readers

Yes, You Can Love Books TOO Much

Heresy, you say?

Hear me out before you brand me a traitor to writer-kind.

With a lot of kids, I’m thrilled when they want to read something that’s not required by a teacher. At my last school, we had a small amount of dedicated reading time every day, regardless of what class they were in at that time. Sometimes I had a class of reluctant readers, and any time they didn’t put they books away the second reading time ended, I didn’t mind letting them carry on a bit.

There are kids at the other end of the spectrum, though. Kids who always want to read. Some of them know how to prioritize. They pay attention to lessons, work hard to get their tasks done so they’ll have a bit of free time to read at the end of class.

That’s fine by me.

But some kids don’t have that self-control. Some will read straight through class unless someone steps in and stops them.

That someone would be me. The big, mean, book-closing teacher.

Forgive me, my fellow bibliophiles, but kids need more than books … they need math, too. Among other things.

Any suggestions on helping certain students see that need for balance?

Speak up:

Telling Teens Reading Doesn’t Suck … Using Vomit

As mentioned previously (twice now), critique partner extraordinaire Mindy McGinnis joined me in the southwest for the weekend, including a set of presentations to my school.

The first two presentations were to younger students (grades 1-3 for the first, then 4-8 for the second). We broke the kids into three groups and had one come up with a character, one a setting, and one a “problem,” plus each group had to offer one random word. Then Mindy had to pull all that together and make up a story on the spot.

Ninjas are very popular this year. And Mindy managed to turn our school’s founder into a zombie ship captain on Mars.

The other presentation was a little more formal for the high school kids. Mindy talked about the idea of lots of stories having the same basic plot at their root, but weaving in specifics that make it interesting and new. She’d give several examples of a particular Big Idea, then offer a specific premise for the kids to guess.

For example, under “Boy and girl fall in love but can’t be together because ______,” she gave, “Pretty blonde with a perfect life falls for a Hispanic gang member from the wrong side of town.” Several of my female students jumped right in with the answer: Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles.

I think many of the kids came away with the point Mindy wanted to make. The “sameness” of many stories is a good thing, because if you find one you really like, you can find others you’re likely to enjoy as well. (And librarians can help you with that!)

As writers, though, we need to remember the second part of that formula—bringing a fresh, new take to the same old story. Too often, we find ourselves just writing the same story with only superficial differences, and that’s just boring.

Oh, and the vomit? Yes, Mindy totally has a story that makes vomit relevant to reading. But you’ll have to hear her tell it sometime.

Speak up:

Audience ID

Know your audience.  Sounds simple enough.  It occurs to me that there are two types of audiences, though—the general audience that’s likely to enjoy the book, and the narrower audience that’s likely to think the book is the best ever.

At its broadest, my general audience is teenagers.  Throw in adults who like smart YA work, too, and there you go.  To get a little more specific, I think my novel appeals especially to girls who like math or science, and/or have a bit of tomboy in them.

While at Best Buy with my sister yesterday, I found a succinct description of the sub-population who would most enjoy my work:

Speak up:

What (Teen) Readers Want

Since my writing efforts are focused in the Young Adult area, I’m lucky to have ready access to my target audience.  In fact, I think I spend more hours conversing with teens than adults.  Some will read anything you put in front of them.  Others will tell you over and over how much they hate reading, but once in a while a book engrosses them to the “can’t-put-it-down-even-for-my-favorite-class” level.

I’ve had a few conversations with my students lately about books we’d all read, and what they did or didn’t like about them.  After that, I asked them to describe what makes a book “good.”  Some interesting responses so far, and I’ll add more as I collect them.

From a sophomore girl:

DETAILS!  [And after further prompting…] Of characters and settings.

I love that she wants details from authors, but is reluctant to give many herself.

From a junior girl:

I am tired of the dumb chick, the unexplained dude.  I think it should cover all types – romance, action, funny, and scary – in some way.  I also think it should always keep me guessing!

 I had an entire lunchtime conversation with that girl about the “dumb chick” issue – or Stupid-Girl Syndrome.  She could have gone on, and so could I, but I’ll refrain for now.

From another sophomore girl, an aspiring writer (can you tell?):

I don’t really know how to answer, but in my opinion, a good book must have a conflict, complex characters, and a well organized plot.  Characters can’t not have a personality; readers have to be drawn in by their personalities, good or bad.  A well organized plot is necessary – you don’t want to confuse people. If you don’t have a conflict, it will be a never-ending story, droning on and on.  The idea has to be original, too – who wants to read a story that has already been told before?

I’ll be sure to tell her Composition teacher she’s been paying attention in class. *grin*

More to come, especially some guy perspectives.  Anyone else out there have info on what teens are looking for in a good read?

Speak up: