Wilton Library Teens Blog » Writing

Life before texting

Marissa — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:36:28 +0000

Texting is probably the easiest way to get in touch with someone. Have a question about your math homework? Text your friend. Going to stay late at school? Text your parents. There are even “text a librarian” services out there if you have a reference question (we don’t have that yet, but you can always give us a ring when we’re open.) Before texting (or even emailing), people wrote letters to each other. A cool website called Letters of Note has collected about 900 of these letters, both handwritten and typed. You can browse by author or date. It’s sort of like peeking into someone’s diary and is a fascinating way to spend some time. Here’s one that is sort of sad but sweet: Fiona Apple writing about her dog who is very sick.

The letters date from pre-1600 to the 2000s. I don’t recommend looking at the website if you have something urgent to do because the letters are amazing! Enjoy.

It’s NaNoWriMo time!

Marissa — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:00:28 +0000

It’s the first of November, and that means it’s time for NaNoWriMo! What’s that, you ask? NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s a challenge to write a full-length novel in the span of one month! Go ahead and write– let your imagination take over! For adults, the goal is 50,000 words, or almost 2000 words a day. For the NaNoWriMo Young Writer’s Program, you can set your own reasonable goal. The NaNoWriMo website likes to track how many people are participating, so if you’re going to write the next great American novel, make sure you get all the info and sign up. If you’re over the age of 18, check out the regular NaNoWriMo website to sign up.

Good luck!

Writers who got their start at a young age (click the links for title info):

S.E. Hinton, The Outsiders

Alexandra Adornetto, Halo, Hades, Heaven

Christopher Paolini, Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

Maureen Daly, Seventeenth Summer

Alex and Brett Harris, Do Hard Things

Isamu Fukui, Truancy, Truancy: Origins

Idioms

slauricella — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:52:25 +0000

No, that wasn’t an insult. An idiom is a common word or phrase with a culturally understood meaning that differs from what its traditional meaning is. So you may be completely confused if you don’t know the correct meaning of certain idioms. Idioms aren’t a new thing, in a list provided by Buzzle the idiom “absence makes the heart grow fonder” was first noted in 1602. And another list can be found here in Wikipedia. So after reading these you will now know when someone wants to “trip the light fantastic” with you, they don’t mean traveling to the sun.

Are you in love with your own handwriting?

slauricella — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 18:02:48 +0000

Then, create a font in it (for free!) at the font capture website. Hit the site, then fill out their handwriting template in your handwriting. Scan the template and follow the instructions…and presto, your own font! How cool is that?

Words to Make You Sound Smart(er)…

slauricella — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:15:47 +0000

Not that you needed this, but the American Heritage Dictionaries‘ editorial staff has compiled a list of 100 words they believe make writers and speakers sound intelligent. And there is also the freevocabulary.com site with (get ready) 5,000 collegiate words with their definitions. Although these won’t be a panacea for your vocabulary issues, it may be your way to finagle some vocabulary respect. Didn’t know the meanings of some of those terms? You need to read the lists!

Do you have vocabulary acumen?

slauricella — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:04:28 +0000

More importantly, do you even know what acumen means? Well you would if you used dictionary.com’s word of the day service which automatically emails you the word of the day, it’s meaning, and interesting facts behind it. Use it to bone up for SATs or just to expand your own vocabulary. You will be be displaying perspicacity before you know it!

If you love to write…

slauricella — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:56:44 +0000

But you don’t know how to have your voice heard, or want to make your writing better, check out Teen Ink. Teen Ink is a national teen magazine, book series, and website devoted entirely to teenage writing and art. Distributed through classrooms by English, Creative Writing, Journalism and Art teachers around the country, it has the largest distribution of any publication of its kind. They don’t have staff writers or artists but instead depend completely on submissions from teenagers nationwide for their content. In other words, they need your writing! Any student can submit creative writing, art and photography at no charge. Hit their website to receive one issue of Teen Ink’s print magazine completely free, and read their criteria for submission. Maybe you will be one of the 25,000+ teens Teen Ink has made into published writers!

And they say nothing rhymes with “orange”…

slauricella — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:59:55 +0000

Challenge? Lozenge? They just don’t sound right! But if you can’t find that final rhyming word to put the finishing touches on your poem, the FREE Online Rhyming Dictionary may be able to help you. It will help you find the perfect word to rhyme, using the first or last syllable, or the whole word itself. But to save you the suspense, there still isn’t a whole-word rhyme for orange. So you may just want to use the word “red” instead.

Are you a Drama Queen (or King) or want to write for one?

slauricella — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:15:58 +0000

If so then here is the site for you: Internet Script Database.com. With their selection of complete movie scripts you could be honing your acting skills for Broadway tonight. A range of complete scripts are available to download from all genres. Recent additions include Limitless and The Help. So get inspired to write your own script or to try some acting out of your favorite scenes…you could be the next one we see on the red carpet!

You? An author?

slauricella — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:09:41 +0000

Of course ! You know it is your secret dream. But…how to go about actually getting a book published? Not to mention writing it. Well one secret to writing a book that no one talks about (probably to scare off talented young authors like yourself) is that you don’t actually have to write the entire book before you sell it. How do we know that and you do not? Well through the resources at the Wilton Library of course! A search through the catalog will yield books on the mechanics of writing your book, then how to get it published. According to this website, the YA market is just exploding. So what are you waiting for? Soon it could be YOUR book people are checking out at the library!