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A is for Appalachia! The Alphabet Book of Appalachian Heritage When a writer sits down to write, she must first know the purpose for her writing, the audience for her writing, and the form that writing will take. And… her writing is at its best when she writes about what she knows and what she loves. The Purpose: I wrote A is for Appalachia! The Alphabet Book of Appalachian Heritage because I wanted Appalachia’s children to be proud of their rich mountain heritage. The Audience: Having decided the purpose for my writing, I knew that the audience, my readers, had to be…you’re right! APPALACHIA’S CHILDREN! Actually, I hope that all children will read A is for Appalachia but my intended audience was the children living in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The Form: Naturally, I chose a picture book as my form. I was writing for children and the illustrations in a picture book often add information for which there isn't’t enough room in the text. I took thousands of photographs of real places and people during my research for A is for Appalachia, which the illustrator used while painting the illustrations. I took so many photographs because it was very important to me that the illustrations for A is for Appalachia be authentic. Appalachia is a real place and it has to be represented realistically to the children who read my book. The illustrator couldn't’t just paint what she thought a log cabin looked like when our ancestors lived in them; she had to paint the cabins the way they actually looked.
Decide your purpose, your audience, and the form your writing will take.
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