Writing Fiction, Part 1

Exercise: Chapter One
First Sentences: Beginning in the Middle

When she realized her children would actually make her wear that ridiculous neck brace every waking moment, she started to regret her decision to water the plants on the back deck.

Thank God for caller ID; without it, I would have surely answered the phone.

I couldn’t quite figure out who she was, but I knew for certain she was not my mother.

The leaking wouldn’t stop, no matter what she tried.

Once she held the child in her arms, she knew he was hers.



Exercise: Chapter Three
Pairs of Beginning Sentences

Birth/Death:
He thought babies were supposed to be cute, but he wasn’t so sure about his own.

She would never forgive him for not allowing her to say goodbye.

Blistering Heat/Freezing Cold:
They drove around in the cool comfort of the car for hours, avoiding the stifling humidity of their shared apartment.

He told her to take off her clothes and wrap her arms around him; he had read this was the best way to treat hypothermia.

Toddler/Teenager:
The boy ran through the house with the crazy abandon of the child he was supposed to have been.

To know all there was to know about everything was the worst feeling in the world.



Exercise: Chapter Eight
People from the Past; Characters of the Future

Craig was the cutest, most talented boy in the school. He had every lead in every play; he scored the highest on every test; he was every teacher’s favorite student; and he had complete control over the entire class. But, Craig and I had a history. He had lived across the street from me since we were four years old. We were best friends on the kickball field and taught each other how to kiss in a secret hiding spot in his room. Of course, all of that changed in middle school. Craig started to torture me: spitting in my hair and teasing me through each minute of the excruciatingly long car ride to school; stealing my bike and claiming to have no knowledge of how it ended up propped in a neighbor’s tree; and turning the heat up on my fish tank, simmering the little guys to death. Smug, arrogant and conceited, Craig was trouble from sixth grade on.

I heard a rumor that Craig worked for Barnum & Brothers circus in some type of sales position. And, while this is probably a very lucrative job, it certainly doesn’t compare to his little brother’s career as a cardiologist. I’ve been told he lost all his hair, which seems like poetic justice to me. I think he is married to a woman whom he makes feel less than what she is or could be. They probably have three children; he focuses on his son’s potential and his daughters’ limitations. He has affairs on the road and thinks this is his right, as the breadwinner in the family. His wife knows about these betrayals, but feels helpless to confront him. He lives a pretty-on-the-surface lifestyle, but is deeply disappointed by the path he has chosen.



Exercise: Chapter Nine
Mining Memory

Things that pleased me:

Having the plumber come and finding out the leak was clean water from the tank and not dirty water from the toilet bowl.

The Starbucks barista gave me a free venti nonfat latte when I forgot my wallet and didn’t even make me pay for it the next day when I tried to.

Scheduling a babysitter to go out with old friends I have fallen out-of-touch with.

Getting a huge hug from one of my newest and dearest friends when I showed up to a happy hour I didn’t think I would be able to make.

Watching my son look like a teenager, walking outside with a camera to take pictures.

Having my husband leave for work, turn around, and come back inside for an extra hug and kiss goodbye.

Writing lists of things that have made me happy and things that have made me angry and realizing I have more happy things than angry ones.

My two sons sitting in the living room with me, quietly reading.

My neighbor’s little girl, Gretta, calling me “Aunt Denise” even though I am not her aunt.

Having a little brother who makes me laugh: I told him I’d like a new family and he responded that I’ve wanted that since I was 14.


Things that made me angry:

My father ignoring my request that he NOT go to California while I am there visiting my mother.

Preparing the Passover Seder meal completely by myself.

Overhearing a neighbor’s homophobic remarks toward possible buyers of the house across the street.

Waiting for a huge lump to rise on his forehead before believing my son when he said he punched his cousin only because his cousin had thrown him into the hard corner of the couch.

Hearing judgment in the voice of a student for a girl in a situation not unlike her own.

My boss telling his staff (including me) how great the conference was that I was not allowed to go to.

Hearing about services my students cannot be assessed for because they are too expensive.

Hearing my sister smirk over the phone when I mentioned my friend is gay.

Seeing the engine light come on in my car and knowing that this repair will be expensive.

Going to pick something up at my school and realizing my key card doesn’t work after a certain hour of the day.



Exercise: Chapter 12
He/She: Switching Gender

I choose my shirt and pants with little thought, knowing that one or the other will be replaced. Susan never lets me leave the house without changing at least one item of clothing. It’s sort of like a boss who needs to put his thumbprint on everything; a person who makes change just to make change, not for any real purpose. I don’t care too much. She’s probably better at this than I am. Probably. But, sometimes, I question her taste. To myself. Not out loud.

When I walk outside the closet door, she’s there, waiting. She looks great, as always. She’s everything I’ve always wanted; she’s everything my ex-wife is not. Suzie’s got a great body, a good sense of humor, and will try anything once. She has changed my life for the better. Definitely.

She looks me over, assesses the damage, and quickly slips into my closet, emerging with a patterned shirt she bought me last Father’s Day and a belt with ten thousand colors. Nice, I guess. She brushes a kiss on my cheek as she hands me the shirt and walks past to finish her makeup. I give myself a half-smile in the mirror and go to change my shirt.



Exercise: Chapter 18
Creating a Character’s Background, Place, Setting, and Milieu

She shows me my bedroom, but all I see is pink. Obviously, she’d rather have girls. The bed is old: I can see the mattress soft and sagging in the middle. I don’t want to sit on it, much less sleep there. A faded pink comforter with some light brown stains lies crookedly, so the top corner of the pale yellow sheets can be seen. The comforter used to have some type of floral print, but that seems to have faded over time. The bed itself is painted pink with little strips of wood showing through at worn-out edges. It could be someone’s lame attempt to make the frame look old (I’ve seen that in magazines before), but I think this one really is old. On the pillow, there is a baby blue dog with a tattered ribbon around his neck. I’m surprised no one has taken it yet. Maybe he’s too old for anyone to want. I think I might like him. At least he’s not pink.

Lesson Plans: Creative Writing Class Midterm

I really like to use visual images to get students started with creative assignments. Giving them a starting point seems to take away some of the intimidation factor, in addition to providing some (often needed) inspiration.

Theme: Using Photography for Creative Writing

Preparation:

Teachers need to collect black and white “headshots” of various people. These can be historical images (only use photos of people the students would not be familiar with), snapshots, advertisements (without writing), little-known actors, or any other type of image the teacher can find.

You will need two copies of each photograph and should have the same number of photographs as you have students. Have a couple extra copies on hand in case there are an odd number of students and you need to use three of one photo.

Label each image with some type of “code” (not a name) so that the students can record which image they worked with.

Lesson One: Searching for Details

Use half of your photographs (for example, 2 copies of 20 different shots for a class of 40). Each student will be given one image so there are two copies of each photograph distributed. Try to separate the images around the room so that two of the same photographs are not near each other.

Have students “study” their images for 2 minutes before writing.

Brainstorm: Have students write 30 words describing the physical attributes of the person in their photographs. These words can be any part of speech and should be the first things that come to mind. (This is a good place to insert a grammar mini-lesson if you want to require a certain number of each part of speech.) Students should focus only on the physical characteristics of the person in the photograph.

Write: Have students create a poem from their lists of words. The poem may be created with any additional words, but MUST include the 30 words they brainstormed. Be sure each student puts the “code” on his poem so you can later match the poem to the image.

Pair & Share: Have each student pair up with the person in the room who has the same photograph. Have the paired students compare their poems. Once finished, have the pairs present their poems to the class and give a brief synopsis of what they found when comparing their poems.

Lesson Two: Inference

Distribute the second half of images (for example, 2 copies of 20 different shots for a class of 40). Each student will be given one image so there are two copies of each photograph distributed. Try to separate the images around the room so that two of the same photographs are not near each other.

Have students “study” their images for 2 minutes before writing.

Brainstorm: Have students write 30 words describing the personality traits of the person in their photographs. These words can be any part of speech and should be the first things that come to mind. (This is a good place to insert a grammar mini-lesson if you want to require a certain number of each part of speech.) They should focus on the perceived/inferred personality/mental characteristics of the person in the photograph, but should also extend to things like education level, career, family life, etc.

Write: Have students create a poem from their lists of words. The poem may be created with any additional words, but MUST include the 30 words they brainstormed. Be sure each student puts the “code” on his poem so you can later match the poem to the image.

Pair & Share: Have each student pair up with the person in the room who has the same photograph. Have the paired students compare their poems. Once finished, have the pairs present their poems to the class and give a brief synopsis of what they found when comparing their poems.

Reflection: Have each student reflect individually on the differences between the comparative processes when they were writing only about viewable physical characteristics versus inferred characteristics. Were there more or less differences between themselves and their partners in one case over the other? Why do they think that is?

Lesson Three: Dialogue

Redistribute the photographs the students used for Lesson Two. Have students review the photograph and their brainstorming and poems.

Write: Have students write one sentence this person might say.

Pair & Share: Have each student pair with a student who has a different photograph. Have the students share their poems and sentences from Lesson Two.

Write: Have the students develop a scene where the two people from the two photographs might interact with each other. Working with this scene, have them create a dialogue between the two characters. This may take the form of a poem or a short story, but it MUST include the original two sentences created by each student.

Present: Have students act out their dialogue, each student acting out the part of the person whose photograph they were originally working with.

Lesson Four: Final Project

Have students find photographs on the internet or in magazines to craft a creative writing piece. Their photograph may be of any subject, including people or not. But, it must be something that inspires them to write a work of poetry or fiction.

Once they have chosen an image, have them work through the steps practiced earlier:

Brainstorm #1: Have students write 30 words describing the physical elements apparent in the photograph. These words can be any part of speech and should be the first things that come to mind. They should focus on the physical aspects of the photograph.

Write #1: Have students create a poem from these lists of words. The poem may be created with any additional words, but MUST include the 30 words they brainstormed. Be sure each student attaches the original image to his poem.

Brainstorm #2: Have students write 30 words describing what they can infer from the photograph. These words can be any part of speech and should be the first things that come to mind. They should focus on anything not physically apparent in the photograph.

Write #2: Have students create a poem from these lists of words. The poem may be created with any additional words, but MUST include the 30 words they brainstormed. Be sure each student attaches the original image to his poem.

Write #3: Using writing exercises #1 and #2 from this lesson, have students write a poem or short story about the photograph they have chosen.

Present: The poems/stories may be presented orally with the image displayed during the performance, or they may be presented visually on a poster board or digital medium.