Tumblr

I kept seeing people talking about Tumblr and I decided to try it out. It is like a blog, but seems to be more about pictures and images, so I don't have to think of all the words and stuff. For more frequent updates, inspiration, or just cool photos--come check it out.

Aimee's Window Tumblr

Writing Warm Up

I keep coming to my blog, opening up a new post, and then I sit here and stare at the screen. I am having blog-writers-block. Ironically, I can open Scrivener, switch to full screen mode (which blacks out everything but the "page" and off I go. I worry about it some, but I guess it's okay to have writer's block on my blog if things are working in my manuscript. (Well, sorta working . . . it is just a first draft after all!)

So my only idea for a blog post today is to tell you about Scrivener. I could go on and on, but I will just tell you my four favorite things and then send you to a link where they say it better.

1. Full-Screen Mode where all you see is the page on a black background (or any background you choose). It keeps me from surfing around on Itunes or checking my email.

2. Name Generator. Very cool feature that prevents me from getting on the internet or looking in magazines to find names. And I keep working.

3. The Cork Board. You can switch to a view where all your chapters show up looking like index cards on a cork board. Makes me feel very organized and it looks much, much better than the pile of sticky notes, papers, napkins, receipts, and crayons that are actually sitting next to me.

4. FREE Trial. That's how I ended up buying it. I tried it free and I loved it. They also offer a discount for teachers, makes me feel the love!

So go to Scrivener get your free trial copy and generate names. You won't regret it!

Back in action!

April seems to be the month when I catch the writing bug. In April 2008, I was on the fourth straight day of standardized testing, my best friend was sequestered at home while she endured chemo, and I couldn't grade papers due to testing rules. Locked in my classroom with kids I didn't know, I started my first book. I watched those teenagers and realized how much I liked telling their stories. I started to make up scenarios about the very students sitting in my room. It wasn't hard. I didn't know too much about them, so my ideas weren't terribly tainted with reality. It was all fiction in my head, and I loved it.

I came home from school that day and started scribbling the ideas on a legal pad. I think I wrote about 5,000 words those first couple of days. The story just came pouring out. My first two "real" characters, Anna and Daniel were born. Not nearly as messy as real babies. And I was hooked.

But eventually the ideas slow down. Eventually my family demands to be fed. All productivity slows or even stops.

Those characters are never far away. They talk to me in the shower. They show up in my dreams. I hear kids at the mall make comments, and I think "Anna would say that."

Last week I got to attend a conference in San Antonio and hear Will Hobbs speak. His stories are fun and adventuresome, very different from my teenage love drama, but he said a few things that really stuck with me.

One: He started writing and eight short years later, he was published. It's great to hear a real publishing story. Not the I-wrote-a-book-in-my-sleep-and-publishers-threw-money-at-me story.

Two: One of his characters is based on a former student, he even named her. I will keep making up stories for those kids I see in my room every day. I love them too much not to!

So, off I go. The ideas are here and I must be a good hostess.

It's almost time!

November is almost here and that means one thing--National Novel Writing Month! Let the madness begin!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/312950

Speaking up for SPEAK

Several years ago I did a unit of Literature Circles with a group of students. The process of Lit Circles has students choose novels and the students who read the same novel work their way through the book together. The few years that I have done this, I usually choose a book and read with a group as well.

One year, I chose to read the novel Speak with a group. That year the group happened to be all girls--there were three of them, and I made member number four.

I remember talking about how sassy Melinda was, how we loved how she nicknamed her teachers, and that we ached for her lonely situation. One of the girls in the group was very artistic and made wonderful art pieces to go along with the book.

I got to "the scene" before the girls did, so I knew what was coming, but I was unprepared for their reaction. They had read that part on their own, and then we were to have a discussion. I remember that day as the girls sat kind of quietly for a while, we didn't really know what to say. Then one of girls looked up at the rest of us and there were tears streaming down her face. We all froze; we all knew what she was trying to say. One of the other girls reached over and grabbed her hand. I knew if she wanted to talk, she would, and I did the only thing I could think of--I read the next part to them. I wanted desperately to show them that Melinda was okay, that she was able to overcome what happened to her. I remember looking up to see those hands clasped together as I read to them. It still chokes me up to this day. A few days later, the girl came up to my desk during class, her copy of Speak in her hands, and asked to go see the counselor. She seemed like a weight had been removed from her shoulders. She never told us her story, she didn't need to, Melinda told it for us.

The power of this novel speaks volumes. Students and teens must have a chance to read this book. Taking this book away from students or calling it "soft porn" is the same ignorance that took Melinda's voice away. We must continue letting this story get to students and the world.
I had the good fortune of meeting Laurie Halse Anderson a few years ago. I wanted to tell her this story of my student, but just got choked up instead. That's the power of this book. It speaks for us--for all of us.

For more information about Laurie Halse Anderson or the article that is misleading people about her book, please visit her blog and please SPEAK up for her book.

My New Best Friend

I have an aging, temperamental laptop. I am forever trying to prolong its life and double/triple back things up. My gmail account is becoming littered with files that I have sent and resent to myself just so that I have a backup copy somewhere.

Then I found a new site that is saving so much time and is literally saving my writing. Dropbox is awesome. It offers an easy way to backup files, sync files, and share files. And I love that I can save things on my laptop and still be able to get to them on other computers--like my reliable, tech supported school computer! Best part--it's free.

No more emailing files. No more worries. My new best friend.