“Science is only beginning to unravel the full complexity behind different forms of creative accomplishment…”
via A Brain Pickings project edited by Maria Popova
Archives for June 2013
Thinking About…
“Real education is a radical process. It thumps you on the head until everything you know makes no sense anymore. Then you run around picking up the pieces of your head and picking them back together. The pieces never go back together in the same way.”
― Debbie Millman, Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design
Teaching Again
I love writing with kids.
My friend Elizabeth Seaver and I are teaching a “Write a Book” camp this week. Yesterday we offered some creative exercises and the kids took off. We’ve got a lyrical story, a poem about an eggplant, and some unique ideas for cover design. In between workshop and lunch, we heard some of the best jokes 10 and 11-year-olds can tell.
And that was the first day! Stay tuned. I’ll share some of their work if they agree:)
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As for my own writing, I’m thinking about John Truby’s advice: to craft a story based on a character’s psychological and moral needs. Let outside characters challenge the character’s personal flaw (or need). Ok, that helps me see some changes I need to make.
Drafting Again
STONEY MAN BECKONS
Cresting his summit
wetted in drifting fog
we climb higher
always harder
no panoramic views
of ridges or passes today
we count ferns, bellwort
among spring sightings
daisies and rhododendron
bracket white trillium
on tree-lined paths
at the peak, he provides
a landing, and we rest
in a silent haze.