Classy participation

March 7, 2010 • Posted in Beth Finke, blindness, radio, Uncategorized, writing, Writing for Children by

Some teachers struggle to get students to take part in class. Not me. My blindness sometimes makes class participation necessary. I take advantage of that.

Take the How to Get a Children’s Book Published session I gave this morning, for example. My publisher at Blue Marlin Publications generously provided me with handouts she uses during similar presentations. I especially wanted to share one called What The Author Might Be Thinking vs. Why The Publisher is Banging Her Head against the Table. Here’s an example from that list, just to give you an idea:

Myth: Publishers like to see the text and illustrations as a package. I’ll just draw some pictures to go with my text.
Fact: NO, please don’t do that unless you are a professional illustrator, and you have written a book to accompany your professional illustrations. Illustration is a career, and there is so much more to this career than just drawing pictures. Publishers work with their own illustrators who are very familiar with the needs and specifications of that publisher. Send only your text to the publisher.

Cover design for Safe & Sound.

Anthony Latourneau, our illustrator, is a real pro.

The handout listed so many myths that it was impossible for me to memorize them. Instead, I asked the student on my right to read from the top of the list. After we discussed the first myth, the student next to her read the second. And on from there. Voila! Class participation.

if you read the comments to my previous post, you know I was a bit anxious about the Getting Personal Essays on Public Radio session I’d been asked to give today. To start it off, I asked each student to give me their first name and tell me what they’re reading. This had absolutely nothing to do with my session, I just figured if the whole thing was a bust at least I’d leave with a good reading list for myself!

The students were not seated in even rows. Cocking my head to the left, I said, “Let’s start with you,” and prayed to the heavens that someone was sitting there. The heavens answered.

Kate told us what she was reading. Without much fuss, and without me directing traffic, the class intuited who should go next, and then who should go after that. When Kenya introduced herself, she said she was reading a book called White Like Me. “And I’m not White!”

Reading list completed, a student let me know my handouts were sitting on a table at the side of the room. “Would you like me to hand them out?” Humbled by how quickly everyone had adjusted to my blindness, I thanked the student. She introduced herself as Jane and said she’d been a teaching assistant for a long while. “I’m good at this!” she laughed. When it came time to play one of my public radio essays, Jane was at the ready, manipulating the CD player for me.

The session was fun and informal, with lots of back and forths. When it came time to do the writing exercises, we only had two minutes left. Oh, well. We kept talking instead. The students didn’t seem to mind.

I’d writemore, but I’m in my hotel robe, Hanni is already snoring, and I’m thinking about a luxurious afternoon nap myself. Zzzzzzz.

Elizabeth "BJ" Ermenc On March 7, 2010 at 9:56 pm

zzzzzzzzzz indeed! I wish I had been in your workshop Beth, but I needed to learn about the internet and how to promote my children’s book business. I took advantage of the energy generated by the weekend, including meeting you and Hanni, to take my pup, Moxie T., to the dog park. Surprise! It was a sea of mud! Moxie, while stepping a tad gingerly, did not mind overall. But between slogging along behind her, giving her a bath back at home, then cleaning the bathtub, totally used up my remaining reserves. I soaked in a hot tub myself before coming on line to do a bit of follow-up after the conference, and now plan to drift happily off into dreamland myself.

PS Moxie was totally thrilled to hear of our meeting AND that Hanni not only autographed the book, but did so directly to Moxie! Happy Travels! BJ & Moxie T.

Bob On March 8, 2010 at 10:31 am

Will you post that reading list here? Hope so!

Beth Finke, blog moderator On March 8, 2010 at 10:32 am

Oh, Bob, that would have been a good idea. I didn’t take notes, but I can think of some of the books…stay tuned to the blog, maybe I’ll post them. Thanks for the suggestion!

Beth Finke, blog moderator On March 8, 2010 at 10:35 am

And BJ, glad you had a chance to spend some time in the tub, there was a lot to “soak in” after that confrence!

Sierra On March 8, 2010 at 4:35 pm

Thank you, Beth, for your very informative class on getting children’s books published. You gave me several ideas about improving my query process. Also, thanks for your encouragement! It was a great presentation!

Beth On March 8, 2010 at 5:16 pm

Oh, Sierra, I’m so glad you commented here, it allows me to mention something I forgot to put in the post.
THANK YOU, Sierra, for solving a problem during my presentation, for some reason I was completely dumbstruck when someone in the children’s book session said I was short three handouts. Simple problem, really, but I was so engaged in what I wanted to present that I just didn’t know what to doo about it.
Sierra to the rescue! Thank you *so* much for jumping to your feet and finding the right folks at the fest to make more copies of the handout for us – a couple of those handouts will be very helpful for everyone who attended that session yesterday, and thanks to you they all have copies.
And thank you for your compliments, too, they mean a lot to me, coming from an accomplished writer like you.

Kelly Klein On March 9, 2010 at 12:05 pm

It was great meeting you during our breakfast chat on Sunday, Beth! Your enthusiasm for writing is contagious and you were so encouraging to everyone at the table.

I also loved your book. Glad you had the chance to pass it around to encourage those of us who aren’t yet published!

Kelly

bethfinke On March 9, 2010 at 3:01 pm

Kelly, your comment gives me a chance to mention yet *another* thing I didn’t put in the post — the organizers of the UW-Milwaukee Writer’s Fest were wise enough to arrange the breakfast tables so that people in a particular genre — poetry, short fiction, childrens books — would all sit together. What a nice, informal way to learn from each other, I had to choose between sitting at “non-fiction” (for the radio session) or “childrens books.” have no idea what I may have missed by skipping the non-fiction table, but sure had a swell time with the children’s writing group. It was great to meet you, Kelly. Oh, and glad you liked our book!

Jennifer Motl On March 9, 2010 at 11:41 pm

Beth, thanks for the great session on writing for NPR! You have a great sense of humor, too.
Jenny

Jane the TA On March 10, 2010 at 4:24 pm

Thanks for mentioning me, Beth. I was very happy to help you out. Your session on NPR at the Spring Writers Festival was very entertaining and informative. I didn’t write down the books people mentioned reading but my book was “Birds of America” by Lorrie Moore. I just finished “Driftless” by David Rhodes. I highly recommend both.

bethfinke On March 10, 2010 at 5:05 pm

Oh, Jane, I *loved* “Birds of America,” especially the story called
“People Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk”
And no, I didn’t know the story title by heart, I had to look it up!
I bet I’ll like “Driftless,” too – Do I remember that when you brought it up Sunday you said it was written by a Wisconsin author? I’m putting it on my reading list –thanks!

Trina On March 13, 2010 at 11:01 am

Like some of the others, I wish I was there, too. The myths handout sounds so helpful. Please let me know if you decide to post it. I’d love to share it on my blog.

All best,
Trina

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