tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688746105716230228.post2052075890945599705..comments2013-12-11T11:06:14.990-08:00Comments on Killing Your Babies: I Don’t Know How To Start...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-688746105716230228.post-86462251076102967772013-12-11T11:06:14.990-08:002013-12-11T11:06:14.990-08:00Hi there, here are a few ideas that might help:
-...Hi there, here are a few ideas that might help:<br /><br />- Firstly, stop focusing on the 'end product', that can come after you've freed up the ideas for them. Otherwise as you've found they write what they think you want to hear, rather than digging into their own imaginations. The secret to imagination is to take risks and stop focusing on the end product, or worrying about what anyone will think.<br /><br />- Do some 'freeing up' activities. Try a 'stream of consciousness'. Give them a theme (could be horror). Explain that they will have 2 minutes. During that time they must simply write. They should not worry about punctuation, grammar, spelling, making sense. They must just write whatever comes into their minds. They must not stop writing during the time. If they freeze up then they should write the same word over and over until they get freed up again. At the end of the time, get them to count how many words they have written. They should then cut this number in half, by crossing out half the words they wrote. Then they should do this again, so that they end up with a quarter of the original amount. Write each of these words on a slip of paper and then rearrange them into a word picture.<br /><br />- Here's another one. Show them a picture and ask them to close their eyes. Then they must imagine that they are in the picture. They turn right - what do they see? They walk along - what do they hear? What can they feel? In the distance they see something - what is it? Carry this on for a while, inputting various sensory questions. Then get them to write about the journey that they took.<br /><br />- And one more. Tell them that they must write a story, but that it can only have 20 words - not 19, or 21, but exactly 20. Give them a tight time limit. This forces them to really focus on the words that matter, not all the extraneous stuff around it.<br /><br />I do hope that helps! Good luck ... it's in there, the imagination, they just need to be relaxed enough to let it free.Sue Cowleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11114254826804191981noreply@blogger.com