Serendipity

Maurna Rome
I love the word “serendip­i­ty.” I also love when I actu­al­ly expe­ri­ence the feel­ing of serendip­i­ty. It shows up unex­pect­ed­ly in moments when I feel a sur­pris­ing con­nec­tion or hap­py coin­ci­dence between two seem­ing­ly sep­a­rate things. It makes me believe in the pow­er of the uni­verse and often leaves me ques­tion­ing whether these occur­rences are more than a fluke. I espe­cial­ly love when serendip­i­ty shows up in my teach­ing, learn­ing, and lit­er­a­cy life.… more

Traction

Lisa Bullard. Photo by Katherine Warde
I try to deliv­er reg­u­lar advice you can use to aid and inspire your young writ­ers, but this week I’m lean­ing on the wis­dom of others. This is advice I’ve found help­ful those times it feels like my writ­ing wheels are stuck in deep mud and spin­ning wild­ly and I’ll nev­er gain trac­tion again. Here, from a vari­ety of astute advi­sors, are the best tac­tics for when you’re stuck as a writer: BIC” —children’s writer extra­or­di­naire Jane Yolen Expla­na­tion: Short for “Butt‚ In Chair,” which means put your back end on a seat­ing device, in front of the key­board, or note­book and pen­cil, and write — whether you think you can do it today or not.… more