Fear
Hi Teachers!
Can you believe this is the start of Week 3 already? I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Thanks to all who have commented and submitted your work. I have such a great time hearing about how you're doing.
By now, hopefully you've been exploring your characters and your story pretty thoroughly. It's exciting! Today, I'd like to offer a prompt to help you go a little deeper in character development by exploring one of the strongest, most important (and often most challenging) emotions to convey in both fiction and nonfiction: FEAR
Fear adds tension and conflict in your story. It also elicits empathy, because it's a universal feeling. But it's not always easy to portray fear effectively. It's one thing to say your character is afraid, it's another to get your reader to feel afraid for your character.
One good practice is to get more personal and write about a time when you were your character's age and felt your own fear. Trigger warning: It can be scary, it can bring up some old hurts, but it can also be extremely healing. But only do what you feel is safe.
Now, on to your prompt!
Monday Morning Warm-Up:
Describe a fear you had when you were the same age as the protagonist in your work-in-progress. Can you remember the first time you had this fear? Picture yourself in that moment and capture the setting and your surroundings. Did you feel pressure to try something you didn't want to? Were you worried about a pet or family member? Were you afraid of the dark, or something in the closet or under your bed? To go to school for the first time? To have a babysitter? To speak up for yourself? To ask someone out? Try to capture all the sensations and details you can remember.
When you're ready, use that feeling you've remembered so powerfully to write a scene in your work-in-progress. Good luck!
Note: As you read this, I'll be away with my son and a group of teens and adults doing volunteer work. I am not sure how quickly I'll have access to e-mail or this blog, so please be patient if I don't reply right away. In the meantime, it would be great if you would reply to each other's comments to encourage each other. Thanks so much!
This is me, overcoming a HUGE fear of handsaws doing work for Habitat for Humanity on this same trip last year. I don't know what new fears I'll have to overcome while I'm away but I'm ready for the challenge. Wish me luck! :)
Reminder from Kate's sign-up page: if you are participating in Teacher's Write and enjoying these lessons we are putting together for you, please consider helping out if you can. From Kate: "These writers are all volunteering their time, so we ask that you support Teachers Write by purchasing guest authors’ books when you can and requesting them for your school and public libraries. Please spend a little time checking out these writers’ websites and books." Thank you!
Can you believe this is the start of Week 3 already? I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Thanks to all who have commented and submitted your work. I have such a great time hearing about how you're doing.
By now, hopefully you've been exploring your characters and your story pretty thoroughly. It's exciting! Today, I'd like to offer a prompt to help you go a little deeper in character development by exploring one of the strongest, most important (and often most challenging) emotions to convey in both fiction and nonfiction: FEAR
Fear adds tension and conflict in your story. It also elicits empathy, because it's a universal feeling. But it's not always easy to portray fear effectively. It's one thing to say your character is afraid, it's another to get your reader to feel afraid for your character.
One good practice is to get more personal and write about a time when you were your character's age and felt your own fear. Trigger warning: It can be scary, it can bring up some old hurts, but it can also be extremely healing. But only do what you feel is safe.
Now, on to your prompt!
Monday Morning Warm-Up:
Describe a fear you had when you were the same age as the protagonist in your work-in-progress. Can you remember the first time you had this fear? Picture yourself in that moment and capture the setting and your surroundings. Did you feel pressure to try something you didn't want to? Were you worried about a pet or family member? Were you afraid of the dark, or something in the closet or under your bed? To go to school for the first time? To have a babysitter? To speak up for yourself? To ask someone out? Try to capture all the sensations and details you can remember.
When you're ready, use that feeling you've remembered so powerfully to write a scene in your work-in-progress. Good luck!
Note: As you read this, I'll be away with my son and a group of teens and adults doing volunteer work. I am not sure how quickly I'll have access to e-mail or this blog, so please be patient if I don't reply right away. In the meantime, it would be great if you would reply to each other's comments to encourage each other. Thanks so much!
This is me, overcoming a HUGE fear of handsaws doing work for Habitat for Humanity on this same trip last year. I don't know what new fears I'll have to overcome while I'm away but I'm ready for the challenge. Wish me luck! :)
Reminder from Kate's sign-up page: if you are participating in Teacher's Write and enjoying these lessons we are putting together for you, please consider helping out if you can. From Kate: "These writers are all volunteering their time, so we ask that you support Teachers Write by purchasing guest authors’ books when you can and requesting them for your school and public libraries. Please spend a little time checking out these writers’ websites and books." Thank you!
No comments have been added yet.
