We began the day with an exploration walk during which we looked for accidental art. The idea comes from “How to Be an Explorer of the World” by Keri Smith. This book is fantastic! And also to blame for the many bits of rubble to be found in my office. For this walk, we shared a camera to document accidental art. The slide show:
Boo
Misty Mountain
Yellow Bats
Greyscale Butterfly
Stealth Bird
Fist
SA
Frowny Face
Mars is a Rectangle
Stony Heart
Golden Gateway
W
Magnet
Clover
Mountain Range
Ampersand
Taj Mahal
Fish
Ray Gun
He Calls It Eiffel Tower
PineConetopia
Dragon with Nostril Flares
Stairway
Tribal Man with Spear
Hot Air Balloon
Storm Kite
Sun-Star
Dying Star
I Did Not Eat Your Gerbil
Putty Rock
Life Tree
Dog
Tiny Island on Tiny Lake
Winky Face
Person
Negative Space
Bonfire
Run for Your Lives!
Smiling with Tongue Out
Beneath the Grey Rainbow
Wolverine Wuz Here
ChocolateChipper
Rusty Bunny
Broom
Glinting Wand
Bark Ring
Three Brothers
Broken Land
FatherSon
Elvis
Mouth
Landscape
Beaver Dam
Rat
Road Less Taken
Bird Beak
Le Shiny Rock
Mouse Log
Mosaic
Happy
Blaster
Tangle
Donald Trump in Convertible
Bridge
Star
Frozen Fountain
TARantula
Wilbert
Child
Ampersand2
Invisible Elevator
Mouse
Submarine Window
Llama
Wand Core
Rollercoaster
Old Bird
Be Different
Exclamation
Fox Face
Pig in Tutu
LEGO trees
Tar Blob
Curmudgeon
Cloudscape
R
Submarine
Shark Fin
Hidden Silver
Moon Over Mountain
Yellow Rainbow
Hairband Portal
Bouquet
Quote Bubble
Dry Lake Bed
Paper Whale
Jackhammer
Dead Man's Way
Bear, Obscured
Sword
Reef
The Peeker
Naked Lady Reclining
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We also took a survey today in which we answered five questions from our own perspectives and from our protagonists’ perspectives.
After refreshments, we plotted a few primary details to get our prinicple writing started.
We followed with another water day, as we call it ’round here. Then Husband made us French toast – the best on earth – and eggs to order. And we’re rounding out our day with Zootopia, because it’s fun and because we can use it to discuss character development a la the extras and this.
So despite the raging headache that keeps me from making this post more awesome, I’ll sleep sweetly tonight as I dream about our writing day tomorrow. May you tell stories!
The poor dears have had precious little screen time this week, aside from about a movie a day. But games! Texts! Videos! Whatever shall we do?!
They worked a long afternoon on plot structure using the five-act model. We dug into what constitutes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement (their new favorite word – so cosmopolitan!). We also discussed the corollary with the three-act structure, using the inciting incident or catalyst as the end of the first act and the final suspense as the end of the second act. It looked like this:
We used the gorgeously illustrated Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (much thanks, Jo Rowling and Jim Kay!) to break down the story into these two structures. We read portions of it, though we have all read the book in the past. We discussed and defined when we think the book breaks up the acts.
We also discussed that the graph will look different for different books, because the stages aren’t fixed but variable. We looked at the downsides to deciding things like, “I’ll write four chapters then the inciting incident then fourteen chapters for the rising action.” We prepared to loosely determine a few points on the graphs for each of our own stories before diving into writing, knowing that the graph will morph and that’s a good thing.
When we finished, the clock read 5:35. I proffered a deal: I’ll cut a watermelon and they go outside to play in the water, then I’ll make dinner and they can come in to shower and have dinner and screens until bedtime. Fastest deal ever! I barely got them smeared with sunscreen before they were out the door. I took them their watermelon and a vitamin B6 tablet each (to ward off mosquitos).
When I went out just before seven, I asked the question at the top of this post. The giggled as only 8-, 9-, and 11-year-olds can and shooed me away with some verbal force. In the calming light of an early summer evening, they forgot all about their screens in favor of a water hose and brothers/sisters/cousins.
Some moments have been thorny, as only 8-, 9-, and 11-year-olds can be. But I’ve got the best job ever. You see, many long years from now, they won’t remember who took the best pencil or who shot who with the water gun first. Nope. They’ll gild this experience in their memories and it will morph into something greater, smoother, cleaner, and brighter than reality. That’s storytelling magic and mom/aunt gold.
