Escaping the Rut

At different times, my students always get into that inevitable, seemingly insurmountable, rut: I have nothing to write about! Despite my best efforts of keeping writing notebooks full of ideas, students still fall into this rut.

This is an activity I use to talk about characters and characterization, and to get students out of that rut. It works out well to use this with things like story structure as well.

Materials needed: paper

Prep time: minimal

I give students a blank sheet of printer paper and make sure everyone has a pencil. At this my students start asking questions about what is going on, because I rather notoriously hate pencils, but that is another story. I explain to students we will be drawing today. First, they must visualize a made up creature/monster – this is also hilarious if you have them think about other things like their dream date, etc. I do not really tell them what they are going to do. I like to let the steps unravel and see the light bulbs go off in their heads as we go.

1. In the upper corner of their paper, they write their name. Then in the upper part of the paper draw their creature’s head. I give them a few minutes to get some detail, but not too much that they get off task. Usually around five minutes, I ask students to draw a neck on their head. Then fold their paper over so that the only thing that can be seen is the neck. Then I take up their papers amidst great confusion.

 

2. Then, I pass out a new paper to them, with explicit instructions not to open up the paper and peek. I then have students draw a torso and arms. At this point students begin to realize what is going on and exactly what they are doing. After another five minutes, I have students draw a waist and once again, fold the paper over to hide everything except the bottom of the waist lines.

 

3. Once again, I pass the papers along to new artists. This time I tell students to draw legs and feet. After another five minutes, I have students open up their papers for the incredibly exciting reveal. If you do this, prepare yourself for loud shrieks and laughter. I have never had this go quietly, even after students know what to expect. As students get their paper back they cannot believe what is on their paper.

4. I give them a few minutes to name their creature, and if need be “fix” anything they need to with them. Sometimes heads and shoulders don’t line up etc.

5. After this, I begin to ask students questions about their new character. Where do they live? Are there others like them, or are they unique? How old are they? Do they go to school? Work? What challenges do they face day to day? What is something their monster really wants? The kinds of questions are just to get the kids thinking about the characters and their lives.

6. I ask them to choose some character traits from a list that apply to their monster. Then I ask how they know. The first time I ask this they look at me like I’m crazy, and say we just made it up. So then, I ask how do you know if a person has those same character traits, after some responses I tell them to use their imagination. Students brainstorm words, actions, thoughts, and others opinions that might be used as evidence in their story to determine character traits.

After this, my students are usually ready to begin telling an interesting story. The absurdity of their monsters and the lighthearted nature of the activity usually frees students to try something different.

It also is not meant to waste time. Writing instruction does not mean that reading instruction stopped. In thinking about character traits for our characters students are practicing with inference and identifying characterization, and getting more familiar with more subtle forms they often forget about.