Wellington County Library’s 2016 writer in residence Kathy Stinson hosted a writer’s workshop at the Drayton Library.
The hour-long presentation, titled Becoming a Writer and held on Oct. 22, focused on getting participants past the, “maybe someday I will write … “ to that “someday” happening now. Registration requirements included being prepared to do a little scribbling.
Stinson, a resident of Rockwood, began her writing career 35 years ago in university when given the option to write an essay or a children’s book for a class assignment.
“I thought it would be fun to write a children’s book, so I did,” Stinson said.
“The title of that book was Jelly Bean Jungle. Of course, my mom kept all my stories from Grade 4. To date I have written 30 books and have had stories published in many anthologies.”
One popular children’s book written by the author, Red is Best, is the story of a little girl whose mother does not understand red.
Based on life experiences with her daughter, Stinson wrote the book knowing countless mothers worldwide waged similar battles with their daughters. Other children’s books written by Stinson include The Bare Naked Book and Harry and Walter. Seven Clues at Pebble Creek, the Marie-Claire series and What Happened to Ivy are novels written by Stinson.
Advice given by Stinson to potential writers is to use reading as a foundation for writing, but to know that writing is writing. Writers are drawn to what they are going to write and should not be afraid to play with sentence length, she says.
One exercise assigned by the workshop leader was to finish the following sentence, “There’s this book I haven’t written yet …” After a scribbling session, participants voluntarily read their written works.
David B. Campbell’s article, titled For Me to Be More Creative, I Am Waiting For…was discussed by workshop attendees. The article lists 101 reasons given to delay writing a book including:
– waiting for the children to leave home;
– tomorrow would be a better time;
– waiting for the Dow Jones to hit 1500; or
– the coffee to be ready.
Suggestions given by Stinson to aid in being more creative included blocking time into the calendar for writing, setting a goal that is achievable, getting into the habit of writing, and joining a writers’ group or class.
Stinson left the group with the following thoughts. Draw on your memories. Joy, pride, anger and frustration will all give access to what is written. Write what matters to you. Do not worry about what is in or cool. Children like all kinds of books; scary or funny. Read books on how to write.
As the writer in residence, Stinson is holding writing workshops until mid December at various branches of the Wellington County library system.
Geared to adults, the Becoming a Writer session emphasizes developing the writing habit, the role of reading in a writer’s life and using memory and real life experiences as a force in writing.
That writing a novel seems such a monumental task is covered in the Writing A Novel workshop. Stinson reveals various approaches to use in getting started and finished, with attention being given to where novel characters come from and writing effective dialogue.
In the Writing a Children’s Book workshop Stinson asks why isn’t it easier to write a picture book when the text is short and often simple. Stinson discusses the potential pitfalls, target audiences and illustrations.
For more information on Stinson’s workshops, contact a local library or email Stinson at kathystinson.com.
