Writing is a Journey

Let's Write

What is this Project?

We feel that each and every one of us can make up a story, create pictures, and publish that story in a professional manner either in hard back, paper back, DVD, Video, CD, Web Animation, you make the call.

The following project is magical.........We have worked with schools around the country in our author in residense programs. Each of these schools have either published a professionally printed, hard back book, video tape or dvd. It's great fun when the project is complete and each student has the option to purchase the final project and take it home.

    In our author in residense programs, to complete the projects, we would work with the school over the period of a year. This was expensive and involved lots of travel on our part. Now, with video or web conferencing, we can work with you and your students and get the job done for a fraction of what it used to cost.

On the other hand, all of the instuctions are on the following pages.  They are here so that you can do it on your own.  Give it a shot, it's extremely rewarding.

Here's what we're going to do.

We're going to take a large group of students. It could be a group of 5 fourth grade friends, a class room with 24 students, or even 7 schools of 500 students each, all working together to write one, 32 page, color children's picture book, a 30 minute animated cartoon, or an intense, adventure web site.

Sounds like a zoo doesn't it. Sounds like a big headache huhhhhh....... Well it is! It's creation. Creation doesn't come easy, but it's a beautiful process. When you and the students are done, the final product will be a trophy that no one could ever have imagined.

Here's how it works. We'll pretend that you are doing this in a school with 600 students. If you are in a classroom with 24 students (wouldn't you be lucky) or you are a group of 4th Graders with 4 of your friends, then scale the numbers down, but do the same stuff.

Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Brainstorm, Brainstorm.

Almost every adult has seen about 5,000 movies. Almost every 5th grader has seen about 700 to 1000 movies and about 10,000 citation comedies. All of us have seen so many stories that we know what makes a good story and what makes a bad story.

We're not Abraham Lincoln. Old Abe never saw a movie, and probably read only 500 to 1500 books. If he saw 100 plays in his fife time he was lucky.

We all know the beginning, the middle and the end type set up of a story. We know what is boring and what is not boring. We just don't know it in our minds. So what we're going to do is loosen up, and use what we know to make a great story.

The great thing about having 600 minds working together is that you can't help but come up with 100 great ideas.

The Process.

Ok, this is important. What you are about to read will be done again, and again, and again for everything we do from here on so pay attention. We are going to choose our "Issue", that means, "The Message that We Want to Send to The World," using this process as an example of how the process works.

1. Ask your group, "If you were going to send a message to the world, put it in a children's book, and children from all over the world were going to read it, then what would that message be?"

2. Make Sure that someone that can write quickly can take notes.

• love
• friendship
• say no to drugs
• stop the violence
• save the earth
• don't drink and drive
• love your teacher

3. Let people give their ideas freely. Now, if we have 600 students in a gym doing this, it would be a zoo. So let's not do that. Let's have each classroom do this within the class room.

4. List all of the different ideas on the chalk board do everyone can see what ideas are available.

Stop.........................

Rules, Rules, Rules.

By now, we have stories about killers, sex, ninja turtles and stuff like that. Let's get things straight up front. None of the above. Let everyone involved know that their will be;

No killing
No violence
No name calling
No using other stories or characters that we've read about in other books or seen on TV or in Movies.

5. Now that we have many different ideas on the board at the same time, ask each person that came up with their idea, and tell the group why this is an important message to send to the world.

Have an open discussion.

6. Let the other members of the group comment about what they like or don't like about the various ideas that have been presented.

7. Decision Time.

Now let's choose our issue, our message to the world. With ideas listed, let's vote on our message.

Stop............................

Uut,,,,,Ohhhhhhh.....Looks like some of our members are going to get their feelings hurt huhhhhh. We'll have lots of ideas and only one will be chosen. Well, join the planet, this is how the world is run.

On our planet, we work together to get things done. People who don't contribute ideas can't complain. But if you are leading the discussion, let your group know that we must many times ask "the quiet people" their ideas. For quiet people, life is not a kind as our group will be, but quiet people have good ideas too.

8. Vote on the Ideas. Pick the top three get the most votes, then vote again to choose our final issue.

9. Remember, for this example, we're in a school with 600 students. We have about 24 classrooms that have come up with one issue each. Now what do we do?

Home

10. The Editing Board.

Each Classroom should choose one person that will represent their classroom's ideas. We will call this person an Editor. This person will go into a room with 23 other Editors.

These editors will go through the same process that occurred in the classrooms. They will come up with one idea, one message to send to the world.

Wasn't that easy. 600 students, lots of conversation, one message to send to the world. Enjoy this moment, because this is as easy as it gets.

Before We go Any Further.