Dancing With The Pen II: a collection of today's best youth writing

Video games. Television. Computers. The Internet. With so many electronic distractions, how can a parent get their child or teenager to pick up a book and read this summer?

Write On! Books has the answer: a series of book written by young writers geared specifically for young audiences. The second volume of Dancing With The Pen: a collection of today’s best youth writing has just been released! The book features stories, poems, and essays by more than fifty young writers in elementary school, middle school and high school, from all across the United States. Their work explores everything from travel to friendship, love to loss, fear to hope—themes that both celebrate diversity and transcend hometowns, backgrounds and cultures.

I founded Write On! Books in 2011 with the simple question: Who knows what kids want to read better than kids themselves? Not only do I want to empower the next generation of writers, I also hope to get young people excited about reading by publishing a variety of dynamic, creative work written by their peers.

I am passionate about nurturing confidence in today’s youth through writing and reading; to be sure, creativity has made a profound impact on my life. I published my first book, a collection of short stories and poems titled There’s a Huge Pimple On My Nose, when I was in fifth grade, and the experience was a turbo-boost to my self-esteem. For the first time, I saw myself as a writer. I felt like I could pursue any dream, as long as I worked hard and believed in myself.

I hope that the young writers published in Dancing With The Pen find renewed joy, deep pride, and lasting confidence. I have no doubt they will go on to do many wonderful things, and feel honored to be part of making a dream come true for them. As contributor Sofia Felino wrote me in an email, "This really means so much and it's amazing -- I've been dreaming of being published since birth!"

This past Saturday, we had a special book launch pizza party for young writers in the Bay Area. It was a magical evening celebrating seven young writers, who read their work out loud to the audience. Among the young writers in attendance were Rosalie Chiang, a Fremont homeschooler, who penned two fictional stories about animals teaching humans lessons in bravery and friendship. Vivek Bellam, from Danville, wrote about a robot battle and Jennifer Huang, from San Ramon, wrote about a young artist trying to “make it big” in New York City. Arham Habib, a high school student from Danville (pictured below) read his essay: a letter to legendary author Ray Bradbury about Fahrenheit 451.

A Southern California book launch party will take place at Mrs. Figs' Bookworm in Camarillo on Thursday, July 21 at 5pm. Young writers will read their pieces and autograph books. It will be an exciting event for the entire community. We would love to see you there!

The response to the Dancing With The Pen series has been overwhelmingly positive. In its debut week of release, the first volume of Dancing With The Pen rose to a #2 ranking on Amazon.com in the "literature anthologies" category. One Amazon reviewer praised, “This stunning anthology is a testament to the fact that magic can flow through the pens of writers of any age.” Another gave the book five stars and wrote, “From short stories to poetry, fantasy to realistic fiction, there's something in here for everyone of all ages to enjoy.”

Indeed, while the book series was originally aimed at young people, adult readers are raving as well. Randy Robertson, parent of three, remarked, "It is a treat for us adult readers to gain an insight into what this upcoming generation is thinking and feeling." And LA Parent reviewer Debbie Glade wrote, "Some of the stories and poems are so wisely penned, I had to double check the ages of the writers in their short bios."

Parents and teachers who are concerned about youth illiteracy can feel doubly good about purchasing Dancing With The Pen. For every copy sold, a new book will be donated to Write On’s Holiday Book Drive to benefit disadvantaged and at-risk youth. Since 2001, we have donated more than 14,000 new books to underprivileged kids across the U.S.

Publishing the Dancing With The Pen series has reaffirmed for me the power of books and reading. I am blown away by the insightful, daring, thought-provoking work being produced by young writers today! I know you will be, too.

Personalized copies of Dancing With The Pen are available at the Write On! website: www.writeonbooks.org.

Reading My Mind Through The Words of Others

{Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt}

Dylan Thomas said, “The blank page is where I read my mind.” Additionally, as writers—and, indeed, as people—we can learn and grow a great deal by reading the minds of others. In the forthcoming months on this blog, I will be posting about a few books that have taught me a great deal.

From The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, I have learned that a story can be as short as a paragraph, yet still feel complete and connect with the reader in a deep, visceral way. Davis’s piece “The Sock” is one of the most emotionally stunning stories I have read, even though it is only two pages long. Part of what makes it so affecting is that the crux of the piece hinges on a description of a sock—something so ordinary and even a bit distasteful. Who wants to read a vivid description of a smelly, sweaty sock? Yet this is precisely what gives the sock its power as an object: it is so utterly personal, like underwear but without the sexual connotation. The main character is a divorced woman and the sock is used to characterize her ex-husband. Even more poignantly, the sock provides a glimpse into their relationship, as the woman remembers the countless times she had picked up her husband’s socks in all their years together. The juxtaposition is striking; she intimately knows how he takes off his socks while reading in bed (she describes his feet resting together “like two halves of fruit”) and yet now they are living separate lives, and he is married to a different woman.

In this story and others, I like that Davis doesn’t spell everything out for the reader; questions about her characters linger afterward. Often after finishing one of her stories, I immediately want to go back and read the story again. Even months after reading "The Sock," the main character has stayed with me. In my experience, the best stories are like that; they stick with you long after the book has been closed and put back on the shelf. 

Other stories that have stayed with me are those in the beautiful book a picture is worth…(Arch Street Press). The words of these sixteen young adults are incredibly poignant, honest, and filled with raw emotion. I am most struck by their mature insights and deep reflections on their lives, both the joyful and painful memories.

Betania captures the mingling of excitement and frustration that comes with artistic expression: “Just a couple of days ago, a professor from New York came and she taught photography and how to tell stories through pictures. … [She] got the school to provide us with cameras and she took my classmates and me out to our community to capture pictures. I loved the program and you really get to see that anything can be picture-perfect and everything is beautiful in its own little way. It made me see my community differently and I appreciate her for that. I didn’t like my pictures; at the moment that I captured the photos I thought they were amazing but then when I saw everyone else’s, I lost all hope in my pictures” (pg. 95). I think every artist has felt that sinking tug towards “the comparison trap”—you feel delighted with your work initially, but then at some point your internal critic takes over and suddenly it seems that everyone in the world is more artistically gifted than you are. I wish I could tell Betania: your photographs are perfect because they were created by the one-and-only you! 

Ashley’s story of resilience and strength is incredibly moving. She describes cutting the word “crazy” into her arm after being bullied in school and being made to feel like an outcast. She describes moving from town to town, school to school, and battling depression: “I was simply a shell in my own life: looking pleasant on the outside but empty inside. All I wanted was for someone to come up to me and tell me that they knew exactly what I was going through and how I felt. I wanted them to tell me that they had a solution, but that didn’t happen. Why didn’t anybody just ask me how I was or how I felt?” (pg. 24). A common theme that runs through many stories in the book is a yearning for care and compassion. In this way, the book expands into not simply narratives about what it is like to be a young person in the world today, but rather what is means to be human. For this is a crucial aspect of our common humanity: wanting to be loved and seen and heard and understood.

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Eventually, Ashley manages to reach out for help and begins to make more connections at school. She writes she has “come to realize that things always get better. Everyone has to go through hard times, some harder than others, but in time cloudy skies will clear away.”

 Hope for the writer, and hope for the reader, too.

Insights from warm, witty & wise best-selling author Jess Walter

 
A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting best-selling author Jess Walter when he came to give a reading at Purdue through our Visiting Writers Series. I was part of a group of MFA students who got to have dinner with him before his reading, and he is one of the most friendly, funny, and genuinely nice people I've ever met!

An amazing read! You should buy it right now!

 I took notes during his question-and-answer session after his reading so I could share his incredibly insightful, comforting, funny and wise thoughts about the writing life with you:

• I'm interested in collisions of emotion: the intersection between laughing and crying.
  

• You turn the oven on for a "novel cake" and you have no idea how long it will take to bake.
  

• As a writer, you are working against the grain of the culture. I love working against expectations -- working against what the reader expects in a really satisfying way.

• There's an incredibly fast-moving river of culture, and as a novelist you have to step out of the river and observe what's around you.
  

• We (as writers) can't focus on the number of people we reach. We can only focus on the depth of that relationship (with readers.)

• I sometimes feel like an alien on the planet, and I think that's a really healthy way for a writer to feel -- at a remove from the rest of the world, watching.

• Hollywood reflects us back at ourselves. 

• So much of fiction writing is a kind of empathy.

• On aging: Even as physically we start to fade, we become the best versions of ourselves.

It is so special when you greatly admire a writer's books, and then get the chance to meet the writer in person -- and like them even more! Jess Walter is a rare breed. If you're looking for fiction that will move you, make you laugh, crack open your world and fill it with light -- I could not recommend his books more highly!

Interview with YA author Melissa Conway

Today I am honored to feature Melissa Conway on the blog! She is the author of four young adult ebooks, the latest of which, Xenofreak Nation, she'll be discussing here today. Melissa is the founder of the book review site Booksquawk. Her website is here, her YouTube channel here, she blogs at Whimsilly and can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks so much for taking the time to be here today! What would you like readers to know about you as an introduction?

 

I’d like my readers to know how much I appreciate that they chose my book. Beginning any book is not only a time commitment; it’s an investment that the reader hopes will pay off emotionally. I strive to produce work that will take them on a satisfying journey, and it’s especially gratifying when they take the extra time to give me feedback.

Tell us about Xenofreak Nation. What was your inspiration/motivation behind this book?

 

The story alternates between the two central characters, Bryn Vega, the daughter of the head of the Pure Human Society, and Scott Harding, an Xbestia gang member who is really an undercover agent for the XIA. At its heart, Xenofreak Nation is both a love story and an exploration of ethics set in the near future in a world mired in a deep economic depression where government decision-making has ground to a halt. Authorities have failed to regulate the medical practice of bioengineering animals to be compatible with humans for organ transplantation. Rogue xenosurgeons are responsible for the development of an underground sub-culture derogatorily referred to as Xenofreaks, who have replaced tattoos with grafts of bioengineered animal skin, teeth, horns and even tails and wings. When Bryn is kidnapped as retaliation for her father’s anti-xeno activities, she’s thrust into this frightening world. Scott is torn between his duty and his developing feelings for innocent Bryn.

What have you learned through writing this book?

 

I don’t know that I learned anything exactly...but certainly the story opened up a way for me to communicate a concept we are all familiar with: that there are two sides to every story. Given the state of the world, it can’t hurt to emphasize cultural tolerance!

 

How did you get started writing?

 

My family was poor, so the library was a big source of entertainment. And since I was shy, writing was one way for me to express myself. I wrote a silly poem in the fourth grade that my teacher submitted to a contest in the local paper. When I won, it was the first time I felt as if my writing had merit. I admire teachers in general, but good teachers, the ones who take that extra step to encourage children to flourish, they are my heroes.

What is your writing process like?

 

I’m kind of embarrassed to admit I find it hard to write unless the house is clean and all chores attended to. But I have this great set-up in the living room -- I sit in a La-Z-Boy with my PC discreetly hidden in a cabinet next to it. My monitor is mounted on a swing arm so I don’t have to turn my head, I set my wireless keyboard in my lap, and my wireless mouse rests on the arm of the chair. Very comfy!

 

I do like to see my characters not just in my mind's eye, so I use DAZ Studio to create them. Then I can put them in my book trailers, too, like the one I made for XN, here.

 

How do you get ideas for what you write?

 

My young son, with his limitless imagination, is constantly beginning his sentences with, “What if..?” The other day, I realized that’s how my ideas start, too. A little spark of curiosity about something -- almost anything -- will set my mind on that “What if..?” path, and the next thing I know, I’m actively plotting.

What are some of your favorite books?

 

I’ve made an effort to give new authors a chance this year and have discovered some great new voices: Rebecca Lochlann’s Child of the Erinyes series and J.S. Colley’s debut novel, The Halo Revelations, to name just a few. 

 

What is your biggest advice for young people reaching for their dreams?

 

First of all, I wouldn’t restrict my advice to young people! Whatever your age, it’s good to have dreams. Learn your craft, set goals, and follow through. Try not to let criticism slow you down too much. Filter the useful from the not-so-much. My personal mantra is: “You can’t please everyone.”

Interview with Daniel Williams

Today we continue our Dancing With The Pen blog tour with an interview with young writer Daniel Williams. Daniel is an eighteen-year-old 12th grader from Fort Wayne, Indiana. In addition to writing, his hobbies include reading, dancing, singing, and riding his bike. He is passionate about giving back to his community and is very active within the youth antiviolence movement. He is a featured young writer in Dancing With The Pen: a collection of today's best youth writing. 

Your piece "Water-Bio Poem" was published in Dancing With The Pen. How did you get your idea for this poem?

It is a sort of autobiography poem I wrote about water where I describe what water is like. It comes naturally to me and I write how I feel. I write mostly about my life.

Have you been writing for a long time?

Yes, I have been writing for eight years. One thing I like about writing is that I can express myself the way I write and feel.

What books do you enjoy reading?

Sharon M Draper, Walter Dean Myers and the late E. Lynn Harris are a few of my favorite authors.

What are you working on now?

I’m publishing my first book titled Brothers Stand Strong. I will continue writing short stories. I plan to down the road do my own writing reality show on YouTube.

Do you have any advice for other writers, or for other young people going after their dreams?

Write what you know and write from your heart. In general, follow your heart with what you want out of life.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thank you for giving young writers like myself a chance to share our works with the world.

Links:

• Order Dancing With The Pen on Amazon. (It rose to a #2 ranking on Amazon.com in the "literature anthologies" category in its first week of release!
• Please take a few seconds to "like" our Amazon page!
• And, if you have a few minutes and could write a review on Amazon, that would be fantastic! 
• You can also follow Dancing With The Pen on Facebook and Twitter. We're now featured on Goodreads, too!
• Discounted bulk orders are available at the Write On! website: www.writeonbooks.org. 

Ten Rules to Keep in Mind When Writing for Teens

1. Spend time with teens.

• Volunteer at a high school.
• People-watch at the mall.
• Ask questions.
• Build relationships.

2. Read YA lit.

• Some of my favorite authors: Ellen Hopkins, Sarah Dessen, Laurie Stolarz, Joan Bauer, Mike Lupica, Ann Brashares, Libba Bray, Randy Powell, John Green, Carl Hiaasen, Ann Rinaldi, Sonya Sones, Markus Zusak

3. Recruit a “teen advisory board” of readers.

• Many teens will be happy to help you.
• Ask them to be honest above all else!

4. Avoid being “preachy.”

• Nothing turns off a teen reader more quickly than a condescending tone.

5. Be authentic.

• Inhabit your characters. Learn their details and quirks.
• What do your characters love? Hate? Fear? Yearn for? Dream about?

6. If you use slang, use it correctly. 

• Same goes for technology references.
• Be sure to consider: what is new and popular today is tomorrow’s “old news.” Do you want to date your material?

7. Grab ’em from the first sentence.

• Have teens read the first page of your manuscript, and then ask them if they would keep reading.

8. Don’t be afraid to be dark!

• You don’t have to hold back. Teens can take what you want to throw at them.
• Many of our adult “classics” such as Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird would be considered YA if published today.

9. Create active, vibrant characters who have something at stake.

• Teens want to read about characters who are doing things, rather than just having things done to them.

10. Read your old diaries – they’re treasure troves!

• Reconnect with your teen self.
• Some of my most well-received YA lit has been based off my own persona experiences!

Interview with "Ella Enchanted" author Gail Carson Levine for TweenParent.com

Newbery Award winning author, Gail Carson Levine, talked to TweenParent.com about her experiences as a young adult novelist and shared advice for aspiring writers. As well as penning Ella Enchanted, Fairest, Dave at Night, The Wish, The Two Princesses of Bamarre and the Princess Tales among others, Gail also wrote Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly to help young authors avoid writer's block and develop a process. If your tween is interested in creative writing or is a fan of Gail's books, we highly recommend sharing this article with them.

How did you start writing? Did you always want to be a writer?

I wrote as a kid, but I never wanted to be a writer particularly. I had been drawing and painting for years and loved that. And, I meditate. One time when I was meditating, I started thinking, "Gee, Gail, you love stories - you read all the time. How come you never tell yourself a story?" While I should have been saying my mantra to myself, I started telling myself a story. It turned out to be an art appreciation book for kids with reproductions of famous artworks and pencil drawings that I did. I tried to get it published and was rejected wholesale.

That book led me to a class on writing and illustrating for kids, and when I went into it I thought that I would be more interested in illustrating. But I found that I was much more interested in writing and that I didn't like the illustrating at all. I had always been the hardest on myself when I drew and painted. I am not hard on myself when I write. I like what I write, so it is a much happier process.

That's how I got started. And then everything I wrote was rejected for nine years.

Read the rest of the interview at: http://www.tweenparent.com/articles/view/205

Neat Writing Site

Who says writing is a solitary profession?

The people at "WeBook" think writing can -- and should -- be a fun, collaborative endeavor. The site features forums for writers to receive feedback on their work, avenues for readers to critique new writing, and provides a way for writers to work together, virtually, on projects. They even publish projects by "WeBook" authors!

Check it out: http://www.webook.com/