#foglit

[foglitfestival]

Calling all teens! Don't forget to check out YA author Melanie Mosher's workshop tomorrow, from 5:30-6:45! It's going to be all about writing great beginnings. #FogLit #MelanieMosher #YALit #SJisReading (at Saint John, New Brunswick)

[foglitfestival]

Volunteer registration is officially open! 📚 {foglit.ca/volunteer} #FogLit (at Saint John, New Brunswick)

[daveatkinson]

Pickle Planet interview and giveaway

My pal Jenna at Pickle Planet Moncton interviewed me the other day about Cure for Wereduck, writing, and parenting. Go read it! She’s also giving away three copies of the book so WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Jenna asked for advice to parents who have young aspiring writers at home. Here’s my biz.

Let ’em write! Don’t get in the way. Whatever they want to write, let them. Don’t try to give them assignments. And don’t pressure them to finish something. For me, growing up, I started dozens of novels and finished exactly none of them. I realize now that finishing wasn’t important. The important part was getting excited about ideas and putting them down on paper. Each of those unfinished works have made me a better writer and storyteller.

Also, don’t worry if the thing your kid is writing is eerily similar to something else. In Grade Five, I was assigned to write a one-page Christmas story. My story was 23 pages long, and it was basically the movie Back to the Future but with a Christmas tree. And it was okay! That’s how we tell stories. We take the things we know and make them our own. I always tell kids I didn’t invent the idea of werewolves. We’ve been telling stories about people who turn into wolves FOREVER. All I did was change it a bit and make it mine.

Hey, I’m at FogLit in Saint John this weekend! I’ll be at Walking in the Myst on Saturday evening, 7:30-8:30 at the Teen Resource Centre. I’ll also be signing books at Indigo Saint John on Sunday from 1-3. Hope to see you there!