Turning my ELA Students into Published Authors

A little known fact about me is that I have been teaching English Language Arts for 10 years. I have spent half of those years as a high school teacher. Teaching can be an arduous job, I spent most of my time as a teacher convincing students to read classic novels written in time periods long before the country was founded; from Edgar Allen Poe to Thomas Thoreau, from the Masque of the Red Death, to the Yellow Wallpaper and the Scarlet Letter, we have read it all and wrote numerous essays discussing dissecting and analyzing what these ancient writers have accomplished. Each year, I have to convince my students that somehow reading this matters, and each year, it seemed they understood it. They would study just enough to pass every exam, every essay, and even passed the State Standardized test at 100% passer rates. However, no matter how much they get it, they still didn't quite get it. They could never truly answer the question: why do authors write?

So, one night, I was perusing the Forbes List of authors, and noticed something lacking. There were no black faces. I work at a Title I school that has high graduation rates and high test scores and with a student body of  98% African American students. So, i thought: why not turn my students into published authors. Yes, I had taught them all the logistics to reading and analyzing a novel, bit what if i taught them how to use it. Whats the point of learning all the English Jargon, but never ever being able to put it to use. Thus, an idea was born! I decided to use Amazon.com as a teaching to  in my creative Writing Class. Using the same Common Core English Standards for my Literature and Composition class, I have given my students the novel idea to write their own novel!

Step #1: Buy in!
So, the first thing I did was buy in! I had to somehow convince my students to write and to write a lot. A novel usually runs between 100-250 pages. How can  you get a 15 year old to agree to write a book-- literally. So, I should them power point presentation of the top earning writers. My students were shocked! They had never known that a writer could make millions. To think, writers write books to make money!!! It was an amazing concept to them. I discuss the top earning genres, the top selling authors, the highest rated novels, and revenue. I explained to them that if we embarked on this journey, we would embark together. That we would have to help each other, critic our works, and possibly, when this was all over, we could make some real money. This could be a career. The students were in. I hooked them all. I asked for a show of hands to the students wanting to implement this new type of learning; every single hand shot up in the air immediately. You are telling me that I could learn AND possibly make money, there was nothing better than that! in fact, there weeks tinot this assignment and I have a student that has voluntarily written 50 pages and another who is on page 20! They are emailing me stories everyday to get opinions over their creative works withour being prompted. Think! Students that are actually excited about learning!

Step #2: Research!
 I had the students create their own plan of action based on their own research. I gave the students a handout detailing information they had to look up before starting their book. The students immediately set off to research: the genre, target audiences, selling techniques, popular authors in their chosen genre, best selling pages or word count and inspiration. The students presented their findings to the class and each was excited about their project.

Step #3: Set Writing Goals!
All students had to set their own writing goals. Based on their research students set a page number and deadlines. They decided how many pages they would write a day. I got each students to agree to write at least 30 minutes everyday to enhance their skills and accomplish their goal. I made them pledge to hold each other accountable. I handed out an Accountability Worksheet so the students could log how many pages they wrote a day to their novel. Each one willingly and excited took it. For the first time in my teaching career, I didn't have to MAKE my students write. They were excited.

Step #4: Planning Your Book!
I had the students create a Story Map of their novel. This is when it we have to actually teach them. I introduced the students to several types of plot: subplot, climactic plot, episodic plot, parallel plot, linear plot, nonlinear plot, denouement, etc. Students only took notes on the types of plot that they wanted to use in the novel. Some students took notes on all the types, whereas some only took notes on 3. Students then read examples of each plot. As a warm up for this week i gave the students story starters of fairy tales, the students would rewrite the fairy tale in the plot assigned and share with the class. This helped students practice different writing techniques.

Students then chose a plot and made a map of their novel from beginning to end. I assigned the different parts, but I did not tell them how many to have. I told the students the map would be as big or as small as their novel. However, i remind the students that this novel is for revenue, and most people who read novels do not necessarily purchase smaller books. The students then began writing their novels.

Step #6: Choosing Their Characters
I had the students create a character list of all the characters they would include in their novel. The students then filled out a Developing Awesome Characters sheet using direct and indirect characterization. Students told me everything about their character from where htey were worn to their favorite hobbies and their description. Students even put pictures to represent their characters using handmade drawings, family members and google images.


Although, the process is not even close to finished, these are the first few steps that we took as a class. Its not done yet! We have a long way to go until they produce published pieces and present it at our end of the year book conference! Don't worry as I will keep everyone posted on this little adventure!


Dawnell Jacobs is the author of The Shade of Devotion, Brains Not Included, Black Magic, and The Monsters of Within: Heart of Darkness. She has also published a self-help book Your Story Matters: Leaning How To Be The Author of Your Destiny. You can find all of her books on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, and Barnes And Noble. She is also a motivational speaker to young audiences. She uses her personal journey to inspire hope and change. All pictures and entries in this blog are subject to copyright laws. ©Dawnell Jacobs 2018. 

Follow me on twitter by Clicking Here. Friend me on Facebook by Clicking Here. Follow my Author's page by Clicking Here! Check out my Instagram by Clicking Here!

In The Mind of a Writer: What Inspires me?

It's not everyday that you sit at your computer screen waiting to be inspired, unless you are me, and embarking on your second (and third) novel. Yeah, I have been doing that every single day of this week. I have been sitting and sleeping by my computer waiting for a spark of inspiration, which leads me to my point. Someone asked me recently, what inspires me? Its not the first time I have been asked that question. In fact, I think that is the most popular question that authors are asked. If i had to take a poll over the questions that writers are asked the most, I would probably see that question at the top. Yet, it is inevitable one of the hardest questions to answer.

My stories have always fallen in the shadow of authors like Edgar Allen Poe, or Guy De Maupassant or maybe, Stephan King. They have always been dark, a little twisted and part of the macabre. My stories involve the dark side of humanity or the things not greatly understood. I love the type of stories that leave you questioning about the human psyche. The stories that show a person's digression into madness, or the stories that shows a woman's narrow escape from a immoral deviant. Edgar Poe once said that “the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world," and although, he was an opium addict and drunkard who married his first cousin, based on his success, I believe that he was on to something. In fact, I used that line to start off one of my poems, but there truly is beauty even in death and darkness and deviance.

The idea that we all harbor some type of ill will or darkness embedded in us that if examined might make us seem questionable, is true and easily explorable. Don't we all have our dirty little secrets? (That like just made me feel inspired, I need to write that down). Don't we all wear a genteel mask over a dark face? Doesn't every human have the ability to do evil? Humanity has one more dark vileness than any other species on this planet;  yet, that very thought process is what leads me to my stories. My love to explore that "what ifs" and the dark hearts that we have. I like to explore those aspects. I love to explore those sinister parts of ourselves.
This sort of writing often makes people look at me strange and leads them to the aforementioned question. What was my inspiration? What could have possibly inspired me to write such morbid tales?

I could lie and tell you I was inspired by a recent scene in the news, or that I was inspired by a dark inner obsession. However, no matter how exiting those ideas would sound, they would be irrefutably wrong. My writings are entirely fictional, and I have written everything from Romance (which will be published in 2016) to fantasy, and finally to Horror. No, I have no deep dark inner obsession for evilness or vile things and neither do I watch the news in hopes of catching a raw story about a bad event. So, what inspires my writings?

Everything. A little of everything. There are times when I am sitting on my front porch and looking across the street at my neighbors. The wind might wind through the trees and get them shivering and suddenly a picture of a woman will creep into my fancy. Maybe she is running naked and afraid tripping along the tall grass as the wind pushes her forward like garbage, or she is swinging from its branches coldly with a rope tied around her neck in a twisted noose with her face contorted in horror, maybe she is playfully climbing its branches with a sword around her waist and tribal markings along her arms trying to reach the pale blue sky above, or maybe she is just a small girl bouncing a bright yellow ball high in the air and watching the wind carry it right up to my foot, while I reach down to pick it up. You see, none of these even transpired, but I can picture a thousand scenes playing out in my minds eye from that one picture of the wind running through the leaves as I sit on my front porch. That's the writer's mind. That is a glimpse of a writer's inspiration.

Sometimes, I can get a scene when I am in the kitchen slicing a watermelon. I can carve the watermelon with a knife and watch its red watery insides spill out on the cutting board or spill along the knife and trickle onto the counter. Then, inspiration will slide up my spine and into my mind with a vision as clear as if I am watching it play out on television. A story will come perch itself on my shoulders and whisper in my ear its tale as loudly as I can bare, and then I am inspired. I am inspires as I pull a seat and begin typing with the sticky juice from the watermelon slices still fresh on my finger tips.

Sometimes, I can look at my dogs and watch them play along my carpet. They bare their teeth and nip at each other, they growl and leap and jump, and inspiration strikes like lightening. My finger arches and reaches for the laptop as another scene to my novel slides into my mind eyes like flip of a switch. Sometimes, it comes while I am sipping my morning coffee. I feel its warmth slide down my throat with the bitter heat and sweetness that it emits, and my character, Imani, will sit beside me and begin talking. She will start telling me her story from her heart, and I just listen and type it up like rain drops. My fingers trailing along the keys with each black word forming like tear drops on a page.


Sometimes, I get images while driving a car. I know as a child I use to look out of the window and imagine a girl running beside my car with a loin cloth, a bow and arrow, and feathers streaming through her frizzed hair. That was the image that led to my Fantasy novel and its main character named Yumiko (it's nowhere near done, but I have promised my brothers to finish it one day. They absolutely love that story). I use to see her dark skin with its tribal markings up her spine and her long braid that starts as a single cornrow interlaced with beads. Her skin is always dark as night and shiny like the night sky. She would wave at me and smile as she jumped over high grass and broken tree trucks trying to keep up with my car. Sometimes, when I drive long distances I can still see her. She perches over cars like they have wings and weaves through traffic like the cars are winged birds,  her beast of burden, carrying her to her destination. She is fierce and free and unafraid. She is my inspiration.

Sometimes, I can look at a picture. Maybe, its a picture of a woman with a far off expression on her face, or a baby grasping the fingers of another child, or maybe its a house sitting isolated surrounded by the jungle and the wild and the woods. Suddenly the pictures will blur like moving parts and come to life. They will be a scene in small space of time that lends itself to a beginning and and ending that is not yet captured. A beginning and an ending that has not yet been placed into words. They become a small piece of inspiration as they give themselves to a story that needs to be told.

Sometimes, I can have a vivid dream, that makes me wake up in the middle of the night panting with a cold sweat. Maybe my baby was taken from my arms or I stumbled upon a body or I was being chased by something unseen. These images can make me open my laptop in the middle of the night and begin typing away. However, my most favorite place to be inspired is the shower. The sound of the water running over my face and hair. The heat and steam rising in a white mist and hiding me behind its moisture always allows my imagination to run wild. It's in the shower that I thought of the ending for The Monsters Within: Heart of Darkness. I was stuck for days, when finally it struck me. It struck me who would have to die and how it had to be done. Then the tears fell from my eyes and mixed with the fumes of the shower and my characters fate was sealed with the tip of a knife.

However, sometimes, I am inspired when going for walks, or hanging with friends. I remember one time while eating out with a good friend from middle and high school. We were discussing the good old days, when she brought up an old memory. It trudged up to the surface carrying all its baggage. How, I almost got married at the tender age of 19, and we laughed about the incident. But, even in the middle of our conversation, as she kept talking on and on about what happened, I drifted off. I stared outside the restaurant window at the cars passing and I saw the young man with his black hair and almond shaped eyes staring back at me. I imagined us engaged and married and played out the "what-if" in my head as surely as it happened. It had struck again. I was inspired, which is the story I am currently writing, The Shade of Devotion. I had our romance embedded before  and drawn out before she could finish her steak.  I looked at her and exclaimed, "that would make an excellent story!" Then, I went home and wrote down the idea hurriedly in case I forgot it. I added it to my computer filled with story starters. So far, I have over 1008 story starters and inspiring ideas to choose from all glaring at me from my computer calling me to finish them. Each story is a bit of inspiration that kept building and building until I had to tell the world.

For a writer, inspiration comes easily. You can find inspiration in another novel. You can find inspiration the monotony of every day situations. You can find inspiration in the simple acting of slicing a cantaloupe on a kitchen counter (that's an actual poem, I wrote). That's the thing about writing and inspiration. A writer is an artist and my computer is my canvas. As easily as I can paint a picture with the stroke of a brush, I can paint a thousand pictures with the pressing of a key. AS an artist, you never run out of inspiration because it is all around us. Everywhere you go, everything you see, in every part of your life. The art of being an author is that you are always inspired. Life is your inspiration, and you can never run out until it is done. Inspiration is all around us, all the time, everywhere. So, be inspired.


Dawnell Jacobs is the author of The Shade of Devotion, Brains Not Included, Black Magic, and The Monsters of Within: Heart of Darkness. She has also published a self-help book Your Story Matters: Leaning How To Be The Author of Your Destiny. You can find all of her books on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, and Barnes And Noble. She is also a motivational speaker to young audiences. She uses her personal journey to inspire hope and change. All pictures and entries in this blog are subject to copyright laws. ©Dawnell Jacobs 2018. 

Follow me on twitter by Clicking Here. Friend me on Facebook by Clicking Here. Follow my Author's page by Clicking Here! Check out my Instagram by Clicking Here!

From My Bibliophilia Addiction To Writing: How One Promise Changed It All

 Yes, you caught me! I am a self-professed bibliophile. For those of you that don't know, a bibliophile is a word that consist of the Latin prefix biblio- or book and the suffix -phile which means lover of, which directly translates into lover of books. As Collins English Dictionary would define it, a bibliophile is "a person who loves or collects books, especially as examples of fine or unusual printing, binding, or the like" (1). I would define it as simply a book lover, and I don't mean that in the 50 Shades of Grey sense. I mean that in an unquenchable and undeniable wanton thirst to be submerged in books, with no regard to genre, or length, or even place. Whether in a bookstore or a park or even at the gym, a thirst for a good book is the driving force to exsistance.

I am not exaggerating. I love books. I love seeing them, holding them, collecting them and reading them. In fact, my most favorite place is standing in the middle of an aisle in a bookstore: standing under the glaring lights, in the middle of a carpeted floor, and facing row after row of endless options-- of books. I love the act of running my fingers over the spine and carefully tracing the contours of each book until I select one. One to pull out and hold in my hands, one to carefully hold
between my fingers as I purse my lips. One to flip over in my hands as I stare at the cover art trying to decide if this is a novel that resonates with me.  Each moment, is exhilarating and intense. Each minute with a book in my hands, is a measure in time that can be counted through my each slight inhalation of the intoxicating fumes of ink covered pages. Each flip of the page, each wordless skimming, is a beginning of a chain reaction that leads itself to the countless number of books that make it to my own book shelf, floor, bed, dressers and even work areas. Take one step into m living quarters, and you will undoubtedly find yourself in a living work of art; my home might as well be one big bookshelf for which I simply house my things.


So, its not hard to assume that I am not ashamed to say that books are my first love (second, is art, and oh-- did i mention family, never mind), and I indulge in it often. In fact, I still have the very first book I have ever owned on my book shelf. It is called Flutterby, and I found it in a yard sale. I remember I begged my mother for it, and she gladly paid 10 cents contributing to a habit that would follow me for years to come. The book was about a horse who burst from a cocoon with no knowledge of who he is, his origins, or his place in the world. That one book set the stage for a life long obsession. Who would have thought a flying Pegasus would teach me my little place in the world at such a young age?

However, I didn't want books to be my secret obsession. in fact, it is a very hard secret to keep as I am always with one. I couldn't live with just the thought of seeing them on shelves once or twice a week. I made them my career. I studied books, I majored in it, and then I even made a career of teaching about them. However, I don't want to stop there. I refuse. I have reached an impasse in my life, whereas reading books isn't enough. Its not enough to simply purchase my books from avid bookstores and as with any addiction it is time to take it to the next step. I needed to become a dealer, a supplier-- of books. Now, I had reached the precipice of my love and connoisseurship, I was ready to start  writing them. Although, I admit that I have been dabbling in writing for years, every since elementary school like any good, book-loving bibliophile, but I have never really pursued it. I have decided to take another journey in the crossroads of my life into publishing. This is where things get tricky.

See in order to write books, I had to exchange one type of obsession for another. I mean, you would think that writing books is the same as reading them. It isn't. It's not even close. One requires you to peer into another world and adopt its surroundings. It's a glimpse into another realm, while the other forces you to create one. To create people and situations and problems and heroes and beast; to create the Monsters that we all fear, the love that we all crave and the heroes that we all want to come save us from our on begrudgingly little lives. So, the hardest part of becoming a writer is that  I had to stop reading books. Not completely, I'm an addict, but definitely not as much as before.

I know that sounds weird, but it's so true. To start writing books, I had to sacrifice reading them. I had

to make time to fill the books with my stories, and to share my ideas with the world, so that other bibliophiles could enjoy my work. See, the biggest problem with becoming a writer is having time to write books, especially the kind of books people want to read. Time is truly of the essences, which is something that you can ever have enough of. So, I had to sacrifice my love of reading books for my love of writing books. In fact, last year around this time, I made a profound statement. I said and I quote, "The next book I read, will be my own" and I refused to buy another book until I had finished my first novel.

It was a novel ideas (pun intended) that eventually paid off. I was able to publish my first work of fiction in 9 months in the same amount of time it takes to have a baby (the symbolism is definitely not lost on me). Thus, I had to change my obsession and my passion from a hobby to a full blown profession, which takes a lot of sacrifice, research and time. Time from your friends, your family and even from your precious books. However, it's doable and that is my advise for every bibliophile that wants to become a writer. It's doable, but you have to be willing to make the sacrifices. You have to be willing to make the time, and you have to be willing to take a break from reading someone else work to create your own.

Regardless, that is why I'm starting this blog. This blog is meant to share my passion with the world in a unique way. Not only do I want to share my love of books and reading, but I want to share my love for writing. I want to give you a peek into my crazy life, and hopefully you come back with useful tidbits and information for yourself, so that you can create your own stories. As of today, I am more than just a bibliophile, I am a bibliophile turned writer.

Work Cited

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollinsPublishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012



Dawnell Jacobs is the author of The Shade of Devotion, Brains Not Included, Black Magic, and The Monsters of Within: Heart of Darkness. She has also published a self-help book Your Story Matters: Leaning How To Be The Author of Your Destiny. You can find all of her books on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, and Barnes And Noble. She is also a motivational speaker to young audiences. She uses her personal journey to inspire hope and change. All pictures and entries in this blog are subject to copyright laws. ©Dawnell Jacobs 2018. 

Follow me on twitter by Clicking Here. Friend me on Facebook by Clicking Here. Follow my Author's page by Clicking Here! Check out my Instagram by Clicking Here!

One-on-One Interview With Dee Armstrong WXTL Channel 9 Columbus, Georgia

Dawnell Jacobs is the author of The Shade of Devotion, Brains Not Included, Black Magic, and The Monsters of Within: Heart of Darkness. She has also published a self-help book Your Story Matters: Leaning How To Be The Author of Your Destiny. You can find all of her books on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, and Barnes And Noble. She is also a motivational speaker to young audiences. She uses her personal journey to inspire hope and change. All pictures and entries in this blog are subject to copyright laws. ©Dawnell Jacobs 2018. 

Follow me on twitter by Clicking Here. Friend me on Facebook by Clicking Here. Follow my Author's page by Clicking Here! Check out my Instagram by Clicking Here!

What's New!

“You think I am a monster, but I ain’t the only one. No, sweetheart, I am not the only one. This is a family of monsters."

The Monsters Within: The Heart of Darkness By Dawnell Jacobs

As the founder  of Heal the Heart Publishing Company, I am so thrilled and excited to introduce you to my very own novel, The Monsters Within:The Heart of Darkness. My heart and soul has went into this novel as it was authored, designed, and edited by me! This exciting novel is the first book in a trilogy, and it introduces you to Imani, Andrew, and Dida, three characters who have been firmly bound together by tragedy and deceit:

Available Now For Sale! Click here for More Information.

Imani is a young woman who was left alone to mourn the death of her mother. She was left with a deep void for family and acceptance. Her world seemed to possess very little purpose until she met Andrew, an 11 year old boy with a crush and a deadly father. Imani, with tumultuous childhood memories of her own, tries to save Andrew, his sister and his mother from their abusive father. However, she quickly learns that she is too late, and she finds herself pulled into a family of dark secrets and betrayal. 

Through the tragic events that transpire, Imani learns that monsters are not just demons that hide in closets, or go bump into the night. Monsters are not creepy crawlies that haunt your nightmares. Monsters are very real. They are the people that sit beside you. The ones you love, and the families that occupy a three bedroom apartment downstairs.

So, don't miss out on this exciting novel! Please, be sure to order your copy on Amazon or Kindle  beginning on April 20, 2015.  Thank you, guys, for supporting me through this exciting adventure! Enjoy!


Dawnell Jacobs is the author of The Shade of Devotion, Brains Not Included, Black Magic, and The Monsters of Within: Heart of Darkness. She has also published a self-help book Your Story Matters: Leaning How To Be The Author of Your Destiny. You can find all of her books on Amazon, Kindle, Nook, and Barnes And Noble. She is also a motivational speaker to young audiences. She uses her personal journey to inspire hope and change. All pictures and entries in this blog are subject to copyright laws. ©Dawnell Jacobs 2018. 

Follow me on twitter by Clicking Here. Friend me on Facebook by Clicking Here. Follow my Author's page by Clicking Here! Check out my Instagram by Clicking Here!