A Recipe for Writing:
Ingredients you will need:
Firecrackers
Elephant
Clock
Exhausted
Combine main ingredients with other words. Mix, combine, moosh and make sure ingredients are main parts of your final dish. Fold in voice and creativity within a beginning, middle, and end. Add some conflict. Let marinate for a day and then bake. Before serving add sparkle and serve hot!
As writers, we start with basic ingredients: words, ideas, and our own voice. One of my favorite writing prompts is to simply start with a list of words. It is the perfect mix of parameters and freedom and results in endless possibilities.
The special instruction is to make sure that the words in the list are major components of the story.
The sharing of this type of prompt in a classroom or any group of writers is powerful because everyone starts with the same four words and every story will be different because of individual tastes, voice, and experiences. It is a great exercise to do if your state requires prompt writing and you need to practice.
The surprises that come out of this simple prompt will make it a favorite for you to add to your recipe book of writing!
Tammy L. Breitweiser is a curriculum coach in Northwest Indiana where she is currently dedicated to impacting student achievement in grades 7 and 8. With more than 22 years of experience, she is a reading advocate who believes in the reading and writing connection. She is working on a collection of short stories. You can connect with Tammy on Twitter (@tlbreit) or through her blog Tammy’s Reading/Writing Life: https://tammysreadinglife.wordpress.com/
One of my writing mentors, Sandy Lyne, wrote a book entitled Writing Poetry from the Inside Out. (https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Poetry-Inside-Out-Finding-dp-1402208448/dp/1402208448/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1541692774)
ReplyDeleteHe used word groups to prompt writing in workshops with young writers for many years. These word groups he called "bait" for fishing for poems. Somehow the formula works.