Use this image to get you thinking about character. Imagine the character on the TV is in conversation with the person watching the TV. Write a dialogue between the two.

Today I’m talking to a couple of school groups at Lord Asquith School in Asquith. Right now, I’m with the Grade 8s, 9s and 11s. We’re going to – as a group – come up with a couple of suggestions for things that got them writing:

Think about an event you were at and write about it

Something someone said to you….what does it make you think of

Think of different emotions – how you feel happy, something that makes you mad, something that made you cry

Things you’ve heard in the news – like the Haiti earthquake, the Olympics – you could imagine you were there and write about it

Write a poem about Remembrance Day…

Get writing.

I have an essay coming out in this collection and thought some of you might be interested in the following call for submissions…

“The Piece By Piece Mash-Up”

Open to writers between 12-19 years old.

Tell us about fitting into Canada.

Share your experience in one of the following ways:

• · Spoken Word / Rap (2-5 pieces)
• · Short Story – Fiction (500-1000 words)
• · Short Story – Non-Fiction (500-1000 words)
• · Drama (500-1000 words)
• · Poetry (2-5 poems)

Send your work to: piece.by.piece.story@gmail.com

By Monday, March 1, 2010

We will select five artists from each category to work with one of the award-winning contributors to celebrated author and editor Teresa Toten’s forthcoming anthology, Piece By Piece: Stories About Fitting Into Canada (Penguin Group Canada).

Selected artists will collaborate on a five-minute performance piece, based on their submissions. They will present this collective literary mash-up at a public event on March 28 at Gladstone Hotel, Toronto.

But wait, there’s more: selected artists can work and hang out with their literary heroes, receive an autographed copy of Piece By Piece and an awesome prize pack.