Ok, really cool experience: I was invited into my colleague’s Grade 12 Writer’s Craft class to talk about my experience as a writer. Me, considered a writer by other people!
It was a bit strange to play a different role in the classroom–in my own school, with many of my former students. I’m used to knowing the whole class and engaging them with lessons and activities. When I invite guest speakers, I’m conscious of my role as host–not as “expert”.
That Adam, my colleague, thought I could offer a different perspective as a writer made me feel pretty good. Up till now, I kinda figured you have to have, you know, written (read: published) a book before anyone would listen to anything I had to say on writing.
Turns out, I could offer a lot simply from my own learning experience. (Ok, I could offer something. Whether it was “a lot” can only be determined by the students in the class).
I liked that I could share with them not only what I learned, but it made me more open to talking about my failures–or, if I’m trying to keep a positive spin on things, my not-yet-successful writing attempts.
Here’s what I talked about:
- Wanting to be a writer since I was 8 years old (my first “published” story of Santa and his elves. It was published because my mom typed it up. And I got a “Super Kid” Woody Woodpecker sticker on it. Woohoo!)
- Applying to university writing programs only to be dissuaded by my practically-minded parents. “There’s no money in writing”, they said (true). “Better to go into journalism which is still writing but where there are jobs.” (turned out to be false). I told the students that advice, was in fact, like telling someone who wants to learn how to drive transport trailers to go get their motorcycle licence. Both are vehicles, but no where near the same thing. Having said that, I did warn them about the harsh realities of making money (or, more accurately, not making money) as a fiction author.
- I talked about the well-known cliche, “write what you know”. I re-interpreted that: write what you know about how you feel. It’s not so much the details and content of your experiences so much as the emotions you remember from it that you want to reproduce for your characters. I read excerpts from my first book about how details of my protagonist Mackenna’s life reflect my own. I related my own stories about young adult romance and crushed hearts (ahem, Dan) then showed how I used the intensity of those emotions in my writing.
- I talked about what I’ve learned from Jennie, specifically:
- Add more specific detail to your backstory and your world so everything is logical. I read before-and-after examples in my newest version of Lyra’s story to illustrate the difference.
- And the other well-worn writerly advice: “show, don’t tell.” I told the students I was convinced I was doing that. I had the nicest prose–even mentioned (and, yes, I quote directly) Jennie said I have “brilliant writing.” That’s when I explained to them that showing means staying inside the character’s head, not having the character tell the reader what happened to her. Again, I read excerpts to illustrate the difference.
- I finished with “advice”. Writing is hard. Rejection sucks. If you keep at it, call yourself a writer. You deserve to.
- Bonus: I offered to give feedback on writing the students are doing on their own time (not wanting to step on Adam’s toes for his class assignments!) I remember needing that outside advice/opinion (hi Jennie!). I’m no book coach, nor do I pretend to be. Just want to give some encouragement to emerging writers. You know what? One student actually e-mailed me. Makes me feel like I can give something back. That got me thinking and now I have plans to expand my site to include some “how-to” tips (for what they’re worth). Still working out those details, but stay tuned…
Conclusion? I loved sharing my own writing process with the students. So, if anyone wants to sign me up as a guest speaker, I now have experience. 🙂