Monday, September 19, 2011

Monday/Tuesday 19-20 September

Today in class we discussed "Back Writing"
Homework is to create a "Character Passport" handed out in class.

We read "Broccoli" by Anne Lamott, an essay about writing.

We discussed how people do both good and bad things, and as such characters in our stories might do or say bad things. These things are appropriately part of a story if they are appropriate to a character. However, as in the warnings I gave prior to reading "Bananafish" it is always fair and appropriate to give folks some warning when sharing strong material.

4th period finished with a character generating activity based on randomly drawn objects. 5th and 6th periods recieved a homework assignment. Create a new character. Then write a scene (e.g. 1-3 pages) with the two characters. This assignment is due on Thursday.

September 2011 -- Welcome

Hello students and parents of the 2011-2012 Creative Writing year!

You can email Mr. Zartler @ jzartler@pps.net

Assignments will generally be posted here the day they are assigned; occasionally this won't work out, but I'll do my best.

So far this year we've discussed Natalie Goldberg's (and my) advice for writing practice. She offered up some  rules; the following are the most vital:
 1) Keep your hand moving
 2) Lose Control
 3) Don't Think
and
 4) Be specific
 5) Don't worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation (during free writes only!)
 6) You are free to write the worst junk in the world
 7) Go for the jugular!

We experimented with various writing tools; everyone by now should have a dedicated writing journal.

We read and analyzed: "A Perfect Day for Bananafish"