Revising your author bio

Now that you've had time to really consider yourself as a serious writer, it's time to go back and revise those author bios we wrote at the beginning of NaNoWriMo.

Here's what I'll be grading you on:

• Written in 3rd person (5 points)
• Follows the typical progression of an author bio: where you live, family info, other books written -- or the fact that it's your first book, possibly even hobbies if you so choose (10 points)
• Adheres to the conventions of a published piece of writing -- consider capitalization, punctuation, spelling, etc. I will be taking off points if these things are not in place (20 points) 
• There's a sense that you studied up on the genre of writing author bios and you show a respect for the genre (5 points)  
• Made some noticeable revisions to original author bio (5 points)
• Shared your document with at least 2 classmates who commented on your work (5 points)
• BONUS: Inject some of your own writing voice into the author bio somehow, i.e., find a way to make it more than just plugging in a formula. Try to find a way to make it your own while also adhering to the conventions of the genre. (up to 5 points) 

Learning from Authors During NaNoWriMo

During National Novel Writing Month, we are fortunate to be hearing from multiple authors who will inspire our writing. The first author is my friend Marquin Parks, author of the Wrinkles Wallace series (Knights of Night School and Fighters of Foreclosure), who sent along some words of wisdom via video message:

We will also be Skpying with authors Gae Polisner and Natalie Lloyd.

Gae is the author of The Pull of Gravity 

and The Summer of Letting Go:




Natalie is the author of A Snicker of Magic and the upcoming February release of The Key to Extraordinary.

If any of these books sound interesting to you, I encourage you to support these wonderful authors and ask your parents if you can purchase their books. Even if buying books is not an option for you at this time, another way you can support these authors is to check their books out at the library (or my classroom library) while also talking about them and recommending them to friends.