Creative Writing Prompt: anthropomorphism

I have ALWAYS loved words. I love learning words, and I love using words. My dad and I like to impress each other with excessively pompous and excitingly lengthy new words. (His favourite word is sonder: the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own; mine is probably serendipity or elucidate). So, I just love anthropomorphism, because I have to slow right down just to say it. 

I had a collection of writing prompts that just didn't seem to fit into a lesson plan, but suddenly it occurred to me that we could talk about inanimate objects, and then all of these little ideas I had been having had a home: it turned out I was just itching to hear stories about things and objects, and how they feel about stuff. (I think the next iteration of this lesson plan will include a discussion on apostrophe, but this is it for now!)

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Anthropomorphism Stories (an-THROW-po-MORPH-is-m)

Anthropomorphism is a type of figurative language where you ascribe human values onto non-human things. This can include animals, seasons, furniture … almost anything! As soon as you write that “the sun smiles,” or the “dog feels betrayed,” you are giving the objects the characteristics of humans. 

Usually, we use this type of figurative language to express an idea: we aren’t actually saying that the sun is smiling, but we are saying that the sun is round and warm and bright. Anthropomorphism is a creative way of describing something metaphorically.

In today’s activity, you will use more than just a few descriptions to create a metaphor: instead, you will write a story where you continuously personify a single object. For example, you might write a story about a lost marble. You would give it human qualities in order to express its sadness, as well as its determination to find its home.

Choose one of the following scenarios, and write an anthropomorphic tale to describe a very human story using non-human objects.

1)      Tell the story of a day in the life of the planets in the solar system.

2)      Tell the story of a young person who suddenly meets the days of the week … and they act just like people.

3)      Describe the kinds of conversations that happen in your kitchen when you’re not there.

4)      Describe what trees say to each other, and think about how long a tree conversation might be!

5)      Tell the story of a dusty old record player that just wants to play his favourite song.

6)      Tell the story of an old house with many picture frames on the walls: the people in the paintings often speak to the inhabitants!

7)      Darkness and Light are friends; what do they do together?

8)      Silence is lonely, but one day he meets a little boy, and …

Creative Writing Prompt: Sign-Language Recipe Stories

A recipe is a collection of ingredients that you collect together in a particular order and certain amounts in order to create a story. You can create a recipe story by combining random objects, different numbers of characters, and a variety of settings. The story you write comes from how you imagine these objects working together.

Today’s class will take that premise of the recipe story and add a twist: you will be given a random assortment of flashcards, each containing a letter or word. You will combine these together into a story of your design. For example, if you are given the letter “t,” perhaps that will make you think of the word “tulips,” which you can add to your recipes. You may think of the letters as a wild card where you can introduce your own additional creative elements.

What’s the twist, you ask?

The flash cards are all in sign language. This shouldn’t affect your story-writing, but when you share your story in the circle, every time you mention the word from your recipe, you should give the sign for it. (You can sign the letter “t” for “tulip,” for example). Since we don’t all know sign language, and it would take too long to look up and translate an entire story, this is a good way of giving us practice in telling a story using sign language.

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This creative writing prompt was inspired by a class visit from Adam Pottle. Thanks for everything you do, friend!

Creative Writing Prompt: Soundwalk in the Spring!!!

Writing is such a visual exercise. Not only is it physically written in front of you, it also deals in imagery, attempting to capture the visual experience for the reader to imagine. We use the word “image” to talk about the ideas that the writer creates with his or her words. Inevitably, this means that writing often struggles to capture other senses, including touch, smell, taste, and sound. When a writer takes the time to note these other senses, the experience of reading becomes much more textured.

However, in order to write about these senses, we must become fully aware of them.

For this activity, we will immerse ourselves in sound. We are going to go on a soundwalk.

A soundwalk is where we walk around listening to the world around us. We write down the sounds we hear. We also write down when the sounds change, how loud they are, and where the sounds occur. We let the sounds make us think about where we are and our associations with those sounds.

Soundwalk rules:

1.       No talking is allowed. You must stay perfectly quiet so that you – and those around you – can listen to the sounds in your environment. There will be plenty of time to talk afterwards: the soundwalk is a silent activity.

2.       You must stay with the group. While you are listening to the things around you, you must stay with the group: we cross the road as a group, we stop as a group, and we walk down sidewalks in single file as a group. Safety is one of our major concerns in this camp; if you are found to have broken this rule, you will be escorted back to the classroom, and you will not participate in the rest of the soundwalk.

3.       You must write down what you hear. Once you start listening, you will be surprised by the things that you hear around yourself. Stay quiet and listen to every tiny movement around you. Write down as many of the sounds as you can as you hear them. We will stop periodically so that you do not have to write and walk at the same time J

When we come back from the soundwalk, you will have 15 minutes to write a story about the sounds you heard.

You don’t have to write a story about the walk, per se:

You may have heard a bird on the walk that made you want to write about it.

You may have heard a car horn honk at a pedestrian, and you want to write about how that person might have felt at being honked at.

You might have moved from an urban space to a residential space and noticed how the sounds changed: you might want to write a poem comparing the two spaces.

The choice is up to you!

Creative Writing: Writing with the Body: Using Body Language to Tell the Story

When we tell stories, we often say that characters are angry, or sad, or lying. However, there are some common types of body language that also indicate these feelings. Your job today will be to write a story without telling the reader what emotion the character is feeling, but showing the reader what the character is feeling.

Steps: 

1)      Choose a prompt from the following list. This should give you a place to start your story.

a.       Prompt One: One day, you find this message: “To whomever finds this message, they erased us. This is all that remains. Please, remember us”

b.       Prompt Two: You are a child’s imaginary friend. As he grows up, you realize that you are fading away.

c.       Prompt Three: You have just discovered (100% accurate) proof that everyone around you is an alien. Describe your day tomorrow.

d.       Prompt Four: Tell the story of the Princess that rescues the Dragon from the Knight.

2)      Write a story without saying the word “said.”

3)      Instead, use this list of body language to describe HOW your characters are speaking:

ANGER

Anger is one expression of fight-or-flight mode – an automatic, instinctive reaction to a threat. In many cases, there is an underlying fear of being harmed. Thanks to automatic nervous system arousal, the heart rate increases, pupils dilate, and the face may flush. Other signs of anger:

               Balling the fists

               Crossing arms tightly

               Clenching fists once arms are crossed

               Tight lipped smile

               Clenched teeth

               Shaking a finger like a club

               Stabbing a finger at someone

ATTRACTION

               Pupils dilate

               Women will cross and uncross legs

               Mirroring (usually unconsciously) mimicking the other person’s body language

DISTRESS

Men in particular have a tendency to stroke or rub the nape of the neck when they’re upset. It acts as a self-soothing gesture to deal with a “pain in the neck.”

               Crossed arms – arms act like a protective barrier.

               Self-hugging – arms are crossed, hands gripping upper arms.

               One-arm cross – one arm crosses the body to hold or touch the other arm.

               Women will often keep a hand on a purse or bag strap if they are afraid in public.

               Clutching a purse, briefcase, or bag with both arms.

               Adjusting cuffs or cuff links.

              

LYING

Lying causes a subtle tingling in the face and neck, so the gestures below are attempts to eliminate that feeling:

Covering the mouth – can be like a “shh” gesture, or they may cover the mouth completely – such as by covering the mouth with a cough.

Touching or rubbing the nose or just below the nose – often a quick, small gesture, not a scratch.

               Rubbing the eyes

               Scratching the neck with an index finger

               Shifting eyes or gaze.

               Shifting feet.

OPENNESS AND HONESTY

               Exposure of the palms.

               Arms and legs unfolded.

               Leaning forward.

SUBMISSIVE SIGNALS (SHYNESS, ETC)

               Smiling – that’s why some people smile when they’re upset or afraid.

Slumping the shoulders

Doing anything to appear smaller.

SUPERIORITY, CONFIDENCE, DOMINANCE, ETC

               Steepling the fingers (aka setting the tips of the fingers together).

               Folding the hands behind the back.

Thumbs sticking out from pockets when hands are in pockets (can be front or back pockets).

               Hands on hips.

               Straddling a chair.

               Hands folded behind the head while sitting up (especially in men).

4)      Don’t forget to include other expressions, especially facial expressions:

a.       Anger: furrowed brows, frowning, tight lips.

b.       Happiness: smiling, laughing, creased eyes

c.       Sadness: downcast eyes, glum expression, deflated posture, teary eyes

d.       Affection: smiling, soft gaze, hugging, gentle touching.

e.       Embarrassment: Red cheeks, red ears, downcast eyes, embarrassed smile.

Example:

The dragon cocked a watchful scaly eyebrow. His gaze followed the princess as she climbed the building. From his hidden perch on the crumbling roof, he could see the entire expanse of his rotting kingdom, including anyone who entered it. Tossing his tail briskly from side to side, he contemplated his prey: a potential meal that would break the monotony of swamp-rats and spindly crows.

**

The princess’ grip slipped and she gasped, flailing for a moment … she barely managed to grab onto an outcropping of rock. Her heart raced and her breath came in gulps; it had been a near miss. She looked up at her goal: a darkened window with a wisp of curtain in the topmost tower of the Dragon’s Keep. Her lips tightened, her eyes narrowed, and she let out a slow breath. She calculated her next move, and then she reached for the next crevice in the rock.

**

The prince stared into a gap in the ceiling, his blue eyes searching in his pallid face. The dragon was unusually quiet tonight. Was he finally tired of caring for his prisoner? Would the prince find himself in the scalding-hot jaws of the beast? Or was another of his father’s unlucky soldiers about to meet his untimely end in a torrent of fire and brimstone? The prince gulped, and screwed up his eyes, pressing the palms of his hands to his forehead. Despite all the odds, he prayed that this would be the day he would be saved.

Creative Writing Prompt: Point of View

In this lesson, we considered point of view. One of the tactics I have been using lately in teaching creative writing is to always attach it to a concept of writing. I think I was largely just doing fun or quirky ideas before, but now I'm actually thinking about one thing they're getting out of the lesson (For example: character, plot, setting, dialogue, etc). It's pretty basic, but I think I get more bang for my buck this way: I give them something fun to do, but I also give them a concept from writing which will serve them well.

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Point of View

You may not realize it, but every story is written from someone’s point of view: that means that someone is telling the story based on how they see things happening. A narrator is the person telling the story.

You can have one of three different types of narrator:

The first-person perspective: the person telling the story is the person who the story is about. This person describes things that happen to them using the words “I” or “me” or “my.” This type of story has a lot of perspective on a person’s feelings, because they often share how they feel in the narrative. This narrator is a character in the story.

 The third-person perspective: the person telling this story describes what is happening to other people who are in the story using the words “he” or “she” or “they.” This type of story will usually have one person as the main focus, but the narrator will not know what their feelings are, so the reader will have to wait to see how the characters are described, or to read what they say in order to find out how they feel. This narrator is not often a character in the story.

 The omniscient narrator: the person telling this story also uses the words “he” or “she” or “they” to describe the characters and their actions. The word “omniscient” means “all-knowing.” The difference between this narrator and the third-person narrator is that the omniscient narrator knows what everyone is thinking: this narrator will often describes their thoughts and feelings so that the reader knows everything that is going on in the minds of the characters. This narrator is almost never a character in the story

(I can think of one really great exception: The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak has an omniscient narrator, who is the character of Death, personified. An omniscient narrator who appears in the text is probably going to be someone with supernatural or god-like powers in most cases).

When you write a story, it is important that you know from whose perspective you write: if the narrator is a character in the story, the story is told from their point of view.

It is also important that the point of view remains consistent: you don’t want to change from a first-person narrator to an omniscient narrator part way through.

Also, the point of view should make logical sense:

-          A story told by a princess will look different from a story told by a vampire: they will think differently about their actions and how they justify their thoughts and feelings.

-          You should ask yourself who and what your narrator is so that you can feel the way they feel: a story with an omniscient narrator should be pretty neutral. You don’t want your omniscient narrator to be too present. That is, you should not be able to notice there is a narrator when that narrator is omniscient. By contrast, a story told from the perspective of a shark should feel like a shark wrote it. Their thoughts should sound like shark-thoughts, and their actions should look like shark-actions.

Today you will practice writing from different points of view.

Pick one of the following Point of View Prompts:

Write a story about a dragon that saves a princess from a knight (You may use any of the following points of view: the perspective of the dragon, the princess, the knight, or an unnamed narrator). 

Imagine you live in a world where sharks swim in the forest, and you become lost in a forest overnight. Tell the story of what happens.

Tell a story from the perspective of a painting in a museum.

 A teenager has just discovered undeniable, 100% accurate proof that everyone around them is an alien. Describe what they do tomorrow.

 Imagine you are a fairy-tale villain (of your choice). Write about how someone wronged you in the past, causing you to become villainous.

 Tell the story of a lost button becoming reunited with its coat.

 You have picked up a rock which gives you the ability to know everyone’s thoughts and feelings. Tell the story of the first day you take your mind-reading rock to school.

Consider the following questions for the point of view that you choose:

Who is the narrator?

How do they think?

What are their goals and motivations? (What do they want?)

Why do they want what they want?

How are they going to get what they want?

Now, write that story! 

*** I ended up needing a bit of further explanation for a few of my young listeners. So I told the story of Little Red Riding Hood from three different perspectives. Not for the first time was I reminded that examples are often the trick! 

Creative Writing Prompt: Mobius Strip Poetry

Think of a circle; think of all the things that are circles, or made of circles.

-          The sun

-          The moon

-          A ball

-          An orange

-          A hula hoop

A circle is infinite, but the symbol for infinity is not a circle, but a sideways 8, as shown here:

We often think of cycles as being infinite. What are some kinds of cycles, or sets of events that repeat themselves?

-          Seasons

-          Time

-          Water cycle

-          Life cycle

-          Laundry

-          Growth Cycle

-          Metamorphic Cycle

-          Rock Cycle

If we were to write a poem about these things, there would be no way to indicate on the paper that what was occurring was infinite; a poem is linear, which means it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Perhaps we could write such a poem in a circle shape on the page, but what if we used the infinity shape instead?

A Mobius strip is a type of infinity shape. It is the only three-dimensional object that has only one side: you can run a pen or a pencil along it and it will continue on without leaving the page. It was discovered in 1858 by German mathematicians, and is frequently used in machinery that need rubber belts to wear evenly on both sides. MC Escher used the Mobius strip in his art.

As you can see, the ants crawling on the Mobius strip will always crawl on it, all going in the same direction. The ants are in fact meant to show how the shape is infinite.

Today, we are going to use the Mobius strip in our poetry.

1)      We will first write a poem that is cyclical, or contains an idea that is infinite (or seems infinite, like laundry!).

2)      Once you have written your infinite poem, you will transfer it on to a piece of paper.

3)      This is what your piece of paper will look like:

4)  Make sure that you leave at least an inch on each outside edge of the rectangle:

5)  Write the first half of your poem on one side of the piece of paper, like this:

6)    When you flip your piece of paper, it is very important that you flip the page correctly:

a.       Flip it towards you or away from you, but DO NOT flip it like you would flip a page (that is, do not pick up the righthand edge and move your hand across yourself. The lefthand edge will stay on the left and the righthand edge will stay on the right.)

b.       Or, you may think of it as flipping on the long edge

7)      Write your other half of the poem on the other side:

8)      You can see how the poem uses transition words to lead from one end to the next.

9)      Next, you need to attach the two ends together. You should have left a space at each of the ends on both sides to make sure that you don’t accidentally overlap the text.

a.       Pull the ends together as if you were making a circle.

b.       Before you put the ends together, however, give ONE of the ends a half-twist (not both, and not a full twist! Just 180 degrees)

c.       Then tape or staple the two edges together.

d.       Read the poem to make sure you can follow it all the way through until it starts over again. (If the line is suddenly upside down and goes in the wrong order, that means that strip of paper was flipped on the short edge, ie it was flipped incorrectly)

e.       Here is a diagram to show you how to attach the ends of the paper strip:

10)   Once you get the hang of it, see how many Mobius strip poems you can make!

Summary:

A Mobius strip poem shows us that a poem does not have to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

It allows us to write in a new way.

It should also show us that we should be able to experiment with our poetry, either with what we write OR what we write on OR both! 

Villains Vindicated (Creative Writing Seeds)

A “villain” is the term used to describe the bad person in a book or film. We usually use the word villain for a particularly “bad” or “evil” character, while we might say the word “antagonist” for someone whose actions block or create barriers for the main character. (For example, if your story is about a little girl whose bully keeps stealing her candy, the bully wouldn’t really be a villain, but they would definitely be an antagonist).

What are some examples of villains or antagonists that we can think of?

-          The Evil Stepmother (Cinderella

-          The Wicked Witch of the West (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)

-          Jafar (Aladdin)

-          Ursula (The Little Mermaid)

-          The Queen (Snow White)

-          Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)

-          Scar (The Lion King)

-          Magneto (X-Men)

-          The Sheriff of Nottingham (Robin Hood)

-          Voldemort (Harry Potter)

-          Goldfinger (James Bond)

-          The Joker (Batman)

-          Darth Vader (Star Wars)

All of these villains are meant to make life very difficult for the main character. But what were these villains like before they met the hero?

For the purposes of this assignment, let’s treat these villains as real people.

·        Before they were villainous, what were their lives like?

·        Were they happy?

·        What did they like to do?

·        What happened to them to make them become villainous? (Were they betrayed, disappointed, or hurt by someone else?)

·        What kinds of bad choices did they make that led them to be so badly behaved?

·        What kind of story can we write so that we can explain or understand where these characters went wrong?

For some of these characters, we already have examples explaining how they got to be so bad, like Darth Vader or Magneto. We also have examples of how they are allegedly misunderstood, such as the Wicked Witch of the West or Maleficent. You can choose one of these characters, or another for whom there is not an existing explanation for how they became who they are.

These are your instructions:

1)      Choose a villain, either from the list above or of your own choosing.

Villain’s name: ________________________________________

2)      Use some of the following “autobiographical” questions to find out more about your character; put yourself in their shoes: how would they answer these questions?

a.       Where were you born?

b.       What are some of your hobbies?

c.       What are your parents’ names and occupations?

d.       How would you describe your childhood?

e.       What’s your favourite colour?

f.        What’s your favourite food?

g.       Who is your best friend in the whole world?

3)      Then answer these questions:

a.       How did your character go from being a good person to being a bad person? (Were they good to begin with?)

b.       What could have happened to them that changed them? Use your imagination!

4)      Then, tell a story from the perspective of the villainous character, explaining who they are and what happened to them. Your first line might be, “I wasn’t always a ‘villain’ … ”

Please note that all characters belong to their respective copyright owners. 

Operation: Show Don't Tell (Creative Writing Seeds)

Operation: Show, Don’t Tell

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass” – Anton Chekhov

Images make up your writing. You create images using the words you write so that your reader creates the idea in their imagination. A really good image will make the reader forget they are reading words and only think about what they see in their mind’s eye.

Many writers have heard someone say, “Show, Don’t Tell!” about a piece of their writing. But what does that really mean?

The best way to show you how to “show, don’t tell” is by showing you! Here are some examples:

Tell:	Show:
Kate was tired.	Kate rubbed her eyes and willed herself to keep them open.
It was early spring.	New buds were pushing through the frost.
Charlie was blind.	Charlie wore dark glasses and was accompanied by a seeing-eye dog.
Sheena is a punk rocker.	Sheena has three piercings in her face and wears her hair in a purple mohawk.
James was the captain.	“At ease,” James called out before relaxing into the captain’s chair.
The girls were excited.	Giggles and screams filled the arena. The soft curls were now damp with perspiration and the anticipation of the event. They held tight to each other in a mock effort to contain themselves. Arms flailed upward, and voices echoed in varying tones. The moment was here.

You can see from the examples on the right that they are more interesting to read than the examples on the left, even though they mean the same thing. The “Show” examples use more of your senses, like sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. Think about how you learn from movies; movies don’t tell you, but they show you. How do you know someone is upset, angry, happy, sad, frustrated, and so on? People don’t often say “I am angry,” but they do act angry! (They are very mature and communicative humans, indeed, if they know when they are angry and can then communicate that to someone else!)

For the following “Tells,” practice writing a “Show”! Show your reader what it looks like, whether it’s an emotion, an action, a place, or a thing.

The lawn was covered with leaves.
The room was perfect. She saw it and was immediately transported back to her childhood.
The house was old.
The fire is burning.
The cat’s fur is soft.
My head hurts.

Once you have finished these examples, you should get the hang of showing rather than telling. When you are done, write a short story or poem (about whatever you like!) where you show how things are rather than telling your audience. 

Brain Map Autobiography (Creative Writing Seeds)

Brain Map

What do you think makes you who you are?

What are the words, thoughts, beliefs, and ideas that make up you?

In this writing exercise, use the “brain map” to the right to help you figure out what’s in your brain! Then, use those words to form a poem that tells us about you.

1.       Fill out this brain with words, thoughts, and ideas that make up the person that you are!

2.       Use the words that filled out your “brain,” and explain what they mean to you to make a poem.

For example, your poem might look like this:

Ex:

Elyn’s Mind

Family – Family is at the forefront of my thoughts, and so it is literally at the front of my brain.

Reading – I am always thinking about reading: what I have read, what I am reading, and what I want to read next.

Painting – I like art; I used to do a lot of drawing, but now when I do art, I find that I am mostly drawn to painting.

Brown – I love the colour brown! Many of my clothes are brown, my furniture is brown, and even my bedroom is brown. I love the warmth of the colour; I feel that I sink into it and it envelops me.

Roxette – Roxette is my favourite band. They are a band from the 80s that no one knows, but I hear their music and I feel perfect.

Now, you try! Use the words that filled up your brain to write an informally structured poem about who you are, what you do, and what you like.