Hi, Kids,

Today my writing group, Words For The Journey, started meeting again after taking a summer break. It was wonderful to talk about writing with other writers. Do you have a friend who writes? Do you have someone to share your writing with?

Have you ever thought about words and phrases adults say that are the same—over and over? Do you like books with the same phrases? Most people don’t because it makes the story boring.

What new phrases can you come up with? How can you say the same thing in a new way? My eight-year-old grandson loves to tell stories and has started writing them down. One day when he was visiting, he surprised me by saying, “The people left to the farm.” We have all heard left from, but not left to.

How many things do you like to say that are different from most adults?

I have a story for you tonight. My adult daughter attended the Colorado Rockies baseball game tonight. Before the game, a man commented on the book she was reading. During the conversation following the comment, this man said his son was a creative writer, but is having trouble finding places where he can get help with his stories and post them on the web. She gave the man this website and I hope I will be seeing the young man's stories soon.

This site is for all of you who like to write. After I review the stories, they will be posted on this site.

How many of you know the most important thing to do if you want to become a very good writer?

Write, write, write, every day.

Here is a fun exercise for making your characters more real. Try it our and see what you think. Use the following statement and questions to create a paragraph about the woman.

The old woman walked across the street with her cane.

Did she stand tall and proud? Did her cane tap in time with her steps? Was she hunched and curled over the cane? Were her feet shuffling. How much of her weight was being held by the cane? Did she walk slow or fast? Was she friendly and open or cold and haughty?

Hi, Kids,

Have you been thinking about places or things that give you ideas for stories? When I try to decide where the best place to find stories, I keep thinking of more and more places. Abandoned buildings, forests, thickets, under a bed, inside a hole in my desk, and in the cracks in cement.

Here’s a fun exercise if you want to try it. Find a crack in a sidewalk and draw a small circle including a piece of the crack. Then make-up a story about what is happening in the tiny town inside the circle. Have fun.

Hi. How you doin’? Come on in.

Do you love to write? I do. Do you love to speak in front of groups? I do, even though my stomach is giggling like jello from nervousness. Ever been told you’re too young to write? That’s ok. I’ve been told I’m too old, but who cares.

Let’s get started. It might sound silly, but I’m watching a tree make different pictures against a blue sky and I’m creating stories about those pictures.

Tell me about what you see and make up stories about. I’ll be checking out your answers and will be back to talk about them on Tuesdays and Fridays.

I’m listening.