Summoning Our Artistry...

Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when he grows up." How many of us can relate to this loss of artistry as we grew up? As children, we tended to have less external constraints on our creativity. Things like time and the responsibilities of adulthood had not yet chipped away at our ability to sit quietly with our art and nurture its growth.

As adults, when we think about being writers in our classrooms or in our lives, we need to summon the artistry of our childhood back to our conscious minds. I am defining artistry here as creativity in any form, not just in writing. That ability to conceive of and express feeling and voice in ways that others can see and share.

Without fear.

So, let's keep moving with our picture books! Let's not be afraid to share our stories orally and on paper. Let's summon the creativity of our child-selves and write!  Today, we are ready to choose a seed story that we will develop into our picture book.

Choosing A Seed Story - Telling Our Stories Out Loud and On Paper

Deep Dives

•  Deep Dive#3 - Writers choose the story that they remember the best to draft into a picture book.  When we write personal narratives, we want to bring readers into our stories, as if they are right there with us in the moment. To do that well, we must include lots of detail so that the reader feels immersed in our world. So, try to choose the story idea that you remember the best, with the most detail. Clear memories provide rich details that make our stories strong.
  • ToeDip - Choosing a story that has meaning. Not all stories are equal. Sometimes we can't recall enough detail about a story to be able to write it well. Or, we might remember lots of details about another story, but we don't feel emotionally connected to it. Try to choose a small moment that you both remember well and that was important to you. By choosing that moment, you will be able to capture and convey the heart of the story for your reader.
    • Think about each of your three small moments and consider which one you remember best.
      • Which moment do you remember with the clearest detail?
      • Which moment carries the most meaning for you?
      • Which moment do you feel eager to share with a reader?
• Deep Dive#4 - Writers tell their stories to others first. It may seem counterintuitive, but writing is a very social interaction. The writer is engaging with a reader, and vice versa, not simply putting words down on paper. The process begins when a writer tells his story out loud to someone. Storytelling is the first step in capturing and conveying the details, the tone, the voice, and the scope of a story. And, the more often the writer tells his story, the more solid the story becomes, each oral version building upon the one before.
  • ToeDip - Storytelling 
    • ​You can tell your story in beginning, middle, and end chunks. By dividing your story into three parts, you can really think about what happened first, next, and last.
    • Don't forget the dialogue! People in stories talk! When you are telling your story, try to remember what was said (or you can write what was probably said since you might not remember exact words).
    • Avoid using a passive voice, but rather describe the action and events as if you were making a movie in your  mind. Telling your story using an active voice will engage your listener and help her feel as if she is right there in the moment with you.
• Deep Dive#5 - Writers write down their stories fast and furious. Once writers have told their stories out loud a few times, they can move to a clean piece of paper and write the story of the small moment, capturing every single detail that they included in the oral version of the story. The idea is to write fast and furious, not worrying at all about grammar and conventions at this point. This is the time for writers to move the small moment story, all of it, to paper.
  • ToeDip - Writing Fast and Furious. It is very important that you write for more than a few minutes. Writing is thinking work, and we have to build writing muscles in order to write well. As soon as you think you are finished, ask yourself, "What else?" and keep going.
    • Move to a clean piece of paper and write down the story of your small moment.
    • Write fast and furious - keep writing down everything you remember about that moment.
    • When you think you're done, keep going. You will be surprised what other details appear as your pen continues to move across the paper.

As I look over the three small moment stories I wrote down in my sketchbook, I decide to choose the "Me vs. the Hamburger Steak" story. The nagging adult voice in my head is saying that this is not much of a story, inconsequential and silly. That voice is trying to convince me that no one, anywhere, would want to read about the hamburger steak debacle. But, I am not going to listen to the adult voice in my head. I am going to summon my childlike sense of artistry and feel brave enough to tell this story. I will not be afraid to try.

If you are feeling any discomfort as you go through this process, remember that feeling when you are asking your students to do this same work. Aside from being important to your own writing self, making this picture book will build empathy in you for all of the young writers who are struggling. While  creativity still dances in their hearts, young writers need our empathetic guidance to keep self-doubt away as long as possible! Every single story has value.

I'm going to be working on my story this week. Maybe we can share our stories with each other next time!

Have a great writing week!

#allkidscanwrite
#allteacherscanwrite

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