Writing

Raising a Writer: Amazing Kids! PenPal Program

January 20, 2011

Recently I described (here, somewhere in the middle) how 2010 was Scout’s breakout year for writing. Not in terms of content, as she has always been a natural poet and story-teller. I’m talking about writing by hand in a comfortable, voluntary, neat, and effective way. If your child has never had written output issues, this [...]

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2010 Homeschool Year in Review

January 3, 2011

It’s New Year’s Day, and I’m mulling over our second full year of homeschooling. Was it successful? Overall, yes, I think it went pretty well, though many of our days weren’t as productive as I would have liked. We got off track more days than I care to admit, and certain useful activities seem to [...]

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NaNoWriMo: Day Who Cares

November 22, 2010

Uncle! In case you haven’t guessed, I am done like dinner. The first week of NaNoWriMo was terrific, but the notorious second week lived up to its name and pretty much did me in. I started trying to Do A Good Job, which involved Nurturing my story, Caring how it turned out and Comparing myself [...]

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NaNoWriMo Weekend 1: Is This Thing Over Yet?

November 7, 2010

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh…hello. I’m so totally sick of this whole thing. Not sick enough to quit, mind you; just enough to gripe and whine. Scout and I have both been writing on and off over the weekend. My novel is like the early days of the Gulf oil spill; it’s spreading all over the place and [...]

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NaNoWriMo: Day 5

November 5, 2010

THE STARTING LINE Renee: 5,398 Scout: 2,562 Scout’s word of the day for my novel: BUNK BED My word of the day for her novel: CELADON 10:22 am Wrimos need to average 1,667 words per day in order to hit the 50,000-word goal by midnight on Nov 30. According to that schedule, I am lagging [...]

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NaNoWriMo: Day 4

November 4, 2010

8:52 am Renee: 3,501/50,000 (Scout gave me the word: STEAK SAUCE) Scout: 2,251/10,000 (I gave Scout the word: TERMAGANT) A funny thing happened yesterday morning. I woke up just as the radio was broadcasting a gushing NPR interview about T.H. White, author of The Sword in the Stone. The guy being interviewed, a book reviewer [...]

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NaNoWriMo: Day 3

November 3, 2010

8:54 am 1,650/50,000 I haven’t slept well in days. Between 3 and 4 am most nights this week, Archie has rung his “I’ve-got-to-go-pee-or-chase-a-raccoon-right-this minute!” bells. I’m a ruminator/worrier/fretter, so once I’ve gone to let him out, it takes me hours to fall back asleep. Last night the dog finally slept soundly. But my husband accidentally [...]

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NaNoWriMo: Days 1 & 2

November 2, 2010

Short and sweet. That’s how I’m blogging during National Novel Writing Month. (Earlier I wrote about NoNoWriMo here.) I need to focus on my novel and will blog as I go. No editing (in either case). First, a little about me. I have never written any fiction, except for required and uninspired school assignments back [...]

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Scout’s Poetry Corner

September 30, 2010

Scout has written a poem in the style of her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. I love that, but it also cracks me up, because I was not the type of kid to have a “favorite poet” at age nine. I had a favorite candy bar. Scout asked me if I would put her poem on [...]

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Oh no, NaNoWriMo

September 17, 2010

As soon I told my nine-year-old about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), she was hooked. She demanded to (and did) sign up on the spot. Just as I’d hoped. Atta girl! In case you’re not familiar with it, NaNoWriMo is an annual seat-of-the-pants writing contest, in which participants gamely try to pen an entire 50,000-word [...]

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