, the dog retreated and the man grabbed and tied it. The pain in my leg felt searing and I lifted my shorts to view the wound. It didn’t look too bad – the skin wasn’t torn open – but there were holes, teeth marks, and blood.
And that wasn’t the end of it, either. There was more: getting seen by a doctor (who examined too little and charged too much), reporting to the animal authorities, spending days trying to track down the dog’s immunization records. Money, time, and stress, but no infection. And no rabies.
If only that was the end to the biting, I wouldn’t be writing this. But it wasn’t. Life takes bites of its own. Less than two weeks after the dog encounter, I was scheduled to fly to Africa to meet my son for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. I missed the flight (another story in itself). The following day, as I drove to the airport in the early morning, a deer ran at me and smashed into my car. The deer disappeared into the darkness and the damage to my car substantial, but nothing was going to stop me from boarding the plane for the 28-hour journey. The events leading up to this point had me shaken and wondering if they might be a preview of what was to come.
They were not. In fact, during my time in Africa I learned more about biting – that I can bite, too. I can take bites out of life by stretching my limits, moving out of my comfort zone, and feeling the joy that comes with it. Like, hiking three-and-a-half hours into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest of Uganda, up and down steep slopes, through dense foliage, and along ant-infested trails to catch a glimpse of endangered mountain gorillas. Not only did we glimpse these gentle giants, we got close enough to smell them, hear their subtle sounds, and see the tiny insects that swarmed them. An incredible experience!
So were the visits to two of the best animal reserves on the planet, despite the interminable bus rides over dusty, brain-jarring, and dangerous plowed pathways they call roads. The reward was viewing magnificent beings: giraffes, elephants, wildebeests, leopards, lions, Cape buffalo, crocodile, hippos, rhinos, warthogs, chimpanzees, baboons, and a rich variety of beautiful birds. Spotting these creatures is a joy surpassed only by the opportunity to watch them in their natural environment.
And then there was the rafting on the mighty Nile River, which courses more than 4,000 miles, making it the world’s longest. We met the river early in its journey, near Lake Victoria, where it demonstrates its many moods, from slow and sullen to fast and ferocious. We entered the rapids at the river’s mercy, having prepared but not planned for the fury to come. And come it did, bouncing the raft, turning and twisting it, and finally flipping it over and dragging us under with its might. Resistance is impossible so you wait patiently for the river to release you and allow you back to the surface. The breath you took when you break that surface is unlike any other, and the clouds and the sky never look more wonderful.
Summer has faded now and fall colors dot the landscape. I doubt a dog will ever bite me again, but I’m certain I’ll be bitten by life. I know that. I also know that I will do some biting, too. And that, I have decided, will keep life interesting.
As I prepare for a workshop on teaching argument writing I’ll be doing next month for the Emerald Empire Reading Council in Eugene, I’m developing a bibliography composed of model texts that can be used by teachers. As I peruse my own collection as well as the local library’s, I am surprised by how few books there are that use the elements of argument writing.*** Many that seem to be are actually examples of persuasive writing. So, what’s the difference?
Glad you asked. There are several differences, which may seem subtle, but are important. Let’s take the goal for each type of writing. In persuasive writing, the goal is to convince the reader to agree with the writer or do something the writer wants. The goal of argument writing, on the other hand, focuses on getting the reader to accept a viewpoint as valid and worthy of consideration.
I will be adding more differences as well as sharing the bibliography I develop in future posts.
***Writers: I hope you realize the opportunity this is for you.
Came across an interesting resource for writers recently. Compiled by children’s author Ellen Jackson, it is a alphabetical list of editors along with their interests and the names of the publishers with whom they are working. While I would prefer to have the list organized by publishing house, it is great to know what particular editors are looking for. I will use this resource to target the marketing of my manuscripts. It should save time, energy, and the expense of sending work to people who have no interest in reading it. Ellen assures me that the list is kept as up-to-date as she can, but she suggests cross-checking the information before sending.
Here’s link to the list:
In the Comments section below you will find writing plans developed by Writing Rocks! class participants. These plans include visions participants have for their classrooms as well as methods and timelines for carrying out those visions. All class assignments are posted so that they will be available for others. Sharing useful ideas, strategies, and activities can help make us all better instructors of writing.
In the Comments section (below) of this post you will find websites that are useful for writing instruction. These are provided by the dedicated professionals who were participants in the latest Writing Rocks! class. You will find the URL for the site as well as a review. Feel free to respond to the reviews as well as to share them with colleagues.
