MASC Young Authors and Illustrators Festival was so fun ...

Photo of Author by Martin Lipman @ 2023

"I liked how we could share and ask questions about being a writer and previous books we'd written."  

"What I liked best about this workshop is everyone creative writing and at the end how we played a fun, silly game."

"The workshop is very nice and I liked how Mrs. Dowding interacted with everyone and took time to listen to everyone."

"I liked EVERYTHING!!!!!!!"    -- MASC Young Authors & Illustrators Participants, 2023

Photo by Martin Lipman @ 2023, 140 students!

In early April, 2023, I had the absolute pleasure of presenting a writer's workshop to 25 young writers, ages 8-12, as part of the MASC Young Authors & Illustrators festival! What a wonderful opportunity to meet other authors and fantastic young writers, and at the beautiful Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, too. 

Together, our writing group created interesting characters, vivid descriptions, through prompts, exercises and games including Caption This, Rocks Explode, and the 200-year-old parlor game (some say invented by Rimbaud), The Exquisite Corpse Loves a Blue Piano. 

I also introduced my Masterclass writing group to "Philippa's Top 5 Writing Tips," enjoy...

5. PLAY!

4. Keep it Simple, often the first word is the right one.  

3. What's the hidden story, describe what we can't see 

2. Show us your character's deepest fear and ...

... my number 1 writing tip: Show us, don't just tell us! Make me feel your hunger, don't just write, "I'm hungry!" I enlisted the help of Chat (GPT) here, and the students were intrigued. I was able to point out some of the differences between our writing and the AI's style, which made for an interesting comparison. We decided that in general, the AI relied on simile more than we did, and in one instance made a mistake: it asked us to "look" at a smell.

I also included my 10 Top Tips for the Writer's Life, like find your favorite pen (mine's a Pilot V5 Techpoint 0.5) and notebook (for me, a Moleskin 5 x 7 lined, 80 pages); find a sunny, quiet place to write; read your work out loud; know a bit about your ending before you start; give yourself a deadline; go meet other authors; start a writing group, and a lot more. 

It was an honor, and I was so pleased to be asked to be part of this year's event, only my second time in front of a large audience since the beginning of the pandemic. We were far too long apart. 

Thanks to MASC and to the young authors, I had a fabulous time!

Some of the writing on the boards, 
such great writing, ideas and collaboration!

Philippa's 5 Top Tips for Writers

Click for more on past children's writing workshops

The Seepe Walters Writing Contest for Kids!

Ah, September with your lovely sun and calm sky. I took a walk along the Outer Harbour Marina "Rabbit Lane" a few days ago, (because, yes there are almost always rabbits in the grass), near my sailboat, and turned to see this lovely image of Toronto, through the early autumn foliage.

The Seepe Walters Writing Contest! Next week I'll be up north in Barrie and Innisfil presenting "The Writer's Life" to school-kids in the area. The idea is to get local kids interested in the Seepe Walters Writing Contest, for grades 3-12. There are real prizes, and the deadline is October 30/2017. Thank you to the librarians at Innisfil IdeaLab and Library for inviting me! I'm so honoured to be asked to talk to kids about the contest. It's always fun, a sacred trust, to talk about writing with the next generation of storytellers.

The kids always remind me of dandelion seed heads, about to be spread to the winds. Or, perhaps like the Wild Carrot/Queen Anne's Lace seeds above, taken on the same walk as the shot of Toronto.

There is potential all around us. And there are stories to be told, too! I can't wait to read them.

More About Presenting to Kids:

What's the Scariest Book You've Ever Read?
The Top 10 Weirdest Questions Kids Have Asked
Tips for Running a Kid's Writing Workshop
What's the Last Book You're Ever Going to Write?

10 Tips for Planning an Author Event

Well, that was a fun summer run of events for my new title, Carter and the Curious Maze.

In the past 6 weeks, I've read at Fort York (twice), the CNE, Bloor/Gladstone Library, and this weekend, I held a signing event at Indigo Yorkdale in Toronto (thank you to the wonderful staff for all their help). It's been really fun, lots of exposure for the book, and lots of opportunities for my illustrator, Shawna Daigle, and I to meet our young readers.

Setting up the table at Yorkdale

This weekend, as I was handing out bookmarks and colouring sheets to families at Yorkdale (and signing copies), a woman approached me with a book in hand. She introduced herself as a first-time author, and she said she was doing a launch for her book the next weekend.

She asked if I could share any tips on how to hold an event? As we got talking, I realized that there was actually a lot to share with her.
So, here, after seven years of doing events, launches, readings, workshops and presentations to young readers, are a few things I've learned ...

1. Invest in a portable stand and a large cover of your book: when I'm promoting a new book, I always make a large foam core image of it (about 18 in x 2 feet), and put it up on a stand near the display. Cost of foam core book cover: @$20 at any printer    One time purchase of reusable folding stand: @$30

2. Bring bookstands. Most bookstores will have bookstands for you, but not always. I bought mine at a dollar store seven years ago, and have used them ever since. I take 10 bookstands, which means I can fill the table with propped books, images, information sheets etc.

3. Have an information sheet about you and about your book. Not everyone wants to buy a book on the spot, but people often contact me days, weeks, even months afterward, from the information sheet I had on the table. Put a blurb about the book, a short bio, any awards or other books you've published, and your contact info (and your publisher, if you have one). I usually take about 15 copies, they almost always get used up.

4. Hand out bookmarks, or something free. My publisher, Dundurn Press, provides me with bookmarks for my events. I've found if you're giving out something free, about 1 in 3 people will stop to chat, 1 in 10 (or so) might buy your book (on a good day). My new book has 6 fab illustrations from Shawna, and we used two of them for colouring pages. I set a colourful ground sheet near the display, put the colouring pages and crayons down. Kids loved it.

5. Have a spiel. No one wants to sound like a used car salesman obviously, but if you're sincere, excited about your book, have interesting things to say about it, people will stop and chat. I find it best to have at least something short and interesting in mind to say beforehand (but I try not to make it sound rehearsed).

Library Reading. Photo by Karen Devine, TD Summer Reading Club

6. To read or not to read? The first-time author then asked me specifically if she should read from her book or not. I said, you know, you're here to shine a light on your book. A reading is always useful, a bit nerve-wracking the first few times you do it maybe, but I've never regretted doing one. She pointed out I wasn't doing one there, and I said I've done five readings from the book in other places this summer, including the CNE, plus if anyone asked for one, I'd be happy to read a little, I'm big on pop-up readings!

 She also asked... 

7. How long should I read? My advice is to keep it short, 5-10 minutes tops.

8. Should I read the first few pages, start at the beginning? Not necessarily. Read the part you found the most interesting to write.

9. Should there be chairs? Yes, ask for 3 rows of 5 chairs. If a few people sit down in each row, it'll look full. Others can stand. Invite your family and friends, insist they be there. Note: This only works for the first few books, but take advantage of their goodwill while you can!

10. Do I need a microphone? Yes, in a bookstore with people walking by, a mic is always better (I've done with and without, with a microphone wins, hands-down). Sometimes a bookstore or library (or school etc) will have a clip-on or head-set mic for you. I have my own hand-held mic with a portable box amplifier that I've used as well.

Plus ... if you want to do a book trailer for your book, take a computer (or use a projector if the event space allows) and start your trailer at the beginning of your reading. I've done a reading where I had the trailer running continuously in the background, and another one when I had 20 or so images about the book (gargoyles in this case) run in a loop. Some people hire actors or friends to do their readings, which is fun (but I like to hear the author's own voice, personally). Some people do plays (a group of grade 4 and 5 students once asked to do a play they wrote based on my books at one of my launches, it was fabulous), hire bands, offer food and drink...

...whatever you choose to do at your event, my last piece of advice for her was the most important: have fun. Every book launch is memorable, but the first one is pretty special. You've done something most people can only dream about: you've published a book! Go forth and share it with the world.

For more "How to" writing advice on this blog:

10 Tips for Runnings a Children's Writing Workshop (2015)
10 Author Tips for A Happy Bookstore Event (More thoughts from 2012)
A Few Thoughts about Making a Living as a Writer (2014)
 11 Tips for a SKYPE Author Visit (2014)

10 tips for running a children's writing workshop

Budding authors at Sophie's Writing Workshop

"Dear Philippa, Thank you soooooo much... I learned so much from you. Please have this workshop again next year."-Zoey (9)

Somehow it's over. Last week was the end of Sophie's Writing Workshops at the Toronto Public Library, Palmerston Branch. For four weeks in a row, seventeen young writers between the ages of 8-12 joined my children's writing workshop called Be the Beanstalk: Grow a Story. It was an honour and a lot of fun, thank you TPL for asking me to take part.

Here's a little about Sophie's Writing Workshops: 
Sophie's Studio was created to support literacy, creativity and writing skills in children from a young age thanks to a bequest from long-time library lover and user Sophia Lucyk.

Quietly working away

At first I had no idea what to do for four sessions, but after 60+ hours of research and preparation I did come up with four separate but linked 1.5 hour workshops. It was a lot of work but very rewarding. I also gained wisdom and insight from writer's who had done the program in the past, thank you to L.M. Falcone, Evan Munday and Andrew Larsen for their help.

For anyone preparing a children's writing workshop, here are 10 ideas that really worked for me:

1. Themed classes. Each week we did a different theme: what is descriptive writing, how to develop a character, books, blurbs and bios, games, games, games. I started each class with a really brief 2-3 minute talk/powerpoint slide presentation about what we were doing that class.

2. Use powerpoint or other media. I had a powerpoint slide show to enhance our work each week, nothing like large colourful images and funny cartoons to keep kids engaged. I had a picture and explanations for whatever we were doing on the screen and a mantra: there are no bad ideas, there is no bad writing, just keep writing ...

3. Hire an assistant. I hired my 20-year-old daughter, an English student, to help me each week. She got excellent experience working with kids and the kids loved her, plus they got more one-on-one time with an adult if they needed extra help (some of the younger kids did need quite a bit of help). If you don't have a young adult on hand, there are plenty of university/college students looking for experience with kids.

Collaboration!

4. Share work aloud. I'm a big believer in sharing your writing. After each writing exercise or game, the kids were invited to read aloud. At first there was resistance but by week 4 almost everyone got up to read their work. It was fantastic to see the amount of pride and support kids got from this simple act.

5. Play music. During free writing time, we'd put on some music. Very calming and helped the kids concentrate. I love music when I'm writing.

6. Invite another expert into the class. On the third week I invited my illustrator, Shawna Daigle, to come into the classroom. I provided illustration materials, blank bookmarks and books (handmade by me), and talked about what goes into a good front cover design and the often overlooked work of good back cover design, plus provided worksheets on how to write a marketing blurb and an author biography. Shawna showed the kids how to illustrate a simple image. It was a fantastic session.

7. Write along with the kids and read aloud. My daughter and I did every writing exercise along with the kids, and read our work aloud too (often one of us had to start off the read-aloud portion).

8. Have a lot of short, fun activities and games planned. We did each activity for about 20 minutes tops, so be prepared with at least 4-6 activities per session and use whatever you didn't get to the next week. I provided a lot of worksheets, many of them I adapted from this wonderful free website by Bruce Van Patter (thank you Bruce): Let's Get Creative! With a large group and a large age spread, there could be three or four activities going on at once, so I had a lot of worksheets available on the same theme to keep the faster kids engaged.

9. Play games every session. We started each session with a writing game to get everyone laughing and ready to write. I adapted a few games from Bruce Van Patter (thank you again for sharing your wisdom), and a few I picked up from my own writing group years before, most notably a time-tested 200-year-old writing game called The Exquisite Corpse Loves a Blue Piano (thanks to Nate Simpson for that gem).

Sophie's Writing Workshops 2015

10. Provide a snack/drink. This seems like a no-brainer, but my sessions were held after school and the kids were hungry. No one can concentrate when they're hungry, I know I can't. The library provided a snack trolley and water, I brought the sliced apples and baby carrots. No one was starving, everyone was engaged.

If you're thinking of running writing workshops for young authors, go for it. It's rewarding, fun, and the kids benefit from the time you spend with them and you'll learn a lot too. You forget how much you actually know until you share it. Have fun!

Here's my Canadian Children's Book Centre page, 
with more information about the workshops by week: Philippa Dowding, CCBC

Got a young writer in your midst?

Boost a Budding Writer with a Free Writer's Workshop

... then sign your budding author up for the Sophie's Writing Workshops at the Toronto Public Library this spring! They're free to children ages 8-12, and only require registration.

Register your child for a wonderful and fun workshop with fantastic Toronto-based authors like Kevin Sylvester, Andrew Larsen, Susan Hughes, and more. Here is the complete list: Sophie's Workshops 2015 I'll be there too, doing a workshop at Palmerston Library, called: "Be the Beanstalk: Grow a Story."

Don't be disappointed, spaces fill up fast and registration dates are coming up. Register your young writer today!