Interview with Textploit: Part II

Last month, I learned about Textploit, a new literary journal that exclusively publishes work by young people (writers and artists under age 20, to be precise.) I was blown away by the talent, variety, and sheer bravery of the work in their debut issues. Earlier we had two of Textploit's Editors-in-Chief, Natasha Lasky and Ella Bartlett, on the blog -- you can read their interview here if you missed it. Today I am pleased to feature an interview with Textploit's third Editor-in-Chief, Siqi Liu!

How would you describe Textploit, and what gave you the idea to start it? Could you give us a peek inside your path to founding this journal?

Siqi: Textploit is an inclusive platform for young writers and artists to share their voices. After being an editor at other literary magazines, I became very passionate about the process of creating high quality literary arts productions. When Natasha and Ella told me about the initial idea of starting our own magazine, I became enamored, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that.

I'd love to hear more about your various writing projects. What inspires you?

Siqi: I’m always starting one short story or another, and I’ve recently been venturing into poetry. I’m also thinking about starting a novel this summer, so I’m excited about that. I’m usually inspired by personal experiences; I like taking bits and pieces of my own life and extract something beautiful and coherent out of the banal chaos.

What made you want to become a writer?

Siqi: I love people, and I think my desire to get to know people better was and still is why I write. I’ve always had an impulse for telling character-centric stories. By writing, I can try to understand human nature.

Could you give us a sample "day in the life"? In particular, when/how do you find time to write?

Siqi: I’m kind of a seasonal writer. I’m most productive during school breaks because I find it difficult to be creative under stress. However, when I do write, I tend to sit down for a large chunk of time (at least several hours) on the weekend and try to churn out X number of pages. But I don’t really set a goal for myself. Sometimes I can write five pages in two hours, sometimes only five paragraphs. And that’s okay.

What is your biggest advice for writers submitting their work, and facing the inevitable rejection that comes along with that? Any tips for submitting to Textploit in particular?

Siqi: As someone who has been rejected plenty of times, I would say that it’s more important to think about the journey than the result. Every piece we produce as writers came from somewhere within, and during the process of spilling out that chunk of our soul on paper, we have grown -- both as writers and as people. Don’t regret or dwell on rejections because the journey is always worth it. As for tips for submitting to Textploit, I would say to submit the piece that has your bravest voice. We love fresh styles, experimental forms, and daring tales.

Why is it important for young people to have a voice in the publishing landscape?

Siqi: Grownups are constantly trying to get into teenagers’ heads. Adults write about us, sing about us, make art about us. So why aren’t we hearing from young people themselves? I think it’s important for teens to have a voice so the world stops thinking of us as projections from the imagination of thirty, forty, fifty year olds and start seeing us as who we really are.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Siqi: We are currently looking for art, music, and film editors! Contact us at admin@textploit.com if you are interested.

Part II: Interview with Alan Sitomer, award-winning author of NERD GIRLS

Today I am delighted to continue our Write On! interview with award-winning author and California 2007 Teacher of the Year Alan Sitomer. His latest book, Nerd Girls, is available on Amazon here. 

Besides being an author, you are an award-winning teacher. How does teaching influence your writing and the creation of your material?

I show all of my books to real kids first. My students, former students, fans I have gotten to know from around the country, they all get to check out my books hot off the press before anyone else gets a chance to see them. That means before my literary agent. That means before my editor. That means before anyone in the adult world who works in “the publishing industry.” Real kids are my readers and if they don’t like something – if they don’t laugh, if they don’t cry, if they don’t approve – then it doesn’t really matter what the adults think.

Kids are my best, and toughest audience. If my books flies with them, then I know I am good and I’ll go ahead and take it to the next level and begin to show it to the people in the publishing industry. But if I do not get their seal of approval, I stop, listen to their feedback and go back into the piece to go make it work. It’s probably why my fans are so loyal; they know that I respect them and I listen to them and I like them.

Kids who read my books can know that other kids have read them first and given the “Thumbs Up!” sign. I really think that is an important element to my work.

You often talk about “puttin’ the fun” in reading, writing and school. Why?

Let’s be honest: sometimes school can get SO BORING! And there’s no reason for it. But still, grumpy adults sometimes send the message to kids that life is to be serious, serious, serious and humorless, humorless, humorless.

To them I say BLAAAAHHH!

Students are at their best when they are enjoying what they are doing. Students will read more books when they like what they are reading. Students will learn more about a subject when they like what they are learning. Students will try harder to do a good job on the work they are being asked to do if they like the work that they are doing.

That’s my belief and I am sticking with it. (Besides, I was named California Teacher of the Year so ya might think I know just a wee little bit about this stuff, huh?)

Of course, there is a time to be serious. But being serious does not mean that you can’t enjoy yourself. Of course kids have to realize that there are some things in life you just have to do - and do well - even if they are not “fun.” I get that. It’s called reality and the bigger point of school is not to be entertaining. But for the most part I’ve found it’s actually quite satisfying to work really, really hard on something that challenges you deeply. Finding the joy in the challenge is what brings out the best in us.

However, sad to say, it seems as if some schools have forgotten this. Not all – and if you have a teacher that tries hard to make learning fun and meaningful and exciting and interesting – consider yourself lucky. Why? Because I’d venture to say that teachers like this eventually end up teaching you a great deal. School is not a comedy club, but it’s not a funeral home, either, and I believe that a classroom without laughter is a classroom that is not operating at its highest possible potential. Before kids are students, they are people and people need to laugh much like they need to eat and breathe and love.

Just to be clear, I believe that working hard is important. In my classroom, I have little patience for goof-offs but I have a lotta love for kids who put good ol’ fashioned positive energy into their efforts. My belief is that you are not enjoying the work, you probably aren’t going to learn as much as you would if you were enjoying the work. Plus, you are much more likely to try harder when you care about and enjoy what you are doing. Making reading enjoyable and making writing enjoyable makes better readers and writers.

Fun is my secret sauce. It works!

What else can we expect from Nerds Girls beyond this first book?

There is all kinds of crazy, fun stuff right now. I’ve built a game. I’ve created some author videos. There’s a Nerd Girls comic.

All free for anyone who wants them.

Of course, there’s already Hollywood talk of a movie and a TV show and clothes and merchandise and blah, blah, blah. (www.TheNerdGirlsWorld.com is the home base for information about all of this stuff.)

But for me, it’s all about the core material right now. Nerd Girls Book II is on its way and beyond that there are a few more surprises in the works.

All in all, I guess it’s just about making sure to have fun, work hard and continue enjoying all the great kids I get to meet who have become fans of my writing. Of course, the teachers and the librarians are great, too, but it’s all about the kids. Their approval means the most to me.

And really, how ridiculously lucky am I to have it? As I tell folks all the time, it’s quite healthy to channel your inner nerd. That’s all I am doing right now. It’s good for the soul.

If you missed Part I of my interview with Alan, check it out here.

Links:

• Alan's official website: www.AlanSitomer.com
• Nerd Girls books: www.TheNerdGirlsWorld.com

Part I: Interview with Alan Sitomer, award-winning author of NERD GIRLS

Alan Sitomer is California’s 2007 Teacher of the Year. In addition to being an inner-city high school English teacher and former professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University, Mr. Sitomer is a nationally renowned speaker specializing in engaging reluctant readers who received the 2004 award for Classroom Excellence from the Southern California Teachers of English and the 2003 Teacher of the Year honor from California Literacy. In 2007, Alan was named Educator of the Year by Loyola Marymount University and in 2008 The Insight Education Group named him Innovative Educator of the Year.

Mr. Sitomer has also authored 11 books to date for esteemed publishers such as Disney, Scholastic, Penguin/Putnam, and RB Education. These include six young adult novels, three children’s picture books, two teacher methodology books, and a classroom curriculum series for secondary English Language Arts instruction called The Alan Sitomer BookJam. In the past he’s been honored by the American Library Association (the A.L.A. named Homeboyz a Top Ten Book of the Year 2008, receiving the prestigious ALA Quick Pick Recognition for young adult novel which best engages reluctant readers) and within the next 18 months Alan will have four new titles hitting the shelves.

Mr. Sitomer is currently on sabbatical from the classroom as he works to re-shape literacy education through policy dialogue, professional development workshops, and authoring new materials for classroom use. He was kind enough to fit an interview with Write On! into his very busy schedule to talk about his newest release, NERD GIRLS, released last month from Disney books.

Alan, it is truly an honor to have you here today! What inspired you to write Nerd Girls?

There are a variety of reasons why I wrote Nerd Girls. Number one, I’m sorta a dork. I mean, I like reading, I like writing, I like learning about things that interest me and I love teachers and librarians.

Plus, I’ve been known to embarrass myself now and then. For example, I once gave an oral report in front of an entire class with my fly unzipped. I thought people were laughing at my ingenious use of comedy. Instead they could see my tightie-whities.

Oy vey!

Of course, when I was a kid in school this made my life kinda tough but once I realized that I am what I am the world got a lot easier for me. I wasn’t cool, sexy, the class president, or voted most likely to conquer the planet. I was awkward with members of the opposite sex, laughed like a goofball, and there were times when I felt like the loneliest person on the planet.

Add it all up and I was a nerd.

Then I realized, once I got older, that there are more of “us” than there are of “them” anyway so I decided to channel my inner nerd and put some smiles on paper. The result was this book and it’s been received really, really well. (Hey, people like to laugh.) I’m very proud of the work and plan to do more.

Nerd Girls is your first comedy. How is writing comedy different than writing in other genres?

Writing comedy is very different in some regards and yet, writing comedy is very much the same as all other genres of writing. For example, when you write action adventure, you have chase scenes where the bad guy hotly pursues the hero in fast paced, breathless action. In comedy, somebody farts. Or bonks their head. Or farts while bonking their head while being hotly pursued by a bad guy in fast paced-breathless action.

As you can see, it’s an art.

However, the rules of good writing still apply. You must have a protagonist with a goal who wants something. And that protagonist must have stuff that gets in their way which prevents them from obtaining that which they want.

Stories are all about protagonists taking meaningful journeys. And we love stories so because all of us are taking our own journeys right now. We identify with people who get into trouble, people who have a crush, people who screw up BIG TIME and people who pull a rabbit out of their butt at the very last minute and save the day in a way that proves, “Ya know what, I actually have something good to offer this world after all. So NAH!”

And then they fart and then we smile and then we realize that the characters in the books we read and love are actually our true friends. They are people who understand us, people who inspire us and people who make us realize that doing good things and living in a good way makes us feel good on the inside.

Really, what beats that?

Where did the kooky characters in this book come from?

The first kooky character is probably me. I just love to laugh. Basically, my rule is, if the book doesn’t make me laugh, then why in the world should I expect that it’s going to make anyone else laugh, either? This means that while I was writing Nerd Girls, I was laughing a lot.

Out loud.

All by myself.

In a room with no other human beings. Just me sitting behind a desk laughing out loud with no one else around.

They lock people up for that kind of stuff.

Also, some parts of the book were written when I was sitting on airplanes on my way to go visit a school and talk with the kids. (I do that a lot.) This means I’m the loony guy chuckling out loud to himself on a crowded airplane where no one else ever gets to see the joke or learns what’s so funny.

I’m used to people staring. But hey, whatever works, right?

Of course I draw my inspiration from other people, too. Lots of real people. Real kids especially. Here’s a practice test.

1) Think of a dork you know.

2) Now think of that person doing something dorky.

3) Now think of that person doing something dorky while thinking to themselves that what they are doing is not dorky at all but rather totally normal behavior.

That right there is how my characters are born. Some people are just downright funny. I put those people in my books. See… simple.

I gotta admit though, I think I was born with a weirdo magnet in my body because kooky, nutty, dorky, oddballs just seem to find me. When I was a kid in middle school, I knew people who smelled their belly button lint. When I went to college, I knew a person that ate their cereal with Coca-Cola instead of milk. Now, as an adult, people who own hairless dogs sit next to me and just start conversations for no reason at all.

Like I said, it must be a magnet. But when you are a writer, it comes in handy.

Indeed, all of my characters are fiction. But really, they’re not. They’re just people I know or see or meet with a few name changes. After all, why invent dorks and nerds and doofuses when there are dorks and nerds and doofuses all around us?

In Nerd Girls the good guys win but also, they don’t. Why write a book for kids that is layered with complexity like this?

Look, kids today are smart. Wicked smart. And writing neat little sweet stories that wrap up like perfect little fairy tales is hardly the way the real world works.

Now, I don’t want to give anything away about the book for those that have not yet read it but are planning to, but twists are important to good books. It’s part of the magic that makes them memorable and while I wanted to write an LOL comedy – which I kinda believe I have – I also wanted to make sure today’s young readers didn’t feel as if I was writing down to them or not respecting their cerebral abilities. Like I said, kids today are smart and sure, they want to laugh, but they also want to be challenged and appreciated for being more intelligent than so many adults often believe they are.

Nerd Girls is layered and complex because today’s young people are layered and complex. But today’s young people also have a wonderful sense of humor. They love to laugh.

And so do I.

In a way, this laughter is where we all get to meet.

# # #

Check back tomorrow for PART II of my interview with Alan Sitomer!

And in the meantime, for more information about Alan, please visit his official website at www.AlanSitomer.com.

Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes honors outstanding young leaders who have made a significant positive difference to people and our planet. Their leadership and courage make them true heroes—and inspirations to us all.

Each year, the Barron Prize honors twenty-five winners nationwide. Half of the winners have focused on helping their communities and fellow beings; half have focused on protecting the health and sustainability of the environment.

These young people reflect the great diversity of America. They are female and male, urban and rural, and from many backgrounds. Examples are Michaella, who organized a rodeo for disabled kids; Carter, who led the effort to conserve a local river; Ashley, who created a scholarship fund for African girls; Kyle, who organized a reading mentorship program; Joying, who cleaned up South Carolina's beaches; Ryan, who helped provide clean drinking water to more than 70 African villages; and Barbara, who created a successful oil recycling project in Texas.

The goal of the Barron Prize is to celebrate such heroic young people—and to inspire others to do their part. Like the woman for whom the prize was named—my mother, Gloria Barron—these young people demonstrate the power of one person to make a difference to the world.


http://www.barronprize.org/nominate/to_nominate.html