Writers as Readers

I'd like you to do some thinking and writing about how what we read plays into our creative process, how the stories we read might inspire our own character and plot ideas, how we might both consciously and unconsciously pick up sentence patterns, vocabulary and writing styles from the authors we are exposed to. 

Choose 5-6 of these to answer in a post (500 words or so) on in a New Post on your own blog.  Title this post “Writers as Readers” and include 2-3 images. You can even add links to author's web pages or book reviews or other related websites if you'd like. I can show you how to do this.

1. When you read, what do you need to be comfortable (environment, snacks, lighting)?

2. What genres (types of writing) interest you? What specifically about this genre interests you? Why are you drawn to certain books?  Any genres you avoid?

3. Which author do you think your writing style is most like?  Do you purposely imitate certain writers and/or try to avoid writing like certain writers?

4. What is one of your best memories connected with reading?

5. Have you ever picked up a book and been excited to turn the next page, then the next, then the next? What book? Why couldn’t you stop reading?  Is there a book you had to just trudge through to the finish?

6. Who was your first reading teacher? Why do you remember her/him?  Was it a “teacher” or someone else (a family member?) who “taught” you?

7. What was the first book you remember reading? Why does this book stand out in your memory?

8. What is your favorite book or series? Why is this your favorite?

9. Complete the one or more of the following sentences and explain your answer.

“When I finished reading (blank), I was angry afterwards because….”

“When I finished reading (blank), I was sad because…”

“When I finished reading (blank), I was happy because…”

10. Some people refuse to read popular novels, such as the Harry Potter series due to themes they deem as glorifying the occult. Do you think books have the power to move people to action in something they have no interest in before they begin the first page?

11. When you write, do you continually envision the “reader” of your piece?  Who do you think would be interested in reading your work?  Does having a reader in mind affect how you choose your words, themes, ideas?  What’s different if you just write for yourself knowing no one else will ever read what you come up with?

12. Do you think that someone who reads a lot might become a stronger writer?  Do you think we pick up vocabulary, sentence structures, themes, etc. from the books we read that come out directly or indirectly in our own writing?

13. Do you think you’d ever write a book someday?  Do you know what it would be about?  How would you want to be described on the “About the Author” at the front of the book?

I'm sure many of you are avid readers. I just think there's such endless inspiration and personal growth that is possible when you take the time to consider the ideas others have put in print. There is so much out there to read...how will we ever get through all of it we want to?

Memorable Passage

Post a passage (probably no more than a paragraph or so) from a book that was memorable to you. Type the passage in word for word and add some of your own thoughts (250 words or more--not counting the passage itself) before and/or after, explaining why this particular set of words caught your attention or has stayed in your memory.  Title this post Memorable Passage.  Include an image with this post, too.

I used to write quite a bit on my own blog about what I read, if nothing else just to remember, but often to reflect on words that stuck with me. If you are so inclined or need some ideas about books to read or what you might write about reading, you can check out my posts here and here and here and here and here.  Also here and here.  But that's totally optional.

Here is an example of a Memorable Passage post:

Today I finished Elizabeth Berg's Dream When You're Feeling Blue, a book I found at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago. This story follows 3 beautiful sisters and the various soldiers they correspond with during the war. Wouldn't I love to have all the letters to and from my grandfathers? Who wrote to them? I especially noted a passage summing up what one soldier had written to oldest sister Kitty:

"He thought times like this could galvanize people into a certain kind of unity but could also make for unexpected changes in the individual, for strange contradictions. He said he himself had begun to feel the need to be alone most of the time. And yet he also felt a kind of love and compassion for humanity far greater than what he'd ever felt before. He found it hard to blame the war on any one person. He thought that, despite witnessing--and taking part in--such unimaginable violence, most soldiers would come home from the war wanting never to hurt anything again.

"He told her about boys who came back from the battle vacant-eyed, their hands shaking, who in a few hours' time were ready to smile and joke again and then eager to rejoin those at the front. He said that extinguishing life in another seemed to make you unspeakably grateful for your own, indeed for life in general. For a few hours after a battle, Hank said, everything the men looked at seemed caressed by their eyes. They were such young boys. They were such old men."

I'll be thinking of William Archie Curtis and Julian Jasper Cowan when we celebrate the 4th this weekend, as I do on any holiday or moment with a patriotic slant. I'll never really know what those two went through, and I'll never be able to really define how I feel about what they did, the young boys they were, the old men I watched them become. But I'll think of them kindly and generously, as Hank described, as men who saw and felt so much pain that they never wanted to hurt anything again. My whole life they've been so very kind, so very generous, to me.

Books That Mattered

Create a new Google Slides presentation to share 3-6 Books that Mattered to you.  These books could have mattered to you for a variety of reasons, positive or negative, currently or in the past.   

1.  Create an interesting intro/title slide.

2. On each following slide include the following at minimum:

• a picture of the book cover with its title and author easily seen
• a memorable quote from the book
• an image or gif (this could be an image of your memorable quote)
• a brief statement why it mattered to you

2.  Add an extra slide listing 5 or more other books that could have made your list.

3.  Add a slide at the end with a quote about reading that you like or identify with.

4.  Find your name below and link your Slides to it.

5.  Be prepared to briefly share your slides with the class FRIDAY. 

Fraser

Michaela

Anne

Donna

Sarah

Noelle

Theo

Hannah O

Solenne

Kristin

Kat

Braden

Dante

Hannah P

Parker

Victor

Zakary

Comments for Classmates: Dream Session

Step 1: 

Use the first 15-20 minutes of class to finish and post your dream-inspired piece of 500+ words to your own blog. If your piece is still not complete after 30 minutes, post what you have so your classmates can comment.

Step 2:

Find your name in the groups below.  Read the Dream-Inspired Pieces of the classmates in your group and leave a comment with 3 specific, supportive and complimentary remarks regarding the piece and how it was written.   

Nothing critical or suggesting changes at this point...

Include a greeting at the beginning of your comment (like "Hi, Taylor!) and a brief statement of encouragement at the end of your comment (like "Thanks for sharing this!" or "I look forward to seeing more of your work.")  Go beyond a short, generic comment and get specific. As in:  "You really got me with that twist at the end--I would have never guessed it was her sister stalking her all along.  Creepy!"  Or:  "Your use of dialogue was effective and pulled me into the story.  I never thought a conversation between a little boy and his baseball could sound so natural."  Don't cop out and put a rushed, generic comment like, "It was good" or "Nice job."   

Step 2:

Then copy and paste the comments you made into a New Post on your own blog so I can quickly give you credit for offering feedback.  You can title the post "Comments for Classmates: Dream Session."

Groups:

Theo 
Zakary
Braden
Victor

Noelle
Solenne
Hannah P
Sarah

Donna

Hannah O

Michaela
Parker

Kat
Kristin

Anne
Dante

Please have all work connected to DREAMS posted by the beginning of class Thursday to receive credit so we can move on to a new theme (BOOKS/TEXT).

Dream-Inspired Piece

In a New Post on your own blog, write a piece of your choice (500 words) inspired by our theme of DREAMS.  This could be fiction or non-fiction.  It could also be a collection of longer poems.  You could try one of the prompts from Lit Bridge below, or maybe try something from  this one.  Add a brief author's note at the beginning or end of your piece telling us where your idea came from.

Fiction Creative Writing Prompts

1. Write a story from a perspective of a main character who is looking for a dream. Why is he or she looking for a dream? What happened to their prior dreams? Describe the journey.

2. Write a story about someone who constantly never reaches their dream. Every attempt ends up being a failure. What happens next?

3. Write a story about a hard-working character who is trying hard to support his or her family. One day, something happens that changes everything. What happens?

4. Write a story about characters participating in a complex game. The winner actually receives their dream.

5. Write a story about a political character that has a dream for his or her country.

6. Write a story based on historical facts. Try to think about all the dreams that people have had in the past that impacted history significantly. Write a fictional story about a character witnessing this heroic figure.

7. Imagine a beautiful dream you had once. Now write a story surrounding that dream. Maybe the event takes place in that area, or perhaps that is the same dream of your character, and so on.

8. Write a story about a wealthy foreigner or even someone from a wealthy country visits an impoverished country. This character is someone who loves new material things but sees a community where their dream is to survive and help their children thrive. Write a story about this person’s journey and how they change because of it.

9. Write a story about a character helping someone to achieve their dreams.

10. Write a story about the history of an organization that helps sick or impoverished people reach their dreams.

11. Write a story about a futuristic world where dreams are changing. Think about some of the projected changes that people are suggesting may happen in the future. Use this to guide your writing.

12. Write a disturbing story about a character who has somewhat perverse dreams and has to cope with it somehow.

13. Write a story about someone whose dream is suddenly taken away from them. For instance, maybe a sports player has gotten seriously injured, a successful businessman lost his or her job, or a tragedy occurred which made someone not care about their dream. What happens next? How does this person cope?

14. Write a story about how someone’s dream evolves. How does a person find a dream? What are the steps to getting this dream? Why does someone keep holding on to the idea of this dream?

15. Write a story about someone who sees their future and either likes or dislikes certain parts of it. What do they do now that they’ve seen their future? How does this actually impact their future?

Caged Bird-Inspired Poem

"The caged bird sings of freedom." ~Maya Angelou

In a New Post on your own blog, please share a poem of at least 10 lines inspired by Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."  You might use one of the prompts I shared in class as a start.  Include an image and give your post/poem a creative title of your own making.  

Here are the prompts I shared in class if you need one or more of these to get started:

I know why...

I know...

I don't know why...

Birds...

Being caged...

Freedom...

Singing...

I sing of...

Flying...

Flying away from..

Something else you thought of 

Caged Bird

The free bird leaps

on the back of the wind

and floats downstream

till the current ends

and dips his wings

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings

with fearful trill

of the things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn

and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom. 

Writers Dreaming: Angelou Response

Thank you for taking the time to consider author Maya Angelou's ideas about how dreams play into the writing process. Please do a New Post on your blog  with your answers to 4-6 of the questions on the handout I gave you. Your post should be a decent length (500 words) if you've provided thoughtful answers. Title the post Writers Dreaming.  Also include an image (of Maya, of something connected to dreaming or an aspect of one of your answers) on this post.

If you're interested in learning more about Maya Angelou, her interesting life and her beloved works, you can start at her official website. I  bought this t-shirt showcasing her autobiography (one of my favorite books) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from a little store downtown next to Maria's called 5# Apparel. Most of the proceeds the store nets are donated to charities around the world. You can also find the t-shirt and others featuring classic, challenged books (ones that have been put on banned books lists at one time or another) at Out of Print. Click the "Shop" link to get to the t-shirts--the site donates a book to Books for Africa for every purchase made. I'd like to do some thinking next week about books that have made a difference to us as people and as writers, and I wonder if you've read any of the classics featured on their other shirts...

I love that several of you have mentioned you "dream" of becoming professional writers. Leave a comment here telling us why you'd like/not like to be a professional writer and/or what kind of writing you see yourself doing.

Stephenie Meyer said on Oprah that she always heard that was an unrealistic, financially hopeless goal, but I hope that no matter what anyone says, if that's your dream, you go for it. Seems like you'd regret not trying more than you'd regret taking a shot at it...

Also, remember to turn in your Writer's Journal today with at least 25 full pages for our Mid-1st Quarter check.  Wow, time flies...

Dream Threads

"Rappel Upward on Dream Threads" by Joji

In a New Post on your own blog, try the following writing activity using the interesting sentences regarding dreams that you and your classmates came up with last week.  We'll call these sentences "dream threads," little bits that you've pulled from a bigger piece and that could be "woven" back together in interesting ways.

• Choose one of the sentences to begin your story.  You may use it word for word or alter it slightly if necessary.
• Choose another sentence to end your story.
• Fill in the space in between with a story connecting the two sentences. This will likely be fiction but it doesn't have to be.  It also doesn't need to be especially long and may only be a portion of a bigger, more complicated story--maybe 200 words or so--but it could be. It could also be a poem.
• Put the sentences you took from other people in bold or another color.
• Include at least one image.

Here's our list:

The unknown nature of it is almost frightening, and yet, exhilarating.

A dream that persuades my way of thinking

And wide-eyed I came upon the realization that would soon crash into
our Mother Earth.

I never want to wake up unless I'm having a dream I don't want to get back in to.

I don't ever want to wake up when I'm having a dream that I planned.

I feel like I've come close to controlling my dreams and my body while I sleep.

Those same sheets that express my restless nights

They both realize that they need to live in the real world.

Perhaps a blanket burrito is a Gen Z kid's modern dream catcher.

The thought is frightening to be alone in this but more tragic not to be.

I woke up to the sounds of bells and soft silk--something was seriously wrong.

Make a hole of pillows and cozy in.

When I dream I always lucid dream, which means my mind is never really at rest.

I like having two pillows and a blanket up to my neck.

A large metallic spider and spiky black caterpillars with stingers

Dream Marks on My Pillow

Create a New Post on your blog and include some new writing connected to the drawing of a pillow we sketched and discussed in class on Wednesday.  You might work your thoughts into a longer poem or a shorter bit of prose or even both.  Try for about 150- 200 words at least on this one.  You can copy and paste the image from here, and if you'd like to, you can leave a comment on this post.  I've included some writing I did (several years ago) below.

Dream Marks on My Pillow by Ana Iancu

Last night before bed, I stepped out onto the front porch while Booker T. raced with a predatory growl towards the woods behind our house.  I waited for him to return, a triumphant skip in his step telling me all was safe and sound thanks to him, and from there on the front steps I noticed there was no moon out, or at least not one I could see.  A few stars dotted the sky but the yard was darker than usual and my big black dog crept back up beside me almost camouflaged.

I had been thinking of her off and on all day--my sweet Nanny who left us in June--and another round of loss swept through me there...no moonlight only made me miss her more. I scratched Booker's ears and cried, soft so that no one would hear, as if anyone was listening at that time of night.

I'll never be a little girl again.

I'll never see her shrug her shoulders

the way she always did.

I'll never see her handwriting on a

letter in my mailbox.

I'll never see her listening with interest

to my little boy's chatter the way she

always delighted in whatever I had to say.

I'll never see her again.

Ryan let Macauley sleep with us--a real treat on a school night--and with puffy eyes I slipped into the tiny sliver of our king size bed left for me, my son's now long legs tucked in close to mine and my big black dog in a ball at my feet, my husband miles of blankets and pillows away. Our room was dark and warm and I read only a few pages of my book before I floated into sleep.

And then, she was there...standing on my front walk, reaching out to me with a piece of paper in her hand.  He was there, too, a few feet behind her and to the side in dark blue jeans and the striped shirt he had on in their only picture with Macauley when he was a baby.  I grabbed her and squeezed her and cried for her to stay.  She just stood there and let me, still holding the paper.

I blinked and turned to see the numbers on the clock pushing me to start another day. I stared at the ceiling, making myself remember seeing her, knowing how dreams come and go if you don't commit them to long-term memory...like so many days I spent with her or spent not with her...they just slip away.

I could have cried in the car this evening when I told Ryan about the dream on the way to dinner. He said maybe it was a sign but he didn't say of what.  If I cry for her again tonight, will she be there on my front steps when I close my eyes?

Knowing I miss her,
will she reappear tonight 

when I close my eyes?

This song reminds me of what I wrote...

Maker Project: Dream Catchers

The Legend Of the Dream Catcher

"The Ojibwa (Chippewa) believe that night is full of both good and bad dreams. When a dream catcher is hung above the place where you sleep it moves freely in the night air and catches the dreams as they drift by. The good dreams, knowing their way, pass through the opening in the center of the webbing while the bad dreams, not knowing the way, are caught in the webbing and destroyed at the first light of the morning sun. 

There are many variants to the dream catcher legend, some which say both the good and bad dreams are captured and some which say the good dreams slide down the feather to those sleeping below. Although the Ojibwa are credited as the first people to use Dream Catchers many other Tribes and Native peoples have adopted Dream Catchers into their culture. Even though the designs and legends of Dream Catchers differ slightly, the underlying meaning and symbolism is universal and is carried across cultures and language barriers.

Everybody dreams."



As a part of our discussion about dreams and how they can relate to writing inspiration and processes, let's try to create dream catchers in class this week!  

Dream catchers have been a part of Native American and other cultures for many years.  You can do your own research at places like this one to find out more about the various interpretations of this universal symbol.  This, on the other hand,  appears to be something different... :)

To prepare, take a look at some online tutorials and do some thinking about what you'd like yours to look like. Click here and here and here for some ideas.

These are certainly not the only ones--feel free to do your own search.  You'll be using a tutorial of your choice to create your dream catcher during class.

I will provide the hoops, basic supplies, and a few embellishments.  If you'd like to or are able to get your own supplies to really customize your dream catcher, please do so and bring them to class tomorrow.

You may say I'm a dreamer...

...but I'm not the only one. Some people say they never dream when they sleep, and I've read that isn't true: Everyone dreams many times every night (the average dream lasting only 3-5 seconds) but we remember so few (or none) of our dreams because they're sent straight to our short-term memories. Unless you do something like write the dream down or share it with a friend to transfer the information to your long-term memory, that dream is gone and you may never remember having it at all.

I've done a lot of thinking and even a little writing about dreams over the years--what dreams mean, why I always have the same ones, how to avoid really scary ones...I wonder if this is a topic that is interesting to you? I've heard that it's really fun for us to talk about our own dreams but it isn't all that fun for everyone else listening?  I'm not sure anyone really wants to know about my recent dream regarding my neighbor in the buff drinking coffee in his backyard or the one where I'm sorting through tornado rubble in only a towel.  :)

I have a couple of recurring dreams, meaning dreams I have had several times throughout my lifetime, and I have to say they are mostly bad, or at least very uncomfortable. I often dream that I am still in high school and I have a volleyball game or track meet to go to and I'm not ready. I've either forgotten my uniform or shoes or I can't remember going to any practices beforehand to train. I haven't played high school sports for 20 years...why would this keep showing up in my subconscious?  Another dream I've had a lot (although not in quite a while, now that I think of it) is that my teeth are really chalky and they're crumbling out of my mouth, or they're all loose and if you tapped one they'd all fall out in a sort of domino effect.

I've read that you're likely to have nightmares if the room you are sleeping in is very warm and if you sleep with your arms above your head...I wonder what conditions make for more pleasant dreams? Do you think that what you have in your head right before you fall asleep will come out in your dreams, or do the littlest things from earlier in the day somehow pop up? Do you think you can control your dreams? I have a friend who is into "astral travel," which is, very simply, being able to will yourself to go places in your dreams. She said she could think about checking in on her cousin before she fell asleep and then she'd dream something about her cousin that would let her know how she was doing. She also told me that if you ever see yourself in your dreams, like you're looking down at yourself from above (in video games isn't that the third-person view?) instead of seeing the dream through your own eyes (like first-person in video games?) that you have astral traveled without even trying. Interesting...

There are various books and websites that offer interpretations of dreams and the elements involved.  You may or may not find these valid, but you considering dreams and what they might be saying could probably spark numerous writing ideas.  Take a look at some of these and see what you think:  Dream Dictionary    Dream Bible   Psychologists World      

I hope you've also done some thinking about how dreaming can play into the writing process. Please post a thoughtful comment (a few sentences or so) on this post answering one or more of the following:

...a recurring dream you have

...the worst dream you've ever had

...the best dream you've ever had (PG-13 or tamer :) )

...what you think causes dreams

...books you've read about dreams or dreaming

...if you think dreams are symbolic or have deeper meaning

...what you found in the dream interpretation books/sites

...if you think astral travel or lucid dreaming is possible

...your daydreams or your dream day chart

...your dreams for your future

...if you think dreams could inspire writing for you

...something else connected to dreams?

Teach us about dreaming...

Work with your friends at your table to create a Google Slides teaching presentation on the topic connected to dreams you have been assigned.  Present your research in slides that are interesting, informative and visually pleasing.  

• Each group member should contribute at least 2 slides.
• Include a slide at the beginning introducing your topic.
• On the last slide, offer 3-5 provocative writing prompts or questions connected to your topic for your classmates to respond to in their journals.
• Share your project to hfraser@sps.org by the end of class on Thursday.
• Be prepared to teach us in class on Friday!

Astraltravel & Lucid Dreaming

Dream Catchers

Dream Interpretation

Nightmares & Night Terrors

Comments for your (colorful) classmates

Find your name in the groups below.  

Step 1:

Read the Object-Inspired Pieces of the classmates in your group and leave a comment with 3 specific, supportive and complimentary remarks regarding the piece and how it was written.   Nothing critical or suggesting changes at this point...

Include a greeting at the beginning of your comment (like "Hi, Taylor!) and a brief statement of encouragement at the end of your comment (like "Thanks for sharing this!" or "I look forward to seeing more of your work.")  Go beyond a short, generic comment and get specific. As in:  "You really got me with that twist at the end--I would have never guessed it was her sister stalking her all along.  Creepy!"  Or:  "Your use of dialogue was effective and pulled me into the story.  I never thought a conversation between a little boy and his baseball could sound so natural."  Don't cop out and put a rushed, generic comment like, "It was good" or "Nice job."   

Step 2:

Read the person's color-inspired poems and leave a comment naming at least 1 line you really like in each (there should be 6 poems total: 2 haikus, 1 acrostic, 1 free verse, 1 narrative, 1 collage-inspired, 1 color association).

Step 3:

Read the person's "If I Were in Charge of the World" poem naming at least one idea you find interesting or amusing or something you agree with.

Step 4:

Then copy and paste the comments you made into a New Post on your own blog so I can quickly give you credit for offering feedback.  You can title the post "Comments for Classmates."

Groups:

Theo 
Zakary
Braden

Kat
Noelle
Solenne

Hannah P
Sarah
Donna

Hannah O
Michaela
Parker
Victor

Kristin
Anne
Dante

If you run out of time in class today please be sure to finish commenting on your own time before class tomorrow.