Natasha Deen's Blog, page 30

My face when I have to do manuscript edits

“300” — The Battle of Thermopylae, from Top5.com

Thank you for an amazing week, @Cenovus and @YABSTweet

Don’t snickerdoodle your life

Years ago, I was having tea with someone who was having the worst kind of day/week/month. They were approaching the winter holidays with no one special in their life, their boss had been making their life miserable, they may have to quit becuase of said boss, and the holiday gift packages their mother had sent was now sitting on the side of a mountain, courtesy of a plane crash.

“I know it sounds selfish,” they said, “but I can’t help but feel why do these bad things happen to me?”

We’ve all...

Lessons from JK Rowling’s Rejections

Last week, J.K. Rowling posted two of the rejection letters she received while writing as R. Galbrath. While she said her motivation was to inspire up and coming writers, I think there are a few other things for writers to take away from the tweet.

It has to be restated: DON’T GIVE UP. I know Rowling said it, but it deserves to be said again. Anything worth accomplishing, is worth trying, failing, and trying again. In one of the rejection letters, Galbrath is encouraged to take writing class...

Thank you letters from @ronald_harvey students! What a gr...

Thank you letters from @ronald_harvey students! What a great gift, thank you SO MUCH! @StAlbertPublic

Why writers need editors

Once, at a writer’s group meeting, I sat by a woman whose job it was to ferry out of town authors (a grand job, if ever there was one!). She and I got to speaking and she mentioned she’d escorted an author. She spoke his name in a tone that suggested I not ask the burning question (Sorry, who? I’venever heard of him),because only an illiterate wouldn’t know who he was.She then went on to tell me of his latest work and his editing process, which he retold as, “My editor sent the changes to the...

Writer’s Block Solution #248

If you can’t write a story, rewrite someone else’s.

The AND THEN GAME (aka Plotting)

When it comes to plotting, this is what I do.

Drink lots of tea and eat biscuits, and wonder why I think I can write.

No, no, wait, sorry, that’s just what I do all the time.

When it comes to plotting this is what I do.

Get a piece of paper Draw a squiggly snake (or if I’m feeling particularly creative, a set of connected arrowheads)
Then I write out what I think would be my first scene or image Then I think of what happens next…AND THEN this happens. The big thing here is the AND THEN*has*...

Natasha’s Presentations and Workshops

Writing Sessions & Presentations with Natasha Deen The true sign of intelligence isn’t knowledge but imagination. ~ Albert Einstein Mysessions are curriculum based and specifically designed to be inclusive to all students, regardless of literacy levels. To find out more about mysessions, please see the following. I’m happy to customize presentations and sessions according to your school or organization’s needs. Please contact me with any questions or for more information. Pre-Kindergarten –...

2016 Events

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 11 – FRIDAY FEBRUARY 12, 2016 ~ (From the YABS website): Story Avenue is an annual set of writing workshops held in Edmonton for all of the Grade 5 and 6 students from five Edmonton schools…The program was started in 2007 as a joint venture betwen YABS and the City Centre Education Partnership (CCEP). Ten local professional children’s authors and illustrators teach writing workshops for approximately 400 students. SATURDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2016 ~ If your child is part of the E...