BB2C Business Perspective: Marietta and Beyond/Christiane Marshall

Christiane Marshall in her own words...

How does one shadow a writer? Do you sit and watch the writer write right over her shoulder? (pun intended) That was my question when Tonya told me that there was a sophomore interested in shadowing me. 

I put together some ideas and a schedule for the day. I scheduled an interview and some research for the six hours Breanna and I would spend together. I set her up with her own login for Marietta and Beyond, and I taught her the basics of formatting in Wordpress. We brainstormed about ways she might be able to earn some money from writing while she worked on her novel. Breanna spent some time typing in the first few chapters of her novel in progress. We talked about copyright, and how to use services like Aweber to create a sign in box. We spent a little bit of time talking about how to leave the reader hanging at the end of a chapter so they'd want to read more.

It is a privilege to be able to help a budding writer, and encourage her to keep writing. When I suggested some ways to develop her characters and their backstories, she explained the method she uses. I realized how old fashioned I really am! Breanna creates role plays for herself and friends or an online group so she can get a feel for what her characters might be thinking, or what they might do in different situations. High tech novel writing! 

If you'd like to follow Breanna's story and/or her progress as a writer, or if you are interested in reading future posts of our young authors in the area please sign up here: http://www.mariettaandbeyond.com/2017/04/16/student-writing/