October Was a Mood
Murder: It happens.
I have no explanation for it, but murder is all the rage at The Wordshop. About 90% of my female students self-identify as Murder Girls, which means they’re girls who love to write about murder. The Thursday Night Write crew and I have crowned Lyndon an honorary Murder Girl, but he’s not sure he can attend the ceremony because he might have cross-country practice, so he’ll settle for being a Murder Boy.
Let me be clear: I don’t get it. The school librarians don’t get it. I have never, in my life, written a story about murder or even killed one of my characters. But the kids are obsessed with creepy thrillers, true crime, and anything that goes bump in the night. (My theory: it’s trickling down from all the dead-lady thrillers adults were reading 5-10 years ago.) And you know what? That’s okay! It’s great! They’re reading, they’re writing, they’re telling stories, and they’re growing their skill set as they go.
I haven’t yet had to tell anyone that their story went too far or is inappropriate (if we get into Bret Easton Ellis/American Psycho territory, I definitely will). Instead, I’m focusing on the quality of their writing and whether they’re really focusing on plot and characterization and not simply trying to make people laugh or gross them out. It can be a slippery slope.
Highlights of the month!
Fright Night: Crafting Mood was a huge success. It was our first combined high school/middle school class and I think everyone had a great time. Aspen even admitted that middle schoolers, or at least these three, weren’t the worst people she’d ever met. (If you’ve met Aspen, you know this is high praise.) We analyzed poems and short stories, as well as music, art, and video clips, to figure out what, exactly, evokes feelings of fear and unease. We immediately learned that the letter F makes us really uncomfortable. We also did some really fun writing challenges. My personal favorite was rewriting a picture book to give it a spooky/creepy mood. Millie’s version of The Giving Tree, renamed The Taking Tree, is honestly better than the original. “The boy died, and the tree was glad.” Iconic.
Liam finished his Common App college essay, plus at least seven smaller essays, for the November 1 early application deadline. Liam doesn’t think of himself as a writer—he’s a mechanical engineer/robotics guy—but one of his short essays was absolutely poetic. Unsurprisingly, it was about the aspects of robotics that interested him the most. I don’t know anything about that stuff (and understand even less), but I could have read his description of it all day. His Common App essay was pitch-perfect, but the best part was seeing how happy he was with the final product. He said it felt and sounded like him, which was my goal from the outset. We’re rooting for you, Liam!
Beyond Olympus: Make Mine a Myth started this month. You know how sometimes a group of people get together and you just feel magic in the room? That’s how I felt when these four writers first sat at my table. We’re learning about Slavic, Norse, Native American, Egyptian, and a yet-to-be-determined mythological system in this class, then using what we’ve learned to write our own creation stories. We’re having a blast. So far, the writers are very into the Zorya, who come from Slavic traditions. The Zorya are 2 or 3 women (or one woman with 2-3 sides to her) who represent dawn, dusk, and, if there’s a third, midnight. The stories these girls come up with are literally soap opera-worthy.
Save the Date!
1st Annual Wordshop Book Swap
Saturday, December 2, 1:00-3:00 p.m.
Email invitations to follow;
start gathering your swappable books!
November & December Classes
Middle and High School
Writing Sucks, Mondays, 4:00-5:00 p.m., starts November 6
Tailored specifically for kids who are good students but hate writing, Writing Sucks breaks down the dreaded-five paragraph essay into easy, manageable steps and demystifies the writing process.
High School
Wordshop Membership (ongoing)
Friday Night Write, 7:00-8:30 p.m., November 10, 17, December 1, 15
Fiction Boot Camp, Tuesdays, 4:00-5:30 p.m., starts November 7
This intermediate-to-advanced fiction class is perfect for kids who either want to write their own novel or are in the process of doing so. We’ll play with character creation, build our own worlds, and explore the relationship between plot development and a character’s narrative arc.
Gimme a Beat: Poetry Party, Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30 p.m., starts November 7
Read it, write it, love it. We’ll spend five sessions reading awesome poems and then try our hand at writing our own. Each week will focus on a different style of poetry.
Middle School
Thursday Night Write, 7:00-8:30 p.m., November 2, 16, 30;
NO DECEMBER SESSIONSPlaying with Poems, Wednesdays, 4:00-5:30 p.m., starts November 29
Poems are hiding everywhere. Mrs. Kristin will show you where to find them. We’ll also read the work of some awesome poets and try to figure out what makes a poem not suck.
Adults-Only
Adult Book Club, December 7, 7:15-8:30 p.m.
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Avid and reluctant readers alike are invited to join our discussion about this action-packed callback to the 1980s movies, video games, and music we’ll never forget. Kristin will lead you through a discussion about the book’s themes, symbols, and structure, just like she does with your kids. Whether you devour it in a day or prefer to listen while running errands, everyone is welcome to join us.
UPDATE: The Big Publishing Project:
Choose-Your-Own-Adventure
One thing I learned pretty quickly after opening The Wordshop is that I can’t expect all my good class ideas to work at once. We didn’t have any high schoolers sign up for the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novel project, so we’re going to put a pin in it for a few months. The project will start in the summer, but signups will open in February, when Blue Valley hosts its Summer Activities Fair. I’ll keep you posted.