Grammar Punk Blog

Brainstorming Your Brain

Brainstorming: to generate creative ideas spontaneously. Sounds simple enough. This is it. You’re sitting at your desk, fingers poised over the keys, eyes trained optimistically on a clean, white, blank screen (or clean, white piece of paper if you happen to be a Luddite). You’re ready to write. Right? Wait. Not so fast. Um, WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?

 Perhaps a better question is: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS? It’s called BRAINSTORMING and it can be fun. No, really. The secret to brainstorming is to let your imagination take over about 98% of your brain functions (leaving just enough for breathing and blinking). Try a few of these suggestions:

o   Look out the window:

§    Pretend you’re on the other side of the window looking in/something suddenly crashes through the window/someone taps on the window/the window is really a porthole and the waves are rising/the window is in a spaceship and outside you see… You get the idea.

·         Spread the Grammar Punk Constructing Writers™ Cards (or the K-3 Elementary Cards, the 4-9 Story Cards, 9-12 Idea Cards, or the GP Creative Cards) across a table. (See www.grammarpunk.com) Look at them very hard.

·         Read. Something. Someone. Anyone. Read what and who you like.

·         Observe, eavesdrop, listen, experience, daydream, speculate, question, doodle.

·         Play with words, expressions, sayings, ideas, clichés, things on your desk . . .

·         Write down any idea that pops into your head. Then the next and the next.

The writing ideas are in there, the challenge is to find that mysterious place where ideas hover, float, fidget, meander, wend, wiggle, gather, flitter, and live. And wait to be discovered. And pieced together in a gathering of words that will, with work, perseverance, and a bit of luck become story. A story. Your student’s story. Or even your own story.

To winnow out those free-floating, often elusive bits of flotsam that are ideas is easier—and harder—than you think. But like any hard-won skill, it takes practice, as does anything worth doing.

Because the ultimate goal of brainstorming is to formulate an idea that will grow and develop and hopefully resolve itself in the form of a story with a beginning, middle, and an end, it is helpful to at least attempt to tame the flurry of ideas that, once awakened, can bounce around your brain like a ping-pong ball in a wind tunnel. How to wake up those ideas? Ask them questions.

How?

What?

When?

Where?

Who?

Why?

How did the what happen when and where and to whom and WHY? Answer those questions and you have the beginning, possibly the middle, and even the end to story.

 I don’t usually comment on the comments I receive from this blog, and maybe I should. Or not. I haven’t decided. But I had to comment on one I recently received because it struck a nerve—just probably not the one the writer might have intended. The comment was not mean-spirited—at least I didn’t take it that way, but it made me think. I don’t even remember the exact quote and will admit to deleting it in a semi-snit, and shouldn’t have, the basics of it were that if a dictionary was required to get through the first couple sentences of a particular entry it might be off-putting to some readers—especially if said reader was in a hurry.

Hm. Where do I begin?

Okay, number one, I like big words, little words, complicated and even arcane words. If you’ve been reading this blog with any regularity at all you’ve probably tumbled to the fact that I do not attempt nor will I even consider muffling my verbosity. And have you missed my more than one entry on dictionaries!?

Number two: If you’re in a hurry! C’mon! Why is everyone so rushed? Why must all forms of communication feel as if they must be abbreviated, truncated, and guillotined so they can fit on the wee little screens that also make phone calls, allow you to do your taxes, arrange to have your dog groomed, watch the latest movies, sitcom, or television drama, and yes, read blogs. Texting is making us stupid! Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

I will end this diatribe by saying that I truly hope I have inspired (irked, driven, pushed) you to your dictionaries to look up a word or six that I’ve used in this blog. If we stop learning we stop living. Or is that just me?

In short, this blog is meant to explore, illuminate, and even celebrate this amazing language, the teaching thereof, and the many, many ways it affects our lives. So, even shorter, I won’t be curbing my enthusiasm for words. Neither should you.

I hope you keep reading!

Since I’ve been talking about teachers, I’ll throw in an article about students and classrooms.

Engage your students by giving them a sense of accomplishment

There is nothing more compelling when it comes to a difficult or tedious task than having a goal at the end of it. As with pretty much all subjects, Language Arts has its share of less than scintillating aspects, the secret is to create something from the mundane.

Combine activities

Spelling words, another of those oh so necessary nemesis that go along with the perpetuation of our wonderfully complex language. Rote, practice, dissembling the words, familiarizing oneself with the parts of the words (prefix, root, suffix) will all strengthen spelling skills and enhancing the vocabulary. But then what? What to do with all those lovely but disconnected words? Connect them.

Assign the writing of a short story using all of those spelling words, an activity that will not only prepare students for the coming composition course but will serve to further ingrain the spelling and defining of those words. Of course this assignment will be enhanced (not to mention more fun) by using the myriad of cards available with the Grammar Punk™ Programs to offer a nearly limitless quantity of story ideas, writing tips, and brainstorming prompts.

Giving any assignment a purpose with clear parameters will make it much more palatable. Learning while creating is the best of both worlds.

Mix It Up!

It might surprise you to know that some of us who write as a profession don’t always see proper grammar as a job prerequisite. At least not in the front of their heads. “Grammar can be “gotten” not necessarily studied. I respectfully disagree.

Proper grammar helps to make a story flow smoothly. Having a firm grasp of the basic rules and  parameters of grammar also helps the ease of writing exponentially. Knowing the rules and making them part of your repertoire leaves your brain free for  creativity and storytelling.

This is not to say that the many (many!) rules have to be memorized and applied, we’re talking basic grammar here. Learning how to construct tight clean paragraphs with well thought-out sentences will create the bones for a strong story.

First lesson: sentence length. This one may seem like a no brainer—wrong! When writing anything you expect to be read by anyone else, mix it up. If you’ve never thought about it before, and that’s not uncommon, think about it now. And notice when you’re reading.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I like long sentences, not prohibitively long, but not short and choppy. Unless short and choppy is called for. Like now. You’ll want to watch run on, nonsensically long sentences that tend to drone on and on using up a lot of words without the necessity or bother of a lot of unnecessary interruptions like punctuation or flow and style. You get the idea. I also like semicolons, a lot, but that’s another story and another topic we’ll get to later.  

So, remember, long sentences, short sentences, medium length sentences. Mix and match. You’ll be surprised how much easier your writing will be on your readers.

Proofreading

You’ve heard me lament about the subjugation of writing for printing, spelling, and overused words, well, today let us discuss proofreading. Or the lack thereof.

Now I for one applaud the advent of progress when it comes to the act of writing. I not only emphatically embrace writing with a computer (my first novel was written entirely on a typewriter—which means, make a mistake, retype the page!), email, IM, Twitter, et al. I love it all. And my philosophy is: if it makes writing easier, yahoo! However, as with many things that are suddenly easier, complacency sets in. And with complacency…okay, I’ll just say it, carelessness follows.

Communication is communication, no matter its format, and thus should be clear, readable, and free from mistakes—at least the easily found and fixed ones. Yes, I’m talking about even the most casual of missives. And, yes, I’m harping. Because it is with casual communication that bad habits are developed. And even the most casual communication reflects its author.

Proofreading, people! Take that extra couple of minutes after you’ve typed out what you want to say to reread what you’ve just written. You’ll be amazed at the common mistakes that can be avoided: missing words, commonly misspelled words, lack of punctuation, etc., and you’ll be astonished at how much more impressive even the simplest message can be if it is error-free.

So before you hit the Send button, stop and proofread. All who read you will appreciate it. And want to hear from you again. ;o)

Write with purpose! Especially when it comes to writing your scenes.

Your scene might be in a short story or something longer; doesn’t matter, a scene is a scene. And every scene should have a purpose. And every scene should move the story forward in some way. And every scene should blend with the one before it—and the one following on its heels.

Scenes are the building blocks of your story. Think of scenes as what happens between the commercials of a television show. Remember, scenes should have a beginning, middle, and an end. Scenes should be like wee little mini-stories that when put together form the story as a whole. Don’t worry, that’s not as daunting as it sounds. Actually, I’ve always found that to be sort of comforting. Tackling a story—or gulp—a novel one scene at a time makes the journey much more manageable. And fun. I promise.

Begin at the beginning. Have an idea for a story? Something longer? Can’t seem to get past the idea of getting that idea down on paper and letting it do its thing? Think of it one scene at a time. How does your story begin? Write!

Commonly Confused’s

The English language is one of the most difficult languages to master—even for those of us who count it as their first, and only. Much of the complexity and redundancy of our language can be blamed on the fact that we’ve borrowed from so many other languages. The many, many commonly confused words, many of those homonyms, yet another reason our language presents such difficulties.

Once a week we’ll explore a pair of homonyms or commonly confused words and hopefully shed a little light on using the correct one in the correct places.

We’ll begin with one of my personal pet peeves of a pair of commonly confused words. Not only is this word often used incorrectly in print but it is astonishing how often it is misspoken aloud in movies, television shows, news broadcasts, you name it. Drumroll please…

Cavalry and Calvary.

Once and for all:

Cavalry: formerly, the part of an army made up of soldiers trained to fight on horseback. As in here comes the cavalry to the rescue.

And Calvary: a hill just outside the city walls of ancient Jerusalem where the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place, according to the Bible.

Yes, they sound similar but there isn’t even the excuse of two words that are spelled and pronounced the same—they’re not! They’re two completely different words! So why do so many people misuse them! Okay, tantrum over. All together now, cavalry—to the rescue; Calvary—a place in xxxx.

Grammar Punk Commonly Confused Sentence:

Grammar Punk Sentence: C A 2

Heaving a lofty sigh of relief, Stella saw the herd of caterpillars cresting the hill; The Butterfly Festival would go on: the cavalry had arrived!

Of all the places she’d visited on her vacation, the visit to Calvary was the most moving.

The teaching of Creative Writing has gotten a bad rap over the last several years. Or at least an overly complicated one. All writing, no matter its purpose or end result, should contain at least aspects of creativity. Otherwise, what would be the point?

The question then is: when should creative writing be introduced into the student experience?

Teachers say:

•       I’m just trying to get my students to write simple sentences, they’re not ready for creative writing.

Grammar Punk™ says:

•       They’re already writing creatively, now you just need to focus the skills they’re already exhibiting.

We also say: What creative writing isn’t…

•       Out of your student’s league

•       Too much to expect from middle school or even elementary students

•       Difficult to teach

•       Not necessary for struggling or reluctant students

•       Not fun to teach or learn

Grammar Punk™ says:

•       All writing begins with words

•       The Grammar Punk™ Dice make students more aware of the words they create

•       Using specific words (of their own creation) in sentences makes students use their imaginations to make the word fit

•       Creating an imaginative sentence makes students want to ask… What happens next?

Encourage your students to play with words.

•       Words about the 5 senses (sight, smell, taste, touch, sound)

•       Words that paint pictures

•       Words that set mood or convey emotion

•       Words that describe a location or setting

•       Words that fit a specific genre or theme

We’ll go into more detail about this subject. As you’ve probably noticed, we’re crazy about writing in all its wild and wacky formats.

It came to my attention not too long ago that the art—and yes I’m calling it an art—of cursive writing is dwindling fast.

This is an outrage, I cry!

There are many reasons put forth, I have no doubt. I’ve heard that it is felt that there are too many pressures on students and this is yet one more. It is a skill that is no longer necessary with the onslaught of computers and texting and keyboards and blah, blah, blah.

Excuses, excuses.

Cursive writing is a skill that should not, cannot, must not be lost, certainly not to entire generations to come.

If nothing else the act of cursive writing lends speed to ones communication.  This was in fact the very reason that the lack of cursive training came to my attention.  I was scribbling out a check at a grocery store and looked up to see the young cashier staring at me in something like fascination. When I looked askance, she commented that she’d never learned how to write in cursive and couldn’t believe how fast I could write.

And here I had no idea that cursive writing was not just a normal part and parcel of elementary education. I clearly remember practicing those first rudimentary swoops and swirls and strange shapes that I wasn’t entirely certain would ever resemble actual letters. We were living in Alaska at the time and I had a particularly clever teacher who made the repetition fun by having us create a drawing from our cursive capital letters. I still recall I had the letter F and I made it into a sailboat. And though drawing has never been my strongest suit (though oh, I wish it were) I’ve never forgotten that small awkward sail boat made from the letter F. Cursive was more than just writing, it was very near magical. And learning it felt like an accomplishment that never quite left me.

What do you think?

Expository writing is meant to inform the reader, to convey information in a clear, precise manner. Creative writing is intended to entertain the reader, though it too can inform. Because mastering both types of writing will make you a true writer, a better writer, a phenomenal writer, give expository writing a try.

There are many kinds of expository writing: personal narratives, persuasive essays, book reports, research papers, cause/effect essays, essays of comparison, how-to essays, journaling, etc. Expository is a fancy way of describing any kind of writing where the writer is informing the reader about something. The thing to remember with any kind of expository writing is accuracy, precision, and attention to detail. You’re trying to communicate something: make it clear.

We’ll talk more about the different types of expository writing in the following weeks.