Thanks for sharing

Before you move on from your object-inspired piece, please go back to your own blog and make sure that your post:

• has a creative title (something more than Object Piece...) and that you have 
• included at least one image (ask me how to do this if you don't know)

While you're at it, it would also be nice if your "I am..." poem had a title (I am... is fine) and an image.

Please make these updates first thing.  If you'd like to, you could also include a brief Author's Note at the beginning or end of your post indicating where you got the idea for your story or which object inspired your piece.  That's optional.

Now...

You all worked so hard on your object pieces--I'd like for you to take some time today to see what your classmates have come up with.  I've divided the class into groups of four or five--see the lists at the end of this post.  Please find the blogs of the other members of your group (check the sidebar of the class blog) and complete the following:

1.  Read your classmate's Object-Inspired Piece and leave a comment with 3 specific, supportive and complimentary remarks regarding the piece and how it was written.   Nothing critical or suggesting changes at this point...

Include a greeting at the beginning of your comment (like "Hi, Taylor!) and a brief statement of encouragement at the end of your comment (like "Thanks for sharing this!" or "I look forward to seeing more of your work.")

Go beyond a short, generic comment and get specific. As in:  "You really got me with that twist at the end--I would have never guessed it was her sister stalking her all along.  Creepy!"  Or:  "Your use of dialogue was effective and pulled me into the story.  I never thought a conversation between a little boy and his baseball could sound so natural."  Don't cop out and put a rushed, generic comment like, "It was good" or "Nice job."   

If, by chance, someone in your group has not posted an object piece yet, move on to step 2 on that blog and check back later in the block or focus on the other group members' stories.

2.  Then browse the rest of that classmate's blog and leave a positive, specific comment on his or her "I am..." Poem.  In this comment, use a greeting, name at least one thing you noticed you have in common, one thing you found interesting or would like to know more about, and close with an encouraging statement thanking the person for sharing or saying it's nice to meet you.

Look at my comment on your "I am..." poem as an example of what I'm looking for.

3.  Move on to the blogs of the other people in your group and do the above steps.

4.   In a New Post on your own blog, write up a brief summary (100 words or so) of the pieces of each of your classmates in your group and name at least one detail or technique you really liked.  Then cut and paste each of your comments you left on your classmates' blogs directly into the post.  Add a title and image.


If you have time and would like to read and/or comment on other class members' stories, you can cruise through the blogs on the sidebar of our class blog and see what others have been up to.  Leave comments if you have time.

We'll be moving on to a new theme next week (COLOR!), so today is the day to offer this feedback and post what you've read to your blog.  

Groups of 4 (and 5):

Zachary B.
Taylor D.
Emma H.
Ben L.

M'Kenna B,
Katie G.
Samantha H.
Amanda L.
Joshua M.

Riley B.
Madeline G.
Jesse H.
Taylor M.

Jacob D.
Mariah H.
Daniel J.
Meghan Z.

Jordan M.
Laura P.
Tanner Z.
Glenda P.


Thank you!  Have a great weekend! I look forward to reading your pieces myself...

Inspired by objects...

"One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at.  This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is
a powerful source of creativity..." ~Edward de Bono

Please post a new piece of writing today on your blog inspired by our look at found objects.  Please spend time to come up with at least 500 words (you can type on Word for a word count then copy and paste).  Also, add at least one image today (click on the icon on the tool row that looks like a photo--I can show you how, just ask).  Be creative and take this assignment in whichever direction you choose:  fiction, narrative, poetry...You may come up with a finished product today or maybe just a good start on something you revisit and finish up on Thursday when we'll be back in the lab--this piece will be due at the end of class that day.

Some options:

• use one of the objects in the photo above that we passed around during class Tuesday (expand on one of the ideas you jotted down in your journal)
• use one of the objects you found on our walk around campus and the park (you could even steal someone else's object, like Leslie's mysterious bone or Rachel's cash register drawer or something someone you were walking with spotted)
• use one or several of the objects you cut out of the magazines Monday
• go back to one of the objects you shared with everyone those first days of class or something someone else shared
• write about something you thought of when we looked at the articles about important objects from history via the V & A Museum, the 101 Things that made America from the Smithsonian, the website auctioning off thrift store items along with writing about them...
• P.S. Here's a link to more information about the 3D printing technology we talked about--scroll to the video at the bottom--this whole idea both fascinates and baffles me and the gun "printed" out makes me think of lots of things to write about)
• you can make a story up or you can write a story that is true
• you could be inspired by a combination of these objects
• the object itself may or may not end up in your writing

I will be commenting on your "I am..." poems and I've given credit for those in the gradebook.  I'm still missing a couple of blogs functionally linked on the sidebar of this class blog.  If you don't see yours there and/or operating properly, please check in with me.  

When you finish your piece (due at the end of class on Thursday, 27 August), you can continue to customize your blog page with gadgets in the sidebar, an interesting background, updated profile info, etc.  Be sure you've figured out how to add images--they are an important aspect of your blog and will accentuate your writing.  I can also show you how to put in links like I did (all the red words above).  It's really easy.

Thanks for making class so pleasant so far!

I am...Mrs. Fraser

I am...

a daughter, the oldest of 3, raised on small town sports, a life in the country and the desire to be a good girl.

a sister, the first to do most things, lucky enough to have been born with 2 built-in best friends.

a granddaughter, missing the days spent in the country with my Nanny and Papaw and my 9 cousins, riding horses bareback, picking vegetables from the garden, sitting around the old dining room table for meals and domino games, going shopping in a Ford Crown Victoria piloted by my lead-footed grandmother and keeping in touch through letters with my family far away.

a Drury girl, where I learned about Alice Walker, the secrets of Pi Beta Phi, how to live with roommates, and that the world is much bigger than Cassville, Mo.

a wife to Ryan, my friend and partner since I was 19, a man who knows I don't like to talk when I first wake up, who loves me even though I don't like to cook, and who every day makes me feel like the smartest, prettiest, funniest girl he's ever known.

a mother to Macauley, a seventh grader who, just when I think he's left childhood behind, gets out his Legos and dives into a weeklong project, a far more outgoing child than I was, the delight of my life forever.

I am...

sweet tea and chocolate milk, chips and guacamole.

puffy, comfy white couches, ironstone pitchers and platters, chippy white furniture, burlap and linen, mismatched silverware and old photos, flea market finds and treasures that make me smile.

a tattered teddy bear bought with my birthday money in Eureka Springs when I was 8.

tightly folded notes passed between teenage boys and girls in class and church.

photos and scrapbooks and a project always in the works.

big, thick books and glossy magazines.

sleeping late on weekends, especially when it rains, in a soft bed with lots of covers and feather pillows.

I am...

dark blue eyes and my dad's olive skin, black-framed glasses when I read or watch TV.

leggings and Pikos, lots of black, jeans and flipflops, blonde hair in a messy ponytail, Uggs and a cardigan.

in the fourth decade of my life, closer to 50 than I am to 20 now, whether I feel like it or not.

not 16 anymore.

older and wiser, more experienced.

Here we go!

Blogs are an interactive, visual way to share our writing, and I'm excited for you to create your own. I am providing some written instructions on the stapled handout, but I think you'll really just learn as you go. 

Your individual blog will be like an online, visual portfolio of your work for this class.  You might occasionally post something on your own, but your blog for Creative Writing is not meant to be a diary or like social media.  You will post your assignments to your blog for me (and often your classmates) to read.  You'll get comments/feedback from us right on your posts, too.

What I've set up here is a central class blog where I will post assignments and sometimes my own writing. You can usually check here for directions or what you need to get started, so please take the time to read the information I post. When you create your blogs, I will add each of them to a "blog roll" on the right hand side--from here you can hop on and see what everyone else is up to, and I'll be looking for you to make supportive and appropriate comments on your classmates' blogs beginning in the near future. This whole process of creating a blog might be a new one for most of you, and I appreciate your willingness to jump in and try something unfamiliar. You'll just have to spend a little time playing around with your layout, and I hope you feel free to add your own personal touches and make your page your own. You can start with the basic setup and let it evolve from there.

Some things to know/keep in mind:

• A post is a new entry you create from scratch with your own thoughts and ideas. A comment is an idea or thought you attach to someone else's post.
• While your blog is meant to be a place for you to express yourself and for others to communicate with you, we aren't using our blogs for socializing like facebook or texting. I hope you're kind and friendly to one another, but resist posting casual messages or silly small talk or really anything not related to our work together as a class. Later on, when you've moved on from Creative Writing, you may want to continue your blog and of course then you can do whatever you want with it!
• Since your blog is an "assignment" for a writing class, please attempt to use proper grammar and punctuation. You should not use text-speak or abbreviations or slang that you might use in texting or email. i do not want you to type in all lowercase like this. I DO NOT WANT YOU TO TYPE IN ALL UPPERCASE LIKE THIS. Use complete sentences and your best grasp on writing conventions. This is not to say we won't all make a few mistakes here and there, but we want it to appear that we were trying not to, not like we just haphazardly slapped some stuff down.

I do hope you enjoy this process...I'm here every step of the way so don't hesitate to ask me if you have questions or want some guidance.

When you've created your own blog on Thursday, leave the url of it as a comment on this post. I'll link all of them to this page and this will be our home base. You can name your blog whatever you want, but I'll be listing them by your first and last name in the blog roll because it's much easier for me to keep track of that way.  

Your first post will be the "I am..." Poem you drafted on Wednesday. You should be able to copy and paste the text from the draft you saved. Add an image or two using the button that looks like a photo (next to the blue word Link) on the tool bar. 

Also, please leave a comment on my "I am..." post telling me something you found interesting or something we have in common.