Mina Witteman – author | editor | teacher of creative writing

Undiscovered Voices

Posted on April 30, 2013

Screen Shot 2013-04-30 at 21.58.59The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators British Isles will once again help fresh, new voices in children’s literature – both writers and illustrators! – find agents, publishers and ultimately readers through its Undiscovered Voices Anthology. I’m thrilled to announce that I will be joining the 2014 European committee aiding the competition from the Continental side.

The anthology will present a selection of novel extracts from 5+ to Young Adult novels and a selection of children’s illustration pieces. They will be sent to art directors, agents and editors in the UK.

From the three previous anthologies, 22 of the 36 selected authors have received publishing contracts for more than 70 books!

Viking Makes a Discover by Nicola Patten (UV 2012 – Illustrators)

Viking Makes a Discover by Nicola Patten (UV 2012 – Illustrators)

To enter the contest, you must be a member in good standing of the SCBWI and you must reside and live in one of the European countries that are listed on the Undiscovered Voices website. Only un-agented writers and illustrators may submit work for consideration. They must remain un-agented until the anthology is published in February 2014.

Submission opens July 1, 2013. So… check out the Undiscovered Voices website for more  details, polish up your best work and get ready to enter the competition!

The anthology is produced thanks to the kind support of Working Partners Ltd.

Categories: Books, Children's books

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Amsterdam – A City in Spring

Posted on April 14, 2013

photo.jpgAt last! We enjoyed the very first spring day of 2013. Sitting in the window, it made me think of that camp song so inextricably bound to our fair city: Tulips from Amsterdam.
We usually sing the Dutch version ‘Tulpen uit Amsterdam’ and typically only when we’re drunk with joy or otherwise intoxicated — temperatures above 20ºC or over two hours of sunshine a day can do that to us.
More than a few believe the song to be an old folk song, but it was originally written by German singer/songwriter Klaus-Günther Neumann. The English version became one of the signature songs of British comedian and singer Max Bygraves.

The sun and the warmth drew me outside and strolling along the beautiful beautiful green canals and the lovely lovely little cobblestone streets today, I ended up wading through clouds of musty-smelling smoke. That reminded me of the Jango Edwards parody of the song: Chillums from Amsterdam. It’s hard to find a recording of it, so I’ll give you the first few lines.

When it’s spring again, I’ll sing again
chillums from Amsterdam
There’s love, you see, for you and me
with chillums from Amsterdam

It struck me that today a lot of people had taken Jango’s words to heart in what is known as the city of love. Me? I’m straight edge and I prefer one of the more serious springtime songs from the King of Fools.

 

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Amsterdam Views, Books, The Views

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The Grimm Way

Posted on April 5, 2013

The Grimm Way

Check out my blog post on the TeachingAuthors Blog, where I show how I use Little Red Riding Hood to explain my creative writing students the necessity of conflict in story. 

The last exercise in the blog posts asks you to write two new short stories featuring Little Red Riding Hood. For the first one, you pick a problem that fits you best as a writer. For the second one – and this is the hard one – pick a problem that fits you least as a writer.

Go read the blog post and challenge yourself. Raise the stakes for both Little Red Riding Hood and yourself.

Looking forward to reading your stories! 

 

 

Categories: A Bit of Everything

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Writing Challenge: Opening Line!

Posted on February 7, 2013

Tomorrow will be D-Day for me and my fellow students, my brothers-in-ink. If all goes well, we will be teachers creative writing from that day on, accredited by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. To honour our hard work over the past three semesters my colleagues and I now challenge YOU: Write an opening line for a story or a poem with or inspired by this picture and post it as a comment to this blog post. Captivate us in one single line. Can you do that? I bet you can!

My colleagues and I will choose the best line. The writer of that line will be awarded The City of Inspiration and Writing People, two writing maps from the Write Around Town Map Series. This challenge closes on Saturday February 9, 11:59pm Amsterdam time.

So… are you ready? Here we go!

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Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Children's books, Thrillers, YA books

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SCBWI Europolitan Conference in Paris

Posted on January 31, 2013

Some say it’s worth the detour, I’d say it’s worth the trip: the first SCBWI Europolitan Conference in Paris.

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I know it’s worth the trip, because as the Regional Advisor of SCBWI The Netherlands I am one of the organizers of this amazing and inspiring conference for children’s book writers and illustrators. We bring you a conference packed with workshops, presentations and opportunities to share your work. Attend sessions that meet your interests, whether you’re published or unpublished, an illustrator and/or a writer.

•    Work with our faculty in small groups to develop your craft
•    Register for a professional critique to get individual advice on your projects
•    Meet fellow members and potential critique partners
•    Enter some friendly contests and get your work noticed
•    Join us for our Children’s Literature Cocktail Party and Illustrators’ Gallery

Optional activities include a Thursday afternoon Scrawl-Crawl through Paris where we will visit historical places that feature in the interactive storytelling app Beware Madame La Guillotine!, and a peer-critique brunch on Sunday. Both are for writers and illustrators!

Dates
Friday, March 29th & Saturday, March 30th, 2013
Pre-conference | Thursday, March 28th
Post-conference | Sunday, March 31st

Location
Paris College of Art
14 Rue Letellier
75015 Paris, France

Cost
SCBWI Members | € 230 [earlybird € 200]
Non-members | € 280 [earlybird € 250]
Registration begins January 24th [earlybird registration ends February 24th]

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Categories: Books, Children's books, Views Abroad, YA books

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DP: Toot Your Horn

Posted on January 16, 2013

That’s an interesting one: Toot Your Horn. At the Daily Post they figure that most of us are excellent at being self-deprecating, but not so good at the opposite. Tell us your favorite thing about yourself, is today’s prompt.

Tooting my horn? That sounds a lot like the final assignment before graduation, early next month, when my colleagues and I can proudly state that we are accredited creative writing teachers. The assignment? Pitch yourself in no more than 100 words to let future clients know what you have to offer. So here it is…

The Discovery of the Writer

Students come to me with a writer’s dream. Hesitantly, because who dares to claim he is talented enough? I show them that craftsmanship and a smart set of tools grow talent. By reading, writing and talking literature we nose out how stories gain power. I let them find out how to avoid the pits of perspective, how to mend plot holes. I let them experience what structure and style do with text.
As writer, an editor, a tutor and mentor creative writing I let them discover that the dream to be a writer does not have to stay a dream.

New writing workshops in Amsterdam start in September. Writers looking for a mentor to guide them to those longed-for final words — THE END! — are most welcome to leave me a message.

Categories: A Bit of Everything, Books, Children's books, Thrillers, YA books

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination

Posted on January 11, 2013
Magic skies over Amsterdam's Herengracht

Magic skies over Amsterdam’s Herengracht

When the sun peeks under a dark sky and catches the fall foliage in its rays, magic happens. Yellow turns golden, grey turns silver and stories are born.

Categories: Amsterdam Views, Books, The Views

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