Yesterday, my friend Calee told me about a website/writer’s workshop called NaNoWriMo. What the heck is that?? I asked. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. In July they have a “writing camp” and then everyone writes and finished their novels in November.
I immediately signed up for NaNoWriMo.
And now I know what NaNoWriMo is. 😉
I love it because I can set a goal for myself and connect with other writers. I originally set a goal of 50,000 words because that was the automatic goal. When I realized I had only written about 2,300 words so far…I had to change it a little if the goal was for July.
For the month of July, I decided on a goal of 10,000 words. I Googled what a typical novel runs and usually they are between 50,000 and 70,000 words. Yikes.
I will still have a ways to go after July! Unless I keep it a short story. I’ll keep my updated screenshots on the blog sidebar.
We will see!
Here’s more story one draft writing:
The first parent complaint came early October. Students were allowed to “check out” classroom books and take them home over the weekend. Ellie Dixon had decided to take home the third book in the series “Love” that referred to a character’s “other mom.”
That book was referring to a stepmom. Heaven forbid.
Beth handled this complaint professionally, but mostly brushed it off.
Then Timothy Gunderson’s dad made a phone call to the principal about a book. Without even mentioning it to Beth first. Her principal had called Beth to her office at the end of the day.
Beth walked down the long hallway, feeling like a child herself. She was, after all, being summoned to the principal’s office.
She knocked on the door, even though it was open, and Mr. Busey told her to come in.
“Have a seat, Beth.”
Gulp. What now? She made a point to sit up straight because she felt herself wanting to close in on herself. This didn’t feel good.
“A parent called today. Do you know the book, Fabulous?” Mr. Busey asked with a raised brow.
Confused, Beth replied, “Yes. I have it in my classroom library.”
“Timothy Gunderson’s dad called to tell me he is very disappointed in this book. He wants me to ‘do something about it.'”
Beth wracked her brain.
What could be wrong with that book? It was about a black girl who was struggling to live in a white world. It was a great story. The main character, Sasha, ended up in a good place–being proud of her family, her heritage and her lovely large hair.
It was a little weird that Timothy was interested in the book, but wasn’t it great that he was being exposed to a different culture? She felt a little proud that little Timothy had felt comfortable enough to check that out and read with a black girl on the cover surrounded by her lovely curly hair.
“Mr. Gunderson expressed that the grammar in this book isn’t proper.” Mr. Busey continued.
“The grammar?” Beth asked.
“Yes. I wrote down some of it here: ‘we ain’t gotta be like them.’ and ‘who he think he is?'”
“Oh, that.” responded Beth. She looked at Mr. Busey who looked like a dad who was telling his kid how important it was to eat their veggies. His brow continued to be raised, prompting her to…what? Apologize?
Beth tried to form the words that needed to be said. A good author writes authentic dialogue and this was the way some families, some black families, spoke.
“I think the author was trying to make the dialogue more…real.” Beth’s voice faltered which made her agitated. Why did she feel so small? This really wasn’t that big of a deal. She just wanted to clean up her classroom, go home, and crash in front of the tv.
“I really don’t know if we should encourage bad grammar in school.” Mr. Busey responded.
Beth thought a moment. There were plenty of books that had bad grammar. She thought back to when she taught primary. Sometimes the younger character would mispronounce words “wittle doggie” and it was endearing. And real. She wondered if Timothy’s dad would be offended by those books.
“I don’t think it is encouraging bad grammar. That is how some people talk. The book is about a black family and those are informal conversations at home. The rest of the book has proper grammar…it’s just dialogue.” Beth tried to hold her ground. She continued to sit up straight and maintain eye contact. She also tried to hold her temper.
“That may be, but we now have a parent complaint about it. I’ll be adding it to the file. Please consider removing this book from your classroom library. At [Crystal Lake] Elementary, we encourage feedback from parents and we want to keep them happy. Have a good evening.” Mr. Busey gave a polite smile and began to straighten papers on her desk. It was her signal to go.
Beth flushed. This interaction was so bizarre that Beth was left momentarily stunned. She wanted to tell him off. She wanted to ask, “what file?” Of course she wanted parents to be happy, but at what expense? She was already slightly wary of the Gunderson family because of the business at the farm…was this some form of retaliation?
Instead of arguing, she decided to stand up, smooth out her skirt and say, “Have a good evening, Mr. Busey.”
I am sticking this part in the middle of the writing from Kick a Chair. It will be before the part “for so many months she held it together.”
I will have to remember to relate that the Gunderson boy is part of the Gunderson family…the family that had some troubles with the main characters’ farmhouse. Did you catch that? edit to add: I added it in today’s writing.
Writing Stuff:
I’ve decided to keep my story thus far on a Google Doc. Since I made my first edit, today I worked on adding those edits on paper to a second Google Doc. So that means I have a draft 1 and a draft 2. I feel so professional and organized!
Hashtag Blessed.
This writing has been a great distraction for me. In case you hadn’t heard, we are in the middle of a pandemic. As a teacher in the summer who is trying to be safe and stay home…that leaves a lot of time to think.
And the plan now is to go back to school buildings while the numbers in Nebraska continue to rise. It’s very stressful and worrying to think about.
So thank you for letting me share this story with you to keep my sanity! I can’t wait to share more. 🙂
