Writing Road Trip
Drive
I was planning a road trip to Northern Minnesota to teach at a Young Author’s Conference and decided to include a small detour to my past: the town of Bemidji, where we lived when I was in 2nd through 5th grades. So after the conference wrapped, I spent a couple of happy days traveling down memory lane. I was warmly welcomed at
Adjust Your Mirrors
You get a different view of the road behind you depending on which of your car’s mirrors you look into. And writers can direct readers to a different outlook on their story depending on which point of view they use as the “mirror” for the events that take place. I’ve found that point of view is a tricky thing for
Hands on the Wheel
A few years ago, I remember Teenage Nephew 2 pointed out (from his newly gathered storehouse of driver’s ed wisdom) that I put my hands in the wrong positions on the steering wheel. The new placement, he told me, is either 9 and 3 or 8 and 4 on the clock face, to avoid breaking your arms if the airbag deploys. It’s
Traveling Further In-Word
As a follow-up to my last post, I wanted to offer you a downloadable version of one of the activities I created for my day in the Alphabet Forest: ”Make Your Own ‘Story Wheel.’” The Story Wheel I brought for my day featured State Fair elements to fit my usual suggested story-starter mix of characters, settings, and conflicts. But as the
Traveling In-Word
Giving kids the gift of words and story is like handing them the magic key to life.
Green for Go
Traffic signals don’t require a single word to send a clear message. Even small children can learn how to “read” them. Red reads “stop.” Green reads “go.” Yellow reads either “slow down” or “speed up,” depending on the “character” of the driver. Even young students can also “read” wordless picture books. Because the artwork reveals its own
License Plate 007
Story dialogue is charged with the large task of helping to tell the story: it reveals characterization, advances the plot, and provides action.
Next Exit: Adventure
Sometimes just a town’s name is enough to entice you. Who could drive past the exit for Last Chance, Idaho — or Hell, Michigan — or Happyland, Oklahoma — without at least contemplating how your life might be changed if you took that unexpected detour? All on their own, names tell a story. That’s why I often do an online search to learn as
Swerving Over the Line
During one of my visits to see my Alabama brother’s family, we took a road trip to the Ave Maria Grotto. That’s where a Benedictine Monk named Brother Joseph Zoettl built over 125 Mini-Me versions of some of the greatest buildings of the world. Artists are often inspired by someone else’s masterpieces. But in working with young writers,
Watch Where You’re Going
Riding along with my dad was like going on a Midwestern safari. Even while driving, he had an amazing knack for spotting critters as they peeked out from behind trees, perched on phone poles, or slid along the roadside. He didn’t seem to pay any attention to the makes of other cars, or billboard messages, or
Driving in the Dark
A while back I was at my parents’ lake cabin with my extended family. My brother’s teenagers had all brought along friends, and on Saturday we packed everyone who fell into the “thirteen to fifteen” age range off to the late movie. As the resident night owl, I volunteered to pick up the kids when the movie
Tunnel Vision
Driving through a tunnel effectively narrows our field of vision. The walls and ceiling restrict our view to only that which is inside the tunnel. It doesn’t matter if there’s a mountain parked on top of the roof, or an ocean of water being held back by the walls: when we’re inside the tunnel, those things are
Just Another Roadside Abstraction
For this week’s writing road trip, I offer you texture. I aim for an abstract element of a realistic subject and use texture to add interest and suggest depth. —a quote that to the best of my research abilities I find attributable to artist Margaret Roseman. I liked the way the above quote spoke to how texture can be
Racing to Catch a Plane
Sometimes very young writers I work with literally stop the story mid-thought and write “The End.”
Destination
What ‘audience destination’ does the narrator intend? Who do you imagine will read your story?