Writing Award

Yesterday, my son, Derek, got a call from the editor of The Suffolk County News, the local newspaper he wrote a series of articles for about his experiences along the Appalachian Trail. He won second place in the NY Press Association's feature story division. Hooray!

In the beginning, he wasn't sure he wanted to write the articles. He didn't know if he'd have ready access to a computer or if he'd have enough to say every other week for five months or so. As it turned out, the people in the little towns along the AT were more than willing to share a computer with him and the people he met, the scenery, weather, moments of joy and frustration provided him with a wealth of writing material.

I know it's not the Pulitzer Prize but we are so enormously proud of Derek.

Is it Such a Smart Idea?

School districts have always been in a hurry to acquire the latest technological marvel. When I was kid (and I know I'm dating myself here), filmstrips and 16mm movies were big. School districts all wanted the latest audio-visual equipment. It made everybody think they were on the cutting edge of education. Then it was television, videos, computers, CD ROMs, DVDs and now? Now it's - ta da - the Smartboard!

Educators get very excited with the mere mention of the word Smartboard, as though students are going to become geniuses as soon as their little fingers come in direct contact with one. I realize that Smartboards are pretty nice. They're big interactive computers on large boards and kids love computers, right? They are undoubtedly good teaching tools. But why can't school districts wait until the price comes down a little? And why do they try to stock every school with a supply of Smartboards when we need basics like books?

I'm a little annoyed because, sigh, here they go again chasing down the next technological thingamajig when the sad little library they transferred me to is standing there with its half-empty shelves and my students are asking me for the latest Spiderwick Chronicles book, or if I have May Bird and the Ever After, or Skippyjon Jones, or some new Percy Jackson books (I don't have any). Aaarrgh! It's all so frustrating! If you want children to become better readers, you have to offer them more good books.

So, I expect that within five years or so, Smartboards will be languishing in the storage closet along with those outdated computers and dot matrix printers that also cost thousands of dollars while kids will still be checking out the books we purchased ten years ago, books that don't feature videos, play music, have flash drives or display pop-up ads. The truth is, books last longer and probably do more to shape lives than machines. Machines are tools. Books are windows on the world.

Voice?

There's a lot of discussion among writers about "voice". But what is it? Editors claim it's probably the most important element of writing. They can help you fix the plot, the wording, the action. But voice? That's one element an author must grapple with all alone.

I've decided that the only voice an author really needs to worry about is that of the characters. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think voice refers to the personality of your characters. In a well-written book, the main character's voice or personality shines clearly through within a few pages of the first chapter. Maybe within a few paragraphs or sentences, even. Take, for instance, the voice of Death in Markus Zusak's novel, The Book Thief (Knopf, 2006).

HERE IS A SMALL FACT. You are going to die. I am in all truthfulness attempting to be cheerful about this whole topic, though most people find themselves hindered in believing me, no matter my protestations. Please, trust me. I most definitely can be cheerful. I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. And that's onlys the A's. Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me.

Within a few sentences, Zusak has given Death a distinctive, snarky personality. He's intriguing and you keep reading. Or at least I did.

Writing style, though? That something else again. Cynthia Rylant, for example, has a distinctively simple and beautiful writing style that permeates all her writing, whether it's picture books, novels, autobiography or poetry. It's always there and easily identifiable. J.D. Salinger and William Steig also have a distinctive writing style and each very different from the other.

It seems that an author must establish the voice of the main characters almost immediately but that style is something he or she develops more slowly over years of writing. Style is more subtle. I think it has to be. Highly stylized writing detracts from the voice of the characters. Writing is always such a tricky balancing act.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Some Good News

I haven't blogged much lately. Too many things cropped up at the same time. After vacation, I had a children's lit. class I had to prepare for. After two class sessions, I can say I'm enjoying it but that it's a lot of work -- a lot of dragging books from one school to the next, of preparing book talks and figuring out some activities we can do with our "students" (fellow teachers). Lucky for me I'm not doing it by myself. I'm teaching the course along with a few of the other library media specialists. After getting up before daybreak and teaching all day, nearly everybody looks a little glassy-eyed but they all say they're enjoying it. Yay!

I do have some good news to post. My youngest son, who graduated from SUNY Oswego in December, just landed a teaching job!! He went for an interview last week, did a demo lesson, and spoke with the superintendent. He'll begin the job in September. This is the son we worried about, the one who never liked school. Being ADD, he had trouble sitting in his seat, getting organized, staying on top of his work. We tried him on ritalin, then another drug to help him focus but he hated all of them. They kept him awake at night, they made him gain weight. He didn't feel like himself. So, finally we took him off the drugs and sometimes he did well in school and other times he struggled. With much arm twisting, he finally agreed to give college a try. He struggled a little in his first year, but after he discovered a field that interested him, he stuck to it and graduated. Along the way, he even found he liked history and writing from time to time.

I signed up for Chautauqua this summer and now wonder if I have any business going. I'm sure everybody will be so far above and beyond me that I'm a little fearful of the whole thing. One part of me longs to go yet another part wants to hide someplace. I have no desire to be in the spotlight. I wonder if they'll have us read our work out loud (cringe). Anybody know?

I know I'm rambling. But it's nearly spring and I'm restless.

Vacation Time

Over President's week, we went to Vermont to ski. We stayed at a picturesque bed and breakfast inn with one tv and virtually no cell phone or internet access. We survived just fine, thank you. Since none of the rooms had television, everybody gathered in the big living room in the evening to play board games -- Scrabble, chess, Boggle, etc. -- or to work on a puzzle, read, chat, enjoy a glass of wine or just lay back and eavesdrop on other conversations.

When our boys were young, we often stayed at the Waitsfield Inn for this very reason. Our kids never forgot it. They enjoyed the skiing but, more than that, they remembered the other personalities they met during their short stay. "Remember the guy who rode his bike every day of the year? The guy who did magic tricks? The chess genius?" Ah yes, how could we ever forget?

We skied Sugarbush Mountain and wonderful Mad River Glenn, a cooperatively owned ski area and home of the country's remaining one man chairlift. Mad River Glenn is a special place run by special people who care about the environment. They do little to next to no grooming and haven't clear-cut the mountain like so many other ski areas. The ski trails are the original ones -- narrow, winding and incredibly hard! I love their names -- Fox, Bunny, Cricket,Birdland, Antelope,Paradise, Waterfall, Grasshopper. As innocuous as they sound, they're all difficult and filled with narrow winding twists and moguls. Just like the old days. A few years ago, I thought I'd try Bunny. It sounded harmless. As it turned out, the trail was difficult -- narrow, winding and full of moguls -- and any other ski area probably would have given it a black diamond.

The day we skiied Sugarbush, the Today Show did a broadcast from the mountain so we caught a peek of Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Meredith. Mostly they talked about how cold it was (-5 degrees at the summit) and how to stay warm.

Thursday, as I'm sure everybody knows, it was Valentine's Day. Everybody wore red and pink to school. It was also my son's 24th birthday. Gotta say, he was the best Valentine's Day present I ever got. No box of chocolates or bunch of roses can ever quite compare to the feeling of holding your first baby in your arms. Never mind that he had colic and cried nearly nonstop for the first three months.

I'd almost forgotten about how tired I was until I ran into David, a special ed teacher I work with. His new little girl, Ava, has been keeping him awake night after night. The other day, his wife asked him why he'd put the ice cream away in the cupboard. I remember turning off the shower because I thought the baby was crying only to hear nothing. I was so exhausted, I was imagining things. My husband, who teaches math, often wrote the wrong problems on the board, walked into walls, etc.. Being a new parent is a joy but not without its trials. Even when they're grown and on their own, somehow you never forget your first experiences as a parent.

February Blahs

It's February third and I've been feeling twitchy. Had a minor foot operation about a month ago that threw me off my running routine. I never realize how much I need to run until I can't. Running is hard, yeah, but like nearly everything that's a challenge, it's satisfying. Running helps me burn off my anxieties, to sleep soundly and keep my weight down. Today I took a brisk walk for the first time in a month and, even though it wasn't running, it felt good to work up something near a sweat.

The way I see it, people weren't made to sit in front of a box and veg out. Most of the teachers I work with watch tv at night for entertainment. I don't get it. In fact, one of the major topics of conversation in the faculty room is American Idol and who's going or not going to get cut. With the writers' strike going into who knows how many weeks now, some of them seem lost without a new show to tune into. Maybe we need a book club but right now, I just don't want to be the person running it.

After work, I write, read, browse the internet and usually try to work in some exercise at the gym or by walking or running through the neighborhood. On the weekends, I also paint. I rarely watch tv. The endless commercials bore me and for me, reality tv is cheap tv. Personally, I find the written word more intriguing than most of the crap and insipid trivia that dominates the airwaves. Unfortunately, a lot of that drivel is migrating over to print. How many stories does the average person need to read about Britney Spears and her nervous breakdown?

I love a good movie but last weekend my husband and I tried to go see Atonement. Unfortunately, it was sold out. Aaargh!

Anyhow, what do you do for relaxation after a day at work? I'd love to hear it.

And oh, yeah, GO GIANTS!