Children's Book Writer

Thursday, March 13, 2008
Character Exploration - Poetry Exercise

Cinquains are 5 line poems with the following form:
1st line: two syllables, a noun (your subject)
2nd line: four syllables, adjectives, to describe the subject in line 1.
3rd line: six syllables, an action statement describing the subject in line 1.
4th line: eight syllables, describing a feeling about the subject
5th line: two syllables, a synonym or word that refers back to the subject.

Challenge 1: Write a cinquain about the main character in your current work-in-progress. If you don't have a work-in-progress, pick a character in your favorite picture book, such as Fancy Nancy, or No, David! Think about what defines the main character, what his goal is, and what stands in the way of achieving his goal.

Challenge 2: Write a cinquain about your antagonist. How does he stand in the way of the main character? What is his goal?

Challenge 3: Write a cinquain about your least developed character. What is his goal? What does he look like? How does he relate to the main character? Do they share anything in common?

Were you able to write about your characters in 22 syllables? The cinquain form is a helpful prewriting technique for character exploration.

Thursday, March 20, 2008
Sense of Place Writing Prompt

Can you create a sense of place without explicitly describing the location? Carl Hiaasen (Hoot, Flush) has an incredible gift for establishing his sense of place within the first few paragraphs of his books, sometimes without ever having to actually state that the story takes place in Florida. Take this example from Hoot:

"The boy was straw-blond and wiry, and his skin was nut-brown from the sun...He wore a faded Miami Heat basketball jersey and dirty khaki shorts..."

While this seems on the surface a description of a character, notice how Hiassen gives you not just information about the boy, but about the place in which he lives. Hiassen establishes that the boy is nut-brown from the sun, implying that the boy spends a lot of time outdoors and that he lives in a hot and sunny place. The boy also wears a faded Miami Heat basketball jersey. The jersey is faded, maybe because it is old, or maybe because it too has spent considerable time outdoors in the Florida sun. Interesting too is that the jersey is a Miami Heat jersey - just reading the words Miami Heat establishes in the reader's mind that the location is hot, and likely in Florida.

How do you tell the locals from tourists, visitors, or new arrivals to your town? What gives them away? Using your home town as the location, select a character and an opening sentence from the lists below, and try to establish a sense of place in three paragraphs . If you want to make it more challenging, try not to explicitly state your location.

Character List:
Axel P. Creight, age 15
Samantha, age 15
Lee, age 9
Stubby, age 7
Berta Sorrows, age 52
Lexie, age 8
Josh, age 13

Opening Sentences:
The boy covered his ears, and turned away from the flash...
Maybe if I ignored her, she'd go away - far away - like to another galaxy where I wouldn't have to take care of her...
All I want is one little glass of chocolate milk with breakfast, I mean, is that too much to ask?
They never take care of that poor dog...
When I say two minutes, I usually mean five minutes, or sometimes fifteen minutes, if I am doing something really important...

Thursday March 27, 2009
Concept Book Writing Prompt