books

What is Jewish writing? Defining Jewish Writing, Part 1

beccakinla Jewish, Jewish writing, kosher, secular Tags: , , , , , , , 10 Comments

What do you think?

Tablet Magazine asks this week, “What is Jewish fiction? What makes a Jewish writer?”

This isn’t a new question. A year or so ago, there was this outstanding post on Jeremy Rosen’s blog, considering the same questions, and there are other essays on the subject published elsewhere.

Recently, the online magazine, Tablet, began to publish short fiction. The second story it selected, by young author Justin Taylor, begged the question. The characters weren’t Jewish, but more importantly, there were no allusions to Jewish literature, issues, history or culture in the story. Rabbi Rosen’s argument  would disqualify Taylor’s story as an example of Jewish writing by that token. On the other hand, the editors at Tablet certainly felt that since Taylor is Jewish, his story is Jewish.

So I ask: Is Jewish writing by a Jewish author, or must it contain Jewish content?

I’d LOVE input about this issue. Please state your ideas below. If you want to read Taylor’s story, I want to caution you, it contains coarse language.

Be childlike, not childish–What we can learn about writing from kids

beccakinla advice, challenge, children, how to write, writer, writing, writing implements, writing process Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

We now—joyfully—have 2 1/2 literate kids in our household. (The 1/2 is only 5. Cut her some slack.) One of the interesting things in my life lately has been watching them become writers, as well. I think we adults can learn a thing or two from their learning curve.

1) Kids enjoy writing about what they like. However, one of the things that makes them better writers is writing about things outside their comfort zone.  It’s a lot easier to get my 10 year old to write about cars or maps, but his writing skills have been built up greatly by writing all those friendly letters, book reports, essays, and so on that get assigned as homework or classwork. When was the last time you wrote something outside YOUR comfort zone? I know professional writers who only write personal essays, or those who have always exclusively written for kids. Try a little of everything. Mix it up. It’ll surprise you.

Watch out! Your bookworm might just become a writer!

2) Kids try to copy what they like to read. They’ll borrow liberally from Captain Underpants, Tintin, and the like. They recognize excellence and strive to emulate it. Of course, we want writers to develop their own voice (and never, ever plagiarize), but there’s nothing wrong from learning from the greats. So do a little pastiche–you’ll get a childlike pleasure from it, and brush up your skills, too.

3) There might be obstacles in the way. The right tools can help. One of my kids has a graphomotor problem. Upon advice, we bought him pencils with fatter leads. What a difference. And now he usually types writing assignments. So much easier for him. Another of my kids is so young, she hasn’t learned to spell yet. Relying on invented spelling allows her to communicate on paper, and she’s so pleased with the result she does a little dance (really, she does). If your inner kid has problems with writing, break it down and see if there’s a solution. Don’t just give up. Continue reading →

Wavering

beccakinla advice, challenge, nanowrimo, whole megillah, writer, writing, writing groups, writing process, ya novels Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month, running for the month of November each year. By November 30th, participants hope to finish writing a 50,000-word (approximately 175-page) novel. Some people try to fly solo, but most participants sign up on the official website. The website offers guidance about pacing, tracks your progress, and provides support. NaNoWriMo has resulted in some book sales for participants, but many others say it taught them discipline, skills and persistence that helped them with future projects.

If your book idea is Jewish and for kids, there’s also (mentioned in a previous blog) the “Write Your Own Megillah” event.

Truthfully, I have a few novel ideas out there, and it would be good to have an outside source telling me to crank out a draft in one month. But I’m still working on my last novel, still hoping to sell it, and still have deadlines for my magazine work to meet. Plus, I probably need to add another part-time job to my plate for financial reasons.

So I keep wavering. Should I or shouldn’t I? Should I or shouldn’t I? It’s like balancing two different categories of responsibility.

Can you trust the reviews you read?

beccakinla authors, review, reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I mentioned briefly in last week’s post that authors have been hiring other writers to review their books and sometimes even to bash the competition. (This happens for reviews of all types, in fact, from hotels to toaster ovens.) Media coverage of this issue has been growing lately–see this revealing expose of the practice and this equally eye-opening explanation of how to detect faux reviews for details.

Since Judaism has an idea of geneivat hadaat–misleading knowledge as a form of theft–you’d think that the Jewish book world is immune to it. However, Jewish publishers and authors do buy reviews. Often, the review appears on an “advertorial page.” Perhaps this isn’t deceptive after all–it’s marketing, not true reporting–and so permissible under law, Jewish or otherwise, but the casual reader usually doesn’t know the difference.

Why is everyone making a whoop-dee-doo about this? Because people look at reviews for guidance about how to spend their money. Consumers expect reviews to be sufficiently objective to weigh the pros and cons of the product in question. Can you count on a review being objective if the author received money for it?

On the other hand, if an author sends you a copy of their baby (ahem, I mean “book”), then it’s clearly hurtful to turn around and bash the book publicly. If they are making the effort to market themselves, they want to protect themselves (hence payment offered for positive reviews). I can understand that authors are afraid to gamble on whether the people they ask to read their book will heap praise on it or tear it to shreds. However, we still get knocked back to my point above–consumers expect reviews to be trustworthy.

I’ve been approached recently by several different people to write reviews of their books, partly because I’m an author, partly because I’m a blogger, and partly because I (briefly) used to be paid by a magazine (not an author, not a publisher) to review books. Some have offered money, some have not. I’ve reviewed a few of these books, but I made some rules for myself so that people can trust my evaluations.

Rule #1 – I will accept money from a magazine or newspaper that prints a review, but not from the author or the publisher of the book.

Rule #2 – If you provide me with a free copy of your book, either in print or digitally, I will read your book. That’s all I can promise.

Rule #3 – If I like it, I’ll review it positively. If I don’t, I will not backstab you and write a bad review. However, I won’t write a good review about the book either–I just won’t review it at all. (So far, I’ve only refused to review one book sent to me this way.)

Rule #4 – If I have more than a passing acquaintance with the author, I’ll state it in the review.

I hope that others will adopt these rules, or similar ones, so that people can trust reviews again. After all, I’m a consumer, too.

How to find a kosher book: Nifty bit in this week’s HaModia

beccakinla books, Jewish, kids, kosher, seinfeld Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
There’s an article this week about Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld in HaModia, and it mentions almost as an aside that he and his 12 year old daughter have started a website with books for Jewish kids.
I visited the site, and the coolest thing is that it is SEARCHABLE! You can look up selections by subject and by age of reader, as well as title and author. However, it does not contain all the books out there. I’m assuming it is a work in progress and I’m very impressed with what they’ve done so far. It would be a great resource, for example, for those looking to buy a gift for a particular child or looking to stock up for a school or classroom library.
The link is in the list to the right of this blog, as well, and will remain there indefinitely.
In other “HaModia” news…my all-time favorite serial (aside from the one co-written by yours truly…) wrapped up in that magazine last week. Hopefully, This is America! will soon appear in novel format in Jewish bookstores. I really hope so, as it will deservingly find more readers this way.

How to Provide Books to the Needy

beccakinla First Book, free books, literacy, what no bedtime story means Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

About thirty years ago, a linguistic anthropologist researched children’s literary experiences at home in three communities. In her famous article, “What No Bedtime Story Means,” Dr. S.B. Heath wrote about her findings. She reported that children who have books in their home and use them regularly have better literacy in school. Even if a child had books in the house, they had to be used…it was insufficient to have a beautiful book if it was treasured so much to the extent that it was left on the shelf as a display piece.

When I taught in So. L.A. nearly a decade ago, my students (mostly working class and Latino) often had no books of their own. Many didn’t visit the library unless on a school visit, although there was one in the neighborhood. Many parents, cash-strapped and not functionally literate themselves, chose to spend what little money they had on DVDs and video games. Others had a few books. These had often been received as gifts, and remained on the shelf so as not to be ruined (just as in Dr. Heath’s study). Alternatively, my students had books, but these were often t.v. tie-ins of questionable literary merit. And some of my students had parents who wanted to read, but were each working two jobs to make ends meet. These folks were simply too busy and too exhausted to read a bedtime story. Thus, my students often had very few literary experiences before they reached school.

Contrast this with the average Ashkenazy Jew in America: books cover the walls (content and language varies by religiosity); many books are so well used they have actually been “loved to death” and are in tatters; libraries are regularly visited; newborns are given copies of Baby Faces, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Blue Hat, Green Hat as gifts long before they can actually hold the books in their own tiny hands.

And people wonder why we are the people of the book?

In steps the wonderful organization, First Book. First Book has partnered with General Mills to distribute free books in Cheerios boxes at selected times of year. Plain Cheerios is a WIC friendly food, so putting them in that particular brand helps them reach their target audience, kids whose families may not be able to afford books, and who may not access public libraries. While these books are printed cheaply, they are high-quality literature. The authors have either won First Book’s annual writing competition for new writers or are established writers themselves…and the illustrations are fabulous.

Here’s a link to this wonderful organization. http://www.firstbook.org/