Rebecca Klempner's Blog, page 23
October 15, 2013
November Is Picture Book Idea Month | Guest Post by Tara Lazar
Reblogged from The Whole Megillah:
When I finally decided to write for children with the intention of becoming published, I got online. I made writing friends. And I listened to them talk.
In the fall of 2008, everyone got loud about an event: NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month. Sounded great! Write a 50,000 novel in a month, join a community of writers doing the same, talk shop every day, and become immersed in the work.
In case all you people who prefer writing p...
October 13, 2013
Creating convincing inner conflict in characters
Literary inspiration comes from some weird places.
Case in point: What I learned about writing from mussar
On Shabbat, I mostly stick to reading materials with Jewish content. This is just one of the ways I make it distinct from the other days of the week. Over the last several months, I’ve been nickel and diming it through Strive for Truth, Rabbi Aryeh Carmell’s English translation of the Michtav Me’Eliyahu by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler. This book is considered a classic of mussar, the refinement o...
October 10, 2013
The Rejection Letter that’s Good for You
Yesterday, I got a rejection letter.
Yes, it happens a lot.
I’ve argued in the past that rejection letters are good for you, and I’ve gotten better at taking them in stride, but this one went even further. Its timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
You see, last night was my monthly writers’ workshop. All morning, I’d been trying to decide on a piece to bring and share. When that rejection letter appeared in my inbox around noon, I decided it was a sign.
No, not that kind of sign.
Not just a sign...
“You knew you wanted to do it, but you’d never had the courage…:” Writing in the second person
For some people, it’s bungee-jumping. For others, it’s swimming with dolphins, getting a tattoo, or eating fugu.
What am I talking about?
The thing you’ve always wanted to do, but were too chicken to try.
For me, it’s writing in the second person. When it’s done well, it’s so, so compelling. The reader is naturally drawn into the narrative, as they are a part of it. But when it’s bad, it’s like a poor imitation of aChoose Your Own Adventurebook (I loved them as a kid, by the way). I remember rea...
October 9, 2013
Posted by whom? Writing under a pseudonym
I know it’s no longer news, but a couple months back, the author of a well-reviewed book was unmasked as J. K. Rowling, the bestselling author of the Harry Potter series. Rowling was delighted with the experience. When critics praised her outing as Robert Galbraith, she knew the compliments were genuine, that her novel really deserved them all. She wasn’t just riding on the waves created by her earlier fame.
The article about Rowling’s literary adventure stuck out for me, because at...
October 7, 2013
Third Annual Write Your Own Megillah Event | Jewish Book Month 2013
Reblogged from The Whole Megillah:
Attention Jewish children's novel writers!
In honor of Jewish Book Month, The Whole Megillah is hosting its third annual Write Your Own Megillah event. Think of it as the Jewish equivalent of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). From October 26 through November 26, 2013, you'll have the opportunity to write the novel you've always wanted to write.
What: Complete 36,000 words of a YA novel.
It's here, children's authors: Your yearl...
October 4, 2013
In case you need to feel validated for writing literary fiction, science will back you up
I’m not usually the type to post an hour before Shabbos starts, but this news item (first heard this morning during the break between some Mozart and some Corelli on KUSC) is just too wonderful to wait.
In case you feel defensive because you still think high-quality literature belongs in schools, or you’re trying to encourage quality over quantity in your own writing (thus spending way more time on each piece than seems wise), a new study indicates that reading literary fiction (Jane Austen, D...
September 30, 2013
Prejudices, or how we pick what we want to read now, next or never
My sister attended Conservative rabbinical school here in L.A. back when I was a California greenhorn, still getting confused because the ocean was to the west instead of east, that people called flip-flops slippers and jimmies, sprinkles. At the time, I was exploring Orthodoxy, but shared many of my sister’s friends from the UJ (now American Jewish University) and her Conservative synagogue. Despite my move to Orthodoxy, I remain friendly with many of her friends and colleagues.
Recently, one...
September 25, 2013
The Post in Which I Confess Again My Love of Sharpies & Probably Ruffle Some Feathers
Today is Hoshana Rabba, the last day of Sukkot, the Jewish Festival of Booths. In keeping with the more lenient final days of the holiday, my family has been trekking all over Southern California on outings. Today, I’m cooking, so between the challah baking and the vegetable roasting, I’d like to share a few thoughts with my readers.
A Writer’s Quandry
The Avila Adobe, the oldest building at the Pueblo.
Yesterday, we visited El Pueblo de los Angeles, the original non-Indian settlement here in L....
September 16, 2013
My first foray into playwriting: lessons learned about writing and directing plays for kids
As I mentioned last week in passing, I spent a good chunk of time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur preparing a play for the kids at my synagogue. The topic: the story of Jonah, which is read during the afternoon of Yom Kippur.
Yonah waiting to see if Nineveh gets destroyed. He’s kinda hoping it does. How’s that for schadenfreude?
Now, I’ve always thought this story was packed with humor. I mean, G-d singles Jonah out for a little tete-a-tete and he hops on a boat headed in the opposite dire...
