Raising a World of Writers: kids & creative writing

I recently completed another 8-week after-school creative writing session for 4th and 5th graders. Peanut Butter & The Pen, a food writing class with the organization Take My Word For It, culminated in another fabulous reading at our local independent bookstore. The kids wrote about food they love and hate -- commercials for food, imaginary food, and personifying food by creating food characters. 

Their writing excerpts, including stories, odes and recipes gone awry, will soon be added to the Take My Word For It blog and Facebook page. 

Meanwhile, here's a preview of some of their best work, taken from a writing exercise using similes and metaphors to describe the following types of food:

"Chips taste like rotten twigs snapping between your teeth." 

"Chocolate melting cake is sweet and a bit salty at the same time with a hint of mint. It tastes like chocolate clouds." 

"Bubble gum is as greasy as my mom's frying pan and as soft as a pillow." 

"Barbeque ribs taste like the ribs of an alien animal with traditional mushed brain sauce." 

"Mushrooms have a mushy, slimy and nasty taste. They have a frothy texture." 

"Macaroni and cheese is so slimy and gooey that you think it's worms slithering in your mouth." 

"The salt [on chips] looks like sparkling snow." 

"It would be a white chocolate ganache with a citrus glow in the dark extract that would look pink under dark light." 

"Chips: as crunchy and hard as iron mixed with diamonds." 

"Chips: crunchy like beetles getting crushed. Corn on the cob: rubbery like a trampoline." 

And, here's a surprising blog post titled "6 Ways to Raise a Writer: Easy things all parents can do to help their kids express themselves with the written word" -- refreshing for its atypical writing advice! Happy writing.

I Am From: an exercise in poetry

Last night I held a public reading for my two creative writing classes for kids through "Take My Word For It!" Twelve students--3rd and 4th graders--read their wonderful work aloud to a fun and supportive audience of parents and small siblings at our local independent bookstore, Copperfield's Books.

These students each read a couple of pieces they had written during an 8- or 9-week class. They shared stories imagined from free-writing prompts, old photographs, odd objects and sounds, as well as tales created by embellishing simple sentences, and stories made from news headlines such as "Spicing Up a Brown Bag Lunch."

One of the students' favorite exercises and most commonly read were "I Am From" poems, using sensory memories to create a self-portrait with words. Here's a compilation of a few excerpts, followed by my own poem.

I Am From

     "...the sounds of whistling wind and a bird's tweet

     the smell of cinnamon rolls and perfume so sweet..."

    "the feel of my ripped-up hands from gymnastics.. 

     ... from hot pink socks and bright blue leotards..."

    "the sound of sirens going by..."

    "the touch of a wool blanket and leather chair in the office"

     "the memory of my first baseball glove and the crack of a wood baseball bat"

     "grilled sliders on 4th of July and eating crab on Christmas Eve"

    "the tickle on my back when people play with my hair"

    "wind that sounds like water falling; leaves rattling like a rattle snake.."

I Am From

the sad sound of mourning doves and cicadas buzzing in summer heat

the scent of bacon sizzling on Saturday morning 

pulpy papaya dripping from my chin.

I am from my mother's blessings over Hanukkah candles, 

and her Ma Griffe perfume on evenings out.

I am from hot magenta and magic mint Crayolas,

and Shrinky Dinks growing bright in the oven.

I am from saltwater sandals reaching skyward on a swing,

from swimming pool lights late at night,

from building tree forts with my older brother,

reading paperbacks on the bed with a best friend,

listening to pages turn from the leather armchair at the library,

writing my name in the Big Tree's branches.

I am from coconut flakes like snow on a German chocolate cake

baked for my birthday,

frozen M-n-M cookies kept in Nana's kitchen,

just ten pieces of Halloween candy so I won't ruin my teeth.

I am from my father's love of Scrabble and Mastermind,

calling 'I'm ready' before being tucked into bed,

from lightning storms on my grandparents' back porch in Cleveland.

Try it! Make a list of phrases invoking sounds, smells, touch, taste, memories, colors, foods, habits, traditions, places. Then arrange them in whatever order you'd like, starting with "I am From." 

  

Too busy to blog, but enough time to brag a bit

Reading fairy tales, age 7 (photo taken by mom)

My post-MFA career is taking off at full speed, just as the weather turns toward fall and I turn another year older. I long to spend my days curled up on the couch with a good book (I've got a leaning tower by my bedside, always threatening to topple), but I feel blessed to find an abundance of work in my field--reporting, copywriting, teaching and soon tutoring.

For six weeks I've been a Towns correspondent for Sonoma County's largest newspaper, the Press Democrat. Each week I post to an events calendar and several short posts to two WordPress sites, as well as write a centerpiece featured in print in the Sunday Towns section. Here's my latest profile on Homecoming at Rancho Cotate High. One of the students asked, "Is your job fun--just going up and talking to random people?" Like, totally. (Especially ironic as this week is my 25th high school reunion!)

I've just begun reading my 60-page style guide (is that one word or two?) for my new copywriting position with Viator, a worldwide travel company based in San Francisco. I'm on a freelance contract, working from home, so I set my own schedule writing online tours and activities for Central/South America, Scandinavia and the African continent. Great job for my skills set!

I absolutely love my little 4th grade munchkins at two local schools where I teach creative writing through the Bay Area organization "Take My Word For It!" One of our writing ground rules is never to preface your work with an apology ("This isn't really any good, but..."), which I'm realizing isn't so necessary for little ones who haven't yet internalized the critical voice. They write thoughtfully and furiously, always with eager hands to read their writing aloud and proud. I'm not sure when I'll find the time, but soon I should be tutoring in town with Grade A.

And today I received the great news that my 150-page creative thesis passed with flying colors ("a refreshingly candid collection of essays... crisp, clear-headed, and measured prose... every page a pleasure to read")! I know it's a long shot, but I've already entered the opening essay to the Wabash Prize for non-fiction contest, judged by poet and Liar's Club memoirist, Mary Karr.

Litquake--San Francisco's literary festival

Litquake is happening Oct. 5-13! It's the 13th annual week-long literary festival in San Francisco, including 163 events and more than 850 authors. 

Here’s the entire schedule at a glance. Check out select highlights or the full roster of 2012 Festival authors with links to their bios. Here’s a list of Litquake special programs, including the new Words and Pictures museum series, A Cultural Stroll through Yerba Buena--an art-centric series on Sunday, Oct. 7. You can wander through an array of museums and galleries, exploring art, language, culture, and all intersections between.

If you can't make it this week, there's always the Lit Crawl finale next Saturday, Oct. 13. Included is a reading by students of Take My Word For It!--a Bay Area creative writing program that I helped bring to the north bay. I've been teaching two after-school, 8-9 week classes with TMWFI for fourth graders at local schools. The LitQuake writers will read their food writing at 6 pm at 18 Reasons in the Mission. TMWFI is also part of this year's Rockridge Out & About Festival in Oakland tomorrow from 1 - 6 pm. They'll have a "Type-In" booth where you can type on carbon paper.

I'm too busy picking blackberries in the backyard (in October!), but I hope to catch Litquake on Tuesday after I train in the city for my new copywriting job at Viator. I'll excited to have a part-time contract writing online tours and activities for travelers worldwide. In addition, I'm the Press Democrat's new Towns correspondent for Cotati/Penngrove and  Rohnert Park, covering human interest stories in two local, adjacent towns. I publish several short posts online each week as well as a longer centerpiece that appears in print each Sunday.