Writing Tips & Lessons
I'm constantly developing new lessons for my College Writing and/or my Creative Writing classes. I'll post and explain some of my favorite writing tips and lessons here.
How to Write a Short Story for Beginners: The Sensory Story
Sensory Story Writing
This post describes how to write a short story for beginners, or if you’re a teacher, activities for teaching short stories. There is a sensory story example, and there are also sensory story writing prompts at the end. You can use the exercises and examples below either for your own writing or for your students. A great way to begin writing short stories is through the sensory story. A sensory story focuses on using imagery to create …How to Teach Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale: Summary & Study Questions
Why study The Winter’s Tale? This play offers a lot for discussion. I wouldn’t read the entire play with your students, but rather, discuss the story, the themes, and certain notable lines instead. Plot summary: Leontes, king of Sicilia, wants his childhood buddy, Polixenes, to stick around for a while, rather than return to New Bohemia, where he is king. But Polixenes has been away for nine months, so he says that he needs to get back to his kingdom. Leontes asks …
Storytelling and Poetic Devices in Taylor Swift’s “Betty”
Yesterday's post was about storytelling and poetic devices in Taylor Swift's "Ronan." Last night I showed it to Pauline, my eleven-year-old daughter, thinking I could use the lesson for my middle school students and the enrichment class I'm currently teaching. Pauline liked the lesson, but she remarked that other Swift songs told more complete stories. She was thinking of "All Too Well," but there's no way I'm subjecting twelve-year-olds to a ten-minute song, not with their attention spans. …
Storytelling Through Poetry and Song (Taylor Swift’s Ronan)
Perhaps Taylor Swift isn't for everyone, but personally, I am in awe of her poetic ability to write song lyrics that also tell a story. The details she uses are so vivid and specific. I don't write a lot of poetry, but I have been writing flash fiction recently, and many of her songs are like flash pieces. She centers on a moment or two, and conveys an emotional narrative by doing so. How does she do it? A lot of it is skill, talent, and creativity, but there are also some tools she uses, …