We’ve been having fun in class. Lots of it. We’ve been having fun writing.
I know that’s not a surprise to those of you participating in the 31 day Slice of Life Story Challenge. You likely wouldn’t willingly submit yourself to daily public exposure of writing that hasn’t had several passes through the writing process if you didn’t find some joy in writing. Exposing yourself on the page is a vulnerable act, and feels more so if you do it only once in a very great while. Enter the daily writing challenge. One of its purposes, as far as I can tell, is for writers to get out of their own way. To lose the inner critic and let fly. It’s a gift and it’s been working for me. I love to write but am no stranger to the paralysis that can freeze me on the page. Committing to write and post daily, even on the days I feel like I’m banging my head against a wall trying to shake some ideas free, has been huge.
In school, it’s always been a different story. I love to help kids free themselves up and write. Quick writes have been a part of my workshop for years, ever since I experienced their joy and power in a workshop with Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. I love the low stakes way they can draw a student to a page and encourage play. They’re not for publication, although they could be seeds that will blossom later. They’re for possibility, and they help writers blast past the preconceived notion that a fully formed piece comes out and lands on the page. I love the way they can open the mind and heart and turn on the brain. A short prompt, a poem read and responded to, a picture...then set the timer for ten minutes and go. It works for them, my excited writers, like the 31 day challenge has been working for me. Seeds are being planted.
As Robert said today when given a handful of words and the challenge to craft a scene that included them, “It’s like Chopped! You have to use everything in the basket to make something good, but you can’t think too much about it. You just have to go!”
Wise child.
I know that’s not a surprise to those of you participating in the 31 day Slice of Life Story Challenge. You likely wouldn’t willingly submit yourself to daily public exposure of writing that hasn’t had several passes through the writing process if you didn’t find some joy in writing. Exposing yourself on the page is a vulnerable act, and feels more so if you do it only once in a very great while. Enter the daily writing challenge. One of its purposes, as far as I can tell, is for writers to get out of their own way. To lose the inner critic and let fly. It’s a gift and it’s been working for me. I love to write but am no stranger to the paralysis that can freeze me on the page. Committing to write and post daily, even on the days I feel like I’m banging my head against a wall trying to shake some ideas free, has been huge.
In school, it’s always been a different story. I love to help kids free themselves up and write. Quick writes have been a part of my workshop for years, ever since I experienced their joy and power in a workshop with Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. I love the low stakes way they can draw a student to a page and encourage play. They’re not for publication, although they could be seeds that will blossom later. They’re for possibility, and they help writers blast past the preconceived notion that a fully formed piece comes out and lands on the page. I love the way they can open the mind and heart and turn on the brain. A short prompt, a poem read and responded to, a picture...then set the timer for ten minutes and go. It works for them, my excited writers, like the 31 day challenge has been working for me. Seeds are being planted.
As Robert said today when given a handful of words and the challenge to craft a scene that included them, “It’s like Chopped! You have to use everything in the basket to make something good, but you can’t think too much about it. You just have to go!”
Wise child.
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