Blog, Blog, Blog...

What makes a good story?

I have to really think about that one, now.

That sounds like kind of a stupid question for a writer - don't we ALWAYS wonder that? But you see: I'm not one of those writers who sits around, agonizing over craft. Well, actually, I've had my moments of agony, of course, and I can sit around with the best agonizers, agonizing away...

And sure - agony of that sort can be fun. In its own, agonistic way. But it isn't very productive. And I really like to be productive. Anyone who's ever bothered to count the pages of Inkless Tales (there's nobody out there who really has the time for that kind of thing, is there?) or who's ever bothered to Google how many blogs I keep, or who's ever snuck downstairs to my office and seen the prodigious amount of prolific work I produce knows that the one thing I do is PRODUCE.

See: to me, writing is, well, surely, a craft. But to get better at any craft, you have to actually DO it, as opposed to agonizing over it.

But now, I really DO have to do some agonizing, instead of writing and then looking at it and saying: Hmmm? Is this any good?

Because it turns out the Inkless Tales Podcast for Kids is now getting some serious traffic. Moreover, some classrooms are starting to use the stories - and analyze them, to evaluate whether or not they're any good.

Yikes!

So: that actually gets me excited. I'm being graded!

I hope I pass.

I love it when someone raises the bar.

It's Time to Start Thinking Poetry.

Of course, for me, it's always time to be thinking about poetry... but I'm getting ready for American National Poetry Month and I'm mulling over launching a contest on Inkless Tales, my web site for kids, at www.inklesstales.com.

I want to encourage classes to read as much as they can during the month of April -- and I'm trying to figure out what kind of prize would be a good incentive.

I'd like to offer a free workshop, a free concert... hmmm.

What to do, what to do....