How I Get My Writing Ideas — Creative Writing for Kids
How I Get My Writing Ideas — Creative Writing for Kids
by Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island and My Jasper June
As a children’s book author, I spend a lot of time with kids. In schools, libraries, and bookstores, I read to them, I talk about my life as an author, and I answer their questions. And, without fail, the question they ask me most often is: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS?
I reply: “I get half of my ideas from real life, and the other half from my imagination. Then, I mix them together, so that the real stuff is more fun, and the imaginary stuff feels more real.”
It’s something of a stock answer, but it’s true, and it makes sense to them. Often the conversation stops there, so that little Eric can ask me if I have a kitty (I do!), or his sister Tracey can ask if she can show me the Elsa band-aid on her elbow (of course!).
But sometimes that answer isn’t enough. Sometimes a kid wants to know exactly what I mean. And so I tell them that my very best ideas come from the things that hurt or confuse me, from the parts of my own story that I feel the need to FIX. “Writing is about repairing the world we live in,” I say. “If only in our imaginations.”
Kids like this idea — and often, we find ourselves sharing stories. Maybe I tell them about how my own experiences as a kid — especially my cousin’s death — led me to write my new book, My Jasper June. I explain that there were things I couldn’t understand as a kid, and all these years later, I’m still trying to puzzle them out. Then they share their stories with me. They talk about the mean bully at school, or the broken leg that ruined summer vacation. Sometimes the conversation gets serious, and kids tell me about Pop-Pop’s funeral, or Mom’s recent job-loss. I listen, and they listen. Together, we discuss how those stories might go, in the FIXED world. How might the mean bully might respond to a hungry tyrannosaurus? Or what if Mom found a new job… as a rock star?
Always, then, I find myself wishing I could come back for another visit, to follow up, or that I could hand each kid a journal, encourage them to write down their stories — not just the happy memories, but also the things they would fix, if they could. I try to explain to them how much good it can do them. I’ll try to explain it now, for you…
First, “fixing” their stories can be therapeutic for children. My own kids’ school employs a Conscious Discipline technique called “Time Machine” where kids revisit a moment of conflict, imagine how they might have handled it better. It has always seemed to me to be just what I do as a writer. Imagination can heal us.
Second, writing about themselves is a great way for kids to improve as writers. We write best about the things we are expert in, and there is nothing we are more expert in than our own stories. At the same time, allowing kids to “fix” their memories relieves the pressure and anxiety of “getting it wrong.” Kids often have a hard time recalling facts, dates, details. When they write fiction, they don’t need to worry about all that in the same way.
And, fiction writing can help kids draw a line between imagination and falsehood. Kids tend to have creative memories, and often, they are reprimanded for misremembering. This exercise creates a safe space for creative memory. The line between storytelling and falsehood can be hard to delineate within a household, but it doesn’t matter on the page. Once a kid is working on fiction they can let loose, relax.
Now, I have to be honest, when I tried to implement this as a summer activity in my own home, it didn’t work exactly as intended. I handed my boys each a journal, assured them they could write about anything at all, and left the room. What I found in both their books, when I snooped later, was that they had each written a story about how MEAN MOM had MADE them write for SO LONG and NO OTHER KIDS HAVE TO DO THIS and it ISN’T FAIR. There was even some colorful language.
But you know what? I wasn’t mad. Because of course they didn’t do what I wanted them to do. And that’s fine. Creative writing isn’t about what other people want from you. It’s about what you want from you, and maybe even what you need. The whole point of creative writing is that it offers a safe way to explore the world, and beyond it.
Even when your mom’s a snoop.
About My Jasper June
The school year is over, and it is summer in Atlanta. The sky is blue, the sun is blazing, and the days brim with possibility. But Leah feels…lost. She has been this way since one terrible afternoon a year ago, when everything changed. Since that day, her parents have become distant, her friends have fallen away, and Leah’s been adrift and alone.
Then she meets Jasper, a girl unlike anyone she has ever known. There’s something mysterious about Jasper, almost magical. And Jasper, Leah discovers, is also lost. Together, the two girls carve out a place for themselves, a hideaway in the overgrown spaces of Atlanta, away from their parents and their hardships. Somewhere only they can find.
But as the days of this magical June draw to a close and the darker realities of their lives intrude once more, Leah and Jasper have to decide how real their friendship is, and whether it can be enough to save them both.
About Laurel Synder
Laurel Snyder is the author of picture books and novels for children, including the National Book Award nominee Orphan Island and the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award winner Charlie & Mouse. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she currently teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. Laurel lives in Atlanta with her family and can be found online at www.laurelsnyder.com.
