LET'S WRITE: Day 7 - The Classroom Dugout

Writing when you don't feel like writing. That's what daily writing is about. Let's commit to 7 days of writing and finish!

LET'S WRITE: Day 7 - The Classroom Dugout

By Matthew L. Hart

Writer & Humorist

Author of:

Uncle Matty's Halloween: Jokes, Bits & Anecdotes

7 Day Writing Challenge:

Day 7 - Journal Entry

Well, we finally made it to the end of the week. Woohoo! I hope you were able to keep up your daily writing routine and not break the chain. Now that we've got one week in, you might want to keep going and capitalize on your momentum, or not. It's really all up to you. I feel like I've been writing more and more each day. I've really enjoyed writing the journal entries and I've been coming up with so many really interesting story concepts, characters, and at least some scenes from the writer's prompts I've been using out of The Writer's Toolbox. I think that I'll use them again today, just to button up this 7 Day Writing Challenge. I've also noticed, after going over my work for the week, I've made some really ugly characters! I'm laughing because, that's kind of what I feel like we should have at the start of a story. Ugly characters, especially those that are ugly on the inside, have so much potential for growth, that their stories are really compelling. There's a couple of scenes that I wrote this last week that I've been itching to do something bigger with. I'm not really sure though. But, hey. Isn't that the point? We started out with nothing and we made something. Any scene that we wrote this week could be developed into it's own novel, character or even story series. We could write them as completed short stories, full novels, screenplays, plays, or teleplays. The potential is there. I feel like, what we've been able to do was create a handful of seeds. Strange characters. Strange scenes. Strange conflicts. Each one almost screaming to be developed further. I might even use one of these scenes to prompt some more writing, and just expound on what's happening in the story. I hope you've experienced similar productivity yourself. I hope you share your work with me in the comments below. Happy writing!

Sixth-Sense Card:

"a chewed-on pencil"

The taste was divine. It just always was, since I was a kid. I grew up on standardized tests, and the #2 pencil naturally became one of the main food groups. I always had a box of them in my desk. I'd sniff them like the finest cigar. The rubber erasers have a kind of, oh, sweet odor. If I was needing a good distraction, I'd bite into the metal collar holding the eraser. What a shock! I liked the way the aluminum felt soft beneath the pressure of my canine. It just sort of, crimped between my teeth. It also felt like it gave me a little spark. A little shock. I don't know. It was really exciting. Like a shot of espresso for a teenager. But, every chewer knows that the wood was the real meat of the matter. It was soft and you got that fibrous crunch. So satisfying. I would sometimes catch myself gnawing away at it. Like I was a mischievous squirrel on a dried corn cob. Crunch, crunch, crunch. If I chewed too much, say, around the three hundredth question or so, the outer paint of the pencil would flake off and I'd have to spit them out like sunflower seeds. I have to laugh because, about two hours into testing, the classroom sounded more like a baseball dugout. 

I'll primarily be using The Writer's Toolbox by Jamie Cat Callan to prompt my 7 day writing challenge but feel free to do yours however you'd like.

Writing everyday is a great step towards becoming a Master Storyteller.

Do you want to share your own writing during this 7 day writing challenge?

ADD YOUR BLOG ADDRESS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

Continue your journey:

This Wireless Keyboard Just Topped My Wish List (blog post)

Learn To Write Funny (Blog Posts)

Or, hop over to my YouTube Coin Channel:

Matthew The Great Coin Roll Hunter

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and this blog uses Amazon Affiliate links.

How To Combine Writing Tools To Enhance Our Storytelling

This writing exercise was discovered from
The Writer's Toolbox by Jamie Cat Callan

How To Combine Writing Tools To Enhance Our Storytelling

By Matthew L. Hart

Writer & Humorist

Author of:

Uncle Matty's Halloween: Jokes, Bits & Anecdotes

"Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time."

- John C. Maxwell

Now that we're familiar with all the tools in The Writer's Toolbox we can start to combine writing tools to enhance our storytelling.

First, we'll spin the wheel on the Protagonist Pallette to discover who our protagonist will be.

Let's begin!

Our Protagonist is:

"Frank, the painter"

To get us writing something right away, let's also draw a First Sentence Stick.

Our First Sentence is:

"Your mother lied to you. That's the truth."

Now, let's flip the timer and use our First Sentence to get us going about Frank, the painter.

GO!

"Your mother lied to you. That's the truth." Frank blurted out, with regard to the quality of his pupil's latest work. He'd had enough of this know-it-all kid's bad attitude and constant interruptions. Frank felt it was time to knock the chip off this young man's shoulder, even if the little snot did show some small bit of potential. "It'll make him or break him." Frank thought as he grabbed a brush from the cloudy water of a mason jar. "Better to break him now, while he still has a chance to recover." Frank had not considered himself a cynical old painter. Not until this very moment. Without thinking, he swiped the damp bristles across the full color wheel of acrylic paints, which he had previously dabbed onto his pallette just before being interrupted so rudely. The brush could have picked up any single color, or all of them, or non at all. He raised his brush for a close examination. "Humph." He exasperated, quite curiously. "It appears I'm in my blue period." With a single swift backhanded swipe, he left the innocence of the canvas to yield against a broad blue stroke as bold as his disapproval.

TIME!

Okay. Not bad. We're rolling right along.

Now let's add a Sixth-Sense Card to incorporate our senses into the scene.

Our Sixth-Sense Card reads:

"a beekeeper's outfit"

Let's take a moment to think about how we can insert "a beekeeper's outfit" into our scene. When we're ready, we'll flip the timer and write descriptively for three minutes.

When you're ready,

BEGIN!

Each stroke came easily to the jaded master. The boy's condescending remarks had now become muted between sniffles. "Only a bruised ego, my boy. You'll be fine. Now, stand still. Chin up!"  Frank instructed. As a matter of help or humiliation, the painter had the boy dress up to model for him, wearing a beekeeper's outfit. The boy did this without protest, knowing that the prize was worth the fight. For the prize was a chance to study with the world-renowned, Frank Alfonsi, and, the fight? Well, that was with his very own ego. "Chin up! There's a good lad." Frank never thought he was too hard on his pupil. Perhaps, maybe even too soft. "Stop your crying. Your tears are not fit to clean my brushes. Now, be still!" The boy had soon learned not to question Frank's methods. Even Frank's critics could not argue his results. The depressed shades of blue across the textured plane gave the piece a look that was out of this world. To cast your gaze onto an original, Alfonsi, was to be, as if transported, to another dimension. The wet, dabbing sounds of his short and uneven strokes, were transcendent tones to Frank's ears. They were like blue notes of jazz that seemed to emanate from the original energy of the big bang itself. To look too closely at the subject of this exact piece, would be to get lost in a kind of fractal of color. From a distance, the beekeeper's outfit was merely shaded blue but, under closer examination, the truth was revealed; a true kaleidoscope of different colors. And, it was truth, that Frank Alfonsi had spend a lifetime to reveal. And, it was truth, that his young pupil hoped to learn for himself. Later, his critics would announce, "Even a beekeeper's outfit could be enjoyed by all levels of existence, with all those in any space or time. It is, truly, a multidimensional masterpiece, fit to grace the halls of Heaven. This piece, 'Boy With Hives'. This, is, Alfonsi!" 

Okay, so I flipped my timer twice. That'll happen. In fact, I encourage it!

Here, you can see how using each tool with the other, will help you add different levels of complexity and texture to your stories.

If I had time to continue this piece, I would next spin the wheel on the "Goals" Palette to determine what Frank's goal could be and then flip the timer and continue writing. 

We would then look for opportunities, as they see fit, to continue using the tools at hand. Perhaps another Sixth-Sense Card to add some texture, or a Non Sequitur Story Stick to add a plot twist.

Honestly, if I had all day, I might churn this story out as a short booklet! But, the day must go on. 

For now, I'll spin the wheel on the Goals palette for ya!

Our Goals palette reads:

"to be young again"

I hope you collaborate with me on this story and write Frank, the painter's next scene, as he decides that he wants 'to be young again'.

Did you follow along with this game and writer your own story?

SHARE YOUR OWN STORY FEATURING "FRANK, THE PAINTER" OR COLLABORATE WITH ME AS FRANK DECIDES "TO BE YOUNG AGAIN" I HOPE YOU SHARE YOUR WORK WITH US IN THE COMMENTS BELOW

Continue your journey:

This Wireless Keyboard Just Topped My Wish List (blog post)

Learn To Write Funny (Blog Posts)

Or, hop over to my YouTube Coin Channel:

Matthew The Great Coin Roll Hunter

*I am an Amazon Affiliate
and this blog uses Amazon Affiliate links.