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:
Bridge
Glinting Wand
Bear, Obscured
Reef
Tiny Island on Tiny Lake
Child
Mars is a Rectangle
Donald Trump in Convertible
Negative Space
Taj Mahal
Fox Face
Dry Lake Bed
Mouse Log
TARantula
Invisible Elevator
Tar Blob
Elvis
Stony Heart
Frozen Fountain
Le Shiny Rock
Pig in Tutu
Mouse
Dog
Hairband Portal
Bark Ring
Rusty Bunny
Life Tree
The Peeker
Exclamation
Frowny Face
Bonfire
Submarine Window
Tribal Man with Spear
Putty Rock
Dead Man's Way
Road Less Taken
Shark Fin
Fist
Smiling with Tongue Out
Yellow Rainbow
PineConetopia
Ampersand2
Wand Core
Beaver Dam
He Calls It Eiffel Tower
Misty Mountain
Yellow Bats
Tangle
R
W
Run for Your Lives!
Dying Star
Quote Bubble
Beneath the Grey Rainbow
Golden Gateway
Ampersand
LEGO trees
Sun-Star
Hidden Silver
Mosaic
Old Bird
Wilbert
Fish
Magnet
I Did Not Eat Your Gerbil
ChocolateChipper
Jackhammer
Dragon with Nostril Flares
Bird Beak
Hot Air Balloon
Llama
Rollercoaster
Paper Whale
Winky Face
Bouquet
Broken Land
Greyscale Butterfly
Stairway
SA
Happy
Curmudgeon
Mouth
Blaster
Rat
Star
FatherSon
Person
Broom
Storm Kite
Landscape
Naked Lady Reclining
Ray Gun
Wolverine Wuz Here
Boo
Be Different
Clover
Stealth Bird
Sword
Three Brothers
Cloudscape
Moon Over Mountain
Mountain Range
Submarine
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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.
