The Ink Splat is our monthly activity letter filled with inspiration sparking challenges and resources guaranteed to inspire your creativity. In this Ink Splat, the book and author featured is Big Rig by Jamie Swenson along with an author interview!
Writing Challenge: Vehicle Voices
Frankie is a Big Rig with an even bigger attitude. Her voice reflects who she is through sentence length and vocabulary as she makes her deliveries. Choose another type of vehicle and write a short story in that voice – what does a cement mixer sound like? What about a limousine?
Submit your response here for a chance to be published online! What are you waiting for?
Big Rig by Jamie Swenson. Illustrated by Ned Young
Come along for the ride as Frankie the big rig truck takes us on the job, driving past kiddie cars (school buses) and land yachts (RVs). Hear the horn blow and the wipers schwat the windshield clean. But, BANG! SHHUUU! Uh-oh: a blow-out! Don’t worry, a service truck saves the day so we can get the job done and make a very special delivery.
An interview with author, Jamie Swenson
1. When did you fall in love with writing? When did it happen.
I started writing stories in my head when I was in sixth grade – I had a long walk home from school and spent many days creating stories to go with the houses I walked past. These stories would grow in my head day after day – until I almost couldn’t wait for the walk home to find out what would happen next! Later, I started writing short plays for my friends. When I was in high school I took a creative writing class and I was hooked. While I’ve always loved making up stories and writing – I never considered it as a career until I was thirty! I feel blessed to have the opportunity share my stories with kids and families.
2. How did the idea for this book show up? Share the story of how the idea developed into a book.
When you’re a writer – ideas are everywhere. They show up out of the blue, and if you’re lucky, you write the idea down before it slips away. The idea for Big Rig came to me in this way. I’m an assistant librarian/storyteller at my local library. One day during storytime we were reading a book where the kids had to guess the type of truck I was describing. One little boy yelled out, “I’m a Big Rig!” It made everyone laugh. That sentence stuck with me for days. It just kept popping up until suddenly it changed to, “Howdy. Name’s Frankie. I’m a Big Rig. Proud to meet you.” BAM! The rest of the book rolled out – although I had to do quite a bit of research about big rigs to find out the correct lingo and what it was really like to drive a big rig. Thankfully, Frankie’s voice was loud and clear in my head – and it’s such a fun voice that I couldn’t help writing her story.
3. How do you go about revising your work?
For me, revision is the fun part and involves a lot of reading aloud. Whether I’m writing a picture book or a middle grade novel, I find reading the work out loud helps me decided where I need to change words, tighten the text, or expand. It really helps to have a friend read your work aloud to you. I also like to print out my writing – not just revise on the computer. There is something very satisfying about printing out your words and then taking a red pen and having at it! For me, I think of the work differently when it’s printed out — it’s also a bit easier for me to see any problems – such as typos, repeated words, or mistakes.
4. What’s one thing that young writers can do right now to help build their writing skills?
The very best thing you can do to improve your writing skills when you’re young is to read, read, read. The next thing you can do is to allow yourself to be bored once and a while. These days, our brains are so engaged with technology that we forget to give ourselves time to just sit and think (or just walk and think). Stories are everywhere – but if you don’t give yourself enough room for creative imagining – it just won’t happen. You’ll fill your head with everyone else’s thoughts and there won’t be enough room for your own! So, my advice would be turn off the technology and just imagine. You’ll be amazed at all the stories you’ll find inside yourself!
Yours,
JAMIE A SWENSON
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! ill. David Walker (FS&G 2013)
BIG RIG ill. Ned Young (Disney-Hyperion 2014)
IF YOU WERE A DOG ill. Chris Rascka (FS&G 2014)
Visit the author’s website here
Learn more about the book and pre-order it here
