Yesterday was another workday for our final projects– and all are coming along nicely! Many of us are working in entirely new worlds, created just during this DT, while others are able to explore within the boundaries of one already created. Either way, we’ve all burst out of our comfort zones this DT, whether it was by collaborating with others on a circle write or writing a story based on a single image.
As we’ve culminated our learning and taken risks with our projects, we’ve been aided by some special visitors. One such visitor, RJ Anderson, is the author of the YA paranormal book Ultraviolet (sequel: Quicksilver), as well as the middle grade series Faery Rebels. Like our previous author visits, she came to us through video call (though this time we used the considerably less-buffery Zoom). She talked with us about worldbuilding, plot, characterization, and the terrible woes of writer’s block.
Today, on the other hand, was mostly a field trip day. We started by heading to book-lover’s haven, aka Barnes & Noble, to pick up some summer reading (and Starbucks). We then went to the Art Museum– coincidentally meeting up with the Math-a-licious group while we were there– and went to a nice spot to write for a while.
After getting some authentic Mexican take-out and heading back to school, we Zoomed with Ryan Graudin, the author of YA books such as Wolf by Wolf, The Walled City, and soon-to-come-out Invictus. She provided us advice and insight into the writing and publishing worlds, as well as answering our questions about the ethics of writing alternate history, how to deal with bad reviews, and whether or not she Googles herself. (Answer to the last one: Doesn’t everyone?)
All together, Fantasy Writing has been having a great DT. Tomorrow is our final workday, so we’ll be working hard to prep for presentations!
