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Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

Teaching

Tuesday prompt: #32 2012

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Design something that does not exist.  Here are some items to choose from.

  • a creature
  • a tool that can be used for painting
  • material for use as road surface
  • compact nutrient replacement food or drink
  • a better mouse trap (or moose trap)
  • transportation
  • a political faction
  • pet
  • truth serum/detector
  • medical treatment

Once you have selected what you are going to create, describe it being used as a routine item or concern in a character’s life.

Spell-friendly dictionary

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Every writer, whether he or she is a writer of fiction or non-fiction, journalist or reviewer, must spell correctly.  As a teacher I am routinely asked by my students how to spell a word they want to use in their writing.  I always point at the dictionary.  I do understand the issue of getting a big book of words and sifting through it for the correct spelling and that they find this tedious, especially when they know I can spell the word for them much quicker.

This is why I thoroughly recommend every writer, from student to pseudo-professional to professional consider having a Webster’s Instant Word Guide or The Word Book III from Houghton Mifflin.  They do not contain definitions but are directed at spelling alone.  The majority of people who want to spell a word are not confused about its meaning.  So a speller’s word book, such as the two listed above, is ideal.  And they are small, roughly 4″ x 5 1/2″.

They are compact, to the point, easy to navigate, and they supply one crucial component: If there could be a chance of confusion with another word, both are supplied with an extremely short definition (usually one word) next to the confused alternative, so the writer can make an informed decision about which is the correct one to use and spell appropriately.

Just to add useful to convenient and the critical low “overwhelming” factor, both these books also offer conversion tables for weights and measures, spelling rules, punctuation and abbreviations sections.

I actually have both of these books.  One I keep at school on my desk and the other at home.  I introduce my new students to them every year.  And though it is never a majority, many of them do inform me at some point in the year that they have purchased one.

Last word on this:  spelling is crucial in any public writing forum.  This is a non-tedious, easy-to-use fix for the problem.  It is even quicker than an iPhone dictionary ap and does the one thing wordprocessing program dictionaries don’t do: provide you with the option of the “other word.”

Tuesday prompt: #28 2012

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 Point of view should make use of a number of characterization features.  So in this prompt, imagine a creature, intelligent or otherwise.  Write what this creature sees, but include characterization.

  • One way to supply character through point of view is to include how the creature feels about what he sees.  This does not mean that you should write that he is looking forward to eating that rabbit.  Describe the rabbit in terms of potential lunch: scrawny; plump; practical ways to avoid getting too much of that soft, white fur in his mouth; and the smell of just dead meat.  
  • Also think of word choice; you may even make a few up that would seem appropriate to your creature.  His word for snack or lunch might be “the mid-day gnarle.”  
  • Other characterization would include what is important to him. A predator would not make note of the color of the sky unless it denotes a particular time of day or season or weather important to him.
  • Consider giving him a specific quality: speed, visual acuity or discernment (he might be able to see in infrared, for example), silent movement.  
  • Consider a flaw: he drools copious amounts or suffers from the shakes or an injured hip.

Write about a paragraph.  I look forward to seeing it, so post it in the comment box.

Tuesday prompt: #27 2012

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write behind the door

Sit somewhere unusual, i.e., under a table, behind a chair, in the part of your yard no one ever goes.  Get comfortable and make sure you have something to write on: paper, iPad, laptop, paper napkin, and something to write with, pencil, pen, fingers.  Close your eyes, clear your mind, then write whatever slips in.

How to build a classroom writing community

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Day 1: but this pattern holds true for the days to follow
  • Tell them to look around at the other writers in the room (For some, this is a frightening experience, for others confirmation.)  Recognize them immediately as writers.  If you have returning students, ask them to explain the difference between this class and an English class.  Their words will be more convincing then yours.  Your actions will support what they say.
  • Provide a prompt to write to and give instructions: write about anything that comes to mind.  Give them a set amount of time, about 7 minutes.
  • Each student shares by reading his/her response to the prompt.  Encourage returning students to go first.  (I follow a seniority pattern.  By setting this now, it won’t be a surprise in a workshop [see post for June 16, 2012], and it shows the new students what behavior is expected [and accepted: writers are quirky]). Some students refuse to share; explain that you allow this occasionally, but they must at least tell what they wrote about or what they hoped to write about.  Encourage them to share the next time.
  • Each student’s work must be acknowledged.  Point out a strong image, what you think the idea might develop into, or summarize it.  Don’t forget to smile.
  •  Diversity is already present, but it is important to point it out.  New
    writers in a creative writing class will often try to emulate (or think they should) the more
    polished writers which results in the sacrifice of their own individual
    voices. So point out the diversity and how it is a bonus for the class
    to have so many different styles present.  Encourage them to help each
    other develop this diversity.
  • Begin your lesson for the day.  All writing should be shared and encouraged. No lesson should lack an opportunity to write.  Some should just be shared and left in the journal.  Some writing should be turned in and graded for effort to fulfill the task.  Grading should be gentle: attempt is much more important than result. (Final work, I grade mercilessly, but practice is a different animal.)

By having a pattern of daily writing and sharing, your class will become a community.  Be a positive role model: be specific, encouraging and excited about what they are doing.

Rules for a classroom writer’s workshop

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A writer’s workshop is one of the best ways to advance student writers both in their writing skills and in their personal recognition that they are part of a community.  This is especially important in the classroom where many students may be admitting for the first time that they write because they like it.  There is much I can say about building this community feeling, but I am just going to focus on key rules to teach students how to participate in a workshop.

Both the writer and the critic must use their pens with thought.

The workshop critic

  • Focus on the writing, not the writer.  This workshop is not an opportunity to attack.  This is where the teacher/mediator must model the behavior required.  (I always go last and never pull my punches. The first workshop is always awkward since I make the students go first in order of seniority (so the most experienced writers set the tone. When necessary, I quietly redirect comments or responses to maintain the rules.)
  • Honor the writer’s voice.  In other words, don’t change the writing into something you might have written.  In fact, you must make an effort to appreciate this writer’s voice and work to help the writer develop it.
  • Be honest and kind.  Being kind without honesty does not help the writer.  And being honest without kindness for the sensitivity of a young writer is foolishness and destructive.
  • Point out what is good and why (often).  Every writer needs to know where it worked, so he or she can do it again.
  • Don’t just say what needs work; give suggestions for how it might be improved.  Then don’t expect the writer to use your suggestions. The intention is to give inspiration so the writer comes up with something original that fits both the writer’s style and the needs of the work.
  • Be clear and specific about both fine work and work that needs redrafting.  Also as a group, agree on routine symbols.  A question mark could mean confusion while an exclamation mark could mean especially fine image (or whatever was underlined).

The workshop writer

  • The writer must turn in as quality a work as possible.  Don’t write it the night before you distribute it.
  • Distribute your work in as timely a manner as possible.  All workshop members need time to look over the work.  Two days before a workshop is minimal.
  • Don’t take criticism personally.  The workshop is about the work.  Learn to put up a wall that allows you to listen with a willingness to consider change rather than a defense against every suggestion.
  • Do not explain to the others what you meant.  If they could not understand it, then you did not do it correctly.  I tell my students they must take the criticism in silence.  They may answer questions if asked, but may not volunteer information.
  • If you have concerns you want addressed, put questions at the top of your work, so the other members have time to consider them and be prepared to give you useful answers.
  • Do not provide a rewritten work that has not gone through considerable change.