The second installment in our Author Series comes with many thanks to Sue Macy for allowing us to share her 10 Tips for Young Writers.

Sue Macy is an author and editor of books, magazine articles, and writing for the Web. Much of her work is for kids and young adults, and a lot of it is about sports. Her books include Girls Got Game: Sports Stories & Poems, Play Like a Girl: A Celebration of Women in Sports, Freeze Frame, and Swifter, Higher, Stronger, which received starred review from “School Library Journal” and “Booklist.” She is also on the board of directors of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League Players Association, the group that organizes reunions and educates the public about the league.

You can learn a lot more about Sue, her books, and her interests on her website at http://www.suemacy.com/

It’s one of the oldest jokes in the book. “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” asks a tourist lost in New York City. “Practice!” (more…)

One of the five traits of writing that may seem daunting to young writers—and maybe even to parents and teachers—is “Language Use and Style.”  While it is fairly easy to help children identify language errors, such as misspellings, in their writing, helping them to improve their language style can be challenging.

Errors in word choice, usage, and conventions, after all, properly belong within the category of “Mechanics and Conventions” and involve a writer’s proficiency with mostly hard and fast rules of English.  Language style, as the name suggests, involves something less firm than a hard and fast rule; it is more artistic in nature and engages a writer’s ability to use language creatively and expressively to communicate a message, as well as something of the writer’s own personality, to the reader. (more…)

Dan Gutman is the author of more than 80 books, fictional and non-fictional, for both children and adults. His published works include The Homework Machine, The Million Dollar Putt, and Landslide! A Kid’s Guide to the U.S. Elections. He’s also published the & Me baseball card adventure series as well as the My Weird School series. We would like to thank Dan for allowing us to post his “Tips for Young Authors” in our Vantage community. You can learn more about Dan and his books and find some fun surprises on his Web site at http://www.dangutman.com.

Writing non-fiction…
If you have to write a report for school on a topic (say, the Civil War), it is really no different than what I go through when I write a book such as “Gymnastics” or “Baseball’s Greatest Games.”

The first step is to gather information. What I do, basically, is to try and find out everything I can about my subject.

For gymnastics, I went to the library to see what books had been published on the topic. I went through The New York Times Index and the Reader’s Guide to Periodicals to read articles written about gymnastics. I skimmed five years of International Gymnast magazine. I checked out gymnastic web sites. I interviewed gymnasts and coaches. (more…)

Following is the Teaching Tip written by Matt Daneker that was included in the last issue of MY Access!® Newsletter sent to all Home Edition users. As it has generated so much interest, and is applicable to all students, I thought it made sense to post here to make it available to a larger audience.

Question:

How can I help my child get started writing?

Answer:

Getting started is tough for many writers, even those we might call professionals. Sometimes this initial block is caused by having too few ideas about a topic, but it can also be the result of having too many ideas in mind. In either case, students become anxious when they are unsure of how to start writing. There is no single way to overcome this (more…)

This blog is for you.  Indeed, the entire Vantage Learning Community is for you.  We launched this new site to provide a virtual space for our growing community of users to meet one another, share success stories, and learn about writing.  As you navigate throughout the community, you’ll find blogs written for the users of the MY Access!® Home and School Editions.  You’ll also find forums for each group of users.  Fundamentally, this is your community, and we hope you find value in it.

By way of housekeeping, here are a few links you may want to explore: (more…)