Author Shares Hints & Humor with 5th Graders
Local author Christian Burch visited 5th grade students on October 14th and 15th to promote his new book and share some writing hints with our student authors. Burch’s new book, “Hit the Road, Manny” is a continuation of the characters introduced in “The Manny Files.” Burch based both books’ characters on real children he nannied in Jackson. Male + Nanny = Manny…get it?
Three 5th grade classes heard him read aloud each day, and asked him questions about the difference between fact & fiction in his books. Students were intrigued by which plot details really happened, and which were figments of the author’s imagination.
Burch shared his “3 Rules” for writing with aspiring 5th grade authors.
1. Write what you know.
2. Show, don’t tell. (Burch’s examples: “I walked into the classroom and the kids were talking.” vs. “I walked into the classroom and it was like monkey island.”)
3. Don’t be afraid to get feedback.
The third rule is something student writers grapple with as they navigate the revision process. Burch was sympathetic to students who feel rejected when they get many comments for improvements on their writing, but he encouraged them to keep working. According to the author, who frequently gets hundreds of edited pages back in the process of writing novels, revision is just “making writing the best that it can be, and it doesn’t mean that you’re bad at it.”
“Is it frustrating to get your story back so many times?” One student asked Burch.
“Yes,” he replied, “but it’s also fun. The hard part is writing it the first time.”
Add comment November 13th, 2008
