DEAR+AUTHOR!


 * TAKE THE LETTERS ABOUT LITERATURE **
 * WRITING CHALLENGE! **
 * * **How has an author's work--novel, nonfiction, poetry--changed your view of the world or yourself? **
 * **What did you learn about yourself that you didn't realize before reading the author's work? **
 * **Don't write a book report. **
 * **The author already wrote the book and knows what happened. **
 * **What the author doesn't know is how //you// reacted while reading the book. **
 * **Write about that--your response in a reflective, personal letter to the author! **
 * **//That// is the LAL writing challenge. **
 * Each year, LAL awards thousands of dollars through state and national prizes, as well as LAL library grants. Last year, 70,000 young people entered. **
 * Each year, LAL awards thousands of dollars through state and national prizes, as well as LAL library grants. Last year, 70,000 young people entered. **

**Deadline for this year's competition:** **January 11, 2013** **But what is reflective writing ** ** and how do you do it? ** > >
 * Visit the website if you need more information: [] ** ||
 * **Reflective writing is when an individual looks back at a past experience or period of time and thinks about the meaning and significance of that experience or time. Reflection is personal. It is insightful. **
 * **Think of a mirror. When you look into a mirror, what do you see? Not just your own image but also the space around you and behind you. That's kind of what you do when you write a reflective letter to an author. The author's work - the book - is the mirror. **
 * **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The letter you write should capture the image in the mirror - a little bit about yourself and your world, //how// you saw yourself reflected in the book. **
 * **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's the really interesting thing--no two readers quite see the same reflection in an author's work! **
 * **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reflective writing is not a fan letter or a how-to-do process report. It is not a persuasive argument nor is it a literary analysis. **
 * **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Rather, reflective writing is personal. It is insightful. It is an expression of memories or emotions or your ideas. The author's work is the doorway (or perhaps the mirror) that allows the reader to discover these things about himself or herself. **

** STEP #1 IN THE REFLECTIVE WRITING PROCESS IS TALKING, ** not so much about what happened within the pages of the book but rather what happened inside each reader's head**.** The reader/writer has to think critically, to monitor personal reactions and thoughts and then express those ideas and feelings in a thoughtful and creative way.