Author Archive

How one family did it

I promised to share some of the processes our brave writing families went through to produce their lovely collages.

Isabella (9) and I really enjoyed this writing project! We got started when you first put it up, so we had lots of free writing, simmering, writing, simmering, writing time. Sometimes we worked on it when we were at home listening to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” – very cliché, I know, but we both love it.

Sometimes we worked while eating pumpkin loaf (Isabella) and drinking hot tea (me) at Starbucks. We wrote side by side, individually, but then shared what we had done. So then, our next round involved taking off on something the other one had done. At one point, Isabella got out the rhyming dictionary to find some rhymes for fall and decided she wanted to do a whole piece that was just a bunch of words that rhyme with fall.

Once we had written a lot, we did some selecting, and I did a lot of revising and editing of mine. Isabella did some revising and editing of hers. We spent a long time talking about and playing around with how we would present our collage. Isabella loves collecting things on walks and she loves drawing, so we decided to intermingle our poems with both drawings and collected things.

Also, Isabella is the one who decided to change the font colors on some of her poems and meticulously decided which colors were appropriate for each thing. Then I was obliged to do the same with my poems from that group. Though Isabella handled the font color detail, I handled all the photographing and fiddling with the technical details of getting photos and drawings on the computer.

A few things I want to point out. Notice how long the process took. When you work on writing, it is a process that occurs over unhurried time. The best work is the result of simmering, talking, simmering, writing, simmering and gathering of more ideas, words and experiences. Writing will the flow out of that immersion in the material and language.
I also enjoyed hearing that the writing happened at home, at Starbucks, over hot drinks and pumpkin bread. Why not? Who wouldn’t enjoy writing more is treats were involved?

Thanks Isabella and Susie.

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Fall Collage Contest winners announced

This picture comes from Susie Hairston and Isabella Soparkar, Honorable Mentions.

On the Brave Writer Moms Yahoo List, we had a writing contest during October. The contest asked Brave Writer Lifestyle Families to write a collage about fall. Each family member was asked to contribute at least one piece of writing, but all in one piece.

The collage could include poetry, quotes from books or songs or poems, a color walk, a freewrite, dialog, jokes, personal experiences, memories, or fiction… in short, the collage would be a collection of pieces of writing written by several family members and submitted all together. Collages don’t have to have transitions. They benefit, though, from an organizing theme. Quotes from outside sources were allowed as part of the finished project.

I asked the families who submitted collages to include a short description of the writing process they went through so that I could share those with all of you as you learn how to apply the Brave Writer philosophy to your family. These brave families did a superb job of taking this ball and running downfield with it! I kept calling out to my husband as I read the entries: listen to this terrific analogy, or don’t you love this word pair?

I promised to announce the winners here. The Grand Prize winner will receive either a copy of The Writer’s Jungle or Help for High School (or an equivalent in Brave Writer materials if the family already owns these). The runners-up (two) will receive two back issues to our language arts programs (the Arrow, the Boomerang or the Slingshot).

Over the next couple of days, I’ll post some excerpts from the truly wonderful pieces I received, as well as how the writing process unfolded for these families. They have great ideas for how to inspire young writers. I’m floored by the outpouring of creativity and energy. Even a few dads and one grandpa joined in the fun! Our winners come from two different countries. How cool is that?

Without further ado…

Grand Prize Winner: The Guy Family, headed up by the very capable Anna Guy from down under: Australia

First Runner-Up: The Page Family, led by the delightful Teresa Page from the good ol’ U.S.A.

Second Runner-up: The Lippert Family, galvanized into creativity by the ever industrious Stacy Lippert also from the U.S.A.

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the participants. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your work. I have a great job. 🙂

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Winter Class Schedule now posted

Click here for the winter class offerings from Brave Writer.

We are able to offer three sessions of the Kidswrite Basic course this winter with a possible fourth if enrollment demands it. For those who’ve been discouraged by how full our courses get and how quickly, we hope this session proves otherwise and that all who want classes, can get them.

If you have any questions about what course would be appropriate for your students, feel free to email me and I’ll help you decide.

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Friday Freewrite: totally free

Set the timer for 10 minutes and write the first things that come to your mind. No topic, just freedom.

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Rewrite a Fairytale

Here’s a quick writing idea that you can try if you are in a rut and want something to do besides freewriting.

Write a fairy tale with a new ending. Start with the familiar (any tale, like Little Red Riding Hood who goes to Grandma’s house and meets a wolf…) Then change it.

Here’s how to change it:

  1. Introduce a new item into the story: such as, a curling iron, a motorcycle, a packet of pop tarts…
  2. Introduce a new action: such as, dancing, fencing, climbing a tree, racing a Nascar racer, braiding hair, casting a spell
  3. Introduce a change in personality for a primary character: such as, a persnickety wolf, a dangerous grandma, a forgetful Red Riding Hood…

If you do these three things to the original, a new ending will automatically present itself!

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