I spent two happy, busy afternoons this week at the Cote Saint-Luc Eleanor London Public Library. Thanks to the Quebec Writers’ Federation and to children’s librarian Bronwen Cathey, who organized the event, I was at the library to offer a writing clinic to help youngsters prepare their entries for the upcoming Roslyn & Max Margles Young Writers' Contest.
As my friend, kids’ author Rina Singh wrote to me yesterday when I told her about the CLINIC: “Writing is healing!” I could not agree more!
Before I tell you a little about the kids I worked with I need to tell you something about the Côte Saint-Luc Eleanor London Public Library – it’s the first library I ever went to! I remember when, in the 1970s, it was housed upstairs in the Côte Saint-Luc Shopping Centre. I also remember the librarian who used to check out our books – her name was Eleanor London!
I must say I had many patients at my clinic!!
They included Nechama, who’s in Grade Five at Azrieli Talmud Torah School, and whose MUM Judi Freedman was once my student at Marianopolis College! Nechama is working on an interesting story about a class about to put on a play. I also worked with a girl named Lily, who's almost 11, goes to JPPS (Jewish Peoples and Peretz School) and has an amazing imagination; and with a boy named Adam, who’s almost ten and goes to Ecole les Amis du Monde. Adam told me he writes ten pages a day! WOW-ZA! And when I shared a few of my best writing tips with him, Adam told me, “I learned those already at school – and a bit more!” (Which made me laugh and also made me happy.) Adam got right to work at the back of the room – and within about twenty minutes he had produced the start of a fascinating story about a magician who does a trick involving his own son!
I also worked with Nona, who’s 11 and goes to Académie St-Clément. She is working on a beautiful poem that is set in a swimming pool – that’s because Nona feels most at peace when she is swimming. What impressed me about Nona was her fascination with words – and her ability to concentrate deeply. It turns out that Nona’s mom Ensiyeh (who was watching us work together) is a translator – so maybe Nona inherited those wonderful traits from her mom.
As I told the kids, it’s not easy getting edited – and it’s not easy to revise our work. But if you’re expecting writing to be easy, and for things to come out perfectly on your first draft, well then, you’re probably not going to win the Roslyn and Max Margles Young Writers’ Contest!
Oh, something funny I nearly forgot to tell you: I met a seven-year-old girl named Zoë, who didn’t come to my clinic, but who was happily following around Bronwen, the children’s librarian. Zoě told me: “I don’t like writing.” That cracked me up – I told her I don’t like writing that much either. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE? HAVING WRITTEN!! I asked Zoẽ, “Can I mention in my blog that you do like hanging out in the library?” To which she replied, “Yes – and chewing gum!” (What I just gave you here is an example of how details -- and also dialogue -- make a story fun and memorable!!)
Today, Nechama, Adam, Lily and Nona were all back to work on their stories! Yay to you four for your persistence. Another fun surprise today was that a family came all the way from Brossard, on Montreal's South Shore, so their daughter Marina could get some advice on her story -- and guess what? Marina's mom, Li Li, WAS ALSO ONCE MY STUDENT. (You can imagine how happy that makes me!!!)
Marina's story -- about a runaway cat -- was super imaginative. But I did have a few tips for how she could tighten it up -- for example, there's no need to keep repeating "a répondu" (that's French for "answered.") (Hey, I forget to mention that it was a BILINGUAL clinic.) And because Adam's French is so good, I asked for his advice when I was working on Nona's poem, which also happens to be in French. See that's what happens on a good day -- writers work TOGETHER!
Yet another fun part about today was that last year's second-place winner of the Roslyn & Max Margles Young Writers' Contest, Izzie, came by to show me her story too. She's written a biography about her great uncle -- so her essay definitely stands out as different from the rest.
A big thank you to all the kids who showed up for the clinics and to the parents who brought them to the library! If there's one thing I LOVE to see it's kids with books and notepaper in their hands! Good luck to all of you who will be competing in this year's edition of the Roslyn & Max Margles Young Writers' Contest. I feel honoured that I had the chance to meet you and provide a little writing advice. I look foward to following your writing careers! Thanks to the library and the QWF for making my week so fun!