Literature

JUL 9

HOW I LEARNED TO DRAW TREES by Janie Cheaney

posted by admin on July 09, 2009 23:10 as Literature

This is the philosophy behind my breakout session at the 2009 summer workshop: "Sweatin' the Small Stuff.

The picture was an unremarkable watercolor that hung above the couch in our living room ever since I could remember. The focus was a red barn with a road leading to it, flanked by tall trunks with generic leaves feathering the branches. Deciduous trees is all I can say about them; at the time I couldn't even have said that much. The scene probably reminded my mother or dad of someplace special to them; otherwise I don't know why it had pride of place in our living room for so many years. I never even asked.

But I remember noticing one day that the artist had not rendered the trunk in solid brown, as I (and everybody else in fourth-grade art class) was accustomed to doing. There wasn't much brown in ...

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JUN 8

WHAT WE OWE CHILDREN (WHO READ OUR BOOKS) by Janie Cheaney

posted by admin on June 08, 2009 18:15 as Literature

First, a good story. That's the reason they picked up the book in the first place--even if a teacher or mom made them do it. They are expecting or at least hoping, whether they know it or not, to be charmed out of themselves and their gated existence for the time it takes to finish the book. A good story is the vehicle to get out of Dodge, for those too young to drive; characters and plot mechanics and style are vital, but the story is what moves. There are all kinds of stories, with their own pacing, coloring and character, but the best of them should do three things: delight the reader, delineate the world she lives in, and awaken desire. Delight makes her turn the page, delineation makes her think, and desire makes her human.

Secondly, we owe them a certain degree of wisdom (NOT indoctrination). Every ...

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