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Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Wednesday Writing Workout: Pick a Tip, Any Tip

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Howdy, Campers, and welcome to another TeachingAuthors' Wednesday Writing Workout!

Today's WWW is based on last Friday's post, offering writing tips via under-one-minute videos.

Well, how 'bout it--are you dressed in your spiffy new 2016 workout clothes, ready to go?

from morguefile.com
Then let's get going!

 

Look--we know all these tips, we've heard most of them before...but personally, I need to hear ideas over and over and over—and, more importantly, I need to try them over and over and over--before they stick.

My assignment to you: watch these videos for no more than ten minutes (they're addictive), then sit down and write for ten minutes, using one of the tips which reinforced what you already knew but had forgotten to take down from the shelf and dust off.

from morguefile.com
If you're a teacher, watch them with your students and discuss which tips spark a desire to write the most.

And here's another idea. Mary Lee, from the blog, A Year of Reading, says she's thinking that her students could create their own under-a-minute writing tips. What a great idea, Mary Lee!

I especially like this 49-second tip by poet Rick Bursky in which he says "Poetry doesn't require narrative...so if you don't know what to do, what comes next, simply change the subject"

I also like the way instructor Wendy Oleson suggests pushing the way we explore the senses...using synesthesia. My favorite of her examples:  "The dormitory bathroom smelled like a Jackson Pollock"

Now--off you go! Make that smelly dormitory sing!

posted with nose plugs by April Halprin Wayland with help from Monkey


2 comments:

  1. What a fun post, complete with a smell dormitory room!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those videos really are addicting--good way to start the day!

    ReplyDelete

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