It’s been over 30 years since this happened, so there are details long lost in the fog of my teaching memories.
It was in one of my World Literature evening classes when we were all listening to student reports discussing one author or literary work or another. Then she took the podium.
She was a rather exotic Mediterranean (I think) blonde beauty. An art student. The sort of student a teacher is well advised to keep his thoughts about to himself. I did.
She stood at the front of the class and asked for a volunteer. One gentlemen joined her and she asked him to turn his back to her and cup his hands behind his back. She said she was going to place a series of objects in his hands, ask him to describe the object in question without identifying it, and then ask the class to guess what the object was. She didn’t reveal what each object was until the guessing game was over.
I don’t remember what her objects were—I think they included a hairbrush and seashell. I don’t remember how well the class did at guessing the objects. But I do remember that, when she was done, she looked out at us and said, “This is what a writer does. Try to describe something so we can identify it without seeing it.”
She didn’t elaborate on that point, if memory serves. I do know I imitated her demonstration for many years in my writing classes and kept a bag of objects I used over and over. I’m pretty sure I had a clothes brush and a genuine cowboy spur in the mix. If memory serves, many classes did very well at guessing the objects, others not so much. One thing was consistent. For a few minutes, I definitely had their attention.
If you’re a writing teacher, writing coach, the like, try this little demo yourself. If nothing else, you’ll engage your students for a few minutes and perhaps give them writing prompts to play with.
MORE ABOUT THE ESSAYIST
Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and reviews books for BookPleasures.com. Learn more about him with these links:
MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER
Howard-Johnson is the author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the award-winning second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter (where she talks more about choosing and the advantages of winning contests and how to use those honors) and The Frugal Editor. Her latest is in the series is How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically. Learn more on her Amazon profile page, http://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile. Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers is one of her booklets--perfect for inexpensive gift giving--and, another booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal helps writers who want to be traditionally published. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it will help them convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. In addition to this blog, she helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs at all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (http://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com )
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting on posts at #SharingwithWriters blog, a Writers Digest 101 Best Websites pick at
www.SharingWithWriters.blogspot.com. You might also find www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com full of resources you can use and
www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a free review site will benefit your book or increase your reading pleasure.