A little more than a week ago, I had the chance to do a school visit with a group of about 15 kindergarten through fifth-graders. It was such a blast! As an editor, I’ve given plenty of talks about how magazines are made and about jobs in media and publishing to everyone from elementary school kids through college juniors and seniors. But this was the first time I’ve gotten to talk about craft. That topic is limitless, of course, so I decided to focus on something very basic: How to outline a story — or, as I called it, The 5 Basic Elements You Need to Create a Great Story.

Since the room wasn’t set up for Power Point, I went old school and made posters. I created worksheets and story-element paddles so everyone had a chance to engage. I learned a lot from the visit (e.g., plan for the actual talk to take about a half as much time as your practice run-thru and bring at least three books to read aloud instead of just one), and loved seeing how excited the students were to create their own stories. But I think the biggest hit was the book giveaway. One of the kids looked at me with wide eyes and said, “We get to keep these?” Absolutely.

© 2018 Rachel Martin. All Rights Reserved.