Write A Book In A Year

From the Inkygirl archives:

I recently heard from James Van Pelt, an author and English teacher, who was writing to let me know that he had re-posted one of my cartoons. In his letter, he told me about a fascinating project for young people. called the “Write A Book In A Year Club”

Here’s what he wrote:

Hi, Debbie,

As per your instructions, I’m letting you know that I reposted one of your cartoons on two of my blogs. The first time is at my personal blog at http://jimvanpelt.livejournal.com, and the second is at a blog that I’m running for my high school students at http://writeabookinayear.edublogs.org. I’ve included attribution and a link at the bottom of the posts.

The second site is really a fun idea. Last year I had a novella to write and not much time to do it, so I wrote on my white board, “Mr. Van Pelt has a novella to finish before the end of the month. Ask him how he is doing.” Sure enough, a half dozen kids a day would ask. It kept me honest, and I finished the project.

So, this coming school year I thought I could write a novel the same way. The kids would see me writing, and that’s a big motivator. However, it occurred to me that the schools never give kids a chance to tackle a big project, so we formed a “Write a Book in a Year Club.” I held an interest meeting and thirty kids (and six teachers!) came. The idea is that everyone in the group can encourage and support each other while they work on a big project.

Your cartoon seemed perfect for what we were doing.

Thanks for your funny look at the writer’s plight.

Best,
Jim

James Van Pelt
Author and English Teacher
Look for The Last of the O-Forms and Other Stories, my latest short story
collection, and Summer of the Apocalypse, a novel, from Fairwood Press
blog at http://jimvanpelt.livejournal.com
http://www.sff.net/people/james.van.pelt