see link:
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/10/140112493/three-minute-fiction-round-7-official-rules?ps=rs
short == 600 words...
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Hope Against the Cold
Hi everyone. I was walking around the Beal Gardens at State and was inspired to write a little something (good thing I had my precious writing notebook with me). It's not exactly a poem or journal entry. It's somewhere in between. You be the judge. I've titled it "Hope Against the Cold"
The bees hovered in the wilting leaves of fruit heavy plants, scouring for a sweet snack among the flowers. The bright ostentatious flowers looked off in the first chill of early fall. As strange and captivating as a bright, red male cardinal among the green foliage. He searches for a burnt brown mate, a nest called home, and hope against the cold.
Really, I think most of it sounds like just a scene in a book, but the last line sounds like a poem. Like I said, it's sort of in between. Let me know what you think.
Monday, August 15, 2011
FOREVER GIVEAWAY!!
Kristi Chestnutt author of The Wolf Within, who actually follows are blog (which I think is amazing), is having one of her wonderful giveaways. This time an autographed copy is up for grabs.
Here's the link:
Check it out. Enter (what have you got to lose?). I don't know about you, but I love the Wolves of Mercy Falls series. I love free stuff even more.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Harry Potter Fans!!
Check it!
http://www.pottermore.com/
who's out there and creatively writing this summer?
Might just have to brag that I am having dinner TWICE with Lisa McMann this summer. Yep. Word Nerd Heaven.
http://www.pottermore.com/
who's out there and creatively writing this summer?
Might just have to brag that I am having dinner TWICE with Lisa McMann this summer. Yep. Word Nerd Heaven.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Miss Literati
Hey guys!
So, you know when you're bored and you just randomly start typing stuff into search engines trying to find something? Well, that's what I was doing the other day, and I came across this site for people to share their books online. I just thought you guys might want to check it out.
I've never seen a site like this before, so if any of you know of a better one let me know.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
POetry fest
Garrison -- Kayla
Poetry sharing
"Found Poetry" -- rip out 10 words, put in bucket, draw 10, begin!
Poetry sharing
"Found Poetry" -- rip out 10 words, put in bucket, draw 10, begin!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Monday wrap up...
wrap up the buisness...
autobio from Friday;; "When I think of high school, I..."
"Found" stories
Season pages -- autobiography
Watch Much Ado About Nothing
autobio from Friday;; "When I think of high school, I..."
"Found" stories
Season pages -- autobiography
Watch Much Ado About Nothing
Friday, April 22, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Jumping for Joy!
poem --
rebuttal to the poem: crazy guy dancing video and "Jumping for Joy" article
Autobio: What makes you jump for joy? due: MOnday April 18
Personal Project 3 due Monday
rebuttal to the poem: crazy guy dancing video and "Jumping for Joy" article
Autobio: What makes you jump for joy? due: MOnday April 18
Personal Project 3 due Monday
Monday, April 11, 2011
We're baaaaaaaack!
Poem of the day
democratic decision: Personal Project 3 this week and Mr. Mystery Man next.
Adjusted calendar -- took out book talk 2, set dates for book #2 and book #3: week 13 and 15 respectively.
Began PP3 !
democratic decision: Personal Project 3 this week and Mr. Mystery Man next.
Adjusted calendar -- took out book talk 2, set dates for book #2 and book #3: week 13 and 15 respectively.
Began PP3 !
Friday, April 1, 2011
Thoughts for This Day, A Friday
I've gotten into the habit of listening to The Writer's Almanac again. I love it. I really love Garrison Keillor's voice. It's helped me come to a very important decision in my life. If I ever have a son, I'm naming him Garrison. I have never found a guys name I liked before. Girls names, no problem. Boys, problem. But Garrison Keillor has really helped me sort all this out. Thanks Garrison.
LOL. Okay, back to being serious. I have actually discovered that I like William Wordsworth as a poet. Though, I do have a problem with any poet who's name starts with "W" (thank you Walt Whitman).
Do you have a favorite poet? We always focus more on prose in class, so I don't know who anyone else likes as a poet. C'mon Creative Writing students! Breathe some life back into this old blog. Comment (you know you want to): tell us your favorite poet.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday
Chicory poem
brainstorm flowers then write a 5 minute poem personifying a flower
check journals -- 30-32 poems/entries
work on kids' stories
due tomorrow
brainstorm flowers then write a 5 minute poem personifying a flower
check journals -- 30-32 poems/entries
work on kids' stories
due tomorrow
Sunday, March 27, 2011
thoughts
i found an interesting blog. thought you'd be interested. http://oliviadecember.blogspot.com/
Monday, March 21, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Thursday
Wed -- time in computer lab
Thursday-- "Word Up" article
Work on novels, children's stories -- laptops
Thursday-- "Word Up" article
Work on novels, children's stories -- laptops
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Monday
Garrison
Writing for Children "Snips and Snaps" web article
15 min. work time
lmc
Children's book, due before spring break.
Writing for Children "Snips and Snaps" web article
15 min. work time
lmc
Children's book, due before spring break.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Friday
brainstorm children's stories aspects
poetry circle -- small
make story boards for children's stories
poetry circle -- small
make story boards for children's stories
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
So college is awesome, but I miss Creative Writing.
And for those of you who like poetry and animals...I went to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago yesterday, and they had a section of the zoo called the Great Bear Wilderness that incorporated poetry into all the exhibits. It was really neat!
Anywho, hope ya'll are enjoying CW as much as I did!
And for those of you who like poetry and animals...I went to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago yesterday, and they had a section of the zoo called the Great Bear Wilderness that incorporated poetry into all the exhibits. It was really neat!
Anywho, hope ya'll are enjoying CW as much as I did!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tuesday
pass back papers
turn in Book 1
Turn in PP2 -- with self eval
Turn in Autobio #3 if finished
present PP2
Book talk 1 -- 7 people
turn in Book 1
Turn in PP2 -- with self eval
Turn in Autobio #3 if finished
present PP2
Book talk 1 -- 7 people
Monday, March 7, 2011
in my absence...
go to LMC, write autobio paper "In 10 years, I hope to..." -- 1pg. double spaced typed, due end of hour.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Wednesday
Writer's Almanac
working on:
pp2: due 3/4
book 1 due 3/7
book presentation due 3/7
autobio "creativity": due 3/9
Lots going on! Be organized!
working on:
pp2: due 3/4
book 1 due 3/7
book presentation due 3/7
autobio "creativity": due 3/9
Lots going on! Be organized!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Exercises for Writing Stories
Exercises for Story Writers
I found this and thought I would share it, if anyone was in the need for a challenge.
More Exercises:
1. Write the first 250 words of a short story, but write them in ONE SENTENCE. Make sure that the sentence is grammatically correct and punctuated correctly. This exercise is intended to increase your powers in sentence writing.
2. Write a dramatic scene between two people in which each has a secret and neither of them reveals the secret to the other OR TO THE READER.
3. Write a narrative descriptive passage in a vernacular other than your own. Listen to the way people speak in a bar, restaurant, barber shop, or some other public place where folks who speak differently ("He has an accent!") from you, and try to capture that linguistic flavor on the page.
4. Play with sentences and paragraph structure: Find a descriptive passage you admire, a paragraph or two or three, from published material, and revise all the sentences. Write the passage using all simple sentences (no coordination, no subordination); write the passage using all complex-compound sentences; write the passage using varying sentence structure. The more ways you can think to play with sentence structure, the more you will become aware of how sentence structure helps to create pacing, alter rhythm, offer delight.
5. Focus on verbs: Find a passage that you admire (about a page of prose) and examine all of the verbs in each sentence. Are the "active," "passive," "linking?" If they are active, are they transitive or intransitive? Are they metaphorical (Mary floated across the floor.)? What effects do verbs have on your reading of the passage?
6. Take a passage of your own writing and revise all of the verbs in it. Do this once making all the verbs active, once making all the verbs passive. Then try it by making as many verbs as possible metaphorical (embedded metaphors).
Characters: There are two types of characters: well rounded and flat.
1. Create character sketches. This is a good exercise to perform on a regular basis in your journal. Sometimes you can just create characters as they occur to you, at other times it is good to create characters of people you see or meet. Some of the best sketches are inspired by people you don't really know but get a brief view of, like someone sitting in a restaurant or standing by a car that has been in an accident. Ask yourself who they are, what they are about. The fact that you don't really know the person will free you up to make some calculated guesses that ultimately have more to say about your own vision of the world than they do about the real person who inspired the description. That's okay, you are NOT a reporter, and ultimately the story you intend to tell is YOUR story.
2. Write a character sketch strictly as narrative description, telling your reader who the character is without having the character do or say anything.
3. Revise the above to deliver the character to the reader strictly through the character's actions.
4. Revise the above to deliver the character strictly through the character's speech to another character.
5. Revise the above to deliver the character strictly through the words/actions of another character (the conversation at the water fountain about the boss).
6. Often when we call a character "flat" we mean that the author has failed in some way; however, many good stories require flat characters. Humor often relies on flat characters, but often minor characters in non-humorous pieces are also flat. These characters usually appear to help move the plot along in some way or to reveal something about the main character. A flat character is one who has only ONE characteristic. You can create whole lists of these and keep them in your journal so that you can call upon them when you need a character to fit into a scene.
7. Young writers are prone to write autobiographical pieces. Instead of writing about people like yourself, try writing about someone who is drastically different in some way from you. Writing about someone who is a good deal older or younger than you will often free up your imagination. It helps to make sure you are delivering enough information to your reader so that the reader can clearly see the character and understand the character's motives.
8. Write a scene of about five hundred words in which a character does something while alone in a setting that is extremely significant to that character. Have the character doing something (dishes, laundry, filing taxes, playing a computer game, building a bird house) and make sure that YOU are aware that the character has a problem or issue to work out, but do NOT tell your reader what that is.
I found this and thought I would share it, if anyone was in the need for a challenge.
More Exercises:
1. Write the first 250 words of a short story, but write them in ONE SENTENCE. Make sure that the sentence is grammatically correct and punctuated correctly. This exercise is intended to increase your powers in sentence writing.
2. Write a dramatic scene between two people in which each has a secret and neither of them reveals the secret to the other OR TO THE READER.
3. Write a narrative descriptive passage in a vernacular other than your own. Listen to the way people speak in a bar, restaurant, barber shop, or some other public place where folks who speak differently ("He has an accent!") from you, and try to capture that linguistic flavor on the page.
4. Play with sentences and paragraph structure: Find a descriptive passage you admire, a paragraph or two or three, from published material, and revise all the sentences. Write the passage using all simple sentences (no coordination, no subordination); write the passage using all complex-compound sentences; write the passage using varying sentence structure. The more ways you can think to play with sentence structure, the more you will become aware of how sentence structure helps to create pacing, alter rhythm, offer delight.
5. Focus on verbs: Find a passage that you admire (about a page of prose) and examine all of the verbs in each sentence. Are the "active," "passive," "linking?" If they are active, are they transitive or intransitive? Are they metaphorical (Mary floated across the floor.)? What effects do verbs have on your reading of the passage?
6. Take a passage of your own writing and revise all of the verbs in it. Do this once making all the verbs active, once making all the verbs passive. Then try it by making as many verbs as possible metaphorical (embedded metaphors).
Characters: There are two types of characters: well rounded and flat.
1. Create character sketches. This is a good exercise to perform on a regular basis in your journal. Sometimes you can just create characters as they occur to you, at other times it is good to create characters of people you see or meet. Some of the best sketches are inspired by people you don't really know but get a brief view of, like someone sitting in a restaurant or standing by a car that has been in an accident. Ask yourself who they are, what they are about. The fact that you don't really know the person will free you up to make some calculated guesses that ultimately have more to say about your own vision of the world than they do about the real person who inspired the description. That's okay, you are NOT a reporter, and ultimately the story you intend to tell is YOUR story.
2. Write a character sketch strictly as narrative description, telling your reader who the character is without having the character do or say anything.
3. Revise the above to deliver the character to the reader strictly through the character's actions.
4. Revise the above to deliver the character strictly through the character's speech to another character.
5. Revise the above to deliver the character strictly through the words/actions of another character (the conversation at the water fountain about the boss).
6. Often when we call a character "flat" we mean that the author has failed in some way; however, many good stories require flat characters. Humor often relies on flat characters, but often minor characters in non-humorous pieces are also flat. These characters usually appear to help move the plot along in some way or to reveal something about the main character. A flat character is one who has only ONE characteristic. You can create whole lists of these and keep them in your journal so that you can call upon them when you need a character to fit into a scene.
7. Young writers are prone to write autobiographical pieces. Instead of writing about people like yourself, try writing about someone who is drastically different in some way from you. Writing about someone who is a good deal older or younger than you will often free up your imagination. It helps to make sure you are delivering enough information to your reader so that the reader can clearly see the character and understand the character's motives.
8. Write a scene of about five hundred words in which a character does something while alone in a setting that is extremely significant to that character. Have the character doing something (dishes, laundry, filing taxes, playing a computer game, building a bird house) and make sure that YOU are aware that the character has a problem or issue to work out, but do NOT tell your reader what that is.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Alex Fryday
Poetry sharing
work on and plan PP2
Book 1-- quotes, response -- be ready for presentations in week 7
work on and plan PP2
Book 1-- quotes, response -- be ready for presentations in week 7
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Coffee
Stumbled upon this short story, figured it might strike some creativity or just some good ol' self analysis.
Also, I thought I'd let you all know that I also wrote my first 'poem' since I've left high school. Hopefully breaking through this writers block. I think I need a good project to work on to get the creativity going again. Man...I miss Creative Writing haha. I have to admit, my spelling has gotten horrible since I've been out of High School. Time to work on that too =P
-Keep Your Head Up, The Colors Are Beautiful-
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
How do I explain this one?
Mr. M's Foreigner 80s creativity revolution
battle the laptops and work on Menus
battle the laptops and work on Menus
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
CorrieTuesday, February 15, 2011
2sdaaaaaaaaaa
Writers Almanac
finish presenting personal projects
journal: 5 minutes about the best idea you heard from personal projects
Menu/Cata/travel journal
pink handout with directions
Look at former student examples and Coldwater Creek catalogs
Brainstorm ideas.
Due Tuesday Next.
finish presenting personal projects
journal: 5 minutes about the best idea you heard from personal projects
Menu/Cata/travel journal
pink handout with directions
Look at former student examples and Coldwater Creek catalogs
Brainstorm ideas.
Due Tuesday Next.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday -- Will WK make it all week?
Happy Valentine's Day!
Writer's Almanac, poem
self-assessment/reflection of personal project 1
present projects
magazine, menu, etc.
final due Monday
Writer's Almanac, poem
self-assessment/reflection of personal project 1
present projects
magazine, menu, etc.
final due Monday
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
in Ms WK's absence... Tuesday and Wednesday
No Garrison :-(
read novel, work on personal project 1: due Monday Feb 14
read novel, work on personal project 1: due Monday Feb 14
Monday, February 7, 2011
Monday
Stars upon thars. -- decorate for tomorrow
Garrison "The Center of Gravity"
journal time: finish Friday's poetry
Personal Project 1 -- begin!
Garrison "The Center of Gravity"
journal time: finish Friday's poetry
Personal Project 1 -- begin!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
snowmaggedddddon awaits...
Garrison
journal 15 min
one word: jelly
conference time about personal project 1
order barebooks
Pat Conroy chapter -- read, annotate, focus on voice, write a half page reaction to Conroy's writing: what can you say about it?
novel 1
Type of Reader
Personal Project 1 plans
journal 15 min
one word: jelly
conference time about personal project 1
order barebooks
Pat Conroy chapter -- read, annotate, focus on voice, write a half page reaction to Conroy's writing: what can you say about it?
novel 1
Type of Reader
Personal Project 1 plans
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday Monday. Can't trust that day... (The Mamas and the Papas)
Garrrrrrrrrrrrrison -- poem of irony!
15 minute journal. Word of the day: print
brainstorm personal projects ~~ epic fail. Get old list from other class.
Autobiography: Type of REader -- due Friday, 1 page typed
15 minute journal. Word of the day: print
brainstorm personal projects ~~ epic fail. Get old list from other class.
Autobiography: Type of REader -- due Friday, 1 page typed
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Thurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrsday
Writer's Almanac
Book orders
Schedule review
Book recommendation
Type of WRiter assignment given -- due Monday 1/31
Book orders
Schedule review
Book recommendation
Type of WRiter assignment given -- due Monday 1/31
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
OneWord
I hope you guys feel like you need to try a new website because I have one. It's called oneword. It's very simple. You get one word and one minute. You see the word and you type. Once your time is up, it stops you. Go ahead and try it out. I think it's sort of cool (when it isn't giving you a totally lame word that doesn't inspire anything).
Friday, January 14, 2011
The interlewd
Just thought I'd let you guys know that I've started a blog. Nothing too extravagant, which will be good. So if you're interested in checking it out here is the link: http://theinterlewd.blogspot.com/
There will be some profane language here and there just so you know. Mostly in photos that will be posted but if you're okay with it feel free to check it out =]
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
I miss Creative Writing!
Hello creative writing people who still log on occasionally! I just wanted to say that I miss you all. Especially Mrs. WK.
WK, you were the best and most fun teacher I had through highschool I believe. And I absolutely loved creative writing class and miss the freedom of it all. I really learned a lot in that class, and most of it being just things about me and general things that you cannot just be taught, but learn through experience. Also, I miss your Kricut (sp?) machine and making bunches of random things after class. :D
For the rest of you, I really miss the bonding through project sharing. I got to know a lot of you better from what projects you did and how you did them. It was really cool.
Lastly, I am finding that college is a bit harder than I expected, and I am missing the good old days where I could go to a class and know it was ok to just chill and brainstorm all hour instead of listening to lectures for hours and half falling asleep. :)
PS. could we have a get-together sometime of us creative writing kids just for the heck of it? :D
WK, you were the best and most fun teacher I had through highschool I believe. And I absolutely loved creative writing class and miss the freedom of it all. I really learned a lot in that class, and most of it being just things about me and general things that you cannot just be taught, but learn through experience. Also, I miss your Kricut (sp?) machine and making bunches of random things after class. :D
For the rest of you, I really miss the bonding through project sharing. I got to know a lot of you better from what projects you did and how you did them. It was really cool.
Lastly, I am finding that college is a bit harder than I expected, and I am missing the good old days where I could go to a class and know it was ok to just chill and brainstorm all hour instead of listening to lectures for hours and half falling asleep. :)
PS. could we have a get-together sometime of us creative writing kids just for the heck of it? :D
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