Dream Makers Writing Prompt (3)

Daybreak in Alabama by Langston Hughes

“When I get to be a composer

I’m going to write me some music about

Daybreak in Alabama

And I’m going to put the purtiest songs in it

Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist

And falling out of heaven like soft dew.

I’m going to put some small trees in it

And the scent of pine needles

And the smell of red clay after rain

And long red necks

And poppy colored faces

And big brown arms

And the field daisy eyes

Of black and white black white black people

And I’m going to put white hands

And black hands and brown and yellow hands

And red clay earth hands in it

Touching everybody with kind fingers

And touching each other as natural as dew

In that dawn of music when I

Get to be a composer

And write about daybreak

In Alabama.”

1.     Write a brief prose piece about what your dream looked like in the past, or looks like now.

2.     What strikes you the most about the author’s use of senses? What do you see, hear, touch, smell, taste in this poem?

3.     Re-write your prose piece adding sensory detail.

Closing

After a few days re-read the three poems and your response to each. What comparison of your dreams have you experienced that relates to the models Langston Hughes gives in these poems?

Write your own poem.

1. Do you see a re-connection to the power of dreams in one’s life?

2. Which sense of voice at what age, or emotions, do you most identify with?

3. What is your new dream?

4. If a writer what idea starter do you see as a new project: picture book, short story, character, incident scene, or new research.

5. In whatever art or life form you have for a new dream to follow this year—what are your first steps?

6. Choose one step to do the first week of this new year.

Dream Makers Writing Prompt (2)

As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes 

“It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun--
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.

Rose until it touched the sky--
The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun!”

1. How does the wall metaphor impact this poem? What other feelings or emotions does it imply?

2. Identify and list places where your dreams were stopped or side-tracked, delayed, or changed. Next to each write down one to three metaphors that express the situation.

3. Choose one metaphor and expand it by saying other ways you could describe it.

4. Re-write that chosen incident either as a poem or prose piece incorporating your metaphor, and if appropriate, the voice age at which the incident was experienced.

Dream Makers Writing Prompt (1)

Dream Makers Writing Prompt

Readings: Poems by Langston Hughes

            The Dream Keeper

            As I Grew Older

            Daybreak in Alabama

Process:

            Read Assigned Poem           

            Exercise: Write down any words that jump out to you and then consider their Definition or Explanation or Questions they spark.

            Freewrite: Without considering sentence structure or punctuation, write down everything that comes to mind. Maybe set a timer for five or ten minutes.

            Writing Prompts: Set your notes away for a few hours or a day and let the ideas float for a while. Then take a short block of time to respond to the poem or the questions for each one.

            Dream: What connection did you make to this word personally in this poem?           

The Dreamkeeper by Langston Hughes 

“Bring me all of your dreams.

You dreamers.

Bring me all of your heart melodies

That I may wrap them

In a blue cloud-cloth

Away from the too-rough fingers

Of the world.”

1. What were some of your dreams as a child, a teen-ager, a young adult, and now?

2. Which word in this poem do you most relate to?

3. Which words do you wish you could relate to?

Only Connect: Overview Basics

Workshop: An Introduction to Writing for Children and Young Adults

“An idea is something that makes a sound in the heart.” Katherine Paterson

Once in a while have you ever seen a movie, or read a book, that both friends and critics have given high applause to, and yet it has left you bored or cold or both? The quality is evident, no argument, yet still you just don’t respond. A strong possibility is that the storyline or the underlying threads did not engage your heart. It did not connect. Talent is a required component to any art form, but it is not enough if it doesn’t engage with the intended audience.  And for the example above, you may not have been the intended audience.

Only connection is as high a value as talent in literature for children and young adults. Actually it is probably higher. It is why some children will cling to a poorly written story, or ask to hear a song over and over that grates on our nerves. It may be a concept that doesn’t match any ‘rules’ of a genre, but readers inhale it like dessert. The classic storybook “Goodnight Moon” does not fall into ‘normal’ guidelines for writing to that age group, yet it affects all generations with its heart relationship to that whisper of falling asleep for a child without vocabulary to express their feelings.

Often when we are writing we are translating. We have an idea—a character—a feeling—a fear—a hope that we are trying to put into words, to first translate into something more tangible, and then second to share it with another person.

“One thing we can do is to share with children works of the imagination—those sounds deepest in the human heart, often couched in symbol and metaphor. These don’t give children packaged answers. They invite children to go within themselves to listen to the sounds of their own hearts.” Katherine Paterson

Old Testament prophet Habbakuk first saw a vision, and then was told to write it ‘plainly’ so that a runner could take it.  That’s the craft part of developing our ideas into form: poem, short story, or article that we can make ‘plain’, make our concepts understandable.

Only when we are writing for children and young adults it seems, sometimes, that we are crossing a culture gap as well as generational and we struggle to find the words. We need to find the connections that bridge our hearts, and at the same time keeps the imagination free to expand into new ideas—not packaged ones. New sounds—new stories—new art. Fresh hope.

Action Steps:

1.    Write a definition of dream either as a word or as a concept.

2.    Suppose you were trying to explain this word to someone who doesn’t speak your language. How would you do it?

3.    Then read, The Dream Keeper, a poem by Langston Hughes. http://allpoetry.com/The-Dream-Keeper

4.    What sound does it make in your heart?

Share: How does his poem connect with your feelings and definition?

Read deep, marcy

Build a Story World

Read With Impact (Three)

For poetry, read for language and metaphors. Practice studying for implicit and explicit examples and watch for the sound of words as well.

They are usually ordinary words that are fine-tuned for a clear purpose. Musicians all use the same notes, but one may write an opera and another heavy metal rock. The styles, the genre, the melody all impact the final result.  Likewise our words arise out of each project.

We fine-tune by deepened vocabulary. What needs to be highlighted? Where do we need to whisper or to shout? Do we make sure our reader has absolutely no doubt what we intend, or do we want ambiguity?

Exercise: Briefly 

  Journal your answers to these questions.

a.     Have you ever had to defer a dream (define)?

b.     What did it feel like?

c.      What images stay with you?

    Read           Dreams by Langston Hughes

                        Hold fast to dreams

                        For if dreams die

                        Life is a broken-winged bird

                        That cannot fly

                        Hold fast to dreams

                        For when dreams go

                        Life is a barren field

                        Frozen with snow

     Respond

a.     What is explicit? What is implicit?

b.     Two prominent images are the broken-winged bird and the barren field. What are some feelings you associate with these images?

c.      What qualities make a writer’s voice distinctive and memorable?

Application: Practice Changing Clichés

1.Take well-known clichés and shift them around. Make a list of as many common ones that you can think of and then crisscross them just for fun. Some will be hilarious and ridiculous. And some might spark a new phrase.

2. Or make a list of metaphors and similes from one poem and then re-write them. Put your new version back into the original poem. How does the focus change?

3. This is really entertaining in a small group of writers and rather surprising at some of the images that can come to the surface.

4. Practice shifting old concepts around until they become new and fresh.

Share: Choose one or two of your favorites and share.

Construct With Memory

Recently my grandson’s class did an art project studying Chagall. It was fascinating to see the images these six year-olds chose to reflect their emerging sense of self-portrait and what they remembered as being important to them. And satisfying to see that almost every child chose some depiction of home or school as being a safe place. This is the age to be able to dream big dreams, to become someone new every day and learn to stretch their imagination into possibilities.

For some, this season becomes the root of direction. Perhaps not the actual future vocation, but the essence of value begins to come to light. For others, it’s a long journey. For all it’s a struggle to know when to pursue a dream, and when it needs to be adapted.

One little girl splashed dance all over her portrait, basically ignoring all the other categories. Motion and movement pour out of her. Will she become a dancer—only time will tell if that dream is a concrete reality—but somewhere music will need to be a large part of her life.

Most childhood dreams fade with laughter, however some fade leaving behind a dark shadow when a piece of us becomes cut away along with the dream. Or dismissed as being irrelevant—impossible—irresponsible.

Maybe for ourselves and our characters we need to stop, reflect, remember our own self-portrait and see if we’ve forgotten something important that needs to be refreshed. Langston Hughes captures that essence in his poem.

Dreams

       by Langston Hughes

                        "Hold fast to dreams

                        For if dreams die

                        Life is a broken-winged bird

                        That cannot fly

                        Hold fast to dreams

                        For when dreams go

                        Life is a barren field

                        Frozen with snow"

Journal Prompt:

1.                    Two prominent images here are the broken-winged bird and the barren field. What are some feelings you associate with these images?

2.                    What two or three words would your character use to remember a broken dream?

Share: One image you chose and your reason why.