Word and after words

This book on writing, aimed at elementary-schoolers, opens with a quote from Joan Didion:

I write to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.

While I wouldn’t say I disagree with this sentiment — those are valid reasons to write and things I’m sure most writers get out of the process — it does not speak to me. It is not why I write and does not typify the sort of things I prefer to read. Which is probably why neither Didion nor MacLachlan are favorites of mine. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they are bad writers, they’re just not to my taste. They exemplify an approach to writing, as illustrated by the above quote and by this book as a whole, that focuses on personal feelings and the expression of interior experience. This seems to be the sort of writing that most schools encourage in our post-hippie touchy-feely education era, and it produces writing exactly like the poems MacLachlan includes here; really, despite having pretty much all the same voice (one of my complaints about this book) the poems reminded me amazingly of the stuff we were made to write when I was in school. And you know, I thought it was boring and fake then, too.

Here are some problems with writing primarily about personal feelings:
It really requires a high level of writing skill. If you are writing a plot- or action-driven story and have the occasional awkward phrase or moment of flatness the story can carry it. But if your focus is entirely internal you really have to main a consistent and convincing voice that is both believable and (here’s the second aspect of the problem) interesting. Because really, you have to convince me that I care. This is a made up person gushing about made-up feelings. I am willing to listen to Virginia Woolf do this because her writing is superb, but I am not interested in listening to a fourth-grader or, god forbid, a teenager, do the same. I edited enough writing journals in high school and college to know what kind of self-absorbed derivative crap this produces. While it may be valuable as a writing exercise, that doesn’t mean you need to publish it.

As far this specific book goes, it was at an awkward length for this interior type of writing. There wasn’t time for enough character development. The kids mostly sounded the same to me, and often did not sound convincingly like 9-year-olds. The parents did not seem entirely convincing, either, especially in the last section where they read their kids’ poems and oh! the revelations! the tears! Seriously? It did not occur to you till you read her poem that your daughter would be sad and scared that you were dying of cancer? You didn’t think your kids would be upset that you moved out of the house* and never called or visited? I don’t think parents with that level of indifference usually show up for classroom activities.

But I don’t want to totally harsh on this book. I did like the basic idea, encouraging kids not only to write but to think of themselves as writers, as having something to say to others rather than just doing a school exercise. I liked that they weren’t forced into really specific assignments, even if they did produce the same generic poems that our rule-bound writing did when I was a kid. I wish MacLachlan hadn’t repeated the phrase «word after word after word» quite so many times, but that is a minor quibble.

Maybe younger kids will like this more than I did. And if it gives even one kid the encouragement to write, then I guess it is worthwhile.

*Other than the one mother who briefly moves out, all the families seem to be white-middle-class-two-parents, but I’m not getting into that here.

This story was so simple, yet full of wisdom about writing and what it really is. Each one of the children in this story finds their own use for writing word after word after word. And the writer’s view of outlines sounds just like me.

Favorite quote:
«Outlines are silly. Once you write the outline, there’s no reason to write the story.»

There’s so much to say about this book, I’m not sure where to start. It’s funny to think that I, a writer, am freezing up at writing a review of a book about writers. XD

Not everyone will be a novelist, but this book proved that everyone can be a writer (). While the children in this book learned how to write (in a very organic, fun way, I might add!), I was reminded of why—to treasure current things, remember lost ones, process change and emotions, and understand other people. The children were great characters, each unique and special. Russell ended up being my favorite, but Henry’s parents were beyond adorable. Lucy and her parents had a sweet, refreshing dynamic too.

As I mentioned before, Ms. Mirabel had a great teaching style. My favorite part was when she read excerpts of real books aloud in class. How I would love to have a writing teacher like that!

Just a note, one child expresses resentment over a new sibling, and another’s parents are temporarily separated.

Best quote: “You are a very good writer,” said Hen. Ms. Mirabel smiled. “So are you. So are all of you.”

Altogether, this is a lovely book. I cried more often than not while reading it. <3

Well to be honest, I feel more than a bit conflicted regarding Patricia MacLachlan’s 2010 Word After Word After Word. Sure and indeed, there definitely and truly is very much to textually appreciate (and enjoy) with and in MacLachlan’s featured narrative for Word After Word After Word, in particular regarding Miss Mirabel’s theories on writing and the many suggestions about creative penmanship she provides and offers up to fourth graders Lucy and friends, with her, with Miss Mirabel especially demonstrating that writing is both about words and equally about one’s innermost feeling and that poetry is both important and a necessary tool for verbal expression.

And yes, I myself and personally in particular absolutely love love love how in

Word After Word After Word Miss Mirabel, who is probably somewhat if not even massively a mirror of Patricia MacLachlan herself, tells Lucy et al that she absolutely loathes outlines and thinks that they first and foremost majorly stifle and limit verbal creativity. Because most definitely, after my classmates and I were pretty much collectively forced and mandated from grade nine to grade twelve to make, hand in and then also totally slavishly follow detailed outlines for every written assignment, for every essay, both my verbal creativity and my joy of writing really and absolutely suffered (and indeed only partially recovered when I once out of school and attending university no longer was forced by well meaning but lacking in basic understanding of my process of penmanship “instructors” to limit myself creatively by handing in tediously detained outlines, since well, my writing has always been rather stream of conscience based and outlines really do tend to limit and destroy this).

However, even though the scenes and scenarios for

Word After Word After Word taking place at school and with Miss Mirabel are textually wonderful and generally both delightful and making all kinds of common sense, in my opinion, once the circle of friends is away from school, if the children are visiting with each other or when they are at home with their families, sorry, but at those times, Patricia MacLachlan makes Lucy et also appear as much too old and as much too mature for fourth graders, and with their discussions amongst themselves and also with their parents appearing really frustratingly adult like and not at all like they are nine or at the most ten years of age, leaving a textual chasm that both I as an adult reader and also my inner child have found annoying, distracting and therefore making large parts of Word After Word After Word frustrating and not all that stylistically authentic seeming. For yes, if there is one thing that I do not like with literature geared towards younger readers, having characters appear as either too old or too young for their ages is a huge personal pet peeve, and while the school scenes for Word After Word After Word are fine regarding this, I really do not think this is the case when the scenes change from school to home.

This short children’s novel took less time to read than it would have to read 3 or 4 children’s picture books.

I should have loved this book. It has: a group of fourth grade students, girls & boys who are close friends, who have some genuinely difficult challenges in their lives, who are introspective and thoughtful. A pair of teachers, one in particular who is there to teach creative writing, and the kids’ writing about their lives, their writing appearing as part of the book. Musings about what’s real and what’s unreal and the place of writing in our lives. There is humor, lots of humor. All very appealing!

But somehow this story didn’t entirely mesh for me. I cared about the people, and the idea behind the story was terrific, but the whole didn’t quite wow me as I would have expected.

I do think this is a wonderful book for reluctant readers, especially those who are not fond of poetry (the kids in the book write poetry), and also for kids who are behind grade level in reading but don’t want to read “baby books” because this is an easy book to read but has a story with some depth to it, especially depth of feelings.

I liked it, but I wanted it to be longer and have more details to the story and the subplots. However, for kids the right age & stage, this could become a beloved book.

In the hands of a lesser author, this story about a published author who visits a classroom to teach the children about writing could have turned into a self-congratulatory work about how wonderful said author and her writing is. Thank goodness, Patricia MacLachlan did not take this delightful book in that direction.

I enjoyed watching the children discover writing as a method of sharing their lives and expressing their feelings. Although the book is brief, I felt that I grew to know each child and their personal experiences. I bawled through the last chapter— enough said. A wonderful book for launching a writing workshop or encouraging children to write.

100% magic. As an elementary school teacher, I can’t wait to share this with my kids and let them use this to inspire their writing. Words after words after words definitely show how words can be magic.

Too short and sweet for me. I bet it’s actually written for classroom teachers like the character Miss Cash.

As always, absolutely beautiful. Patricia MacLachlan has a way of putting a deeper meaning on a book that young readers probably won’t pick up on, but it’s there for older readers, which I love. Also, no one handles delicate subjects in a child’s perspective like divorce, a parent with cancer, etc, with as much tact, and delicacy as Mrs. MacLachlan! Highly recommended!

A cute little book that inspires to write! I really liked the poems in here, especially the last one. My favourite part of the book is maybe these words:

«You have a story in there, Lucy,» she said, touching my head. «Or a character, a place, a poem, a moment in time. When you find it, you will write it. Word after word after word after word,» she whispered».

I knew nothing about this book and found it by chance and am glad I did

«You write to participate… to find out what is going to happen!»

🌸
🌸 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕱𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖙 𝕲𝖎𝖗𝖑 𝖎𝖑𝖑𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝕓𝕪 𝔸𝕖𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕝 ^_^

Such a sweet little book that teaches kids about the power of words.
It would be incredible for kids to read this so that they can see just how powerful their words truly are/can be in their own lives and in others lives.

I bought this purely on the reviews of my friends and it did not let me down. After all, its a book on words, how much more awesome does it get?
I found myself completely caught up in the story that I just sat down and read it strait through.
The descriptions of writing were great and I loved how clearly you could see each character.
I loved how much poetry there was in the book, though I found it a little odd that she just talks about is general writing and all anybody writes is poetry.
The only thing I really disliked was the girl who hates her new baby brother.

Overall, a fun quick read with great descriptions.

I think this would have made a better story had it been longer, more fleshed out. The story focuses on a group of 4th-graders who are being taught how to write by a real writer, Ms. Mirabel. Each of the characters in the book discovers something about themselves through writing. I did appreciate MacLachlan’s crafting of this tale—no words wasted, every word counted. She says a lot in a few words. I also liked some of the poems in the book. My favorite is the one by Russell at the end, which sums up the whole book, I think:

Out of our writer mouths
Will come clouds
Rising to the sky
Dropping rain words below
And when the clouds leave
The sun will shine down word
After word
After word
Planting our stories in the earth.

Recommended, especially as an anticipatory set for a unit on creative writing.

Good story, but unrealistic characters…never have heard 4th graders talk/write/think like the kids in the book do (sharing so many feelings, etc). It would be great to gets kids so excited about writing though!

This is the fourth time I have read this little book, which displays in fictional form the lessons about writing given by a well-known writer to a group of children, and how she teaches and pushes them to write and makes them understand and change their lives.

In an author’s note at the end of the book, Ms. MacLachlan explains that she wrote this small novel in answer to requests about what it is like to be a writer. She says she appears in the book both as her child-self and as her adult author self. This sweet little book allows us to spend six weeks in a fourth grade classroom while the well-known author, Ms. Mirabel, leads the class in a writing seminar. We see how a little group of five friends responds to Ms. Mirabel’s writing assignments and to the flamboyant Ms. Mirabel herself. Each of these children has some sort of problem, countering the notion that childhood is carefree. With Ms. Mirabel’s guidance, each is able to use writing to work through the issue. Their regular teacher, Ms. Cash, is the ordinary sort of teacher who wants outlines for writing projects and who requires order. Ms. Mirabel is the artist. I loved the description of her: «Ms. Mirabel had long, troubled hair and a chest that pushed out in front of her like a grocery cart.» When the children ask her why she writes, she answers, «I, myself, write to change my life, to make it come out the way I want it to…But other people write for other reasons: to see more closely what it is they are thinking about, what they may be afraid of. Sometimes writers write to solve a problem, to answer their own question….» This slender little novel is packed with insight. Ms. MacLachlan is a true master of her craft.

First thought: These are not the words of 4th graders.

But I liked it anyway.

Henry, Russell, May, Evie, and Lucy are enjoying classroom visits with an author, Ms. Mirabel, who encourages and inspires student storytelling through writing: You have a story in you…. Words will whisper in your ear…. You will know….

What I appreciated about the story:
> Lucy’s feeling of sadness over her mother’s cancer, and her inability to write anything without that sadness creeping in
> Russell’s optimism and his tender-hearted words about his dog
> Henry’s love of words
> May’s irritation over her parents’ decision to adopt a baby, even though her family is already large, and her acceptance of John Everett even though he’s ugly
> Evie’s attempts to find a new wife for her father, and Sister Sassy Mary Grace

I thiiiink this might work as a classroom read-aloud and inspiration for student writing. Sometimes our students have to know that they are capable of great things before they attempt great things. Reading this before starting a creative writing unit might encourage students to attempt more than your basic AABB rhyming poems.

Brilliant look at creative writing for kids. I think everyone should keep a journal just to jot down the thoughts as they hit you.. A great way for younger children, tweens and teens to express their feelings and maybe a place where they can release their frustrations in a healthy way. Writing poems can heal the soul and help one find peace in the moment. Poems that they wrote or poems and quotes they found that makes their day. Something to look back at and have fond memories. I also think adults should try this too. Someday it could actually be a keepsake for the family members. Things Dad loved, recipes Mom tried, events that took place, tidbits of vacation memories, newspaper clippings, fun drawings, a made up cartoon, things children said or did… writing or drawing is another great hobby like reading. Also nowadays, writing is about nil with the computers so what a great way for kids to keep the skill…

Usually when I read a Patricia Maclachlan book, I see a whole world filled with the story’s characters in my head. When I look back at the book’s text later, I can’t find all those details in just the words of the book. Yet they are there somehow. It didn’t work that way for me with this book. I had trouble «seeing» the world and its characters. I kept getting the kids mixed up, and I couldn’t remember which character had which problem. This does have some nice poems and an author’s note at the end explaining how the story came about. The author’s note made me like the story just a bit more.

The tale of certain writing fourth-grade friends who embark on an expressive journey to reach their definition of the writing world. As they sharpen their understanding of words with a writer that brings them to a new light of themselves, you’ll find a hidden meaning in your own life too. I find many fascinations in this book seeing how different people take the meaning of words into their own matter and incorporate them into their heart, word after word after word.

Reread Aug. 2012: I will definitely give this book a 4th star. This is a true writer’s workshop: allowing the time for students to explore and play with words. The author’s note reminded me of the importance of a writer’s story. And we are all writers.

Oct. 2011: I really love the concept of this book. Everyone has a story. A good read aloud when introducing writer’s notebook.

I was expecting something else from this book. Although I enjoyed the short read, I was hoping for more information about working with children who love to read and/or write. I am developing a curriculum for 8-12 year old kids on the love of reading, writing and perhaps illustration.

I have two divergent opinions on this book. On the one hand, it is has moments of beauty and MacLachlan is a true master in writing so much in such a short, tight space. My other opinion? The children in this book sound like elegant, educated adults, not fourth graders.

When a visiting author spends six weeks helping out in a fourth grade classroom, she facilitates the students to find their own writing voice, especially five friends who each face different difficulties at home and/or school. I would have liked this book even more if it was longer and more fleshed out, but what is here is exceptional.

3.5 stars. This was a hard one for me to rate. On the one hand, it was a really beautiful, poetic story. But something about it seemed disjointed. Like coming into the middle of a book series and not having background information. No real beginning or ending, but maybe that was intentional. Still, a very beautiful book.

A short, simple book that seeks to help unravel the mystery of writing for kids. I don’t know how appealing this would be as a pleasure read for a kid, but I could see a teacher using it in an elementary writing classroom. The whole thing can be read in under an hour.

This is a short story of words, of sadness and of beauty. Absolutely worth the hour or less it takes to share with your elementary aged sweeties.