Becky Gehrisch Creates a writing program for Camp

Last year Becky Gehrisch chatted with Kathy Halsey here at the GROG about her new book, Escape to Play. She mentioned that she did writing programs with kids for art camps and library programs, so I asked if she'd share some thoughts.  She did! Without further ado, here's Becky.

I've had the pleasure of teaching many classes on illustration, art, and writing but one specific example I’d like to share is the “Creating A Picture Book Dummy” class. The first thing I learned is to use any word except “dummy”! Kids just couldn’t get past that! I have renamed it “Get the Picture: How words in picture books are half the story!” A clever or engaging title is a fun way to engage an audience and pique their interest in a talk.

I adapted my writing camp talks to address kids of different age groups from ages 8-17. One set of classes were at the Thurber House, in Columbus Ohio. The Thurber House is a non-profit literary arts center and museum and is located in the home of humor writer - and cartoonist  - James Thurber. They offer camps, workshops, author presentations, and other literary events!

Many writing camps and programs have a submission form on their website or at their facility. For the camps I taught, I had seen an advertisement on social media for an upcoming writing camp for kids. I reached out through email and they directed me to the submission form. It was great timing and they liked my pitch!

I have found that presenting a slideshow helped the kids who are the auditory and visual learners. I broke down picture books that had great page turn and text placement. After the Fall by Dan Santat is an excellent example. We discussed the placement of text on a page, how words are chosen carefully, and how the illustrations tell half of the story. Good picture book writers don’t describe everything in a picture book. 

Becky's list of Great Examples

 I also showed some of my past book dummies to critique in the slide show. As a group, we looked at how I could have simplified the story, both by showing in the illustrations and precise word choices. We broke down the text by highlighting phrases in order to determine where on the page they should go and when a phrase or word could come after a page turn for emphasis or surprise. Later in the class they would break apart their own sentences and words this way.

I provided many picture book examples which demonstrate excellent storytelling and illustrations, especially those with fine attention to detail in both word choice and imagery. I took the time to read through a few and point out how the words were placed for a specific reason. Then the students could flip through these books during their working time to review how authors and illustrators choose their words and images carefully to further their story. This often included a secondary storyline in images. They saw how the images added to the story more than just mirror what the story was about. 

After these exercises, we moved on to tactile learning. To get the creative juices flowing, they could draw from a bowl of prompts for character, setting, problem, and emotion. Some kids had an idea already in mind but others who might be held up by idea paralysis, enjoyed pulling out random ideas to stitch together.

From their prompts and ideas, the students created their own picture book dummy or story. A great resource is Debbi Ohi’s picture book Dummy template. I have used this myself and it was great for kids to see how things are storyboarded. For the younger students, they worked on a larger format to accommodate their fine motor skill development. Students created a quick story and broke down their manuscript by how the words might work best with page turns. 

Coming prepared or having the organization provide the supplies and paper gave the kids plenty of choices in how they wanted to express themselves. To keep it simple, we used pencils with erasers if the ideas needed changed. Because time was limited, we avoided colorful writing tools and art supplies to focus on the words. Another class, geared toward illustration, would have an assortment of supplies to show off their creativity.

 The camp provided spiral bound writing journals and many kids chose these to brainstorm in. Folded and stapled “dummies” were put together ahead of time for the kids to see how the physical page turns affected their writing.

They could either focus on the writing side more or the illustrative side. There isn’t a right or wrong way. I encouraged them to find the best way that they could share their story. Some did better with images and others by outlining and mapping out their ideas. Folding blank paper helped to show physical page turns. 

The kids left the workshop with their own story idea, outline, illustration notes or sketches, and a picture book dummy which gives them a place to start to see how page turns work. Some left with a completed dummy while others just had a writing outline. Either way, they acquired a taste for the picture book writing process. Often, when our time was up, they had a hard time putting their pencils down. Now that was gold!

Teaching these writing camps for kids was such a rewarding experience. Not only was I able to share my knowledge and creativity with the next generation, but I also got to see their creative minds come alive. Teaching camps where kids willingly sign up is heaven. They already came with a passion for writing, so my job was simply to direct them. 

Whether you are planning a workshop or looking for ways to engage kids with picture book creation, I hope this can help you organize a successful class!

Thank you, Becky, for sharing your picture book dummy camp ideas. Learn more about Becky at her website, www.gehrisch-arts.com.

Ten Tips for the Wanna-Be-Focused Writer by Tina Cho

One question I'm constantly asked is, "How do you it--writing and working full time with children?"

Me and my kids, 8 years ago!

I don't have a perfect formula, but I'll share my writing process and how I try to balance priorities with kids. This post has caused me to reflect back many years, as my kids are now in 10th and 7th grades. 

In no special order, here are 10 tips or behaviors that help me stay on top of my writing.

1. Deadlines & Support
When my kids were ages 6 and 3, I started writing. While my daughter was at school, I wrote when my son was occupied with his toys, nap time, etc...I started writing for the educational market as a freelance writer. This meant I had deadlines. And deadlines meant I needed to write. period. My husband helped out with the kids, taking them to the park or entertaining them so I could write peacefully without interruptions. And sometimes, I needed my kids to help me develop crafts for educational sites.

Paper & Pen All the Time
I kept a small notebook and pen in my purse. When I took the kids to the park, I carried a bag with a big notebook and pen. While they played, I wrote. And oftentimes, their play was my inspiration. I used every minute--waiting at a restaurant, riding in the car, riding on the subway. I thought and planned through stories. 

Solitude
By solitude, I mean, being the ONLY one. As most of you know, I'm in another country, hardly speak the language, and so I don't go out as often as I would if I were home in the states. So that pretty much confines me to my office. I don't meet up with a lot of friends like I would if I were in the states. I think that has made a difference in the time I'm able to commit to writing. I'm not suggesting you need to move across the world to get writing time in, but limiting social outings does enable you to get more accomplished.

Order In or Go Out
One awesome thing about South Korea is that you can order anything, and it arrives via motorcycle--KFC, pizza, McDonalds, noodles, soup. So when I'm on a tight deadline, I don't cook. We either order out or go out. If I cook, the whole ordeal can take 1.5-2 hours because Korean cooking is a lot of chopping and marinating. I try to plan ahead sometimes and have meals prepared, but it doesn't always work for me. I'm not skilled in this area. And sometimes, my wonderful husband has supper ready when I come home :)

Lists, Baby!
I would be totally lost without my lists. I have notepads or Post Its that I list things that need to be written or accomplished for the day. Boy, does it feel good to cross something out. And for a writer who needs to be serious, it plans your day so you don't need to waste time thinking about what you're supposed to do. I know some writers have a writing calendar and schedule what needs to be done.

BIC & Stay on Task
You all probably know Jane Yolen's famous BIC, "butt in chair," wisdom. It's true. You don't get writing accomplished if you don't sit down. But taking it even further from a teacher aspect (I'm also a teacher), means you have to "stay on task." That's one behavior I have to grade my students on. How much do we writers stay on task without peeking at our email, notifications on Facebook or Twitter? So if I'm crunched for time, I let those things be my REWARDS for good behavior. Even today, I had horrendous revisions on my novel. I was BIC for 8 hours. (It's Saturday.) I critiqued a manuscript for a critique partner, then revised for the next hour and a half. Then I did a load of laundry and called family in Iowa. (You have to give your eyes rest periods. And that's how housework gets done!) After revising two chapters, I gave myself the reward of checking Facebook and email. Hubby took me to lunch--there's that no cooking thing. After that I wrote all afternoon with a 20 minute nap in the middle, more laundry, and more revising until my kids came home from a basketball tournament in Seoul at 6 pm.

No TV
I don't watch TV here. Frankly, I don't know what they're saying, and if there is a program in English, I'm not interested, nor do I have the time to watch it until school vacations. 

Keep Priorities Straight 
I've learned the hard way that it's important to keep priorities. For me, God must come first before I open my email. I spend quiet time reading the Bible and praying. I know others of you do similar things or meditate. Second, my family comes next. It's very easy for me to put work ahead of my family, and that's something I have to constantly work on. If my kids have a home volleyball or basketball game, I'm there. And if my husband planned something for us or with his dad, I'm there. I just have to be flexible and work around it. And since I also work full-time as many of you do, we have to use our time wisely, which is why I spent my entire Saturday revising my novel for my agent. It's impossible to do on weeknights when I'm groggy. Speaking of weeknights, I do write after supper. I have to. I have three educational clients. Thankfully, the work evens out so things aren't due at the same time.

Critique Groups
Being in three critique groups also keeps me on my toes. I'm critiquing throughout the week but even better, I have to work on my own WIP to send to them when it's my turn. This is excellent training for BIC.

Chocolate
Need I say more?  :)

Actually, I will. Eating chocolate means I need to exercise. While riding my exercise bike, I listen to writerly podcasts or catch up on blog posts about writing because I'm still learning. #killing2birdswith1stone

And at the end of the day, I still tuck my kiddos in bed and kiss them goodnight. I write in my thankful journal and go to bed. Yes, I do have pen and paper nearby.

Mother's Day 2017

I hope some of these tips might help you in your writing process! If you have other tips, please list them.

You can find me at tinamcho.com, @TinaMCho