Today's the first day of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Over 950 bloggers have committed to blog each day (Monday through Saturday) about a topic starting with a letter of the alphabet. Since today's the first day, we start at A.
So, are any of you surprised that I chose Adventure for A? I felt like I sort of had to because of the name of my blog. But more so because, for me, adventure is the one of the keys to writing middle grade chapter books. Kids between 9 and 12 are learning to step outside of their comfort zones. They don't always need to hold their parents' hand. They are beginning to believe that there is life outside of their home territory. This is where a sense of adventure truly begins. They are old enough to play outside without having a watchful eye on them, and they are testing their bounds of freedom.
Adventures can come in the way of creating new imaginary games or having the ability to finally ride their bikes around the block with only their friends. Maybe it's being able to go to a laser tag birthday party without their Mom or Dad hanging around in the lobby. Or it could be spending the night for the first time at a school friend's house. Still, an adventure could be the responsibility of now having a cell phone.
Since kids grow and mature at different rates, the word adventure means something different to each age. Because of this, the storylines for kids this age are endless. As long as the writer remembers that life during these years are filled with new and exciting adventures, the reader will most likely come back for more.
What sort of adventures do you remember having as a kid?
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Great post! I used to climb up in a giant tree and imagine all kinds of adventures.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I used to ride my bike all over the sub behind my house and pick out houses to live in.
ReplyDeleteAdventure -- that's a perfect word to start with! I'm still trying to have adventures. :) It makes life more interesting, and adds to the creative process of writing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely start of your A to Z!!!
ReplyDeleteMy biggest adventure as a kid was the walk I took with my dad in a forest in Germany. It was such a trek, it was a real forest, not one of those wimpy things with concrete paths through it like they have here. I so loved hanging out with him that day!
Also! As I don't notice any awards I am giving you the one lovely blog award! you can pick it up here: http://bit.ly/awardpickup
Have a great day, look forward to see what you come up with tomorrow!
You are so right, Donna!
ReplyDeleteSylvia,
ReplyDeleteAdventures with our parents are wonderful memory-makers. I have many with my parents and with my grandmother. One summer, my grandma taught me how to drive in her very suburbia subdivision. Thank goodness I didn't hit any cars!
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the blog award!
Great post. I enjoyed thinking about how children are looking for adventures in their writing similar to what they're going through in their own lives.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if I have any good adventures from when I was that age, other than moving to a different state. Does that count?
PS--I LOVE hockey, but I won't tell you which team. I would hate for that to come between us when we've only just met :)
Rosie
East for Green Eyes
Hey, thanks for stopping by at my blog. I look forward to reading your posts!!
ReplyDeletegigglelaughcry.blogspot.com
RosieC, I promise to still be nice, even if you like the OTHER team! Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteGiggle, Laugh, Cry: so nice to see you here!
I love adventure, but I'm a worry wart too. As a kid, I sometimes let the worry wart outweigh the need for adventure. So when the other kids were riding their bikes to the little country store, I worried about getting hit by a car. I worried about crazy things, like my brother getting stolen or losing my parents. Insane, when I came from a stable, loving family.
ReplyDeleteBUT we did have fun. My father and his brothers all bought a piece of land together, subdivided it and built houses. SO I had lots of cousins nearby. We lived on a hill, a steep hill, and we had to catch the school bus at the very bottom. We devised all sorts of methods of getting to the bottom of the hill. Some rode bicycles, but others rode wagons, Tonka trucks, you name it. It was great fun. And on summer nights we would play hide and seek. There were several of us. And our entire family would load up in vehicles and go out on Sunday drives. We would picnic in the woods. The men would see if they could spot deer tracks and the women laughed and talked while the kids played games. One the way home, we were exhausted and hungry again. We would usually pull over for a cold meatloaf sandwich. Those were great memories.
Anita, I'm a worrier, too. You should see how many gray hairs I have from all of things my boys do - hockey (along with checking now!) with the older son and the ups and downs of a gifted son with ADHD. I try very hard to not interfere in their new adventures, while still staying sane!
ReplyDeleteAs a young girl, I spent a lot of time alone or watching how my older siblings got into trouble with their after-school antics. I was a very "safe" child - although I did help burn down a garage with a neighbor boy (that's a completely different story, and one that I'm quick to share with my kids as a "don't try it" scenario. Hay does burn, trust me!). But when I think of adventures of my childhood, they are laced with love and good times with my grandmother. I spent so much time with her and loved every minute. Sure, learning to drive with her was fun, but our adventures really included cantaloupe and chocolate ice for breakfast, driving to her cottage in upper Michigan for lazy days by the lake, and watching her create magical things from fabric. Just because they are adventures, doesn't mean they have to be dangerous.
I grew up in Alaska. Don't really need to say much after that, do I? Every day in Alaska is an adventure. I return every summer to commerical fish on the Bering Sea. It's like I try and behave all year and then I get out in the wilds and anything goes. I never had that worry voice, or smart voice that Anita spoke of. It would have helped.
ReplyDeleteI love adventure and when was young I read a lot of books to experience it through another character's eyes.
ReplyDeleteTiffinie~ Yes, just the word "Alaska" brings up so many thoughts of adventure.
ReplyDeleteKimberly~ I did the same thing! Books can be a very safe way to experience adventure.
You've gotta love "Adventure" as a starting place. Especially since writing in and of itself is an adventure.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to your postings! (Plus, love your banner. I'm a Blackhawks fan, myself--Go Hawks!)
Mary~ I completely agree about the writing. Now the Hawks...just joking. I'm a Wings fan, but we can still be friends, right? :)
ReplyDeleteOMGosh!! I am soooooooo happy you visited Writers' Ally! I've thought of you so often during this hockey season. How are you?? I have so much to tell you. Not agented yet, but man have I come close over the past months, even had chats with a publisher. (tee-hee) I'm totally following you now. We'll be in touch. Thank you for the follow and the olive branch!!
ReplyDeleteHey Sheri! Yea!! You found me ~ or we found each other. I'm glad that I saw one of your posts on another blog, or I wouldn't have found your blog. Very cool looking, btw!
ReplyDeleteSend me an email at kris at krisyankee dot com and we can catch up.
Ah adventure, wait what are those I'm stuck in front of my computer farming all day! ;P Good to find your blog! Good luck in the challenge.
ReplyDelete-MJ http://creativelyspiltink.blogspot.com/
Great post, adventure sounds like a perfect topic to start out something like the A to Z challenge.
ReplyDeleteYour post makes me think back to the times when my brother and I would go hiking in the woods behind our house and build forts. Good times.
Claire, Building forts are, I think, one of most kid's desires. How cool is it to create a place where adults aren't allowed?! Thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteMy adventures usually consisted of taking off into the woods to see what I could discover, walking along creeks, checking out plants, generally dissappearing long enough to give my mom a heart attack regularly... I always came back in one piece though :D
ReplyDeleteCindy
Nesting
#atozchallenge
Ah well....that was a long time ago and a whole other world. I was an only child with about 10 acres to explore. There were hidy spaces under bushes where I assumed no one could find me, swampy ground to lose my boots in, rocks to climb, wild flowers (weeds) to pick, my cap guns and cowboy regalia to carry me to the wild west. Then there was the day I nearly set the mink shed on fire. Great times. Thanks for making me remember.
ReplyDeletethank you for dropping in on my blog....looking forward to "B".
Cindy~ Our adventures alone can be just as exciting as adventures with friends and family. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteMyBabyJohn~ You were a luck child to have such an expanse of land to peruse. It sounds like you had a lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by!