Leading a Writing Group - Session 4
I was going to have the prompt be "letters." That could go in a couple of interesting directions: there could be epistolary writing where the story is told in letters, or the story could be about a letter of some sort. But, instead, I wanted to go a little crazy.
I had the kids write down a color, their favorite color or some other color, doesn't matter. Bella had a hard time choosing, but did eventually. Then, I had them select a weapon.
Last week the idea of a stupid ninja came up in the group for some reason, a ninja in all black that was trying to hide in snow and failing.
The prompt? Write a story about a stupid ninja that wears that color and uses that weapon. I chose purple and tank. Yes, a tank.
Xavier described how the uniform of his ninja had been colored red by the dust-blood of monsters. I'm working on getting his mind to shift from consuming stories to producing stories.
Bella related a series of incidents inspired from her life about her brother.
Lexi made a frame story about a ninja telling ninjas about a ninja who was shooting fish with a bow and arrow, but it was actually a shark.
Bella was quite interested in her portal story from last week. She was writing in the same notebook and left a few blank pages in between her portal story and her ninja story. After the session she wrote a piece to connect the two. That led to a discussion of how you can have a portal dimension that would lead to many different worlds. (I referenced "The Chronicles of Narnia" and no one was familiar with it.)
Lexi brought up the fat eagles in "The Lord of the Rings" that we had discussed in the last session. She proposed that the eagles had formed the Eagle Eye Society (EES) that watched everything that was happening from ledges with binoculars, which is why they knew the war was going on and that they should get in shape. We came up with the idea that these eagles are extremely intelligent, and thus have mastered animal husbandry. That means they could just raise prey and wouldn't have to hunt, which is how they became fat in the first place. It all makes sense now.
Narratives are how we orient ourselves in the world. That seems insane.
I had the kids write down a color, their favorite color or some other color, doesn't matter. Bella had a hard time choosing, but did eventually. Then, I had them select a weapon.
Last week the idea of a stupid ninja came up in the group for some reason, a ninja in all black that was trying to hide in snow and failing.
The prompt? Write a story about a stupid ninja that wears that color and uses that weapon. I chose purple and tank. Yes, a tank.
- - - - - - -
Jonathan pulled his tank up to the facility and hopped out. His purple uniform glistened in the sun.
He had been in ninja training for six weeks now. Since they were focused on the art of war he had thought getting a tank would impress people, but it didn't. They all thought that he was trying too hard, and when his first loan payment came he thought that he might have made a mistake too.
Jonathan heard something rattling behind him and turned around to see a car that looked like it had been put together from the rusty parts of three other cars.
The woman in the car had the radio blaring. She hopped out, looked at Jonathan and chirped "Hi!", and walked past him. She opened the door and disappeared inside, her long hair curling around the door before it followed her.
Her uniform was purple, and Jonathan was in love.
He looked at the window and patted down his hair in the reflection. What was she here for? Must be to get lessons. Unless, she was here to see someone else, she seemed to know where she was going. He wiped his palms on his pants and opened the door.
- - - - - - -
Jonathan pulled his tank up to the facility and hopped out. His purple uniform glistened in the sun.
He had been in ninja training for six weeks now. Since they were focused on the art of war he had thought getting a tank would impress people, but it didn't. They all thought that he was trying too hard, and when his first loan payment came he thought that he might have made a mistake too.
Jonathan heard something rattling behind him and turned around to see a car that looked like it had been put together from the rusty parts of three other cars.
The woman in the car had the radio blaring. She hopped out, looked at Jonathan and chirped "Hi!", and walked past him. She opened the door and disappeared inside, her long hair curling around the door before it followed her.
Her uniform was purple, and Jonathan was in love.
He looked at the window and patted down his hair in the reflection. What was she here for? Must be to get lessons. Unless, she was here to see someone else, she seemed to know where she was going. He wiped his palms on his pants and opened the door.
- - - - - - -
Xavier described how the uniform of his ninja had been colored red by the dust-blood of monsters. I'm working on getting his mind to shift from consuming stories to producing stories.
Bella related a series of incidents inspired from her life about her brother.
Lexi made a frame story about a ninja telling ninjas about a ninja who was shooting fish with a bow and arrow, but it was actually a shark.
Bella was quite interested in her portal story from last week. She was writing in the same notebook and left a few blank pages in between her portal story and her ninja story. After the session she wrote a piece to connect the two. That led to a discussion of how you can have a portal dimension that would lead to many different worlds. (I referenced "The Chronicles of Narnia" and no one was familiar with it.)
Lexi brought up the fat eagles in "The Lord of the Rings" that we had discussed in the last session. She proposed that the eagles had formed the Eagle Eye Society (EES) that watched everything that was happening from ledges with binoculars, which is why they knew the war was going on and that they should get in shape. We came up with the idea that these eagles are extremely intelligent, and thus have mastered animal husbandry. That means they could just raise prey and wouldn't have to hunt, which is how they became fat in the first place. It all makes sense now.
Narratives are how we orient ourselves in the world. That seems insane.
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You can find more of what I'm doing at http://www.JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com
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