Writing Novels, Peer Reviewing, and Digital Media: Day Seven

Today’s guest author was Travis Mulhauser, a stay at home novelist. He discussed the aspects of being a stay-at-home author and how that affects his life. Mulhauser recently published a novel entitled Sweet Girl in addition to one previous publication. The campers were really active in asking questions today. Many campers wanted to know his writing process, how he got his books published, and his personal preferences with writing. Mulhauser concluded his presentation by emphasizing to the young writers the importance of dedication and approaching writing as a job, noting he even writes when he doesn’t want to.  

The campers are working really hard to refine their work. One of the best ways to prepare themselves for Friday’s presentation is to present some of their writing. The 3rd and 4th graders do daily writing activities, and some share their writing in front of the group. It is a great chance to give and receive feedback, not just for their writing, but also their presentation skills. It is great practice for their final presentations at the end of the week.

As campers are finishing their stories, they begin to look at how they might publish them. There are multiple medias for them to choose from. Flipsnack is a program where the campers can upload their stories into a flip book format. They can find pictures to make a cover in order to give a chapter book feel. Storyjumper is good for stories with lots of pictures and images. Weebly is an online tool where the campers can make their own website. It is really good for nonfiction stories or stories that are able to utilize its multi-page functions.