Here is the final exercise inspired by The Writer’s Lexicon, by Kathy Steinemann. The book was alright, not as captivating, or enthralling as I had expected. (Did you notice the cool vocab?) That said, it did offer a fresh perspective. Focus on vocab. Keep the purple prose to a minimum. […]
Lesson learned. No letting students filter in from other classes. Although, granted, my dream would be to host them all and have a ball. It is so hard to say no, you know? But today, when a student asked, CAN I BE IN YOUR CLASS NEXT PERIOD, my response […]
First, a charm. Second, a blast. Third, no prob. Forth and fifth too. But then came sixth period. A monster of a period. What do employees want to do their last hour? The bad ones slack off. The good ones sprint. Either way we expend our pent up oodles […]
Just a word. Any word. The class wouldn’t respond, weren’t responding. What starts with the letter P? Silence, followed by cell phone screen tapping and eye lash twirling. What about A? . . . A? One student’s lips trembled. I figured, that’s a start. […]
Man, got home with a terrible headache! Backache. I’m sitted (seated) crisscross at the floor of my childhood bedroom, pounding away at the keys. Welp, here it is, another installment of . . . VOCAB IMPROVEMENT. Today I read about the three words in the title of this post. […]
Today I would like to try something different. Instead of blurting out one exercise paragraph after the other, I figured to write about my day at school. The goal is the the same: avoid instances of the title irritations. No nodding. No “noisy” or “loud.” No Said! And No sitting […]
As the title says, here it goes. A couple of sketches: The old dog twitched until it spasmed, flat on its side, along from all its friends. Meanwhile other animals in the vicinity reeled at the sight. It was afternoon, the sun rocketing into descent. A sigh. A heave. […]
Y’all know the drill. Here are exercises from Ms Steinemann’s vocabulary improvement book. I took her paragraphs, but replaced the overused words. Can you guess the emotion for each character? 1. Sushi whined and barked in the kitchen. Bob rolled over in bed to peer at the clock: 3:07 […]
Today’s exercise tackles the issue of characters clearing their throat. It seems I am not the only one asking my people to cough-cough every couple of scenes. This is a prevalent action, sort of a cop out. Really, the solution would be to understand the character’s motivation better, and reveal […]
In today’s exercise, the author of Writer’s Lexicon asks us to replace all iterations of the word “bring.” Look no farther, she indicates, than the dictionary definition: “to carry, convey, conduct, or cause . . .” The definition provides your synonyms. The solution requires that we pay attention to […]
In this chapter we are asked to tackle the big problem of using the word big in our stories. To work this, we are given a series of paragraphs to improve. Tools include utilizing “-size,” such as “roach-sized,” or “saucer-sized”; synonyms that characterize; and simple show not tell. Ready? […]
In this edition of the Writer’ Lexicon, Ms Steinemann urges us to invent adjectives (a form of loosening the neurons, if you will) just as Lewis Carroll did. Combination The nineteenth century author combined words to create slithy (slimy+lithe), and even mimsy (miserable+flimsy). Let’s have a go […]
For the next couple of posts, dear readers of this blog, I will exercise the vocab lobe of the brain. For too long I have felt my vocabulary lacks tone. Its hit me whenever I try to make a point, but the point falls blank. Meanwhile, when I hear someone […]