Tech Thursday: FIGMENT, Online Younger Writer's Forum

"Figment is a community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors. Whatever you're into, from sonnets to mysteries, from sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, you can find it all here." (from website home page, http://figment.com/)

Figment allows you to read other young writers' works OR submit your own writing (must have an account) to share with others. Assign your own metadata tags for easy finding. Note that you must sign in to comment (no anonymous comments allowed!).

Signing up is free, and you can connect your Figment account with your Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblrs account for streamlined sharing.


 
Get inspired with figment news.

 Enter contests and win prizes!

Read through the newest, the most-hearted, or recently updated items, or search for content using keyword tags.

The Daily Fig is a source for original, editorial content from Figment, interviews with authors, writing advice from professionals, videos, charts, quizzes, polls...

Book reviews/suggestion from the pros.

Create a Group or browse existing groups -- groups are your place to meet up with other Figs and talk about the things you love. Ninja's? Sketching? Tolkien? Chat with others who share your interests.

 Discuss writing and books with others at the Figment forumts.

Invite your friends to join the Figment community.




Questions? Visit their FAQ page and see if it's there: http://figment.com/faqs
Question not answered on FAQ page? You can contact people directly (how awesome is that?): http://figment.com/contact

VOYA's Teen Poetry Contest

A poetry contest for teens age 12-18, but the catch is that entries MUST be sponsored by a teacher or librarian. Teens, you can't just enter yourself. However, if you come up to one of us, I'm sure we'd be happy to send in the poem for you.

Submission Guidelines:

• Contest submissions may be poems of up to thirty lines on any topic.


• They must be typed in a Word document.


• Include the following information on the same page of each poem entered: poet’s name, age, town, and state; sponsor’s name, title, organization/school/library, address, phone, and e-mail.


• Name the document file with the poet’s last name. Ex: Smith.doc


• Attach the document to an e-mail with “VOYA Teen Poetry Contest” and the poet’s last name in the subject line.


• Only one poem per teen, please.


• Contest Deadline: December 31, 2011.

Each winner will receive a $20 cash prize and a copy of the April 2012 issue of VOYA in which their poem will be printed.

From VOYA, where you'll find more info.

Writing Workshops

For the next three Tuesday's Lynnwood Library has actual authors of teen fiction magically appearing at 4pm to help you hone your creative writing skills (and really, all your writing skills). This is a free series funded by the Friends of the Lynnwood Library, and a grant from Fred Meyer. Not only will the authors be there to answer all of your questions about writing and publishing, but I'll be giving away free books of the author's latest title to 2-3 teen attendees at each workshop.

Tuesday, August 2nd
Caridad Ferrer
4pm
Author Caridad Ferrer ("Adios to My Old Life," "When the Stars Go Blue") will use music, art, food, and other sensory stimulants to spark new creativity and precision in this writing workshop. Two attendees will win a copy of "When the Stars Go Blue."

Tuesday, August 9th
Sarah Jamila Stevenson
4pm
Author Sarah Jamila Stevenson ("The Latte Rebellion") will lead this writer's workshop on finding "voice" in your writing. She'll explain the idea of voice, illustrated with examples of distinctive writing voices from classic and contemporary YA novels. You will also talk about the difference between the author's writing voice and the characters' voices. As a group, you'll discuss what voice does for the reader's experience, and what role it plays in the writing process. Finally, the group will do a few writing exercises designed to help you find your own writing voice, and to help you experiment with character voices. Three attendees will win copies of "The Latte Rebellion."

Tuesday, August 16th
Lish McBride
4pm
Author Lish McBride ("Hold Me Closer, Necromancer") will guide teens in discovering the importance of characters and what makes them, be they good or evil, seem real. She'll share with you a few character tricks that helped her become a Morris Award finalist. Three lucky attendees will win copies of "Hold Me Closer, Necromancer."

Hope to see you there!

For directions to Lynnwood Library, click here.

Find Poetry in Unexpected Places

As an occasional dabbler in poetry, I like writing exercise that give you a good kick to get going. Nothing is better for this than writing Found Poetry, where you look around at already existing word groupings, and pull or break them apart in new and interesting ways. Can you make a poem off a box of cereal? Yes! How about from an instruction manual? Totally! What about an issue of the New York Times? Certainly...plus, you can be featured on their website, if you enter their Second Annual Found Poem Challenge! Be sure to check out the website for all the rules and examples of last year's winners. Over 200 people entered last year. If I was between 13 and 25, I would totally do it, but alas, I'm old. ;)

In the meanwhile, if you think this sounds fun, but need a little boost to get going, or prefer writing with a group, come to the Mountlake Terrace Library this Wednesday at 4pm where we will have a free creative writing class focused on this topic: Recycled Words - Found Poetry.

Hope to see you there!

Dawn