Hello, out there!

It’s Monique Polak, Orca’s guest blogger this week. I’m writing to you from my desk in Montreal. I’ve already gone for a run and taught a class at Marianopolis, the college where I teach. This morning, when I walked into my class, I put this quote on the blackboard (green board, really): “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master” — Ernest Hemingway.
I was about to return my students’ first writing samples, which I’d corrected over the weekend. I thought Ernest Hemingway’s quote would get them in the right mood — help them understand that writing is a process and that making mistakes and revising is an essential part of that process.

Then I said that though I am a professional writer, I’m an apprentice, too. And I told them that today, when I get home (which is now), I’ll be starting the rewrite on my next Orca Currents book.

We discussed how writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum and how important it is to get feedback. It just so happens that last week, I got amazing feedback from Melanie Jeffs, who is the Orca Currents editor. The project we’re working on together is called The 121 Express and it’s about a group of high school kids who go totally wild on the bus after school. (You might be interested to know there really is a 121 Express bus route in Montreal and I’ve ridden it — and met some of the students who are regulars on the bus!) One of Melanie’s comments was that my manuscript has too many characters (she counted 12 in one chapter alone), so my plan for today is to follow her suggestion and combine some of my characters (for example, there are two teachers, but I really only need one in my story.)

So if you’re a student out there, I hope you’re open to your teacher’s comments about your writing, and that the feedback you get makes you feel excited about writing (that’s what Melanie’s comments did for me). Writing is hard work, the hardest thing I do, but I think that’s why I love it. Easy things get boring, don’t they? It’s the second week of school at Marianopolis, but the first week for many Canadian high school students — wishing you all a good start. I’ll be back again tomorrow, telling you a little about the writing life. If there are particular things you’d like to know, send me your questions — or comments. As they say in Quebec — “A demain” — till tomorrow!