Top Writing Tips from Seasonal Personalities

Top Writing Tips from Rudolph, Santa, Frosty, Gingerbread Man, 12 Days of Christmas, and the 3 Kings

• Santa’s Top 5 Writing Tips
• Rudolph’s Top 5 Writing Tips
• Frosty’s Top 5 Writing Tips
• The Gingerbread Man’s Top 5 Writing Tips
• 12 Days of Christmas Writing Tips
• 7 Writing Tips from the 3 Kings

Winter Writing Lesson Plans for Teachers

In appreciation for all you do for children’s literature, I am offering a free set of lesson plans for Winter Writing with Kids. Based on popular Christmas and winter children’s stories, kids will learn 34 skills of writing.

Download the FREE Winter Writing with Kids 2011 here (pdf).

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Best Info About Book Trailers

I’ve followed the book trailer phenomenon for a couple years and wanted to do a post. In 2003, it was just beginning; in 2006, there was lots of experimenting; in 2009, it seems here to stay and writers should take it as a given that they need a book trailer for trade books. Here’s some of the best about book trailers from around the web.

The Book Trailer Manual

42 Sites for submission

14 Ways to approach content

10 Ways to combine audio/video

5 Case studies

Much more. . .

CLICK HERE to Learn More.

How To Create a Book Trailer

1. The Book Trailer Manual
2. Book Trailers Squidoo
3. How to Make A Book Trailer — Easy And Free
   EHow has step by step instructions for making a trailer with Powerpoint.
4. The Making of a Book Trailer. A four-day account of an author making her own book trailer.
5. Animoto.com. Animates still pictures.

Articles or Posts about Book Trailers

6. How Will Your Book Trailer Upend Readers’ Expectations?
7. In A World … Where Books Are Hyped Like Movies A 9/2008 National Public Radio article, with links to the audio.
8. Book Trailers that Matter
9. Every Book Needs a You Tube Video From CamCorderInfo.com. Of course, the Camcorder people would recommend book trailers; yet, the article is fairly balanced and has lots of links to new info.
10. What Can You Do with a Book Trailer? by Karen Dionne (billed as the “new Michael Crichton”) write a general article about trailers touching on where to share them and best practices.
11. Book Trailers Coming to Bus and Mall Billboards, buses (one company already busted!) and more links.
12. Book trailers might be overkill. 2009 post: How do you make your video stand out? It’s about finding interesting ways to tell a story.
13. Book Trailer Videos. A general article.
14. VIDEO BOOK TRAILERS: Coming to a Library near You!
    When kids make book trailers they are more engaged with the story.
15. Book Trailers, a great way to promote your children’s book The downside of trailers: less imagination needed.
16. In-Transit Viewing of Book Trailers – A Potent New Book Marketing Venue. Kids watching book trailers on the school bus.
17. Book Trailers: The Key to Successful Video Marketing. From Poets and Writers Magazine.
18. New York Statewide Summer Reading Program
    Featured book trailers for teens from their reading program.
19. A Survey of the Imperfect Art of the Book Trailer. The marriage between book jacket blurb and the video – review of 7 trailers.
20. Trailers for Sale or Rent . 2007 optimistic look at the impact of book trailers on children’s books from PW.
21. Watch Before Reading: Art-House Book Trailers. Book trailers are interpretive, rather than plot-focused.
22. Promoting your novel: How to make a book trailer. Author Brenda Coulter poss her experiences making a trailer for her book on Gather.com
23. What makes video trailers for books effective? (5 keys) Over 1 million views of a book trailer!

Ongoing Series about Book Trailers

24. Book Trailer Tuesday. Another regular posting on trailers.
25. Video Wednesday.Scholastic column which presents a book trailer each Wednesday.
26. Fuse #8 Productions does Video Sundays and sometimes features Book Trailers.

Where to Display Book Trailers (Besides YouTube and Facebook and Good Reads)

27. BookTrailers.net
28. Bookscreening.com
29. ComicBookTrailers.com
30. Blazing Trailers
31. The Red Room Where the Writers Are
32. Books Toolbox: 50+ Sites for Book Lovers
    From Mashable, this post lists many more social media sites about books.


Featured List: 42 places to submit your book video trailer.

Book Trailer Production

33. Circle of Seven Productions: Book Trailers
34. JKS Communications: A Literary Publicity Firm
35. Moving Stories Book Trailers and Book Videos
36. WritersDirect.net
37. Author Bytes
38. Living Jacket.com

Book Trailer Contests

39. Book Trailer Competition for High School Students
40. Authors Promoting Authors
41. Fantasy Book Reviews
    This UK site has a yearly Book Video Award
42. Outsourcing the Book Trailer Production to Your Fans. Authors Megan McCafferty and Lynn Messina ran book trailer contests for teen girls – a great example of a trailer contest.

Are Book Trailers Effective?

43. Publishing Monday: Are Book Trailers Effective? This author is charmed by trailers.
44. Are Book Trailers Effective? This post quotes the Wall Street Journal: “”There is scant evidence . . . that the average book trailer actually has much impact on book sales.”
45. Book Trailers Work! From LatinoLA!

Lesson Plans

46. Lesson plan for Book Trailers. (pdf). References to NCTE/IRA, NETS and CTLanguage arts standards.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

You saw it here first! Oliver has a new website and he’s having lots of fun this summer!

Geotagging: A Social App for Geography Fun

Our knowledge of geography is becoming more sophisticated: If you own a smart phone, like the Apple iPhone 3G or some Blackberrys, the phone will automatically adds geotags – location information – to every photo snapped. But can Americans locate those places on a map? Not likely.

Echoing every major study of geographic knowledge in the U.S. or Great Britain over the last decade, Americans performed dismally on the 2007 Facebook application, “Traveler IQ Challenge.” Out of 193 nations, US players ranked 117th.

2006 surveys indicate that over 70% of US high school graduates couldn’t answer these simple questions correctly (See answers below):

1. What is the most commonly spoken native language in the world?
2. What is the largest Muslim country in the world?
3. What country is the largest exporter of goods and services?

Can Technology Help Teach Geography?

Children’s book author Darcy Pattison says, “I like writing stories for kids that incorporate maps and geography knowledge. I don’t know why I’m drawn to these stories, since I’m not a good navigator. Maybe it’s because maps are a form of storytelling, too.”

The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, a story about a wooden man who travels across the country to connect a family. In the sequel, Searching for Oliver K. Woodman, Oliver starts cross-country again, but when he’s lost a wooden woman, Imogene Poplar, P.I. searches for him.

It’s not surprising, then, that the main character of her books, Oliver K. Woodman, is the subject of a new Flickr Map Project (www.oliverkwoodman.com/map-project) designed for elementary students.

The Project encourages anyone interested to take a paper Oliver along on their travels and photograph him at landmarks. The key is to geotag the photos and upload them to a Flickr group site: (www.flickr.com/groups/oliverkwoodman).

Geotagging is simply marking a photo as belonging to a specific spot on a map. While smart phones can geotag photos automatically, you don’t need that much technology to participate. In fact, Flickr’s method of geotagging by allowing users to drag-and-drop a photo onto a map is more educational for kids. To correctly geotag, a student must accurately locate a place on a map.

Interactive: Photos + Maps = Better Learning

There are 35 million + photos already on Flickr and even more on GoogleEarth, the other major online photo-geotagging site. Isn’t it enough just to send students to view those geotagged photos? No.

“Geotagging photos is a great interactive tool for learning geography,” Pattison says. “Like other social applications, it depends on the community to generate content. It encourages interest, participation, and facilitates learning.”

Students will be more engaged:

• “Aunt Jane took this picture in Athens, Greece.”
• “I took this photo at the best climbing tree in town.”
• “Our class uploaded and geo-tagged ten photos. Let me show you the one I geo-tagged.”

High interest character. Linking the activity to a favorite children’s book character like Oliver K. Woodman just adds to the fun. Teachers can use the FREE Lesson Plans (zip) available with the project to teach an integrated unit of language arts, math, social studies, art and more. The Oliver K. Woodman Map Project is a small step towards improved geographic knowledge through social apps and is perfect for the elementary school student.

Download the Pattern Now! (pdf)

Answers to Quiz: 1. Chinese, 2. Indonesia, 3. United States.

Resources:

• Kovanich, Kevin. Facebook app shows students’ lack of geography knowledge. Northern Star, Dekalb, Illinois. September 4, 2007.
• LaGesse, David. ‘Geotag’ Your Digital Pictures: Your digital camera can keep track of your travels for you. US News & World Report, December 18, 2008.
• Lipsett, Anthea. Geography: why in the world do we know so little. Guardian.co.uk, November 19, 2008.
• National Geographic Society. Young Americans Still Lack Basic Global Knowledge, National Geographic-Roper Survey Shows. NationalGeographic.com, May 2, 2006.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Revision Notes will be on Spring Break for the next two weeks, with maybe one or two posts in there. In this post, I’m just catching up on some personal things.

Successful Lesson Plans for Picture Books

Lesson Plans for Darcy Pattison’s picture books are available as a free pdf download. Included are over 100 activities for language arts, math, social studies, and art. To date, there have been 873 downloads! Happy reading!

Oliver K. Woodman on Flickr

The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman is coming out in paperback in May. To help celebrate, I’m asking friends to help me launch a Flickr site for Oliver. Why Flickr? Because they have an interactive map! Oliver is often used in schools to teach geography and the map is a perfect tool for that.

Here’s how you can help me out:

• Please download the Lesson Plans above and make an Oliver (and his friend Imogene, if you have time).
• Take a digital photograph of yourself with Oliver. If you can include in the photo something unique about your area, that would be great. Terrie from Florida took her picture at the beach. Karen from Arizona took her picture in front of a huge cactus (Thanks, y’all!)
• Join the Oliver K. Woodman Flickr group at http://www.flickr.com/groups/oliverkwoodman/.
• Upload the picture and geo tag it. The easiest way to do that is to simply drag and drop the photo onto the map. MAP should be one of the navigation options at the top.

Thanks, friends! I owe you one.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

For the last few years, I’ve posted writing tips from Winter Holiday personalities. For example, Frosty the Snowman has 6 Top Writing Tips. This year, as our Christmas gift to you, we’ve collected these into one downloadable pdf.

Winter Writing with Kids

FREE download. 34 Writing Skills addressed. Celebrate the Season while Teaching Kids to Write.

DOWNLOAD NOW from the FICTION NOTES STORE

Two years ago, I got an email from the North Pole! Wow! It had Santa’s Top 5 Writing Tips and the next day, I got an email with Rudolph’s Top 5 Writing Tips. I’m still in contact with the North Pole and this is the 2008 Writing Tips, this time courtesy of the classic carol, The 12 Days of Christmas. Enjoy!

Previous Holiday Writing Tips

Frosty the Snowman’s Top 6 Writing Tips
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer’s Top 5 Writing Tips
Santa Claus’s Top 5 Writing Tips
The Gingerbread Man’s Top 5 Writing Tips
12 Days of Christmas Writing Tips

The Twelve Days of Christmas Writing Tips

Writing tips for this song are all about structure and language.

1. On the first day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   A partridge in a pear tree.

   Play with alliteration, the repetition of initial sounds such as the p in partridge and pear.

2. On the second day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   This stanza is very important because it sets up the pattern: we now know that this is a cumulative story, a story that adds a line each time and repeats all the other lines. Some cumulative stories keep going and take off a line each time. Study other cumulative stories, then try writing one.

3. On the third day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Three French hens,
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   Good writing is about communicating. This video shows how a different audience might interpret this story. Why do those sea turtles have wings? Five gold rings are onion rings? And why are those ten lords sky-diving? Word choice does matter. And always keep in mind your audience and their point of view.
   

4. On the fourth day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Four calling birds,
   Three French hens,
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   Parodies of this song are popular — as in this Geek’s version from TeacherTube. Study parodies and write one of your own.
   

5. On the fifth day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Five golden rings,
   Four calling birds,
   Three French hens,
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   You gotta LOVE Miss Piggy singing 5 golden rings. When you do a long story, try to find places where the language can slow down the rhythm. Here, it also becomes a place where the singers can ham it up a bit. (Get it?)

6. On the sixth day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Six geese a-laying,
   Five golden rings,
   Four calling birds,
   Three French hens,
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   Variety within a pattern is established here. We’re still adding a line each time, but now the verb at the end becomes important. For longer pieces like this be sure to add variety to keep the interest.

7. On the seventh day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Seven swans a-swimming,
   Six geese a-laying,
   Five golden rings,
   Four calling birds,
   Three French hens,
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   Numbers are often important to picturebooks, classic songs and our culture. For example, there are three little pigs and seven dwarves. Part of this fascination with numbers is cultural. In the Navajo culture, four is important: the four cardinal directions and the four sides of a hogan. Three and seven repetitions are generally in northern European stories. Nine is three-threes and twelve is four-threes (or three-fours). Watch for repetitions in stories and notice how many times something repeats. Try retelling stories with a different number of repeats and notice what it does for the story.

8. On the eighth day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Eight maids a-milking,
   Seven swans a-swimming,
   Six geese a-laying,
   Five golden rings,
   Four calling birds,
   Three French hens,
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   Here’s the Straight No Chaser men’s accapella choir. By the time they get to the 8th day, things get very complicated — and wonderful. Don’t be afraid to play and have fun with language.

9. On the ninth day of Christmas,
   my true love sent to me
   Nine ladies dancing,
   Eight maids a-milking,
   Seven swans a-swimming,
   Six geese a-laying,
   Five golden rings,
   Four calling birds,
   Three French hens,
   Two turtle doves,
   And a partridge in a pear tree.

   Wikipedia has a great introduction to the history of this song. This article includes the lyrics, the music and links to parodies.

10. On the tenth day of Christmas,
    my true love sent to me
    Ten lords a-leaping,
    Nine ladies dancing,
    Eight maids a-milking,
    Seven swans a-swimming,
    Six geese a-laying,
    Five golden rings,
    Four calling birds,
    Three French hens,
    Two turtle doves,
    And a partridge in a pear tree.

    And yet another parody, this one from a Science Class in Australia.
    

11. On the eleventh day of Christmas,
    my true love sent to me
    Eleven pipers piping,
    Ten lords a-leaping,
    Nine ladies dancing,
    Eight maids a-milking,
    Seven swans a-swimming,
    Six geese a-laying,
    Five golden rings,
    Four calling birds,
    Three French hens,
    Two turtle doves,
    And a partridge in a pear tree.

    Take a deep breath — and finish what you started. Don’t give up before you finish a writing project. See it through to the end.

12. On the twelfth day of Christmas,
    my true love sent to me
    Twelve drummers drumming,
    Eleven pipers piping,
    Ten lords a-leaping,
    Nine ladies dancing,
    Eight maids a-milking,
    Seven swans a-swimming,
    Six geese a-laying,
    Five golden rings,
    Four calling birds,
    Three French hens,
    Two turtle doves,
    And a partridge in a pear tree!

    And you just have to end with Burl Ive’s version with its lush illustrations.
    

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Christmas Gift for Our Readers

For the last few years, I’ve posted writing tips from Winter Holiday personalities. For example, Frosty the Snowman has 6 Top Writing Tips. This year, as our Christmas gift to you, we’ve collected these into one downloadable pdf.

Winter Writing with Kids

FREE download. Celebrate the Season while Teaching Kids to Write. 34 Writing Skills addressed.

DOWNLOAD NOW from the FICTION NOTES STORE

The Gingerbread Man gives his writing tips. Be sure to see the related post, Poor Gingerbread Man for funky cookie cutters.

Event Repeat

The story of the Gingerbread Man uses an event-repeat type plot. An event is repeated several times, with only a minor change. When the Gingerbread Man escapes and runs away, he meets several people who want to eat him. Each character is added to the parade as the Gingerbread Man runs away, until the Fox outsmarts him at the last.

Chorus

“Run, Run, Fast as you can, you can’t beat me, I’m the Gingerbread Man.”
Using a Chorus is effective in short stories and picturebooks.

Changing Setting

Especially for the picturebook format, it’s important to keep the setting interesting, so the illustrations are exciting. By sending the Gingerbread Man across the landscape, the illustrations have visually exciting possibilities.

Folktale Mode

This story is in the folktale mode, which treats characters as a general type. For example, the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella, have a role as mean, ugly stepsisters, and not much more. When Gingy is added to the Shrek movies, though, his character is made more interesting by giving him individual characteristics. Decide if your story needs a general, folktale type character or a more individual character.

Folktale Morals

Folktales and fables often add a moral at the end of a story. Of course, the Gingerbread Man should not have trusted the Fox! It’s seldom that picture books and stories today have such an explicit, straight forward moral. Instead, it’s usually implied and the reader is left to verbalize it for him or herself.

Writing Tips from Other Characters

Frosty the Snowman’s Top 6 Writing Tips
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer’s Top 5 Writing Tips
Santa Claus’s Top 5 Writing Tips
The Gingerbread Man’s Top 5 Writing Tips
12 Days of Christmas Writing Tips

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win