Journal Entry
Back to school Toby
Yesterday I woke up after snagging an hour’s nap and drove down to a local high school for Teens Read week. I’d packed up a box of my various magazines and anthologies I’d appeared in, as well as copies of the novels to show them.
From 7:55am until 2:45, with a 30 minute break for lunch, I did 7 45 minute presentations that I chopped into 4 parts: 10 minutes about who I was and where I grew up, 10 minutes reading the opening chapter to Ragamuffin, 10 minutes talking about the life of a writer, and 15 minutes (usually longer, I kept the 10 minute pieces shorter) of questions.
To my immense satisfaction, only 3 students dozed off (and with only an hour of sleep they had my envy) throughout the day. A surprising number of them did pay attention during the reading, and the questions were good from most of the classes.
Questions included things like: how do your name your characters? Where do you get your ideas? How long does it take to write a book? Did you paint the cover? Do you like reading your own books?
Some reactions that stuck with me were a couple students who were amazed that I was so young (aren’t most authors like, really really old?) and that I played X-Box 360 (discussions were had about Medal of Honor Airborne Assault and whether I’d played Halo 3 yet). Judging by the Halo comments, I should have talked about the sf-nal nature of Halo 3 and Larry Niven’s Ringworld, I would have engaged the audience a lot better.
A lesson learned…
Filed under the topic On Writing on October 17th 2007 at 2:09 pm. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for this entry to keep track of comments. You can also use to trackback.
Comment policy: this is Tobias' blog and space. Like a guest in his house, accord other guests and your host respect and polite discourse while feeling free to engage in debate or comment. Failure to do so results in comment ban or deletion.
Your host:
Tobias is a Caribbean-born SF/F novelist who lives in Ohio.
Contact me:
tobias@tobiasbuckell.com
AIM: tobiasbuckell
Latest Comments
Steve on Why my books are no longer for sale via Amazon (150)
CharlesP on Joshua Bilmes on eBook author royalties (3)
Travis Butler on Teleread offers a more moderated stance (4)
Travis Butler on Why do people want more expensive backlist books? (40)
B. Mac on That (not so much) crumbling core of Western Europe’s military might (134)
Popular this month
In the ER
Repeat
Why my books are no longer for sale via Amazon
Introducing...
That (not so much) crumbling core of Western Europe's military might
Also complicating that is fact that Thalia needs to be home tommorow since she has a cold: cough, runny nose, mild fever. 8 hrs ago
I fell asleep at 7:30pm and woke up at 12:30 due to coughing kid. Awake now. Will be interesting to see when I get tired. 8 hrs ago
Of course, I'm risking cliche. But these are the travails of being an entertainer: in realism vs keep story moving, moving wins 8 hrs ago
Mmm. The extended rise to leader of army plot sequence in this novella will be cut in favor of Duel To Death! Other way is long/boring. :) 8 hrs ago
Thalia's home today sick. Poor kid. Poor Toby's deadline LOL. 20 hrs ago
Currently Reading & Enjoying:
Free Fiction
Novels
Read the first 1/3 free of:
-Crystal Rain: First 1/3 [RTF]
-Ragamuffin-First 1/3 [RTF]
-Sly Mongoose-First 1/3 [RTF]
Short Stories
Toy Planes
The Fish Merchant [pdf]
Her
The Shackles of Freedom (with Mike Resnick)
Necahual
Four Eyes
Aerophilia
Shoah Sry (with Ilsa J. Bick [pdf]
Audio
1. Mark Terry on Oct 17th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
“…aren’t most authors like, really really old?”
No, the publishing industry makes them feel like they’re old.
No: when’s the movie going to come out?
No: do you make a ton of money from your novels?
No: do you know JK Rowling?
No: do you know any famous writers? (See JK Rowling question)
2. tobias buckell on Oct 17th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Movie questions were there, but even adults ask that, so it wasn’t a question that stood out. Adults also think there’s big money in novel writing, so I can’t blame the students for thinking similarly, but they didn’t assume I made big money either. They did ask if I knew any famous writers or famous actors.
3. S.C. Butler on Oct 17th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I’ve found that opening the floor up to questions is always the best way to go, for both large and small groups. And especially when giving school talks. Get the audience engaged and they really pay attention.
Though only someone who hates reading could doze off during Ragamuffin.
4. Tobias Buckell on Oct 17th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Yeah, I like questions. The format is roughly the same as my readings at cons, so it was natural for me.
And thanks for the Ragamuffin kudos.
I also meant to talk about how I learned how to project my voice, as it was a much larger room than I was used to reading in, and with no microphone…
5. Jeremy on Oct 19th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
” how do your name your characters? Where do you get your ideas? How long does it take to write a book? Did you paint the cover? Do you like reading your own books?”
I’d be interested in hearing the answers to these questions, or at least pointed to where I can find them if you’ve already done so.
I was surprised at your age, I just realized you’re the same age as me, which, instead of making me feel old, makes me feel like I haven’t done as much with my life as I’d like to. Good thing we’re living longer these days.
6. Emily on Oct 22nd, 2007 at 5:56 am
And now you know what I do daily!
Silly people think we should have year-round school with no air conditioning.