After three extraordinary young writers shared the honor of winning the first Readergirlz writing challenge, I set to work establishing the second. This time around I placed my focus on something that has, since I was a kid skating on frozen ponds (and later in ice rinks), compelled me—choreography and the choreographic instinct.Let me explain: I read books to meet new characters, to go new places, and to find out what happens. But I also read to learn how the author has chosen to choreograph the narrative. Is it a straight-forward telling, or a book that turns around on itself? Does the story speed up and slow down, are there embedded refrains, which themes recur, which details, and why?
I invite those of you who are intrigued by this concept to watch this video, then share with me one of your own poems or short (up to ten lines) pieces of writing. Tell me, with your submission, just how you thought about the piece as lyric. What, in other words, was your choreographic strategy?
Send your entry to me by October 25, 2009. The author of the winning paragraph will receive a signed copy of House of Dance, a novel about a young girl who, in taking care of her dying grandfather and learning about the life he once lived, decides to offer him one final gift. The winning work will also be posted on my blog.
Beth Kephart
Author of Nothing but Ghosts, House of Dance, Undercover, and The Heart Is Not a Size, which is releasing in March of 2010.
Watch the book trailer and view a two minute reading of Nothing but Ghosts
Read some of the reviews for Nothing but Ghosts:
KidsLitCentral Review
Presenting Lenore Review
BookPage Review
Bookslut Review
Word Lily Review
Read some early reviews for The Heart Is Not a Size:
Reading Junky Review
Ed Goldberg Review