Casanova shares writing tips at DES

Posted on: May 26, 2022

Writing can be hard work. It can be intimidating. But the effort is worth it to express yourself and form connections with others.

That was part of the message that prolific author Mary Casanova shared with students at Delano Elementary School during a visit on Wednesday, April 27.

“Writing is a way of taking a what’s in your heart and your head and putting it on paper,” she told students during one of four presentations she made to each grade level. “When you do that you are communicating with another person in a real meaningful way.”

The author of familiar picture book favorites like “Utterly Otterly Day” and “One Dog Canoe,” among nearly 40 published books that range up to young adult novels and historical fiction, shared about some of her life experiences that led to her stories. She also shared writing tips, ways to manage writer’s block, the importance of writing what you know, the research process, starting strong, and the benefits of revision.

Her presentation concluded with a humorous re-enactment of “One Dog Canoe” by student volunteers, stuffed animals and a few entertaining props.

“Students typically get very excited when they get to meet an author of books they have read,” said first-grade teacher Dianne Pohlmann, who helped arrange for the visit. “We have several of Mary Casanova’s books in our media center, and Mrs. Verhey has been sharing them with students.”

The school regularly brought in artists of various kinds to inspire students prior to the COVID pandemic, and Casanova’s appearance was a welcome return to those special opportunities for students.

“We always try to bring in Minnesota authors or illustrators. Sometimes we are able to bring in well-known authors or illustrators and sometimes we find new authors,” said Pohlmann. “Students benefit from having this experience because they get to learn about the writing process from a published author.”

Writing tips
During her presentation, Casanova emphasized that every student and adult in the room had stories that only they could tell.

“A lot of writing, a lot of creating, is listening to ideas that come your way by grabbing them and writing them down, painting them” or capturing them in some other form of expression, Casanova said.

She decided she wanted to be an author in high school, but the road to getting published was littered with hundreds of rejection letters before she finally broke through and began to have success. 

Because writing anything reveals something about the writer, Casanova said it can be a little scary to create a story. But in terms of getting started and beating writer’s block, Casanova had one simple tip.

“Write your first draft faster than fear can stop you. You can clean it up later, but don’t let fear slow you down,” she said.

She also encouraged students to create an engaging opening, and then fill in the details later. 

“Drop your reader into a place where something is happening. Give the reader a reason to wonder what is going to happen next,” she said.

Everyone can write from what they know, she added, explaining that many of her stories come from her life on the border of northern Minnesota.

“That’s what fiction writers do. We start with what we know and then we add our imagination,” she said. “It’s so much fun.”

Students can also write effectively about things they don’t have personal experience with by doing research. Casanova explained that process by talking about some of her stories that she has set in other parts of the world. Another key to effective writing is to engage the five senses of taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight.

“You have to think about what your character is experiencing, otherwise your writing will be about as tasty as cardboard,” she said.

A final tip was to not be scared of revising a written work. As an example, Casanova said her book “One Dog Canoe” was revised 32 times before it was published.

Aspiring authors
Pohlmann said that hearing from authors helps students to understand and appreciate the writing process, and is an opportunity for them to envision themselves as creators.

“Our goal is to expose students to books and help them find joy in reading and writing,” she said. “It’s a great time to highlight our publishing center, which has opened again after being closed during COVID while we couldn’t have volunteers. Students are able to take what they learned from the author and write their own books to be published in the publishing center. Their books get typed by our volunteers and then they choose a cover and special binding tape to make their book feel like a traditional published book.”

• The visit was funded by the Delano Public Library.
 

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