Chapter 7: Story Elements as a Given

Exercise: Chapter 44
Stirring Up a Fiction Stew

chef (replaced by mother)
hostess (replaced by daughter)
gas station
root beer
knife
blue
patriotism

As suggested in this chapter, I had my husband go through the list of words, and I started to write a scene. But, I didn’t think this would help my story, so I took his words and applied them to the characters I have been working on, in the hopes I could use this in my story. It was an interesting exercise, but I could only manage to incorporate three of the five words he suggested.


The gas station was closed, but we could see a man through the window, cleaning up inside.

“I’m sure he’ll open up so I can buy a root beer. Go ahead and pump the gas. I’ll be right back.” My mother twisted around, struggling to get her sticks—her pet name for the crutches she now depended on to walk even a few feet—from the back seat.

“Mom, stop. Just let me pump the gas. You don’t need a root beer this late at night anyway. Just sit still. I’ll be done in a minute.”

It was as if I hadn’t spoken. The sticks bumped against the windows, the roof, the seats. She had one leg dancing outside the car door as she placed her right forearm into the brace that helps her keep her from losing her grip.

“Mom. Really. I’ll stop at the grocery in the morning and pick up some root beer. It’s going to take forever and the store’s not even open.”

Outside the car, she stumbled her way across the asphalt, each steady crutch leading the way for her faltering legs. The man inside looked up from his spray bottle and waved her away, shaking his head, mouthing the words, “Sorry, we’re closed.”

She kept moving forward, waving back, crutch dangling by its cuff from her forearm, then leading the way once again.

“He’s closed, Mom,” I called from across the station, filling up the tank.

“Honey, I just want a root beer. I’ll be right back,” she answers without turning toward me. She gives the man another wave, as if he didn’t see her coming toward the door already.

I watch as she knocks on the glass, announcing her arrival at her destination. Wearily, the man makes his way toward the door, shaking his head and talking through the glass. She must be able to hear him; their faces only inches apart, separated by a bullet-proof slab of glass covered in red, white and blue stickers of the American flag. He turns away from her, but she waits.

“Come on, Mom. I’m done. Let’s go.”

And then the man returns. His oily hands open the door and hand my mother a can of root beer. It is only then that I realize she doesn’t have her purse; she has no way to pay. I start to walk over to pay the man for the soda, but this time, he waves me away.

“No charge,” he calls from across the asphalt. I smile and wave back, knowing it will do no good to argue. Returning to the driver’s seat, I wait for my mother to make her way to the car and tell me all about the nice man inside.

Chapter 6: Plot

Exercise: Chapter 32
From Situation to Plot

Character: a mother with Parkinson’s Disease who lives on her own, but whose children want her to move into an assisted living facility.


Situation #1: Mother and two adult children get in a car accident. One of the children was driving. The accident was the child’s fault. The mother is hurt and is forced to move into a rehab facility, with a plan to move into assisted living afterward. All of this is because of the accident, not because of the Parkinson’s.

Reactions #1: Mother is angry at and resentful toward the child for his mistake and consequential accident. Mother feels self-righteous because she knew she would not have ever had to go into assisted living if it were up to her, but the accident has forced her into it. Mother blames child for having to move into rehab/assisted living. Child thinks that mother would have ended up in assisted living anyway and takes no responsibility for the premature move. Other siblings side with child. Mother feels abandoned at assisted living and starts to believe the accident was a conspiracy. The more the siblings defend the child, the more “evidence” the mother collects against them. Mother becomes more and more withdrawn and depressed as her obsession to prove her conspiracy theory grows.


Situation #2: One of the children is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, as well.

Reactions #2: The mother is defensive: she thinks blame is being placed on her for passing the Parkinson’s through biology, even though no one has accused her of this. As the children convince her that no one is blaming her, the mother becomes more confident and takes on the role of “expert” because she has had the disease longer. The mother feels a new connection with the child because they share this diagnosis, but the child wants nothing to do with this type of “connection.” The mother takes the child’s defiance as not wanting to be anything like her, while the child can’t understand how the mother can think of this as something to bond over. The child eventually moves to another city, rather than live the life she sees her mother living.


Situation #3: The children hire a painter to paint the interior of the house so the mother won’t get hurt doing it herself. The painter turns out to have some marital and financial problems and is living in his car.

Reactions #3: The mother is overly concerned with the painter’s life. She feels incredibly sorry for him. She enjoys having someone around her whom she considers to be “worse off” than herself. Because the children have been worried bout her living alone, she offers to rent her spare bedroom to the painter in order to have someone around at night to help her in case of an emergency. While she says he is there to take care of her, it is obvious to everyone else that she is taking care of him. Clashes occur over the possibility of her being taken advantage of and of the painter’s character and motives. More details about the painter emerge, a few “close calls” occur, and the mother finally tells the painter to move out. After some delay, interpreted differently between the children and the mother, the painter moves out. Since nothing horrible has happened, the mother feels vindicated, while the children feel this is proof the mother has lost her ability to make logical decisions.

Chapter 5: Dialogue

Exercise: Chapter 28
Not Quite a Fight

“What are you going to do if there’s a waiting list? When you need to get in, you’ll wish you had signed up.”

“When I need to get in, I’ll sign up,” my mother answered with a flippant air of impatience.

“That’s what I’m saying. When you go to sign up, you won’t be able to get in. Then you’ll get stuck somewhere you hate. What’s wrong with thinking ahead, being proactive? Let’s just put your name on the list. If they call, we can say you’re not ready and they can keep your name ready for the next opening.” I sat down on the bed, careful not to bump my head on the triangular grab bar hanging inches away.

Mom held onto the wall bars she had just had installed throughout her bedroom and half-walked, half-fell toward her dresser.

“I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal of this. If you want to sign someone up for something, if that’s what you like to do, sign people up for things, then go ahead, sign your kids up for something…camp or something. As for me, I don’t need to sign up for anything. I like it here. I don't want to go anywhere else.”

“Camp? Mom, are you serious? Can’t we have an adult discussion about the options here?”

“What options? I don’t need any options. I live here. That’s my option.” She moved slowly but surely away from the dresser with a necklace in her hand, held it out to me, and asked me to put it on for her. She can’t work the clasp anymore, but hasn’t had a chance to get this particular stone switched to a chain long enough to slip over her head.

“What are you going to do when you fall down the steps and break your hip and there’s no room at the assisted living place you want to go to? If you were on a list, you’d be the next one in.”

“I’m not falling down any steps. You sound just like your siblings. You're like a stack of broken records. What if you fell down the steps? What if your sister fell down the steps? What list are you two on? You know, anyone can fall down steps any time. You don’t have to have Parkinson’s to have an accident.”

“No, you don’t, but it sure makes it a lot more likely.”

Ignoring me, she headed for the bedroom door and downstairs. “Here I go,” she bragged, “down the steps!”

I followed behind, unsteady and unsure.

Chapter 5: Dialogue

Exercise: Chapter 27
The Invisible Scene: Interspersing Dialogue with Action

“Upstairs!” she called when the dog barked, alerting her to a guest in the house.

At the top of the stairs, looking into her bedroom, I saw her left foot, clad in a man’s white tube sock, twisting uncontrollably at the behest of its big toe. The rest of my mother lay sprawled between the bedroom and the bathroom, almost upside down, as her entire left leg jumped and danced to its own beat, while her right hand attempted to paint the bathroom door frame. With paint all over her shirt and more green in her hair than gray, she smiled up at me, “Isn’t this a fabulous color?”

Chapter 4: Perspective and Point of View

Exercise: Chapter 22
An Early Memory, Part One: The Child as Narrator

Like us, the Siegels have a Black maid. I don’t know her name, but ours is Doris. This lady looks a lot like Doris, and she’s really nice, just like Doris. And, she thinks my little brother is the cutest thing ever, same as Doris. Her and Kenny have been playing in the kitchen since we got here. We had to come early because Mom had to help Mrs. Siegel get dinner ready for Seder. You wouldn’t believe how much there is to do, my mom kept saying. Between the matzoh ball soup and the charoset, you’ve got the hard-boiled eggs and the gefilte fish. Mom’s been talking about it for weeks.

Mom and Mrs. Siegel are sitting at the dining room table rubbing that gooey stuff on the silver and talking about all the people coming over later. I’ve been upstairs to the playroom, but the ping-pong table is boring by myself and they won’t let me play Barry’s drums because they’re too loud, so I’m back downstairs now. The maid is really nice to me, too, and gives me and Kenny both three squares of Hershey bar because we helped put the water glasses on the table and didn’t break any.

She reaches down to wipe chocolate off Kenny’s face. I don’t think I have any on me because I’m older and know how to eat a candy bar, especially when I have on a nice dress. Hold still, sugar pie, you’ve got chocolate all over your sweet little face, she tells him. Let me just rub that off you, child.

Kenny doesn’t sit still too good. He doesn’t really like when people try to clean him up. Next thing I know, he tells her, Why don’t you rub it off you? You’ve got chocolate all over your whole self!

The maid is laughing now like nobody I’ve ever seen. She says, Child, if I could wipe this chocolate off me, you know I would, but this here chocolate is here to stay! She keeps laughing and pretty soon Mom and Mrs. Siegel are laughing and Kenny and me are laughing, even though I’m not sure Kenny really knows what he’s laughing about. Mrs. Siegel even lifts up her glasses and wipe her eyes; she is crying from laughing so hard. The maid keeps laughing all night long, Wipe that chocolate off myself! Oh, child!


Exercise: Chapter 23
An Early Memory, Part Two: The Reminiscent Narrator

It seemed every Jew in Memphis had a Black maid. If you lived in a certain neighborhood, even though it was the South, you could go days without seeing another Black person except for your maid. So, while we grew up with a Black person in our house every day after school, we didn’t really know any.

Like us, the Siegels had a Black maid. I don’t remember her name; ours was Doris. At the time, it seemed normal there would be a Black maid in every house we visited. They were more like family members than people who were getting paid, or at least that’s what we liked to believe: Sweetheart, meet Mrs. Seigel, her husband Mr. Siegel, her son Barry, her daughter Wendy, and her maid whose name I can’t remember.

The Siegel’s maid was helping out with Passover Seder, which meant she was expected to do any combination of cooking, cleaning and entertaining the kids who were getting in the way. She definitely had a soft spot for my little brother, as did most adults who met him. We had arrived early because my mother insisted on helping Mrs. Siegel get dinner ready. You wouldn’t believe how much there is to do, my mom kept saying. Between the matzoh ball soup and the charoset, you’ve got the hard-boiled eggs and the gefilte fish. Of course, she didn’t mention the extra help she was getting from the Siegel’s maid, or the help she had gotten from Doris earlier in the day.

As mom and Mrs. Siegel sat at the dining room table, polishing the silver and talking about the guests who had yet to arrive, Kenny and I were getting bored. After exploring every inch of the upstairs playroom, we returned to the main floor and proceeded to get in everyone’s way. The Siegel’s maid made us a deal: three squares of a chocolate bar if we helped put the water glasses on the table and didn’t break any. Done.

As we finished up our candy, the maid reached down to wipe chocolate off my little brother’s face. Hold still, sugar pie, you’ve got chocolate all over your sweet little face, she told him. Let me just rub that off you, child.

Kenny, cute and adorable and precocious, smiled up at her and said, Why don’t you rub it off you? You’ve got chocolate all over your whole self!

My eyes darted to the dining room where my mother sat. I expected someone to scold him, to explain that her skin is not made of chocolate and that what he said was certainly rude. But, my mother simply looked up, saw that the maid was laughing, and began laughing as well.

I heard the maid say, Child, if I could wipe this chocolate off me, you know I would, but this here chocolate is here to stay! We all laughed and the story was told again and again as each new guest arrived. Kenny stood, the center of attention, only slightly embarrassed by his mistake. It looks like chocolate, he insisted.

To this day, I still wonder why it was so funny.

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.