Last week, I asked my "Writing for Children" students to tell me about their ideal writing spot and I've just finished reading their wonderful responses. Some like to write in cafes, one likes to write from a spot outside the family kitchen so he can smell the delicious odours of his mum's Asian cooking, and another does his best thinking and writing while he is waiting for themetro on the way to and from school.
Yesterday afternoon, I happened to have a lovely chat with Sarah Harvey, one of my editors at Orca Book Publishers in Victoria, British Columbia. Sarah's YA book, The Lit Report, is up for a Britich Columbia Book Prize and also for a Canadian Library Association prize! Usually, Sarah is the one who helps me in her role as editor, but yesterday she wanted to pick my brain to learn a little about how I handle school visits.
When we were done chatting about that, we compared notes about our lives as writers -- and Sarah told me about her own writing ritual. Before she settles down to write, Sarah plays a game of on-line Scrabble. Sarah says the "creation of words and seeing opportunities on the Scrabble board" helps prepare her for the work ahead. And a little like my student who rides the metro, Sarah gets some of her best ideas on her walk to and from work.
So, I'm back to re-writing this afternoon. Sarah wants me to take another run at "The Middle of Everywhere" in order to deepen the relationship between my main character and one of the boys he meets in Nunavik. And guess what? The doorbell just rang -- the mailman handed me a package from Orca. What World Is Left has just gone into second printing! That good news should keep me going this week as I plug away at my rewrite. Have a great day wherever you are... find writing rituals that work for you!