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Adi’s World

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live inside of a tree?

How do you start writing a book or story?

• You need an idea.

• Many times, this is the hardest part.

• I can go for days with a blank page staring at me.

(This is when I make revision & edit what I’ve already written.

Writers

• Create characters• Pick a setting

• Think of problems & then solve them

What does your story need?

• Plot – what happens• Setting - where & when it happens• Characters – who does the action• A Problem –without it, the story is boring

• Which of these should you focus on first?• It’s really up to you.

Adi’s WorldI chose the setting first.

Living the SecretI picked the characters first.

Book 3I decided on the problems first.

The Final Book of this Series

I decided on the ending first.

Where did the story idea for Adi’s World come from?

How did I decide what to write about?

The idea for Adi’s World started over 30 years ago when I waswalking my two big dogs along a path in a wooded areanear Chicago.

Sunshine

Ramana

At the end of the path was a dead maple tree with a hole in its trunk.

Every week Ramana dashed down the path.

Ramana would pivot and keep running. Sunshine would smack into that tree.

Sunshine followed.

One day I stopped and inspected the hole in the trunk of that tree.

The tree trunk was hollow.

I stuck my head in and thought…...

……this would make a great setting for a story.

And 30 years later it did!

Let’s take a closer look at our setting.

•Adi’s World is the inside of a sugar maple tree in a forest in Vermont.

Top Branchesstretch up 75 feet.

Welcome to Adi’s world

The branches are circular, so walking through a branch is like walking through a round tunnel.

Trunk is 25 feet high.

The trunk of our tree is vertical & hollow.

It’s where our stores & businesses are located.

What would it be like to look down into the trunk?

Because of those walks over three decades ago, I had the

setting for my book.

Next I chose my characters.

Adi

Addy

Arnie

Ayden

Jayden

adventurous

explorer

imaginative

artistic

problem-solver

Primary Characters

It is extremely important that you have well-developed characters:

Name, gender, age, physical description are not enough.

You MUST be able to “see” your characters.

What does he like? What does she dislike?

How does she act when things go well?

when things are not so good?

when things go horribly wrong?

If you can’t “see” your characters,

your audience won’t like them.

The writer & reader must feel an emotional connection to the

characters.

As I wrote Adi’s World,, one thing I had to remember is that my characters are small enough…….. …to ride on an ant.

Their size was very important when I thought about the problems I wanted them to solve.

Next Step: Problems

• The problem must fit the setting and the characters……..

•And must be solvable.

So what problems might our tiny characters face?

What do we usefor light?

What do we eat?

How do we cook our food?

What are our clothes made from?

Remember that we live inside the tree.

Your task is to decide if the answer is possible, how it would be done, and safe.

As an author, these were some of the questions I had to answer.

I had to pretend that I was Adi, and in my imagination, I had to do everything Adi ando her friends do.

I

LightMaple Community has a lighting system created by very carefully thinning parts of the bark in the tops of thebranches. These thinner spots let outside light into the community. They designed a way to store daylight & use it at night.

FoodTeams of workers go outside regularly to gather nuts & berries.It takes at least 4 adults to roll in one acorn.

Acorns & other nuts are ground into flour to make many foods. Adi loves her mom’s acorn pancakes! Living in a maple tree means you can have fresh maple syrup daily. Adi loves adding berries to her pancakes.

Maple Sap is also made into sweet treats!

How do we cook our food & heat our town?

I invented stam & peebles!

The key is……..

Lots of well-thought out details.

As the writer, you must“live” your story.

I looked pretty silly the day I stood outside in a rainstorm. I stood under a large tree branch and swayed with the wind.

I was soaked, but it was worth it! I knew what it must feel like to be in a branch buffeted by the wind.

Lee’s KitchenGetting Lost in Your Story

Once a writer has the basic elements, it’s time to compose the first draft. This is an exciting time! You get to do a lot of imagining and pretending. Then you get to see the ideas that were zooming around in your head, written down on paper.

And, of course, you think that your story is absolutely perfect!!!

This is the fun part of writing.

Until the manuscript comes back from your editor…………

As a teacher I’ve edited a lot of papers, but I never made this many marks on astudent’s paper.

This is the hard part of writing.But all the hard work is worth it, because once it’s done you have…

Your very first book!

And then you get to share one of your favorite parts with a great group of listeners…..

Arnie’s 1st Day page 28

Thank you for letting me visit and share Adi’s World with you.