Blog Archives

Use the following as a starting point for today’s journal

After trying for more than twenty years, a man finally solves the Rubik’s Cube he got in high school.

*Don’t forget to keep doing your weekend journals!

Pick two opening sentences from your game. They can be yours, others’ or the actual first lines.

In your journal, write a two paragraphs each one beginning with a different sentence. These are the opening paragraphs to the next great novel. See where they take you!

The Coming Storm

1/28/2015

Create a situation in which a character is faced with an unavoidable fate. Use the image below as your inspiration and write a short scene detailing how he deals with this “coming storm.”

Story Starter (Choose One)

1/27/2015

Choose one of the following "story starters” for today’s journal entry:

Once, while sitting on the curb...

(OR)

Once, when I was barefoot...

Who is coming up the road?

1/26/2015

Who is coming up the road?

Create a scene that answers this question using the photograph as your inspiration.

(click on the photo for a closer look)

Your Choice (1/23)

1/23/2015

Today's journal is your choice.

If you need a little inspiration to get the creative juices flowing, look at the image below and/or consider the following “story sparkers":

“I got the best email today!"

A journalist writing an article about death row falls in love with one of the inmates.

A fallen hero meets a legendary storyteller

These ideas are entirely optional. Let loose! Be creative!

Don’t forget your journals for Saturday and Sunday! (your choice as well)

The Last Words

1/22/2015

Write a short scene that ends with one of the following lines.
*Be sure to write which line you selected at the top of your journal so I will know which to look for.*

LINE 1:
"Gathering up into the darkness, I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” (James Joyce)

LINE 2:
"I felt it was a poor, sad, lonely thing be nothing but a genius.” (James Joyce)

LINE 3:
"The unexamined life is not worth living.” (Socrates)

LINE 4
"Spring will be a little late this year.” (Sarah Vaughn)

Planning for Destruction with Vivid Verbs

1/21/2015

Your journal today ties in to your assignment for tomorrow.

Imagine your familiar place. Now, imagine its destruction.

Pick TWO destructive forces (i.e. fire, flood, time (decay), wind, etc.)

Compile a list of VIVID verbs associated with those forces. You must have at least EIGHT for each force. Write these in your journal.

The second part of the journal is to use the space to create a cueing chart for this new scene of devastation.

**Remembe the assignmentr: A rough draft of a new paragraph (depicting destruction) needs to be shared with me (emathias@hse.k12.in.us) via Google Docs before 7:35 AM on Thursday, January 22.

#12 | It’s Alive

1/20/2015

Some writers find inspiration in the most ordinary objects and places. Consider some titles--The Indian in the Cupboard, The Girl in the Fireplace, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, etc.

Pick any household item, piece of furniture, or other home fixture. For the purposes of your journal, it is, in some way, different than normal.

Write a fantastical account of its abnormalities and what that means for the house overall (i.e. building, neighborhood, residents, etc.)