Chaperone, Chauffeur, and Pilfered Writing Tips

Wearing my chauffeur/chaperone hat today, I took Kate and a couple friends to a young writers conference held at a local college.  I had my book with and some work to finish up while waiting outside their sessions.  But as I sat with them during the keynote speaker this morning, I thought, what the heck?  I'm at a writers' conference - I should sit in the sessions with them.  Writing exercises are writing exercises; doesn't matter what age.

Our second session was led by J. Michael Blumer, author of the young adult fantasy series, The Secret Books of Gabendoor.  Using the nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill, Mr. Blumer worked through a list of tricks to make the story less "flat" and more "3-D". 

He asked the kids to think outside the cute little boy and girl and yell out some more interesting descriptions for the characters of Jack and Jill. 

The kids' Jill:

--dragon

--fire hair

--green dotted

--eats cheese

--hairy legs

My Jill:

--middle aged lady

--bad hair day

--blemishes

--simple chronic halitosis

--hairy legs (as long as I'm pilfering - it's a good one!)

Then Mr. Blumer explained how it's more exciting when we add obstacles to make it more difficult for Jack and Jill to fetch that pail of water.

The kids' obstacles to fetching a pail of water:

--volcanoes

--monsters

--witches spells

My obstacles to fetching that water:

--finding historical significance to the pail

--forming a relationship with the guy who owns the well

--leaving the kids home alone while I go to get that water



I really enjoyed the sessions but I'm pretty sure the girls got more out of the day than I did!