Writing

Writing Ideas

Putting together your portfolio.
 * Assignment for the week of May 10-15**


 * 1. Go through the work in your hanging file and select what you would like to include in your portfolio.** **You may also want to look at what you have on a flash drive or on your computer at home.** Feel free to print out clean copies. The look of your portfolio is up to you.
 * This work should represent the variety of writing you've done. It should showcase what you are most proud of, but it should also have some pieces that show how you have progressed and experimented as a writer.
 * Be sure to include your speech and the piece(s) you focused on in small writing groups in the winter and spring.
 * Please include your villanelle and free verse poem(s).
 * Please include the "table of contents" that you made when we read //House on Mango Street//.
 * I'd like you to include at least 1 or 2 think pieces and other writing you've done for lit (6 word memoir, lit circle projects, discussion questions, 5 paragraph essay)
 * Feel free to include writing for indies and other things you have written on your own that you want to keep in a safe place.
 * You may also want to include artwork, like your cartoon, neighborhood map, indie art, etc.


 * 2. Create a table of contents (8-balls, include your three pieces from last year, which are already in your portfolios).**
 * You can organize your work however you like
 * You do not need to include page numbers


 * 3. Write an introduction to your portfolio in which you reflect on yourself as a writer.**
 * Read everything in you portfolio and see what you notice about your writing.
 * This should be about a page double spaced.
 * Here are some questions that you should address in your reflection.

A. How have you grown/changed as a writer? B. What have you discovered by writing? C. What is way in which you would like to develop more as a writer? D. How has your writing style changed? E. If you were to revisit a piece of your writing from your portfolio, which piece would you choose and what would you change?

Write a poem in free verse that is written //to// someone. In other words, refer to someone in the poem as "you," the way Ben referred to his dad as "you." Free verse does not use patterns of rhyme or meter. Think about where you want to break each line. This allows you to focus on every word of your poem.
 * Assignment for the week of May 3-7**

Do your best to write a villanelle. Many of you have had some light weeks lately in terms of writing, so I expect you to put some time and effort into this challenge.
 * Assignment for the week of April 26-30**
 * It does not need to be a work of genius. You do not need to say anything meaningful.
 * This is a chance to play with meter and rhyme.
 * The rhyme scheme and repeating lines are rigid. Look at the examples here if you forget the structure.Villanelles
 * The meter can be looser. Try to keep about the same number of syllables in each line.


 * Assignment for the week of March 8-12**
 * Use your hour and a half to revise your writing or, if you don't have much to revise, you can read and respond to other kids' writing. I can help facilitate the swapping next week.
 * We will be wrapping up content feedback in the next week or two so we can move on to copy editing.


 * Assignment for the weeks of February 22-24 and March 1-5**
 * We will not have writing groups on the three day week, but please continue with your individual assignments.
 * Some of you are wrapping up the first draft of a single, developed piece, others are working on shorter vignettes.
 * If you are working on a series of shorter pieces, start thinking about which ones you want to put in your portfolio. You may want to include them all, or you may want to focus on a few. They need to be typed by your next writing group (the week of March 1-5).
 * Some of you have exchanged writing on your own, so you can give each other feedback. I think this is a great idea and would like to see more people doing this.

We're back to an hour and a half of writing this week. Everyone has an individual assignment. If you need to write more to finish your first draft in the next 2 or 3 weeks, please do. If you get stuck, please email me or see me in person, so I can try to help.
 * Assignment for the week of February 8-12**

Please spend at least one hour on writing this week. Since you are all in different places in the process, pick whichever of the following three scenarios best fits you.
 * Assignment for the week of February 1-5**

If you have settled on a topic for a story:
 * summarize it in a paragraph so you can figure out what is important
 * list the important scenes
 * start writing them

If you would rather write a series of vignettes instead of one longer story (you are all welcome to do this, if you choose):
 * get started on your table of contents for lit (this is a great way to brainstorm topics)
 * pick one or your titles and write the vignette for next week
 * if it goes quickly, work on another one

If you have not settled on a plan, spend your time doing one or some of the following things:
 * pretend you are ten years older and write a letter to your present self, e.i., the 23-year-old writes to the 13-year-old
 * go with a lead we came up with in your writing group
 * follow up on a free write from this term
 * come up with your own prompt that feels meaningful to you. It may be a question, a phrase or a word. To give you an idea, here are some words some of you are using: "trust" "different" "self-conscious" "mistakes"


 * Assignment for the week of January 25-29**

Write three directed free writes about your life. 1. Spend 20-30 minutes on each. (If after 20 minutes, you have written less than a page, keep writing for 10 more minutes.) 2. If you have an idea for your story and you want to stay relatively focused on that, you can take a line or idea from your first free write and use it as a way to begin the next one. 3. I encourage you not to shy away from the stories that you associate with negative feelings. Since we all have a tendency to avoid these feelings, this territory is relatively unexplored. It offers the greatest opportunity for self discovery. 4. Here are some ideas for prompts: ...a turning point--a time when you saw yourself in a new way. ...what matters to you: Where is there the most tension or energy in your life now? earlier? ...the themes in your life. ...a time when you felt...(insert any intense emotion here) "Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver "What should I have done differently?" - (one of you came up with this one :) What nourishes your spirit? What depletes it? How did you get to be the person you are? How does the way you see yourself affect the way you act? How do other people see you? How does that affect the way they treat you? When have you felt most like yourself? When have you felt least like yourself? When have you felt good about yourself? When have you felt bad about yourself? 5. Feel free to come up with your own prompts. 6. Don't worry if you feel like you are getting off the subject. Prompts are a way to get started. From there, listen to what comes up and trust that it came up for a reason.
 * Write about...
 * Answer a question:


 * Assignment for the week of January 19-22**

Write three directed free writes about love. 4. Feel free to come up with your own stems, questions and statements. 5. Don't worry if you feel like you are getting off the subject. Prompts are a way to get started. From there, listen to what comes up and trust that it came up for a reason.
 * 1) Spend 20-30 minutes on each. (If after 20 minutes, you have written less than a page, keep writing for 10 more minutes.)
 * 2) Do not write one über-long free write. The point is to stir up a bunch of ideas, not zero-in on one.
 * 3) Here are some ideas for prompts:
 * Pick 3 different kinds of love and do a free write about each
 * Start a free write with a stem: "I love..." or "Love is..." or "Love feels like..." Whenever you get to the end of a thought start again with the same stem.
 * Start with a question: "What is love?" "What isn't love?" "Do we need love?"
 * Start with a statement: "Guilt cannot exist without love." "Love hurts." "Love heals."
 * Do a combination.


 * Assignment for the week of January 11-15**

Write three directed free writes about 3 different people in your life using the example from the "Telling Facts" handout as a guide.
 * Stick to facts, what the person did and said. Avoid generalizations. Leave the interpretation to the reader.
 * Don't stay on one memory the whole time. It should be a collection of vignettes--one or two or three sentences each.
 * Spend 20 to 30 minutes on each. Don't worry about organization. Just let it flow.
 * Your 3 people should be a family member, a friend, and the another of your choice.

Bring a hard copy to your writing group next week.