Great writing site for kids interested in writing and/or screenwriting!
http://ywp.scriptfrenzy.org/
Too funny NOT to write about! Go for it. Use this cat and/or the things she steals to create a story or a poem. How funny or mysterious can you be?
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/02/28/the-kleptomaniac-kitty.aspx
When I opened Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny by Marlo Thomas, I expected to read a celebrity memoir recommended by a friend of mine. What I didn’t expect was to laugh all the way through the book with the jokes, the interviews with comedians, and the author’s own special brand of humor.
Thomas, whose father was the legendary comedian, Danny Thomas, writes of being a child hanging around her father and his famous funny friends. He starred in the show “Make Room for Daddy” and later his daughter had her own television show in the 60s called “That Girl.”
As a child, I grew up watching “That Girl”, and even wrote to Thomas requesting her autograph. (Which I received on a mass-produced photo still in my childhood album.) It was a break-through show, because Thomas did the first t.v. sitcom where a SINGLE WOMAN lived on her own without needing or wanting to be married. BRAVO! She had to fight the network male executives to do it, but she did. And many of us young girls watching, appreciated and loved her for it.
But what I didn’t know then was that Marlo Thomas learned a heck of a lot of her comedy timing and techniques from her famous father.
“Dad adored making an audience laugh, but he also loved bringing them to a hush. He used to tell me that a good storyteller knows how important the silences are, and is never afraid of them. Dad controlled his audience like an orchestra conductor. He was Mr. Cool.”
What does this have to do with writing your short story, poem, or personal narrative for our Young Writers Contest? What does it have to do with writing your chapter book for children?
Everything.
Why? Writing humor is the hardest thing in the world to write. It’s all based on timing, and this timing is based on silences and pacing. In fact, all writing is pacing. So every time you sit down to write, make sure you read your work aloud when you are through. Pretend YOU are a stand-up comic. Even if you aren’t writing funny, pretend you are telling a story to a friend.
Where should the pauses be? Where should the excitement in your story “rev” up? Where should it quiet down and relax? Where should there be dialogue for character growth or tension?
Many writers take acting classes. To become actors? No. For the timing! What was I in my other life? I taught creative drama and improvisation. I directed children’s plays. It all ties together.
So if teachers or editors comment on how you need better pacing, read your work aloud. Consider an improv or acting class. Share your work with trusted writers to help you know when the pacing is right. That’s what Marlo’s father did with his friends.
Remember this about humor:
It’s based on the unexpected. Misinterpretations of what someone says can be funny. Humor is best when it’s based on character. Humor is based on truth. Exaggerate the everyday average to make it funny. And finally, above all, have fun!
Writing Prompt: Take your pen in hand and as you watch this amazing light show, describe what you see, using concrete nouns and as many active verbs as you can. Enjoy!
http://sorisomail.com/email/74120/mais-uma-projecao-3d-sensacional.html
Real Newspaper Titles (No Kidding!)
Man Kills Self Before Shooting Wife and Daughter
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Miners Refuse to Work After Death
Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant
War Dims Hope for Peace
If Strike isn’t Settled Quickly, it May Last Awhile
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges
Man Struck By Lightning; Faces Battery Charge
New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Local High School Drop Outs Cut in Half
Hospitals are Sued by 7 foot Doctors
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery — Hundreds Dead
Writing Prompt:
1. Take the article titles above and rewrite them so they are clear.
2. Create a funny story to go along with the funny headline!
3. Check your own writing to make sure you don’t have any unclear meanings in your words.
A recent article by novelist and poet John L’Heurex in the Wall Street Journal recommends reading Hemingway’s stories, “Hills Like White Elephants” to learn great dialogue. Why? It’s almost completely told in dialogue!
As L’Heurex states: ” . . . dialogue is not conversation . . . it is much more efficient and believable than real conversation.”
After you’ve written your story, go back through your dialogue and see that you’ve chosen the best to represent your characters. If you’ve written their conversation that means nothing special to the story, cut it. Make sure their words crackle with tension or show their character.
As L’Heurex says: “The tone of a comment or the choice of words or the hesitation with which something is said can indicate that beneath the spoken words there is a feeling very different from what the words seem to express.”
And unless you’re channeling Hemingway, I wouldn’t recommend writing a story in complete dialogue. Try a balance of narration, dialogue and action to show your character’s motivation, growth and desire.
Writing Prompt: 1. Write a scene where two characters talk about one thing while really discussing a deeper problem. This problem comes out at the end of the scene.
2. In the book you are reading now, study the writer’s dialogue. Which passages do you like best? Why?
3. Go to a coffee shop, a school cafeteria, or sit in a restaurant and listen in on conversations. Jot down lines of dialogue you like. Later choose one or more lines to begin a story.
I just read a lovely, fantastic, fabulous book called AN ALTAR IN THE WORLD by Barbara Brown Taylor. It’s a book for adults who are looking to deepen their spirituality, but everything she says applies to writing.
“There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” Louis L’Amour
This quote from the western author headed one of Taylor’s chapters. It’s true of our soul work as well as our writing. If you are entering our California Writers Club Young Writers Contest, or you’re writing a book for a publisher, or crafting a poem for your self, after you put down your pen or print out your copy and feel pleased with yourself for finishing your draft, put your creative work away for a while.
What? You mean you don’t mail it to the California Writers Club, or send it to your publisher, or frame it for your wall right away?
No. Don’t. Refrain yourself. Please.
Take your dog for a walk. Read a book. Watch a really good movie. Eat ice cream.
“But Mom, my writing teacher told me I’m supposed to eat ice cream! Really!”
(Yes, you can use me as an excuse. Go ahead. But then you’ll know I want you to use your senses to write about that experience.)
Why should you put it away and not send out your newly written work? Because if you give yourself the gift of time, you will look at your work with fresh eyes another day. No piece is done the first time one writes it. You can always make it better. If you think you are done you are teasing yourself.
If you don’t know where to “slow-down-the-moment” give it to a good writing friend, read it at your writing group, show it to your teacher and ask for some comments on how you can make it more immediate.
Is your short story seven pages instead of the required five? Yes, it can be whittled down to five. You may think it can’t be done but you can do it!
Someone once said, “I’ve written you a long letter. It would be shorter but I didn’t have the time.” I can’t recall who it was. But it takes time and a lot of thought to make every word count. Does each word need to be there? Can you use one good word instead of five less distinctive ones?
This is from Barbara Brown Taylor:
“Reverence requires a certain pace. It requires a willingness to take detours, even side trips, which are not part of the original plan.”
Paying attention takes time and effort.
Taylor suggests taking twenty minutes for paying attention. But if you can’t do that, try five.
” . . . With any luck you will soon begin to see the souls in pebbles, ants, small mounds of moss, and the acorns on its way to becoming an oak tree. You may feel some tenderness for the struggling mayfly the ants are carrying away. If you can see the water, you may take time to wonder where it comes from and where it is going. You may even feel the beating of your own heart . . .”
Exercise for you: Take five minutes of your day. Pay attention to one thing. It can be your pet. It can be a tree outside. Lie on your stomach. What are your feelings from head to toe as you touch the tree or your pet? What do you see? Smell? Hear?
Next, take time to write all of your thoughts and emotions down. Compare them to other things. You may find similes and metaphors pouring out of you now where in a classroom or in your office in front of your computer they would be stifled.
Enjoy your weekend by paying attention to the little details in your life.
Waiting in line? Think about the character standing next to you. What is he/she wearing? Perfume or after-shave? What does this person do all day long? Memorize the details and create a story in your head.
You will never be bored.
Watch these amazing animal videos. Then choose one of these animals. What’s his/her secret career? Describe this animal with specific details.
What are his feelings and his thoughts?
Use dialogue with other animals to show his character.
Use your senses to draw us into his story.
What does he/she want more than anything in the world?
What stops him from getting it?
What is his weakness?
How can he overcome his weakness to get what he wants?
An Awesome Deer Doggie Video!
|
Last night as I drove in darkness along a city street, two bright lights attached to a large vehicle turned directly into MY lane.
Holy hot fudge. My foot slammed onto the break.
Unwavering, the lights barreled forward, without slowing in momentum.
At my right, pedestrians walked. On my left, cars whizzed by. A head-on collision flashed before my eyes.
What was this driver thinking? Was he drunk? Drugged? Confused?
I leaned on the horn.
At the very last second possible, he turned into a driveway to his left leading to a church.
I gasped. Weakness spread me; my arms felt as though I could barely hold the steering wheel.
He saved himself a few minutes of waiting in traffic by driving on the wrong way of the street at night, in order to sneak into the church parking lot. If I hadn’t been paying close enough attention and braked I wouldn’t be writing this blog right now.
Writing Prompts:
1. As writers and readers and people of the universe, we need to pay attention to everything. Write about a time in your life where someone wasn’t paying close attention to their surroundings.
2. Write about a time where you weren’t paying close attention to what was happening to you or others around you.
3. Take 15 minutes of your day to practice “slow-down-the-moment.” Pay attention to every sense you experience. Walk outside into nature. What scent do you smell? How can you describe it with words on paper? What do you see? Hear? How does your skin feel in the weather at that moment? Touch tree bark, a plant, an animal or an object. How does the texture feel?
4. Practice gratitude. At the end of each day, think of three things you are grateful for in that very day. Had a lousy time of it today? Then think small. Did your breakfast cereal have a good crunch? Your teacher or friend give you a smile? Or think big. You had breakfast, unlike many homeless people. Write about the act of gratitude in a poem.
5. Ever have a heart-thumping life-threatening moment? Write about it or them in detail. Show how it made you feel. And make this moment a learning experience. How can it help you in your every day life?
Write an imaginary newspaper article for The Daily Planet about your Super-Pet (or the pet of a friend, relative or neighbor) and how he/she did something extraordinary.
Submit your entry in our online newspaper template below and attach a picture or photograph if available – or print the template, draw a picture and mail your entry to Picture Window Books. The entry should have all the elements related to a newspaper article and will be judged on creativity, content and originality.
First place: The Super-Pet from the winning entry will be drawn by Eisner award-winner Art Baltazar and will appear in a DC Super-Pets book. Winner will receive the original illustration. The winner and his/her school will receive 5 copies each of the book.
Top 50 Entries: Top 50 entrants will receive two free DC Super-Pets books; one for the student and one for the library.
Official Contest Rules
For a list of winners write to Picture Window Books, 7825 Telegraph Road, Bloomington, MN 55438
Contest runs from January 15 – February 28. Winner will be announced April 1st.
For an official entry form visit:
Home | Books | School Visits | For Writers | Blog | About Liz | Contact