Insider Ink Splat:
August 2020
What’s Up At SYI this Month?
WRITING CHALLENGE
Time-Bending
This month, our very own Naomi Kinsman has challenged us with a time-bending writing exercise.
I love this quote from Jacqueline Woodson, from her book, The House You Pass on the Way. She writes, “They’re all inside of us…past people and present people. And probably even the people we’ll become.”
Choose a version of you, either now, a year ago, five years ago, or maybe even someone you dream you’ll become. Write a scene for that person. Even if you’re writing about a past self, you can invent a scene for that person. Or you can re-write a real moment from your life, too. The point is to step into your own shoes, at a specific moment of time, and to see the world through that lens. What insight might you gain from that other version of yourself?
Aim for between 350 and 1000 words. Submit your response HERE and you might be published on our website!
INK SPLAT
2020 Inklings Book Authors
This month, we’re featuring the authors of the 2020 Inklings Book! Each of these authors submitted to this year’s Inklings Book Contest and won the chance to revise with a professional author and be published in this year’s anthology. As part of the introduction to each selection, we interviewed the authors about their writing process. For this month’s Ink Splat, we compiled some of our favorite interview questions and answers from each of our winning authors. Save the date! This year’s Inklings Book releases on August 23, 2020.
Here’s a peek:
I usually look around and get ideas from the world around me, from my friends and from nature, from many different places and aspects of my life. I think if you want to start a story, look around yourself and think about something interesting you might want to write about.
–Victoria Cui, 4th grade, author of “Wishes”
PLAY YOUR WAY TO THE PAGE
Drafting Onward!
Here’s another drafting activity to add energy and possibilities to your story. In this quick sample of a Drafting Workshop activity, we’re exploring what your character would never do … and then considering what might possibly happen to cause them to break their own rules.
When we surprise ourselves as writers, we also surprise (and delight) our readers. Try out this thought-experiment with us. You may find the perfect twist for your story. Or, you may learn something about your character that sends you back to your original plan with fresh insight. Either way, this quick creative exercise is an excellent use of five minutes.
INKLINGS CONNECT
Summer Camps
Join us for a writing camp this summer. We can't wait to see what you create!
Words from an Inkling:
“…[I]deas come to me at the worst and most unexpected times, which often means 1:00 in the morning. Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but that gets the point across. Ideas just come and I write them down on little slips of paper. Most of these ideas, nothing ever comes of them, but a few of them actually become something.
–Steven Cavros, 4th grade, Inklings Book 2020
We want to read your work!
Don’t forget to submit your writing challenge, and you might be published on our blog!
P.S. We’re here for you! You can always email with ideas or questions: info@younginklings.org.
