How to prepare for a school visit By Deepa Agarwal

 School visits are becoming an essential part of the business of writing books for children. The role of the reading habit in education is gaining weight and more and more schools are inviting authors to interact with their students. 

These visits provide an ideal opportunity for authors to engage directly with their audience. You can receive immediate feedback on your work or at least introduce it, if the children are not familiar with your writing.I have found that just an hour spent chatting with a group of lively youngsters can be extremely stimulating too.

You do want to make it memorable for your audience. Toensure a pleasant and fruitful experience for yourself as well, the first step is to sort out the essential details when you get such an invitation from a school, your publisher or a bookseller. Such as:

·       School details—address, phone number and directions to get there

·       Age group of the children attending the session

·       Duration of the session

·       The kind of activity planned

·       Number of children attending

·       Availability of the equipment that you might require—mikes, white board and markers, LCD projector and screen etc.

·       The kind of venue you prefer for your session—outdoor, indoor, large or compact room

·       Whether transport and/or honorarium is being provided

·       Whether your books will be made available for sale

Once all this is out of the way, you can prepare for your visit without any feelingsof confusion. Many schools are interested in a “Meet the author” session to inspire children to read. And definitely, children are highly enthused when they come face to face with a real, live author. This activity sounds simple but while most children in metros are bursting with questions, sometimes you can encounter a blank wall—a very demoralising experience! It’s not a bad idea to prepare a few questions of your own or dig out anecdotes connected with books or your own stories to break the ice. Reading a gripping passage from one of your books will work well if you can follow it with some leading questions. The reading should be well rehearsed and while ideas do spring up while you are at the mike it’s better to think up a few provocative questions to draw out a disinterested or diffident group of children in the relaxed atmosphere of your own home.

Schools often request creative writing workshops. It’s not very easy to fit in an effective workshop in the limited time that is usually at your disposal so it’s important to create a module that conveys the essentials to the students and also allows them to actually write a small piece. Whether you plan to provide a creative spark or share the basics of story writing, make sure to detail the time you will allot to each segment.

If you are good at storytelling, spend some time choosing the story according to the age group. Even the best storytellers make sure to rehearse thoroughly beforehand. If you’re using props, practise with them and remember to keep them handy.

Make a check list of the items you intend to carry. Your bio for the introduction (not all schools are organized enough to collect it from the internet), your books, activity sheets if you have prepared them, visiting cards etc.

On the day itself, make sure to allow yourself plenty of time to arrive. Sometimes schools are hard to locate, despite detailed directions and the benefit of Google maps. Again, you may reach in good time and find that the school has changed the timing for some reason. They may even plant a different age group on you, stuff in more children that you had expected orrequest a different activity. It is your call then, to stand firm or accommodate their demands. The truth is, school visits often callupon some amount of improvisation from authors. Being creative people we can usually handle it.If you cannot stick to the plan you had prepared so painstakingly, do not bemoan it as a waste of effort. Sooner or later an opportunity to use it will surely turn up.

Most important, stay positive! There will be experiences that make you float in a haze of bliss, others that throw you down in the dumps. But try not to get discouraged. Remember that you have reached out to prospective readers, and perhaps created a genuine interest in your books. And each school visit helps you to connect with more and more readers.

 To know more about Deepa Agarwal visit www.deepaagarwal.com

To buy Deepa's "Listen O King" book click here