Today I gave my students a form to help them begin to form a character for our writing lesson today. Most of them were very excited and began scribbling on their sheets. Some of them were so excited about it that they blurted out little things they were creating. This is the part of teaching that I love- when students get excited about something.
As the students were writing, they asked me questions about coming up with characters in my novel and how I did it. I told them that I had many different ways that worked for me; that some characters come more together than others- that some I labored for days over their names and others the names came instantly. I was reminded that one of my villains was formed in a classroom exercise very similar to the one I led today. I loved the back and forth dialogue with the kids.
They had about 20 minutes to create this character and then they shared them with the class. As I listened to each one, I was impressed. Some of the characters were close to the author- others were very different. One third grader made up a girl that was almost goth like and her parents were rich very conservative people. Another student had a character that loved the band RED. (not sure where he got that idea from! ha ha)
The thing that hit me was the fact that my students were having fun! They were creating and having a blast! I love writing- but it's been hard work for the last year and a half. Once my kids take their character and plug it into a story- it may not be quite like it is now...but that's okay.
We talked about keeping a notebook for ideas and getting inspiration from different places. One student suggested that Wal-Mart could be a good place to get ideas! I commented that my music gave me lots of ideas and my daughter said that I get lots of ideas at church too. (That's true! My notebook is out a whole lot there!)
After class dismissed today, I sat at my desk and marveled how much fun writing can be. How much of a blast the creative process is. As usual, my students are teaching me many things, and today they reminded me of why I write in the first place.
Do you have something that you do all of the time but have forgotten how much fun it is? Or is there something you used to do that you want to do again? My challenge to you today is to remember the joy in doing what you love- then go and do it!
Have fun! :)
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