Wednesday Y.A.W.c #8

(Young Adults Writing Creatively!)


What You Need:
Ask your students to bring in copies of the lyrics of songs they like which are school safe (Lyrics free of expletives, blatant sex/violence, etc. Wild and weird are okay. Music your parents would listen to or be okay with you listening to, etc is okay. Lead by example – provide your own examples.


The Activity:
In class, guide students with the process of “making meaning”, that is, show them how to take apart the lyrics of the song to create an interpretation. This should be pretty fast and pretty easy, as students are already familiar with the material. Encourage them to develop multiple interpretations if possible. Afterwards, ask for volunteers to share their work. Again, lead by example. Next, instruct your students to write a story which could be interpreted similarly.

ALIENS: The Flash

In all honesty, I have yet to see anything cooler than this. Homedrone brings you Aliens: The Board Game in flash format, true to the original that was released in 1989 by Leading Edge Games. This was one of the games I grew up on, and it's awesome to see it in such a well presented and accessible format.

aliens flash game board leading edgeCheck it out here.

Wednesday Y.A.W.c #7

(Young Adults Writing creatively!)

What you need:
The following framework of a poem based upon the sestina form. I recommend breaking it up into stanzas before presenting it to your students as part of this exercise.

The
She
And
He
But
They

They
The
But
She
He
And

And
They
He
The
She
But

But
And
She
They
The
He

He
But
The
And
They
She

She
He
They
But
And
The


The Set-Up:
Today we’re going to write a poetry epic together as a class, using lines which already have the first word in them.

The Activity:
Once you’ve explained to your students that this is going to be a thirty-six line poem, but constructed by the entire class, give examples of what epic poetry can be by talking about “epic” movies like 300, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc. Ask for volunteers initially (you might even start the first line) but try to engage students if there is no response. Tell them that it’s okay to use scratch paper to work out what they want to say before they say it.

11 Weird Tales

I’m proud to announce the release of my latest project– 11 Weird, short tales written and read by yours truly. It’s a gorgeous, 11 track audiobook weighing in at just under an hour in length and filled with tales so strange and horrible they’re sure to make your toes curl.




The complete track listing:

1. The Children of the Indigai
2. Not in the Military, Son
3. In His Image
4. Shadow Over Grainfield
5. Izanami
6. L’Thauun
7. Our Own Hell
8. Mandatory Volunteerism
9. Gender Revolution
10. Uncle Jimmy’s Shotgun
11. Night Before Zombiemas


You can listen to the first track for free here:

Children Of The Indigai by ESWynn

Want more?
You can get the entire CD in all its stygian glory for $8.99 here:
[click]

More audio lit

Lightbrigade by ESWynn

Windhover by ESWynn

Wednesday Y.A.W.c #6

(Young Adults Writing creatively!)
What you need:
A newspaper or a series of pages selected from several newspapers (over time - - specifically for this exercise)

The Activity:
Once you’ve explained to your students how numerous authors of the past (Tennyson, Hemingway, etc.) have used stories or bits of sentences within newspapers to get them started on a poem or a story, take a moment to explain how short stories can be “formatted” a certain way for effect– like writing a piece of short fiction in a journalistic style that looks like it came out of a newspaper. Next, put your newspaper pieces out where your students can get to them, and then ask them to find a piece (or pieces) that inspire them in some way or which they believe they can write in a whole new way.

Now, have them write their stories.

Sweet Audio

From Beyond by ESWynn

Still Working on the audiobook version of Pink Carbide, but I've already recorded rough drafts for everything up through chapter 39. So close!

For now, enjoy this piece that I recorded. It's "From Beyond", one of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft stories, and I'm especially proud of how it turned out. :)

Wednesday Y.A.W.c #5

(Young Adults Writing creatively!)


What you need:
A number of short stories in different genres which all have the same basic underlying theme (such as the theme we see shared across films like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Eragon) OR other materials (perhaps even just lecture) to enlighten the students as to the commonalities between films like these.

The Set-Up:
Okay, now that you’ve been able to spot the differences in genre and the similarities of theme, lets discuss how, in each case, the genre in which the story is told directly effects the theme.

The Activity:
Once your students have a firm grasp on what is going on, have them work together to make a list of possible themes that they might be interested in writing about. Some to consider:

*One person against the world
*Out with the old, in with the new
*Its all in your mind
*Renewal of hope
*Redemption

Next, have them start naming off genres that they know (and/or provide your own). Some to consider:

*Science Fiction
*Fantasy
*Historical
*Western
*Steampunk
*Present day/modern
*Surrealist
*Horror
*Satire

Once you have a comprehensive list on the board, have your students take out pieces of paper. Let them volunteer to take certain genres as they feel inspired to, but try to guide them into as even a spread as possible. Now, give them some time to write a story. This can be run either as a quick, ten minute exercise or a long, fully formed short story construction assignment. After the stories are written, ask for students to volunteer to read their stories, but encourage different genres to contribute in order to get an even smattering of student responses. Once enough stories are read, revisit the original discussion of genre and theme.

New Audiobook Clips

Recently I had the privilege of being able to record a few new pieces of audio for those of you who want to get into literature but don't have the time. Both of these pieces are classic works and, in my opinion, beautiful pieces definitely worth listening to.

Azathoth by ESWynn

You can read the original piece in an HTML fulltext here [link]

Meeting at Night by ESWynn

You can read the original piece in an HTML fulltext here [link]

Wednesday Y.A.W.c #4

(Young Adults Writing creatively!)

What you need:
Selections from Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary [link]

The Set-Up:
“Today, we’re going to try something new. I want you to take a few minutes (or you can assign the work to your students overnight) to look over these “definitions” written by Bierce. Find a couple you think are especially funny.”

The Activity:
Once you feel that your students have had enough time to look over the definitions provided from The Devil’s Dictionary, have them volunteer the definitions that they like (or dislike) best and have them state why they like/dislike them. Encourage conversation and discussion about the definitions. What do some of them say about society? What do some of them say about Bierce?

Now, encourage your students to write their own definitions of words in the same format that Bierce does. This can be assigned as homework or done in class. Give examples to get them started, like:

Car: n. A plastic coffin which delivers a corpse to the daily grind
Coffee: n. The elixir of life

And after they’ve created their definitions, select volunteers to read their definitions and explain what they mean (if necessary.)

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