From Beyond the Grave – Or – A Valentine’s Coincidence?

On Valentine’s Day my husband was rummaging around in his messy office when he came across something he had never seen before; a valentine from his father to his mother from early in their marriage.

Since his mother has passed over a year ago, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen this particular item before. Ever. And here, on this particular day, it dropped into his lap. Literally.

“What a weird coincidence,” he said to me.

“Isn’t the universe wonderful?”  I said. 

Writing Prompt:

1. Do you believe the universe speaks to you in an usual ways? Or do you believe in literal occurrences? Write about your thoughts.

2. Have any funny coincidences ever happened to you? Write a personal narrative about one of them.

3. Create a short story about a coincidence that changes someone’s life completely.

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Step Back in Time

Watch a few minutes of the video below.

Jot down a few impressions of what you see of this moment back in time.

Next, write a few paragraphs placing YOU in the middle of this street. Use all of your senses.

Add conflict. What could happen to you that could increase excitement or tension? Write about that moment. Stretch out that moment in time using your feelings, thoughts, and sensory description.

Finally, if you’d like to write a poem, choose only the most vivid experiences in your writing.  Use a highlighter to show your best writing in the paragraphs you wrote.

Can you cut out the “ands, buts, ifs, the” words?  Cut out any adverbs (ly words) and show with a good verb or concrete (specific) noun instead.

Now read your piece out loud. Does it have a natural rhythm and flow? Rewrite and “tinker” with it until it sounds just right for your ear.

Feel free to enter this in our contest or show it to another writer or teacher for their comments.  You may choose to submit it to another place for publication too. 

http://xrl.in/4gi5

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Create a Poem

Step 1.  Choose a subject or something that has helped you experience an emotion.  You should be able to “see” it in your mind. 

2.  Write all the words that pop into your head about this idea.  Be specific.   Remember each sense.  What do you see?  Smell?  Touch?  Hear?

3.  Write a rough draft of your poem.

4.  Do you have any adverbs . . . “ly” words in your poem?  Cut them out.  Replace them with a good verb if you need to strengthen your thoughts.

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Writing Workshops . . . Now Write!

Attendance at the Young Writer Workshops were at an all-time high this year, with 33 students participating at the Concord Library’s event on January 30, and 52 middle schoolers creating short stories and personal narratives at Ygnacio Valley Library’s Workshop. 

Students came from all over Contra Costa County and even places such as San Jose, Saratoga, Manteca, Berkeley and Oakland.  Although any middle school student may come to the free workshops, only those who live in or attend schools in Contra Costa County may submit their poems, short stories and personal narratives/essays to the Young Writers Contest.  (Deadline, April 12)

Students wrote, shared their wonderful writing, asked questions about writing technique, how to become writers both now and later in their careers, and discovered tips about writing and the life of a writer.  

As to the contests, manuscripts are beginning to come in now.   We’re looking forward to reading them! 

Writing Ideas for you:

Poetry 

Write in the point of view of an object.  Personify this thing, giving it thoughts and feelings.  Remember, poems do not have to rhyme. 

Personal Narrative

Write about a moment where you experienced emotion.  It could be your first crush, a time you did something wrong and were caught, or a scary experience you had as a little child.  Write about this event, using sensory details.  Next, think about who you were when this happened to you.  Why did this memory stick with you?  Write about why you think this impacted you so deeply, and how it could have changed you for the better. 

Short Story 

Here’s the beginning of the story.  Finish it. 

Flames licked at the door.  “Quick! This way!” he yelled, coughing and ducking low to avoid the smoke.   Someone started this fire, I thought.  But who? 

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The Essay Groan

A few years ago I spoke to a class at Walnut Creek Intermediate about the California Writers Club Young Writers Contest.  When I mentioned the essay category, the kids’ eyes glazed over and perhaps one or two of them snored.   Then I read one of the essays that won the year before and they jolted awake.  It was about a boy making a home run. 

“Why, that’s not an essay.  That’s a personal narrative,” said a student. 

“Is that what you call it?” I asked. 

For the past several years, our essay judges had mentioned they were receiving so many academic “teacher-type” assignments, they couldn’t figure out why.  Now I got it!  We were calling it by the wrong name for kids.  Although in the publishing world, adults knew what an essay could be, students were unaware of this. 

So send us your personal experiences in this category.   Use first person.  (“I”)  Brainstorm your memories that charge you with passion, emotion, excitement, or joy.  It doesn’t have to be a huge experience.  Sometimes the small moments in life are the most meaningful. 

Need ideas?  Flip through your scrapbook, diary/journal, or photo album.  Keep an idea book for every day thoughts and anecdotes that may happen to you.  With our busy lives these days, we forget about those times that pass us by but may be significant. 

Once I confessed our error to the students at Walnut Creek Intermediate, the students relaxed.  No teachery essays!  YAY!  They could write about anything they wanted to write about!  They could write about themselves!  The pressure was off!

So go to it.  And we can’t wait to read them! 

Questions?  Ask right here.

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Funny Writing Prompt for You

From the elementary teacher blog, I read this today.  The teacher received this email from her administrator: 

A pair of orange handled scissors and two black sleeves were found in the boys’ bathroom.  If you’re missing a pair of large scissors, let me know.  They may lead to the person who is doing a wardrobe change in the bathroom.

Exercise:  Write the story behind the story!   Please share a few sentences!

http://elementaryteacherblog.blogspot.com/

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Random Act of Kindness on BART

Today I had a date with a writer in San Francisco.  I awoke as I have been doing lately, around four o’clock in the morning.  Why am I not going back to sleep?  I have no idea.  I wish I could, for the next hour or two often give me the best dreams and the best time for my creativity to work. 

(Yes, you can actually be creative during your dream time . . .)

So I got up and took care of housekeeping chores and writer business before it was time to take BART to meet my writing partner.  We had a productive day, and when it was time to head back home, I hopped on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and immediately closed my eyes and thought about all of the creative ideas we had discussed. 

Oops.  My dreamtime kicked in accidentally.   I nearly slept through my stop!  I awoke with a start and searched for my BART ticket.  It was nowhere to be found.  In my sleepy haze, I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere.  I had been holding it.  Did it disappear as I slept?  Jump out of my hands and exit the door before me? 

The man sitting next to me noticed my problem and offered a spare ticket he had.  “It has $6.45 left on it.  Better than nothing,” he said. 

“Thank you so much!” I handed him $7.00.

“No,” he pushed the money back into my hands.  “I insist.  Just take the ticket.”

What a kind man.  I smiled.  He was giving me a random act of kindness! 

I put the money in his hands and looked him in the eyes.  “Thank you SO MUCH.  But I can afford this.  Instead, give it to someone who needs it.” 

He nodded and smiled back. 

Exercise:

1.  It’s your turn.  Have you ever received a random act of kindness from someone?  Write about it in your journal, for an assignment, or share it here. 

2.  Write about a random act of kindness you were able to give to someone else.

3.  Now go out and DO a random act of kindness ON PURPOSE.

P.S.  I found my original BART ticket in the outside pocket of my purse after I really woke up.  Right after I got off one stop too early . . . and had to wait fifteen more minutes for the NEXT train.  Reminder:  do NOT fall asleep on BART.

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Not Just Any Other Day

It starts off like any other day.  Any writer luncheon.  Fascinating people surround me at our table.  Lynn is teaching a new class in writing.  Hank shares his journey of marketing his futuristic novel. Peter asks me how I got my first book published.        

As I reach for the water pitcher, the friend at my left chokes.  

            “Are you all right?” I ask.

            She shakes her head no. 

            No? 

            That’s not the right answer.  It’s not the expected answer. 

            “Do you need the Heimlich?”

            She shakes her head yes.  Her eyes shine with fear.   

            Our tablemates freeze. 

            Everything moves in slow motion.

Yet everything happens quickly.  How can this be? 

I stand.

Reach around her — make a clasped fist. 

Push up.  Push up.  Push up.

            Nothing. 

            She coughs.  Sputters. 

            She does not gasp.

            No air.   

            How much time does she have?

            I fail.

            I yell into the room.  “HEIMLICH?  HEIMLICH?”

            For a moment, the room is frozen.  

            Now she stands behind my chair.  She leans over.  Pushes against it.  

            Coughing.  Sputtering. 

            Eyes watering. 

            Panic. 

            “HEIMLICH!”  I gesture.  Come!  

            Now people spring into action.  Others try.  Others fail. 

            The restaurant manager comes into the room. 

Terror.

            How long can she last?

            “An ambulance is coming,” I hear someone say.

            Not fast enough.        

            I look at Hank across the table.  My eyes widen.

            Do I gesture? Or does he read my eyes?

            He jumps up. 

            I know I cross myself. 

            Hail Mary Full of Grace.  Hail Mary Full of Grace.  Hail Mary . . .

            And then she breathes. 

            It’s another day. 

Writing Prompt:   1.  When have you had a scary experience  in your life?  What happened?  How did you feel?  You can make a small anecdote like I wrote above into a full length personal narrative by slowing-down-the-moment with more sensory details, dialogue, feelings and thoughts. 

2.  Turn an exciting experience that you have had into a short story or poem or piece of art.  By turning a potential traumatic or negative experience into a piece of writing or art, you can “own” the memory or moment in time and come to grips with it more easily.

3.  How will you move on?  What have you learned from this experience?  How has it made you stronger?  Choose a genre or art form to show this.

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Chicken Soup for the Soul Needs Teen Submissions!

                                                                          

 The stories in this book, written almost entirely by teens, will be stories that you will want to read again and again. They will serve as your guide on topics such as the daily pressures of life, love, school, friendships, parents and much more. We are looking for stories that will encourage you, inspire you, make you laugh, make you cry and show you that, as tough as things can get, you are not alone. The deadline date for story submissions is June 30, 2010.

Recipe for A Winning Chicken Soup for the Soul Story

A Chicken Soup for the Soul story is an inspirational, true story about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. It is a story that opens the heart and rekindles the spirit. It is a simple, inter-denominational, living art piece that touches the soul of the readers and helps them discover basic principles they can use in their own lives. They are personal and often filled with emotion and drama. They are filled with vivid images created by using the five senses. In some stories, the readers feel that they are actually in the scene with the people.

Chicken Soup for the Soul stories are written in the first person and have a beginning, middle and an ending that often closes with a punch, creating emotion rather than simply talking about it. Chicken Soup for the Soul stories have heart, but also something extra…an element that makes us all feel more hopeful, more connected, more thankful, more passionate and better about life in general. A story that causes tears, laughter, goosebumps or any combination of these. A good story covers the range of human emotions.

The most powerful stories are about people extending themselves, or performing an act of love, service or courage for another person.

Guidelines for a Chicken Soup for the Soul Story

1. Tell an exciting, sad or funny story about something that has happened to you or someone you know. Make sure that you introduce the character(s). Please know that your story should be written in the first person.

2. Tell your story in a way that will make the reader cry, laugh or get goose bumps (the good kind!) Don’t leave anything out — how did you feel?

3. The story should start with action; it should include a problem, issue or situation. It should include dialogue and the character should express their feelings though the conflict or situation. It should end in a result, such as a lesson learned, a positive change or pay-off.

4. Above all, let it come from your HEART! Your story is important!

What a Chicken Soup for the Soul story IS NOT:

1. A sermon, an essay or eulogy.

2. An “as told to” story written in the third person.

3. A term paper, thesis, letter or journal entry.

4. About politics or controversial issues.

5. A biography or testimonial.

Story Specifications

1. We are no longer able to accept or consider any submissions sent by fax or postal mail. Please know that the only way to submit your stories or poems to us is via our website: www.chickensoup.com. If you have any problems when trying to submit, please contact our webmaster at: [email protected].

2. Stories and poems should be non-fiction, ranging in length between 300-1200 words.

3. No anonymous, author unknown or “as told to” submissions, please.

4. Send only one copy of each submission.

5. Be sure to keep a copy of the stories and/or poems that you submit to us. Please do not contact us and ask us to send you a copy of anything you have previously submitted. We are unable to do that.

6. Please submit only stories or poems that have not been previously published. The only exception to this is if your work has only been published in a small local publication with limited circulation.  

If the story or poem you wrote is published by us, you will be paid $200 upon publication of the book plus you will receive ten free copies of the book your story or poem appears in.

When you submit your story to us through our website, you will received an immediate response that we have received it. It is the next screen that comes up after you hit the submit button and not a separate e-mail message from us. The message says, “Thank you! Your information has been received.” This is the confirmation that your story has been delivered and accepted into our submission process. It is the only acknowledgment you will receive from us. If you receive an error message when trying to submit, please contact our webmaster for assistance. If you do not have Internet access at home, you can always visit a local library.

It can take up to three or four years for Chicken Soup for the Soul books to develop. Please be patient, as this is an important, yet time-consuming process. If your story is chosen for a future edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul or any other projects, you will be notified and your permission to print it will be requested. Please know that we never publish anything without written permission from the author.

Feel free to submit more than one story or poem to us consider.

Please do not send us any book manuscripts, unless through a literary agent, as these will be automatically discarded

Visit  http://www.chickensoup.com/form.asp?cid=possible_books

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Introducing the Hybrid Book!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/27/AR2009122701973.html

Writing Prompts:  After reading the article about the Vook, what other hybrid objects can your imagination create?  Write a story about one or more of them.

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