Book Giveaway Congratulations and a List of Helpful Writing Books

Congratulations to Jan Godown Annino, whose entry was chosen by the Random Number Generator to win an autographed copy of Write a Poem Step by Step!

Thanks to all your helpful suggestions, I'm adding a number of books to my Must Read list. Here are the titles contributed in the Book Giveaway entries:

Wild About Words said, "The book that influenced my writing was STORY by Robert McKee -- really helped with story structure and character arcs."

Robyn Hood Black said, "One of my favorites . . . now is Georgia Heard's AWAKENING THE HEART."

Joyce Ray said, "I also love poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge."

moonduster said, "The Artist's Way was required reading for a class of mine in college and it was wonderful at helping me embrace my creativity."

jan godown annino said, "In addition to poem crazy, which I shared last year with my poetry critique group, I am grateful for several titles. One I'd like to be bold & mention is THE CREATIVE HABIT by Twyla Tharpe. This choreographer & dancer of great stature provides us a lively guide that I try to reread every year. When she talks about collecting her posse, it makes sense for children's literature folks to especially note that this group of her advisors included Maurice Sendak. Her tips lift me up."

Linda said, "Another book I still refer back to is Lee Bennett Hopkins' Pass the Poetry, Please."

skanny17 said, "One of a number of books that influenced my teaching of writing was Write from the Start by Donald Graves and Virginia Stuart. (An oldie but a goodie.) After that all of Nancie Atwell's work and Lucy Calkins's early works such as The Art of Teaching Writing and Living Between the Lines were very helpful. Georgia Heard's books also were a big influence. Naming the World: A year of poems and lessons by Atwell is very helpful for teachers."

Karen said, "One book that influenced my writing is Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets by Paul B. Janeczko."

Lisa said, "The book I love to use for teaching about using one's unconscious mind when writing is Writing the Natural Way" by Gabriele Rico."

Thanks again to all who entered--I'm glad to see so much support for writing and teaching poetry! And thanks again to the Teaching Authors for inviting me here for the Write a Poem Step by Step Book Giveaway and guest post!

JoAnn Early Macken

TeachingAuthors Schedule

The TeachingAuthors will be taking a winter break until January 2, 2013. They'll return with a special announcement regarding the blog in 2013.

Happy holidays, everyone!