Our latest class read aloud is Jack Gantos’ Dead End In Norvelt. I had every intention of giving it up half-way through. I figured that the kids who loved it could take it over independently and the class could move along to another genre. Well, the kids weren't too happy with that. Funny enough, leading the charge, were six students who had found their own copies and had already finished the book. Looking out for their fellow classmates, they spread the word that the story gets better and better. I folded. I'm a sucker for enthusiastic readers.
Coincidently, Jack was scheduled to speak at the Boston Athenaeum. Not only did I walk away with a ton of interesting information about Jack's writing and the origins of his story, Dead End in Norvelt; I ended up with some good general life lessons.
1. Follow Your Enthusiasm
The opening slide of Jack’s presentation had been projected since I arrived an hour before his talk. As the room filled up, about 3 minutes before he was scheduled to speak, he casually walked up to the computer and switched to an entirely different presentation. After his introduction, he took the stage and launcheinto the most enthralling speeches I have ever attended.
It was clear from that last minute alteration that Jack made the decision to begin with an unplanned topic. I don’t know if he merely switched the order or if he chose to include a section that wasn’t slated but either way, he was clearly enthusiastic from his first words. I was shocked when he concluded an hour later, it felt as though 10 minutes had passed. Truly effective presentations come from the heart. If getting it right means veering off course, even if it’s to satisfy your own passion, your audience cares more about your excitement for your subject than the subject itself.
2. The Theater of Your Mind
While we all share a common understanding about the importance of reading and we can certainly agree on universal strategies of effective reading, everybody reads differently. Jack confessed to being a slow reader. That he was in fact in the “Blue Bird” reading group, which he later discovered was a euphemism for “slow.” I was utterly astounded by the eloquence with which Jack expressed his ritual for concluding a book. When he was younger, Jack would make sure everything in bed was set up comfortably, positioning the light from the lamp just right. And then he would slow down even more because finishing a good book should be an event.
Jack slows down from reading the words to, “...reading the space between the words. you start to go behind the lines and through the lines and under lines and the margins, drift to the margins and use them as a screen to project the images from the story before. At the end of the book, in the theater of your mind, the curtains open and the characters come out to take their bow and you act in the story with them and you get the chance to tell them who you liked and which parts you didn’t. And then you fall asleep.”
“When you wake up, the book is still the same book you’re not the same person.”
3. 150%
“You experience 50% of a book on the interior, on an emotional level. 50% of the book happens on the exterior. 50% of reading is what you make of it, what you bring to a book.”
4. The Value of a Map
Jack projected a map he drew of his house. It wasn’t incredibly detailed but there were little nuances beside location; little symbols labeled “Cool Air Chair” and “Jack’s Stain.” As Jack glanced up at the map, he recounted three or four riveting stories that had the entire room howling with laughter.
We teach students to pre-write by brainstorming, by making a web or a list, or just drafting from memory. Drawing a map, what an engaging way to pre-write.
5. Writing Doesn’t Have to be Linear
While I assure students that a story arch can be fluid, when work on narratives I’ve always insisted on a story arch. When I asked Jack about his writing process, he shared that he starts with good scenes. After he’s created enough good stories he looks for ways to connect them. Only then, does he begin looking for themes.
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