We heart Fridays

Spend some time on this lovely, rainy Friday morning (perfect weather, to me, for my 43rd birthday!) to be sure you are caught up with everything we've done so far.  Use your grade check to see if there's anything you need to take care of today.

My policy in this class is to stop accepting anything related to the theme we are working on after we've moved on to a new theme.  That gives you some flexibility in handing work in but also gives a sense of a deadline as well.  So on Tuesday when we move on to our new theme of COLOR as writing inspiration, I'll no longer give points for anything related to our work with OBJECTS.  Let me know if you have questions about that.

Today:

• publish a New Post on your own blog with your Object-Inspired Piece (including an image to go with it and an Author's Note at the end or the beginning)
• finish and turn in anything else on the grade check so far that you'd like points for
• work in your journal:  you should have 15 full pages at this point (5 pages per week for 3 weeks)

Enjoy your long weekend!  I know I will!

Inspired by Objects

Please post a new piece of writing on YOUR blog inspired by our look at how objects can inspire new thoughts, trigger memories, or provide writing ideas.  

Please spend time to come up with at least 500 words (you can type on Docs for a word count then copy and paste if you want to).  

Also, add at least one image  (click on the icon on the tool row that looks like a photo--I can show you how, just ask). 

Also add an "Author's Note" at the beginning or end of your post briefly identifying the object/activity that inspired you and bit of your thought process.

Be creative and take this assignment in whichever direction you choose:  fiction, narrative, poetry...You may come up with a finished product today or maybe just a good start on something you revisit and finish up on your own before tomorrow. 

Some options:

• use one of the objects we passed around during class last week (key, lock, giraffe, etc.--check out the comments on the previous post for lots of ideas)
• use one or several of the objects you cut out of the magazines for your journal cover
• go back to one of the objects you shared with everyone those first days of class or something someone else shared
• use an idea from the What's in Their Bag? character sketch you created this week
• use an idea you came up with from our walk to the park and outdoor Object Hunt
• browse the website Significant Objects for examples of writing connected to objects--you might even find an object there that triggers some writing for you
• you can make a story up or you can write a story that is true
• you could be inspired by a combination of these objects
• the object itself may or may not end up in your writing

When you finish your piece (due at the end of class on Friday, 30 August), you can continue to customize your blog page with gadgets in the sidebar, an interesting background, updated profile info, etc.  Be sure you've figured out how to add images--they are an important aspect of your blog and will accentuate your writing.  I can also show you how to put in links like I did (the pink words above).  It's really easy.

Thanks for making class so pleasant so far!

Idea Share: Object Pass-Around

Share at least 3 of your ideas connected to the objects we passed around in a COMMENT on this post.  You could share what the object reminded you of in your own life or your story idea or both.  Skim over the ideas of your classmates and if you like one of theirs, jot it down in your journal to turn into something of your own.

Your comment should be rather lengthy--at least 3 complex, solid sentences.

Then choose at least 1 of your ideas to expand on in a full page in your journal.

If you have some time, browse the website Significant Objects for examples of writing connected to objects--you might even find an object there that triggers some writing for you.

Thanks for trying this today!

Comments for Classmates: I am Poems

Read each of your classmates' I am...Poems and leave a friendly comment naming at least 1 thing you find interesting about the person and/or something you might have in common.  Use a friendly greeting at the beginning of your comment and end your comment with encouragement or gratitude.  Here's an example:

Hey Kat! You captured your "edgy" vibe you mentioned in both your poem and your blog layout. You are such an interesting combination of light and dark, so kind and friendly but also fascinated by the mysterious and sinister. I appreciate what you say about being "an extreme advocate for mental health." We need more of that these days. Thanks for sharing some of who you are here. XO Mrs. Fraser

As you go along, copy and paste the comments you make into a New Post on your own blog then Publish it by the end of class so I can quickly give you credit for offering feedback.  You can title the post "Comments for Classmates."  If you come across a blog with no "I am" Poem posted, just skip it and check back later in the class period to see if it's there.

Thank you for supporting one another!  I'm leaving comments on your poems today, too. Have a great day!

Stealing authentically

It's been a real pleasure getting to know you all these first few days.  I hope you are enjoying our class.  I have been quite impressed with your creativity and willingness to try new things here from the very start, and I look forward to seeing all that you come up with throughout the semester. 

I wanted to gather my thoughts and give you a preview of some of the other ideas I'd like us to consider and be inspired by over the next 15 weeks, all in keeping with Jarmusch's idea that it's more than okay to use everything around you to get ideas, that it's not where you get the idea but where take it. 

I'm organizing in terms of "themes" (rather than genres) and have a variety of activities connected to each to get you started on pieces of your own making.  Here's what I'm thinking (perhaps in this order or with some adjustments):

Writing inspired by:

• Objects
• Color
• Art
• Dreams
• Books
• Music
• Food
• Childhood
• Photos
• Films
• Gifts

Leave me a comment here if you have an idea or something you'd like for us to study or try.

Thanks again for being such wonderful people to start the day with...

XO Mrs. Fraser

Make it yours

Thanks for creating a blog!  I hope you will continue to add to and refine your layout to make the page reflect your style as we go.  I'm still working on the class blog...

Customize the front of your Writer's Journal using the triangle template and images you find inspiring in some way.  Show it to me when you're finished and I'll give you points for doing so.

Be sure to fill 5 pages in your journal each week!

I am...Mrs. Fraser

I am…

small-town sports, a life in the country and the desire to be a good girl

two younger sisters, who really know me and love me anyway

riding horses bareback with my cousins and picking vegetables
from my grandparents’ garden 

domino games and stories around an old kitchen table in Oklahoma 

shopping in a Ford Crown Victoria piloted by my lead-footed grandmother 

Drury College, where I learned about Alice Walker, the secrets of ПBФ,
how to live with roommates, and that the world is much bigger than Cassville, Mo.

Ryan, who knows I don’t like to talk when I first wake up,
who loves me even though I don’t like to cook, and who every day tells me
how pretty and smart I am, even on days I’m not.

Macauley, a junior with his own car and a job and the start of his own life,
with a clever sense of humor and a kind, sensitive heart,
my sunshine when skies are grey

I am…

sweet tea and chocolate milk, chips and guacamole 

pets on the furniture

puffy, comfy white couches, ironstone plates and pitchers,
chippy white furniture, burlap and linen, mismatched silverware and old photos,
flea market finds and treasures that make me smile.

a tattered teddy bear bought with my birthday money
in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, when I was 8

tightly folded notes passed between teenage boys and girls
in class and church

photos and scrapbooks and a project always in the works.

books on my nightstand and magazines on the floor

sleeping late on weekends (especially when it rains)
in a bed with lots of covers and feather pillows

dark blue eyes and my dad’s olive skin,
black-framed glasses when I read or watch TV.

jeans and ankle boots, lots of black, hair that always ends up in a messy ponytail,
Toms and a Piko.

I am…

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” (John Watson)

“Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t.” (Bill Nye the Science Guy)

“Let it be…let it be…There will be an answer…let it be.” (The Beatles)

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot.
All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat,
and in that hollow part of your chest…Grief is just love with no place to go.” (Jamie Anderson)

Let's do this!

Blogs are an interactive, visual way to share our writing, and I'm excited for you to create your own. I am providing some written instructions on the handout I passed out, but I think you'll really just learn as you go. 

Your individual blog will be like an online, visual portfolio of your work for this class.  You might occasionally post something on your own, but your blog for Creative Writing is not meant to be a diary or like social media.  You will post your assignments to your blog for me (and often your classmates) to read.  You'll get comments/feedback from us right on your posts, too.

What I've set up here is a central class blog where I will post assignments and sometimes my own writing. You can usually check here for directions or what you need to get started, so please take the time to read the information I post. When you create your blogs, I will add each of them to a "blog roll" on the right hand side--from here you can hop on and see what everyone else is up to, and I'll be looking for you to make supportive and appropriate comments on your classmates' blogs beginning in the near future. This whole process of creating a blog might be a new one for most of you, and I appreciate your willingness to jump in and try something unfamiliar. You'll just have to spend a little time playing around with your layout, and I hope you feel free to add your own personal touches and make your page your own. You can start with the basic setup and let it evolve from there.

Some things to know/keep in mind:

• A post is a new entry you create from scratch with your own thoughts and ideas. A comment is an idea or thought you attach to someone else's post.
• While your blog is meant to be a place for you to express yourself and for others to communicate with you, we aren't using our blogs for socializing like facebook or texting. I hope you're kind and friendly to one another, but resist posting casual messages or silly small talk or really anything not related to our work together as a class. Later on, when you've moved on from Creative Writing, you may want to continue your blog and of course then you can do whatever you want with it!
• Since your blog is an "assignment" for a writing class, please attempt to use proper grammar and punctuation. You should not use text-speak or abbreviations or slang that you might use in texting or email. i do not want you to type in all lowercase like this. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO TYPE IN ALL UPPERCASE LIKE THIS. Use complete sentences and your best grasp on writing conventions. This is not to say we won't all make a few mistakes here and there, but we want it to appear that we were trying not to, not like we just haphazardly slapped some stuff down.

I do hope you enjoy this process...I'm here every step of the way so don't hesitate to ask me if you have questions or want some guidance.

• When you've created your own blog today, leave the url (address) of it as a comment on this post. I'll link all of them to this page and this will be our home base. You can name your blog whatever you want, but I'll be listing them by your first and last name in the blog roll because it's much easier for me to keep track of that way. 

• Your first post will be the "I am..." Poem you drafted on Monday. You should be able to copy and paste the text from the draft you saved. Add an image or two using the button that looks like a photo (next to the blue word Link) on the tool bar. 

• Also, please leave a comment on my "I am..." post telling me something you found interesting or something we have in common. 

• Then do the same for as many of your classmates as you can.  Just click on their names in the blog list down the right side of this page. 

• If you've still got some time after that, you could work on customizing your blog with backgrounds, design choices, gadgets in the sidebar, etc.  Here is just one place you can get free stuff to use in your blog design:  Cutest Blog on the Block.