Let's Be Honest

Until you train that brain of yours, 

it'll slump toward cliches and vague sentences 

rather than scratch for truth every time. 

Your heart might know what it means, 

but without the perfect words, 

your readers... will... never... know. 

(insert scary haunted house sounds)

Here are a few of the most honest writers I know. 

Today they helped each other become more honest writers. 

Here's to the group effort!

Part I

The Mona Lisa

 

What does "original" really mean? Can we see a camera "snap?"  Ellie and Logan and Jacob, you helped Eleanore find her words! We realized she was being "captured" by a camera, so Logan, you helped us find the verb flare. Ellie, you helped Eleanore veer away from "original" and Jacob and Logan, you helped her find "smooth." 

Her poem is so much better! 

Eleanore likes to write in her bed. 

She wants to write fiction. 

A very interesting book

 Jacob, what amazing characters you unearthed! We are so happy to know them! We discussed that you do a FINE job of creating a sort of destiny through a name! Tony Shuster polishes shoes. Trinette Clark is a clock maker who works in a tree. We wondered though, with such details at your fingertips, why Muriel lives in the basement of just any old "grocery store?" Why not "Safeway" or "Raleys?" 

Jacob likes to write at his kitchen counter. He loves the "name game," but especially when his mom digs up names from her past! Jacob said, "If I ask myself the names I know too much about them already."

Muriel Dickins

Ellie's Maggie is a seriously multi-dimensional girl! Ellie read one excerpt from her story, introducing us to Maggie as she appears in her bathroom counting her rubber ducks. 

We asked her, "Ellie, if you're going to give us this character in her bathroom counting her ducks forward and then backward and then forward again...well, then...tell us MORE!"

Us: Where is Maggie sitting? 

Ellie: On the floor. 

Us: How is she sitting? 

Ellie: Cross-legged. 

Us: Where are her ducks? 

Ellie: On the bathtub ledge. 

Us: Which way are they facing? 

Ellie: Toward the shampoo. 

Us: Are the ducks in any particular order--small to big, big to small, random? 

Ellie: Not sure. might count her rubber ducks but how? 

Don't keep all this amazing information to yourself, Ellie! 

Grace us with it! You know it! 

Your question should be be:

How can my readers learn more about Maggie through her duck counting? 

Remember: a string of bizarre events does not connect readers to characters. You MUST give us breathing room. We must see their quieter moments. Make them HUMAN!

Ellie likes to write on the couch or on her bed. 

She loves her characters!

Austin Powers

Logan zeroed in on a particularly sensitive part of his writing in order to improve it... in order to be more honest. 

Muriel is heading out of the elevator and she is sad. 

Logan, I'm so impressed that you picked this section to work on. It's our chance to see the private side of Muriel. 

We all helped you see what we do when we're sad. 

Eleanore sits on her bed with her knees to her chin; 

Jacob lies flat on his bed & looks at the ceiling; 

Ellie lies on her bedroom floor, arms curled under her, face down; Logan puts his hands on his face. 

When I'm sad, I feel like a puddle, not a furious river or a fuming ocean. 

I feel puddle-ish. 

Slow, low, murky, no momentum. 

What does Muriel feel? Initially, you thought she would destroy her room. Does sad destroy? We decided sad might be quieter. 

Can't wait to see what Muriel does. 

Part II

 

HAUNTED STORIES...

Thanks to published sentences from Stephen King and Stephen Crane, you each had an eery start to your thriller stories...

Each of you blindly picked a line from these masters and added on...trying VERY hard to be honest writers. 

The scary stuff is grounded in real life stuff. 

REMEMBER THAT!

(insert wicked howl)

Here's Jacob, writing from Stephen King's line: 

"There are some huge rats in the walls. From the sound." 

Here's Ellie writing from Stephen Crane's line: 

"None of them knew the color of the sky."

Logan is writing from Stephen King's sentence, 

"No great loss."

Eleanore wrote from Stephen King's line, 

"'You're dead, George. You just don't have the sense to lie down.'"

ASSIGNMENT:

• Write 10 minutes a day.
• Write either your thriller piece or add to your piece from the blog. 
• Ellie, I want both from you. Both your duck paragraph AND your scary story. 
• Same for you, Logan. I want to see how Muriel is sad. 
• Please post by Wednesday. 
• Please read the posts and comment.
• Please come with copies so we can read your refined work.