Monday July 25, 2011

    
Today, on July twenty-fifth, two thousand and eleven, the eleventh year of this century at Teenswrite camp this morning, we ventured bravely into the unknown world of quickwrites. Quickwriting is to let ideas flow freely with a given topic or word. Of course each person had a different journey, a different thing to write about, but we have received a window into two writer's quickwrite world.   One of the authors is Isabelle Teeter and here is a piece of one of her stories she wrote today, "Undone" which was from the "Waiting" writing prompt.
"I'm waiting. Waiting for the final blow. The last hit that will send me once more into the darkness that has surrounded me since he came. Since he took the wheel and sent my life spiraling out of control." The last writer's story is titled "Secrets of Past Heart" which was written during the secrets prompt. This is her journey during quickwrite. "No one knows why I only wear black. Mostly they assume that I'm goth, or in a punk band. The real reason is simple. That is what  you wear in mourning. I have been in mourning since the age of six." These have been the thrilling, intricate, mysterious tales of Isabel Teeter and Olivia Ellis, fellow writers at the Teenswrite Camp in Northwest Arkansas.

We had the pleasure of having a songwriter, Sarah Hughes, give us a live performance and feedback on our questions about her daily life. For example, she said that her songs were inspired by her daily life and that some of her songs incorporated her friends. She inspired us by saying that you don't have to be a certain age to start songwriting.

Bess McGeorge, a comedian from Chicago who trained with Second City, also took a few minutes to talk to us.  She told us a stand up comedy format where you say what's funny, scary, hard, and good about a topic.  Here's what she said about being a comedian:
     Funny: jokes (example= Golden girls joke)
     Scary: being on stage
     Hard: making people laugh
     Good: She writes funny skits.
      
Once upon a time on a college campus not too far away, lunchtime arrived. After our long and treacherous quest for food came to an end, we awkwardly entered the Union. Decisions, decisions, decisions. What to eat, where to sit, and more importantly, who to sit by? Unfamiliar with our peers, our feast of sandwiches, veggies, fruits, soups, and cookies were devoured silently. Random conversations of genres, songs, and pants emerged, and laughter soared through the air. Alas, the ice was broken and new friendships were born.


After lunch, the Teenswrite class split into two groups.  One  was a comedy class. The students learned one of the simplest lists for comedy--"funny, scary, hard, and good." The writer chooses an item and place and fills out the outline. By the end hopefully having created something comedic. Our leader Jon shared some interestingly comedic insights into his thoughts on trees while Julia created a "Three Stooge like" argument between characters. When back in the classroom, all the students were given a piece of notebook paper to answer five questions: What do you want out of this week? Genres? Lessons? Feedback? Writing ideas? Then the students turned it in to the front with or without their names on it.  Surprisingly, many students wrote that they would like to "learn ways to become a better writer"...Shocker. Other ideas were on more sophisticated ways to close stories, and writing in the out of doors. Then there were ten minutes of freewriting. The students could choose between popsicle sticks (which had phrases or sentences that could be used as a starting sentence, a transition, or an ending sentence), continue one of the quickwrites from earlier (a comedic short or song) or start/write some new idea.

Once that was completed the students started on the blog.  They were put in groups and each group wrote a section of the blog.