Interactive Reading as a Writer

"Look at things as a writer and all will turn out well."  Anton Chekhov

When reading, keep a pen handy so you can write and interact with the text. Ask questions and make notes in the margins. Read the work aloud.

Read to discover what the text might become.  Highlight pivotal passages or recurring images; locating the underlying, organic structure.  Find the focus or center. Look for "vibration points" and "pressure points."

1.  What is the writer's relationship to the subject? 

2. Pay attention to how the text means, not what. Discuss the shape, pattern, rhythm, voice of the story.  Abandon the lit-crit model for approaching a text.

3.  How does the opening paragraph gain the reader’s attention or establish a relationship with the reader?  Where would you begin?

4.  Which details best illustrate the main idea of the story?

5.  What happens in the middle to keep the reader moving forward?

6.   How does the writer use dramatic or comic scenes to keep the reader’s interest?

7.   How does the conclusion leave the reader?  Does it present a solution? Does it leave the ending to the reader's imagination?

8.   How does the author use figurative language or sensory imagery to engage the reader? (Use of metaphor or simile, sight, sound, touch, smell, taste)

9.   Once Chekhov observed that a book did not achieve its effect with him.  He said, "After I read it I was still the same person."  As a writer, have you changed by reading the work in question?  Did it stay with you?

10.   Comment on the pace of the story. Should it speed up or slow? Do the transitions move smoothly?

11.    Discuss verb choices. Do active verbs drive the story? Is the “to be” verb evident too often? 

12.   Does the writer experiment or take risks?  Is this effective or distracting?

13.  Does the writer transfer knowledge (report information) or share experience? Does the narrative mix information and explanation rather than provide an imaginative experience for the reader? Do facts remain separate elements or weave into the story’s fabric?

14. Comment on the sentence structure and patterns (simple or complex) and paragraphing (long and short). How do the sentences flow?  Does the writer use a mix of short and long sentences? How does this assist with the readability of the text?

15.  How does the author use cadence?  Do you find a rhythm in the words? Do the sentences build excitement or create urgency? Do you feel influenced by the pace and mood?

Becoming Marco Polo

These days a treehouse stands empty. It calls to children who clutch handhelds as fingers gain calluses from overusing the keys.

Today’s youth sing advertising jingles but cannot name the trees, plants or flowers in their own yards. Many have not experienced the wonder trees provide.

Becoming Marco Polo

Outside her childhood bedroom,
a jacaranda tree rubbed the porch railing
in squeals that led curiosity like a piper.
She sneaked out the window to climb it.

Thighs squeezed the bark; arms in hug.
She needed to touch the V formed by branches
near the ground. If only she could reach it,
then swing to the grass where adventures waited.

Night warbling continued from the tree. Muggens,
the cat, dug claws in the wood and scampered
the highway at will. Her tail spiraled in the breeze.
Finch chittering rose from limbs. Even they

flew in and out of branches or captured ants
on this Silk Road. A hummingbird made its nest
higher than her reach. When her father called,
she looked out the window, stuck in the middle.

Again she tried, clutched with her fingers
to find security in the roughness. Blood mingled
with gray bark in failed attempts to settle into the V.
Courage grew in welts on arms and legs.

In spring, an explosion of lavender blossoms
flew a fragrance of musk into the air. She took a breath
and tried once more. One shoe felt the wedge.
Another stretch and both feet arrived.

She balanced and looked upward into an applause
of leaves. She jumped from the V
to explore the world and back before dinner.
                                                - Penny Wilkes

Freedom and Flexibility

Free your mind of distractions and explore without judgment today.  Relent to creative urges and stay flexible.

Imaginate:     Write a line of something that seems impossible.

Play:              Describe a playful activity.

Revitalize:      See an old problem in a unbelievable way.

Eye rolls:       Examine a familiar object with a new perspective.

No gravity:    What would you do today if gravity didn't hold you down?

Take the responses to your lines and re-arrange them.  Read them aloud.  Then put them aside and write for ten minutes.  

How will you begin the day as a purple tummybird?