Message
In a writing workshop I once took, the literary novelist Ethan Canin told us that reading is "about connecting with a sensibility." This resonated with me as a writer because I know that when something I read compels me, it's because I feel like I'm connecting to a certain world view in a piece of writing, a specific take on a timeless theme, a fresh, original voice. A teacher I had in college used to like to say "there are no new plots, just new characters" - and I'd like to take that one step further. New sensibilities. Lucky for all of us writers - each of our sensibilities is truly individual. No one else in the wide world sees the way we see - through our unique experience, through our distinctive eyes.
And that's the heart of point of view.
Not just who's telling the story or how it's being told but the entire world view that an author translates through a piece of writing to a reader.
Different readers connect to different point of views, to different sensibilities. It's why I can read something and think "Wow, this engages me. I'm hooked." And the guy sitting next to me in the café can tell me he couldn't get through it. It's two sensibilities connecting - or not.
So that's why I think Point of View is essential as a writer and a reader.
|
|
 Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
I am really drawn to novels about small towns, especially when they are so realistically drawn and I thought Meg's voice was so sharp and clear in this novel. Meg is a "bad girl" but she gets caught crossing a line and ends up spending her spring break serving some community service time. I won't give away too much as part of what makes this such an intricate and successful novel is Echols has no need to give away too much information too soon; she unwraps this present slowly, so the reader learns piece by piece what's going on with these characters, especially Meg. I loved this element perhaps the most because I kept feeling surprised throughout it when I learned another little piece of the puzzle; Echols just keeps sharpening the lens. There is some mature content in the book; it's a sexy read and I applaud Echols beause it's never gratuitious. It's always real and I felt pressed close to the face of this main character, watching through her eyes as her life unfolds, as her choices have consequences. It's just a really well crafted read. |
|
 Writing Exercise
This book made me think so much about boundaries and consequences. So often, I hear people say things like, "Well, she's a teenager, she needs boundaries." I would submit that we all need boundaries, no matter our age, but when I read a book like this or hear people say things like the above statement, it always gets me thinking about how fuzzy boundaries actually are, how different people learn different things from the same incident or, sometimes, really don't learn anything at all, no matter how many boundaries are drawn around them.
For this exercise, think about what a boundary is. What does it mean to put up boundaries, to lay them out for other people, to create them or take them away, and then write a poem or short story that focuses on the idea of a boundary, perhaps even looks at a situation from the perspective of the boundary itself.
|
 Outside Reading School Project
For this outside reading project, I would ask students to write about a time in their lives they felt like they either went too far with something or almost went too far. I would ask them to discuss what happened as a result of walking this tricky line: Did they learn anything? Did they find they were uncomfortable, upset, hurt, frustrated? How did this specific incident then inform later choices?
(And I wouldn't tell them this part, but many of these writings could lead to a really solid college essay).
|
 Instructions for a Broken Heart
by Kim Culbertson
Sourcebooks Fire (May 1, 2011)
|
 Need a gift?
Inspire the special people in your life to keep a song journal chronicling the soundtrack of their lives.
Bundle any combination of the following:
a Writing Journal, a CD, and/or an iPod
with Songs for a Teenage Nomad
|
|
|
