Actively Writing
Sometimes my dear husband will burst into the room while I'm writing, asking a quick question or telling me one of the kids is on the phone. Not always am I tapping words out on my laptop.... he might catch me doing what I call my "active writing" strategy.
For instance, I was trying to describe the way a character makes a certain gesture, sweeping his arm from left to right, showing a selection of possible choices. When DH walked in, there I was, sitting at the computer, throwing my arms around trying to find a word for the motion. "Ummm, hi," he said with a snarky grin. "Busy writing?"
Actually, YES! That is what I was doing...being busy with my writing. After he was through chuckling, I had him do the gesture about seven times...slowly, quickly, with his back to me. He did it all without hesitating.
Thank goodness he didn't walk in when I was writing about the chipmunk...I pretended to be the small rodent, puffing my cheeks out as far as they will go, and then bouncing my hands on my face feeling the distended jowls. Asking myself the hard questions...like, "Can you see the animal's cheeks from the back as it runs away?"
Last month, our school was thrilled to have a wonderful presentation by Cynthia Lord, the author of Rules, which is one of my favorite novels to teach to my 7th grade students. My students were so excited to have her talk to them about the book and hear her descriptions on the craft of her writing. She shared with them how she worked on writing the wheelchair in the parking lot scene. (If you've read the book, you'll remember the vivid details she included. If you haven't read it, buy a copy a.s.a.p.!)
What have you done for your active writing? Anything silly, interesting, or odd?
For instance, I was trying to describe the way a character makes a certain gesture, sweeping his arm from left to right, showing a selection of possible choices. When DH walked in, there I was, sitting at the computer, throwing my arms around trying to find a word for the motion. "Ummm, hi," he said with a snarky grin. "Busy writing?"
Actually, YES! That is what I was doing...being busy with my writing. After he was through chuckling, I had him do the gesture about seven times...slowly, quickly, with his back to me. He did it all without hesitating.
Thank goodness he didn't walk in when I was writing about the chipmunk...I pretended to be the small rodent, puffing my cheeks out as far as they will go, and then bouncing my hands on my face feeling the distended jowls. Asking myself the hard questions...like, "Can you see the animal's cheeks from the back as it runs away?"
Last month, our school was thrilled to have a wonderful presentation by Cynthia Lord, the author of Rules, which is one of my favorite novels to teach to my 7th grade students. My students were so excited to have her talk to them about the book and hear her descriptions on the craft of her writing. She shared with them how she worked on writing the wheelchair in the parking lot scene. (If you've read the book, you'll remember the vivid details she included. If you haven't read it, buy a copy a.s.a.p.!)
What have you done for your active writing? Anything silly, interesting, or odd?