Continue Sending in those Book Reviews...

One thing I've always had lots of requests for when speaking with others about this blog, is to include lots of book reviews. While I read a lot, I know that I'm not the only one out there reading. I would love to have your book review contributions!

As a result, I'm going to extend last month's challenge to write a book review for our literacy blog.

The winning prize will still be the book, Long After Dark, as described here.

I would love to see an in-pouring of books reviewed for our perusal. I think there may be a couple things holding people back.

Many people have expressed the sentiment that, "I hope this book will be good enough to review." One thing I hope you understand is that you can feel welcome to review a book that is mediocure or even not good at all. Certainly, we all want to read good books, but it can be just as helpful to know which books to avoid. In other words, if there is a book you've set aside because you decided it didn't fit your expectations (whatever those may be), let us know, so that we don't also waste our time and effort on pusuing the same novel. Whatever your opinion of the reading material, feel free to share it with us so we can be forewarned about what to expect.

Second, you know need to feel like a stupendous writer to write a review. Reviews can be simple and easy. A basic review can include nothing more than:

1. Your opinion of the novel.


2. Two or three sentences describing the plot (without ruining it).


3. Who you would recommend the book too.

You don't need to know all about the author or the literary discussions experts might be having on the novel, all you need to do is express your opinion.

Thirdly, sending in your review is easy. You can either submit it to lonica2.blogforliteracy@blogger.com (as part of the body of the e-mail, rather than an attachment) or e-mail it to me directly at Lonica.rowley@gmail.com. I can always attach an image of your book, if you'd like.

Hopefully, we can help each other out by recommending good (or not-so-good) books we've read. Don't be shy! Send in your book reviews!

At the Writer’s Block

by Anita Fairbanks

There it is again, the white emptiness, my own cliff of Dover, the dead impasse that blocks all progress. Scattered words, flung carelessly, bounce off the screen without sticking. I scroll to the bottom of the page, my chisel poised: nothing. “You can’t edit until you’ve written something,” I chide myself in a maternal tone.

Didn’t I leave my writing phobias behind me when I graduated? I remember, with some remorse, those long days and all-too terminable nights at my computer that I spent scratching my scalp for words, for sentences, for any idea really that felt remotely original. Sunrise would find me through the dim glass of the computer lab, finally clucking away, muttering out loud, and gobbling peanut M&M’S, one per paragraph. I don’t miss it; why then, with the deadlines put to rest, do I find myself stifling urges to self-inflict my time with writing assignments?

Yes, there were the rare, clarifying moments on the library balcony, where I “found” my topic, and more importantly, where I experienced a genuine encounter with truth. I was never the source of this truth, but seemed to fall upon it through patches of sunlight, like sensing a deer in the woods, one whose eyes have been tracking you all along. It was during these moments, with my pen aside and my sight fixed on a horizon somewhere inside me, that I could silently gaze at the idea I hadn’t written yet. I reveled in these experiences, academic as the books which bound them, but spiritual because of the means by which they occurred, “the same light that quickeneth your understanding,” the light of Christ (D&C 8:11). My agnostic companions, and even my theistic ones, spoke excitedly of similar experiences, not knowing, however, what I had been practicing since Primary, that “by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5, emphasis added).

Perhaps I miss the encounters with truth that I gained during the writing process, perhaps the pride of accomplishment, but it doesn’t change the fact that writing is harder now. It’s harder to find an uninterrupted moment, as is evident by the yelling baby in my lap currently dismantling the stapler, and pounding typos faster than I can delete them; it’s harder when you don’t have a professor expecting something by morning. Why continue writing? In Ether chapter 12, Moroni hints that it may be more essential to my character than I first thought when I exchanged schooling for motherhood. “When we write,” he states (and I’m applying this to the general human experience), “we behold our weaknesses, and stumble because of the placing of our words” (vs. 25). He nailed it—my writing phobia, in a nutshell. I hate seeing my flaws on paper. Somehow, the faults I see lie not only in a poorly written expression, but with my weak understanding, my inability to communicate, to think, to create.

In verse 27, we learn that these fears, brought on by the writing process, are purposeful. In fact, the Lord gives us our weaknesses, that we “may be humble.” We are shown our weaknesses when we “come unto [Him],” and writing is one way to exercise that. Then, through humility and faith, the Lord “makes weak things become strong.” I could call this blessing “editing,” but that would flatten its meaning. While it’s true that I have prayed over essays and thereby improved them, sometimes I improve myself along the way. For example, after struggling with an assignment in French class on Flaubert’s “Un Cœur Simple,” I found myself choosing the topic of confession and obsessing over a resulting essay five times the required length. I can only conclude that perhaps there were a few things in my life that I needed to repent of. Over and over, I find that my writing reflects the issues that are of greatest personal concern to me. The topics have weight; they seem alive and jump from book to book, following me until I resolve them, or at least record them, on paper.

Moroni’s instructions are clear and his implications haunting. We have weaknesses. They can be made into strengths through faith in Christ, the ultimate Word. But we need to be humble about them, and sometimes, a blank page can help. I’ve decided to get started on that children’s book I’m trying to write, not because it will be any good, not because I want others to read it, but because I want to challenge my weaknesses. I’ll find them in my own writing and in the characters I create. My chisel is poised.

Get out those Thank You cards!

By Lisa Hymas

We often like to recite the old adage, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!" In reality though, Elder Holland reminds us of, "a line from the Apocrypha . . . 'The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh: but the stroke of the tongue breaketh the bones," Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Tongue of Angels," Ensign, May 2007, 16–18).

The point? Our words can be powerful! One of the most powerful ways to use our vocabulary is by praising and complementing.

When there is a company I admire or a product I love, I want to let them know. Saying thank you is a great and simple way to accomplish the task.

I have written to Chick-fil-A thanking them for not opening their stores on Sunday - Go here to thank them yourself!

I have written to the Quaker Oats Company thanking them for their Simple Harvest granola bars and the healthy ingredients they contain. A few weeks later I even received a thank you box in the mail from Quaker! It contained a few boxes of granola bars, oatmeal, and ten dollars in coupons! Want to send them a note?

In response to a question about television viewing from a 1981 Ensign, Bruce L. Christensen states:

"Once we begin to exercise disciplined viewing, we are ready for the next step: expressing to the programmers our preferences. When you see a program that you especially enjoy or feel to be a worthwhile broadcast, write to the station, network, and sponsor and let them know. Do the same for objectionable programs."

"It has been my experience that people take time to write only when they are angry. Few people inform programmers the kinds of programs they want to watch or specify what they would like to see. Although you might feel a stronger motivation to write letters about undesirable programs, positive letters that thank sponsors, networks, and stations for quality programs may ultimately have more influence."

Have you seen a wholesome, uplifting movie or television show recently? Send the producers a letter of appreciation. Did you catch what products were advertised during the time slot? Send a letter to the advertisers telling you how you enjoyed seeing their commercial during such a good and family friendly program. Not only does it let people know the kind of person we are taking the time to say thank you, but it will help us to see more good around us.

Need some ideas for good movies, try this website: CAMIE Awards (Character and Morality in Entertainment)

Who else can you thank?

Write a Memoir

By Jenny Allen

This Valentines Day, starting a memoir is the perfect way to say, "I love you", to your spouse, friend or loved one. What exactly is a memoir, you ask? A memoir is a brief historical account or biography written from personal knowledge or special sources (New Oxford American Dictionary).

The possibilities for memoir topics are endless. With your spouse in mind you could write about your first impression, favorite date, first kiss, wedding day, first house, car, or pet. With a parent or sibling in mind you could write about your favorite childhood memory or family gathering. A friend would love to have a memoir filled with stories from your friendship spanning from the time you first met to the present.

To help get you started read the following article "5 Tips for Starting Your Memoir". This is sure to motivate not intimidate. Memoirs are a fun, easy, and a delightful way to journal those moments that you want to cherish for a lifetime.

5 Tips for Starting Your Memoir

1. Write memoir, not autobiography.

An autobiography is the story of an entire life, but a memoir is just one story from that life. You can only ever write one autobiography, but you can write countless memoirs. It's a much less intimidating project if you view it that way.

2. Diagram your life.

Some people have one burning story to tell. Others find it difficult to immediately pinpoint anything. Tristine Rainer, author of Your Life as Story, recommends diagramming your life to gain perspective. To do this, get in a retrospective mood, enlist the help of a friend or spouse (martinis also work), and plot your life's six most significant moments. When you do it thoughtfully and honestly, there will usually be one pivotal event that stands out as particularly intriguing and/or meaningful. If there isn't, don't worry. There are many different ways to diagram a life. Try dividing yours by critical choices, influential people, conflicts, beliefs, lessons, even mistakes. Experiment until you find the one story that wants to be told, the one experience that really fashioned you.

3. Don't begin at the beginning.

Don't tell your story chronologically. That's too predictable. Think of your favorite books. Most don't start at the beginning. Instead they rivet you with instant action and intrigue. A good beginning is a tease. It gives readers just enough action to hook them without divulging the outcome. Then it flashes back to the real chronological beginning and fills in the background.

4. Use all your senses.

The best writers create vivid new worlds for readers to inhabit. Yet most budding memoirists produce first drafts that are flat. To transport readers (and yourself), write vividly. This is done through detail, by using all your senses to fully re-create a moment in time. You can teach yourself to do this. The next time you're waiting in a restaurant, a doctor's office, or even in traffic, notice the various sights, sounds, smells, and textures. It's what writers do, both in reality and in their stories.

5. Build your writing muscle.

You have a writing muscle, and it needs exercise to perform well. Set a daily goal of writing 200, 500, or even 1,000 words. Set aside a regular time, like early morning, and be disciplined. Don't worry about making what you write perfect. Just focus on getting the story out. (There will be plenty of time for polishing later.) Above all, relax. Memoir is the easiest type of writing to do well. You've already done the research and are intimately familiar with every character. Now you just need to tell it.

Source: Kita, Joe. Reader's Digest: The Story of Your Life, 1/09.

Literacy in Action

By Lisa Hymas

Literacy encompasses not only the ability to read, but also to write. By being literate we can educate ourselves on various subjects and acquire greater knowledge of those topics. To be informed is important, but perhaps to inform others is more valuable and far-reaching than we can know. We can use our literary skills to help keep ourselves and others informed.

You don't have to be city mayor, CEO of a company, or even a Hollywood celebrity to speak up and be heard. We all have opinions and ideas about the things we like or do not, what we agree with, or what catches our passion. What are we doing with those ideas? They may not always impact society, but then again what if no one spoke up about Prop 8 in California, decided to question women’s suffrage, or rebel against England’s Stamp Act (leading to the Revolutionary war)? Giving our input makes a difference! Our impact does not always need to be on a large national scale to make a difference - there are many important ways to be heard.

To be discussed:

Saying Thank You

Filings complaints

Supporting a proposed law/amendment

Making a local impact

"The time has come when members of the Church need to speak out . . .”

"We need to remember Edmund Burke’s statement: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We need to raise our voices . . . "

M. Russell Ballard, “Let Our Voices Be Heard,” Ensign, Nov 2003, 16

Introduction to "Write On!"

By Terri Hessler

I'm a bit of a writing freak, as any of my former students (college, high school, or middle school) will tell you. I think it is a critical skill for two reasons. First, effective communication is just plain efficient. Say what you gotta' say (or in this case, write what you gotta' write) and if you do it with correct usage and mechanics, you save the reader time and effort in receiving the message. With the advent of electronic communication, that concept has not changed. If anything, it is more important because writing as a form of communication is more commonplace than it ever was. Sure, my parents wrote letters to each other once a week while Dad was stationed in Germany at the end of WWII, and people regularly sent various other kinds of mail (what we call snail mail now) but nowadays, people blog, email, text, chat, and greet (with electronic greeting cards) daily or in many cases, hourly! These participants in the modern-era writing community are more numerous and younger than they ever were in the era of snail mail. Though the mode of writing has changed, as well as its form, it still serves the same function: communication. And now, more than ever, people write what they want to communicate in more concise ways. Text messaging is the perfect example of this. I love it that text messaging seems more popular than phone calling! The "power of the pen" may have been replaced by the non-QWERTY cell phone keypad, but the word still rules, even if the word is now a mishmash of letters and symbols.

The second reason I think writing is a critical skill is because I believe that writing is a tool for learning. I know this to be true from my own experience as a student (and I've got many, many years of that experience) and as a teacher (11+ and counting). There is nothing more useful to me when trying to get my brain around a concept than writing about it. Writing helps clarify my position/viewpoint/understanding (or lack thereof) on complex—and maybe not so complex—topics. I can't explain how it does, but it does. I would guess that writing makes me use a cognitive function not otherwise accessed or maybe use cognition in a different way. All I know is that writing about something leads me to a fuller understanding of whatever it is I am writing about. It is because of this reason (that writing is a tool for learning) that my research focus is improving written expression in children with deficits in that area, particularly students with learning disabilities and those at-risk for being identified with learning disabilities.

I learn a little bit about writing by the research I do, but I learn a lot more by reading the existing research literature in my field. I like it that I can share what I learn with people I know so that it can help them if they have children who struggle with writing. This blog is another opportunity for me to do that. Every month or so, I'll share a strategy that can help improve written expression specifically, and academic performance in general.

In this column, I'll share that the commonly accepted adage that "practice makes perfect" applies somewhat to written expression in as much as it's perfect practice. Thus, my mantra is "perfect practice makes perfect." It's not very efficient to practice errors, which is what students do who produce a lot of writing but do not get any or much feedback. So, while it's good to write a lot when you're learning how to write, someone needs to be giving lots of positive feedback as well as targeted corrective feedback. Since church leaders have consistently encouraged journal-writing, members have the perfect opportunity to have their children practice a gospel principle while improving an academic skill. Maybe you could have a family journal that everyone takes a turn writing in, perhaps a different person each week. During family home evening, that person can read their journal entry aloud to their natural audience. Later in the week, in private and one-on-one, a parent can give lots of ebullient praise and target one item for improvement. Perhaps there's a word that was misspelled, or a comma misused, or a word not capitalized. Have the child correct the error right there in the journal and encourage him or her to pay attention to that skill the next time.

Many people are uncomfortable with this kind of attention to correction, to which I say, "Pshaw!" If you were teaching that child to play the piano, you would correct a note delivery error. If you were teaching that child to swing a baseball bat, you would correct his or her swing form. Why are academic skills any different? I say they are not, and in fact, are more critical. We don't need to fear harming our child's self-esteem with correction as long as it's delivered matter-of-factly and with kindness. I argue that a child's self-esteem improves with success, not vice-versa.

That's all for this month; write on!