Blackout Poetry: Finding Stories in the Words
Imagine looking at a page full of words and seeing a story begin to appear. That’s what happens with blackout poetry. It’s the story you tell from the words already told… mostly. Let me show you what I mean…. Here’s how to create your own blackout poetry: Gather your supplies: a page from a book, newspaper, or magazine a permanent marker – might be black, but doesn’t have to be a pencil maybe a pair of readers – some of us need them! 🙂 your imagination and curiosity Next, scan the page for cool words. Blackout (fancy word: redact) the words you won’t use. But, wait! Before you commit to…
They’re Back!
The voices, that is. Finally! Â NOTE:Â I started this blog post on February 7, 2016, but never shared it. Not sure why not(?), but here it is…. celebrating the return of the voices in my head. What an awesome feeling it was! Â Feb 2016:Â If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know that I suffered through a long spell of silence in my head as I struggled through difficult personal and professional changes over the past year. The silver lining was finding other ways to express me, namely mixed-media art. But as I created art, I longed for the voices to return… While that may sound…
Just. Write.
I often listen to people thinking through things at work. As an Instructional Coach, it’s a large part of my role… to listen. Just this week, I listened as a fellow teacher who’s in a new teaching role this year shared how much she dislikes what she’s doing. Not the kiddos, but the challenges that are systemic and largely unchangeable right now. (I’ve said for years our traditional educational system in the U.S. continues to fall short of our societal needs.) As I listened, I could hear myself saying to her in my head, “Write it down. Work through it. I promise. It will help.” And yet, I didn’t say…
Tell your Story… One Word Bit at a Time
A friend and I were talking on Facebook this week about making creative journals and writing (or not) in them. She said she loves to make them, but doesn’t write in them. I told her I don’t write in mine either…. at least not in the pen-to-paper sense. Instead, my writing in creative journals is done using ‘found words’ – sometimes called ‘word bits’ or ‘word crumbs’ by fellow writers and artists. I like to tell stories in the shortest form possible – sometimes often with six or fewer words. I like inspiring others to tell their stories, too – by sharing a few words to nudge someone’s thinking/feeling/remembering…. So…
Art, Visual, or Creative Journaling?
Ready to do some artful journaling? Wait. What? You can’t because you’re not a trained artist? Well, that’s okay. Me neither. 😉 Commonly called Art Journaling, putting colors and words on a page to express what’s on our minds is a way to creatively say what we need to say – even when we don’t realize we need to say it. Our ideas need a place to ‘be’ – especially in this noisy world that constantly pokes at us. I’d like to share something with you that I learned recently: “Artful” journaling isn’t just for trained artists who are working out project ideas or practicing new techniques. Turns out, journaling…
