Blogging Assignments: Check; Stephen King on Writing

Welcome back from break! I hope you had a restful one.

After our quiz this morning on Stephen King's memoir, please attend to any missing blog posts (I'll be checking these this week for your grade). So far this is the minimum requirement for the blog project so far from my class (you should as of this date have at least 10 posts written):

Blog Post Assignments (with date of original assignment/post):

1. Welcome (Jan. 31)
2. Fences review (Jan. 31)
3. Passionate response (Jan. 31)
4.  Reflection on Writing Response: top 10 writing rules, publishers, how much do I make publishing? (Jan. 31, homework)
5. Response to any of these writers' comments: Walter Mosely, Robert McKee, Isabel Allende (Feb. 3)
6. Writing career response (Feb. 5)
7. Favorite story, poem, film, text, etc. (Feb. 5)
8. Share a link/video (Feb. 5)
9. Response to any of these writers: Neil Gaiman, Ceridwen Dovey, Elizabeth Gilbert, Margaret Atwood (Feb. 5)
10. Writing Inspiration Quote & Writing Article summary (Feb. 8)
11. What inspires you to write? (Feb. 8)
12. Others* (you could publish anything you've written including short stories, the love poem assignment, or other ideas as you deem fit or necessary)

Stephen King: On Writing Post Ideas

Stephen King invites us as readers into his life. He says of his memoir that it is his attempt to "show how one writer was formed...snapshots, most out of focus" (page 4, On Writing). For your next few blog posts, you will be asked to reflect on your OWN life as to how YOU were formed. These 'snapshots' will be collected together for your own mini-autobiography/memoir.

Please use any of the following prompts to write your posts. You may write as many of these as you can or want. Remember: our goal is to approach writing fluency. You can't get better at writing by avoiding it. Use these prompts to give your ideas a good jumping off point for your inspiration and reflection. Above all, try to tell as much of the truth as possible. Where you don't recall a detail, it is fine to make something up. Feel free to use dialogue, imagery, or other effective writing techniques to tell your story or communicate your ideas.

PROMPTS (with chapter models from On Writing by Stephen King):

• Chapter One: Write about your earliest memory.
• Chapter One: Write about an injury you suffered when you were young.
• Chapter Two: Write about one of your babysitters (or one of your babysitting jobs, if you'd like)
• Chapter Two: Write about a time when you were sick or violently ill
• Chapter Three: Write about a crazy stunt your brother, sister, or you did
• Chapter Four: Write about your experience or first memory of death (if you can't think of one, ask your parents, or a sibling)
• Chapter Five/Six: Write about getting a childhood sickness (the measles, chickenpox, pneumonia, ear aches, stomach viruses, etc.) or operation (even your first shot at the doctor's office...)
• Chapter Five/Six: Write about a doctor's visit (include some dialogue...)
• Chapter Seven/Eight: Write about your first story you ever wrote
• Chapter Nine: Write about your first crush, kiss, or date
• Chapter Nine: Write about an embarrassing moment (how did you survive?)
• Chapter Ten: Write about one of your siblings (or a friend, if you are an only child)
• Chapter Ten: Write about your first "scientific experiment"; or write about your first experience with a "blackout" or when the electricity (or internet) went out
• Chapter Eleven: Write about a favorite t.v. show when you were growing up
• Chapter Twelve: Write about your first 'rejection'
• Chapter Thirteen/Fourteen: write about your best story idea
• Chapter Fifteen: Write about your first submission to a magazine; or write about your first idea you wrote when you were younger--Try to reconstruct the plot
• Chapter Sixteen: Write about a grandparent; or a memory you have of living in your house
• Chapter Seventeen: Write about your sibling, or parent, and describe one of their pastimes or hobbies
• Chapter Eighteen: Write about your first experience at a movie theater--or write about your favorite author/or short story--describe its impact on you
• Chapter Nineteen: Write about a time you got into trouble (at school, church, or your own home)
• Chapter Twenty: Write about your favorite teacher. What did you learn from this person?
• Chapter Twenty-One/Twenty-Two: Write about your first job; or write about a memorable summer vacation
• Chapter Twenty-Three: Write about your first relationship; or write about your first poem or the first poem or song you remember had an impact on you
• Chapter Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six: Write about advice you took from someone you know (your parents, a relative, a teacher, or friend...) and what happened to you because of that advice?
• Chapter Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight: Write about your first job, or write about a person you met at that job; or write about someone you remember from your early life
• Chapter Twenty-Nine: Write about a peer in your classes who was an outcast or outsider--someone the group didn't like
• Chapter Thirty: Write about something you are proud of accomplishing
• Chapter Thirty-One through Chapter Thirty-Eight: Write about something you want to write about (it could be as simple as writing about your bedroom or workspace, or confessing an addiction or problem you've been having, or something you've realized about yourself...anything is fair game--as long as you make it interesting by 'telling the truth' as you see it.

HOMEWORK: Write, write, write. Complete as many blog posts as you can. Next class we'll continue learning about writing from Stephen King.