If you have attended a Jumpstart Writing Workshop, you may have heard me say, “There are two kinds of writing I like. One is when the writing speaks to universal truths—something we can all relate to. The other is when the writing speaks to me personally.” This excerpt from “The Review Rat Race,” a “5-Minute Memoir” by Barbara Solomon Josselsohn expands upon that thought. “To me, success meant having readers who felt that my novel articulated something important, something they had felt deeply inside but had never been able to express or fully understand before my book came along.” —Barbara Solomon Josselsohn * That often happens in Jumpstart . . . the writing touches us deeply as the writer articulates in ways that we hadn’t been able to express or understand prior to hearing their freewrite. * Excerpt from January 2017 issue of Writer’s Digest Magazine.
Tag: Jumpstart Writing Workshop
I never thought of that .. . Prompt # 225
Part Three of a three-part series of writing prompts inspired by Susan Bono’s Jumpstart Writing Workshop. A rewarding aspect of writing is when writers create scenarios that offer illumination for readers . . . that “aha moment.” Inside a Snowflake Tiny snow droplets slide into the snowflake as it falls to the ground. if you listen, really closely, you can hear the sun crunching together. The weather is stormy—a snowstorm with little snowflakes inside the big snowflake. A girl lives in the snowflake, with golden hair in pretty braids with a ribbon on the bottom. At midnight she watches the snow fall outside the snowflake, and the icicles drip. the next day she goes out on the frozen lake and ice skates. Sparks of ice fly up behind her. By Emily Osborn, Grade 3, Poetry In The Schools I love this…
Something missing . . . Prompt #223
I had the good fortune recently to “sit on the other side of the table.” I attended a Jumpstart Writing Workshop facilitated by Susan Bono. Susan talked about how there is tension between what the reader knows and what the narrator/character doesn’t know. Photo of Susan at Jumpstart Writing Workshop in Copperfield’s Bookstore, downtown Petaluma. Photo by Breana Marie. Susan read Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Something Missing.” I put on my socks, I remember I put on my shoes. I remember I put on my tie That was painted In beautiful purples and blues. I remember I put on my coat, To look perfectly grand at the dance, Yet I feel there is something I may have forgot—- What is it? What is it?. . . Do you know what the narrator forgot? If you don’t know, read the poem again. It rhymes with “dance.” . . . Pants! Susan…