{"id":3046,"date":"2010-05-11T02:00:33","date_gmt":"2010-05-11T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/?p=3046"},"modified":"2010-05-14T07:32:56","modified_gmt":"2010-05-14T14:32:56","slug":"the-top-ten-writing-tips-i-learned-from-my-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/the-top-ten-writing-tips-i-learned-from-my-students\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top Ten Writing Tips I Learned From My Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gabi Stevens\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks so much for having me at Muse Interrupted. I\u2019m excited to be here to \u201ctalk\u201d to all of you.<\/p>\n

In the day job, I\u2019m a teacher. Eighth graders. They\u2019re a fun group: too young to be mature, too old to be childish.\u00a0 They are challenging, contrary, frustrating and inspiring. So here are\u2026<\/p>\n

The Top Ten Writing Tips I\u2019ve Learned from My Students:<\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 Dream big\u2014Did you know I have a classroom full of future multi-billionaires? Seriously. Or if they won\u2019t be as rich as that, at least they will be actors, singers, or professional sports figures. OK, reality check. But they aren\u2019t so wrong. If you\u2019re going to dream, dream big. Like placing on the NYT list, or winning the Rita. Or even bigger like being on the ship that will colonize a distant planet or having the ability to breathe underwater. You never know when a big dream can lead to a plot.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Have fun\u2014Life is too short. There is much to learn and sometimes school, uh-hem, responsibilities can weigh you down. So seek fun. And if you still have responsibilities to shoulder, find the fun in everything. Somehow. Attitude will take you far.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Procrastination is a bad idea\u2014I usually give my students their essay assignments weeks (WEEKS!) in advance. I pretty much can tell you that most of them wait until the night before to write their papers. I have daily, \"\"<\/a>weekly, monthly reminders of how bad procrastinating is. Unfortunately, that doesn\u2019t mean I actually don\u2019t procrastinate; I\u2019ve just learned it\u2019s a bad idea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0Creativity doesn\u2019t come from a book\u2014I\u2019m not a big fan of how-to books; I know they can be useful, but really, if you want to learn how to write, read and write. There are some lovely books on creativity: On Writing<\/em>, Bird by Bird<\/em>, The Writer\u2019s Journey<\/em> among many others, but I honestly believe creativity has to come from you. It can\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t be regulated, or dictated, or made homogeneous.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Reading makes you smarter\u2014I can always pick out my readers, those kids who read voraciously. They have better vocabularies, grasp ideas easier, think more logically, and form their own ideas faster. Reading teaches you facts, ideas, words, and grammar.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 A little misbehaving is good for the soul\u2014I\u2019ll be the first to admit it: the biggest weakness I have as a teacher is discipline. But I also don\u2019t see the point in dinging the kids for every little thing. Now, I don\u2019t let them go totally nuts, but let\u2019s just say I\u2019m lax. And sometimes raising just a little hell keeps the peace better than policing the rules would. But I also admit that I\u2019m lucky because I teach very small classes. This year my biggest class has eight students.\u00a0 So go ahead and break some of those grammar rules.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 Consequences matter\u2014This is great help in plotting. Your hero or heroine might do a noble deed, but there will be consequences to their actions. This concept led to the twist at the end of my current release, THE WISH LIST<\/strong>, and turned the story into a series rather than a single title.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 Vacation is a good thing\u2014While I truly love my students, it\u2019s nice to get away from them. Sometimes it\u2019s good to get away from writing as well. I know there are authors who never take a break, who write without taking a holiday, but I can\u2019t be one of those writers. Some of the best advice I got once when I was having trouble with a book was \u201cDon\u2019t write. Wallow in not writing.\u201d I cam back when I was ready and the troubles went away. If you\u2019re on deadline, a break isn\u2019t always possible, but reconnecting with yourself, your family and friends (who aren\u2019t writers) can rejuvenate you.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 A laugh is always welcome\u2014Do I really need to explain this? Lightening the mood helps to relieve tension. Even in the darkest and heaviest of books, a touch of humor helps the reader breathe.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 Report cards suck unless they\u2019re good\u2014We want everyone to like our books. We worked so hard on them, but realistically there will be people who won\u2019t enjoy our story, our style, or our voice (Or all three or any combination thereof). Something we as authors have to live with.<\/p>\n

So have you ever learned something from a surprising source?<\/p>\n

–Gabi<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Leave a comment or question for Gabi to enter to win THE WISH LIST<\/strong>. If you\u2019re reading this post through a feed on Facebook, Goodreads, or another social network, please visit the comment trail at www.museinterrupted.com<\/a> to be eligible for the draw.<\/p>\n

To read Gabi’s bio and the cover blurb for THE WISH LIST<\/strong>, see yesterday\u2019s post. To learn more about Gabi and her books, visit\u00a0her website at www.gabistevens.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Gabi Stevens Thanks so much for having me at Muse Interrupted. I\u2019m excited to be here to \u201ctalk\u201d to all of you. In the day job, I\u2019m a teacher. Eighth graders. They\u2019re a fun group: too young to be mature, too old to be childish.\u00a0 They are challenging, contrary, frustrating and inspiring. So here… Continue reading The Top Ten Writing Tips I Learned From My Students<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-give-aways","category-guest-bloggers","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3046"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3074,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions\/3074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyprocter-king.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}