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Every Photograph Tells a Story
Creative Concepts # 10
What do
you do when your brain becomes oatmeal, your fingers become lead, and you watch
the cursor on your monitor blink endlessly without moving even one millimeter?
Brew another cup of coffee? Vacuum the rugs? Take the dog out for a walk? Pray
for inspiration?
“I wasn’t
born to vacuum rugs,” writes Elizabeth Guy, poet, storyteller, and co-author of
Reflect and Write. “That’s why,
when my brain turns to stone while I struggle for new ideas, I use photographs
for inspiration.”
Visit the “Power
of Photos to Inspire Writing” Archives
Whether
you’re a teacher, a student, an aspiring writer, a professional writer, or a
poet, you’ll discover that the photos and ideas posted here during the past
weeks will help you overcome the dreaded “writer’s block,” while at the same
time inspiring you to create new and exciting works of prose and poetry.
Sometimes
direct quotations accompany the photos. At other times, suggested first lines
serve as motivation for writing. Occasionally, specific suggestions present
challenges. From time to time, keywords stimulate ideas.
For more
information about using photos to inspire writing, click on these links: www.creativity-portal.com/prompts/kellner/ and http://ebowmanguy.blogspot.com.
Please
note: feel free to download the photos for your personal use as inspiration;
for use in classrooms or workshops; or for use in your blog with credit to Hank
Kellner and a link to hankpix-englisheducation.blogspot.com. For commercial use
please contact the author for rates.
Finding Your Muse
Student writer Becky Brown uses a photo of an incandescent light bulb as
motivation for writing a six-paragraph poem dealing with finding inspiration
for writing. In her poem she concludes that the writing process is a solitary
one.
“You simply sit down at
the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed.”
–Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith
Inspiration
So cheerful
Yet so grim
The inspiration hits
And the pencil caresses the paper
Turning dreams to realities.
The words flow freely
Unhindered by the conscious mind
Simply written as thought
As fragments piecing themselves together
From disorganization to art.
The pencil writes
As if it has a mind of its own.
The words keep coming
And you sit, helpless to stem the flow
Like a mouse versus a mountain.
You keep your head down
Oblivious to the world
Until the poem is done
And the inspiration trickles away
Like a stream in the desert.
Keywords:
writing, poetry, create, author
Questions to Consider: (1) When you write, do you find the words “flow freely”
until the inspiration trickles away? (2) Do you often find yourself inspired to
write? (3) How does it feel when you do? (4) How does it feel when you don’t?
Think of imagery and metaphors to describe these sensations.
Possible
Opening Lines: (1) I really
enjoy writing. When my ideas flow freely, I…
(2) I’d rather play
video games that try to write just about anything.
And Don’t Miss…
English
teacher Mara Dukats and writer-photographer Cynthia Staples’
poems “White and White” and “The Absence of Color.” They’re in Part Four of my
twelve-part series USING PHOTOS TO INSPIRE WRITING at http://gazette.teachers.net/gazette/wordpress/hank-kellner/using-poems-and-photos-to-inspire-writing-part-4/, as well as Anna J. Small’s writing
assignment in "Viewing and Writing about Photos from Around the World"
Also, read
more about Reflect and Write in the SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL http://www.slj.com/2013/03/curriculum-connections/meeting-the-ccss-through-poetry-professional-shelf/
New Book Presents Recollections of a Boy’s Childhood During World War II
Growing up in the fictional town of
Meadowview, young Willie Watson objects to being required to play the part of
an orange in the school play when he is nine and in the fourth grade. But
that's just the beginning of his problems. As he continues through elementary
school, Willie has to deal with the town bully; Christmas with his relatives;
the death of a schoolmate; the loss of his girlfriend; the theft of a fountain
pen; his broken eyeglasses, and much more.
Included in this book are such
chapters as "There Is No Santa Claus," "Oh Captain, My
Captain," "The Dog in the Rhinestone Collar," "A Bird's
Just a Bird," and "Hey Brucie, Your Sister Wears Long
Underwear."
Readers will enjoy these humorous and often touching
descriptions of a young boy's experiences as he grows up in a small town many
years ago. See sample pages and buy this eBook at
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/312279
Exciting,
Spine-Tingling, and Difficult, to Put Down
For a psychological thriller that
will keep you turning pages long after everyone else has fallen asleep, don't
miss Terror at Mirror Lake.
The small, sleepy town of
Hamptonville seems the last place you would find sadistic sex, drugs,
blackmail, and murder. But that's exactly what Bruce Orum and his girlfriend
Cindy Garvey encounter when they flee from New York City after having killed
another girl.
In Hamptonville they meet Luke Downing, a psychopath who soon uses drugs to control Cindy and make her his sex slave. A cruel, vicious character, Downing showed all the classic symptoms of a cold-blooded killer from the time he was a boy growing up with an imaginary friend who encourages him in his perversions until he became and adult.
Having dominated Cindy, Downing uses her to seduce two fishermen, Pete Engstrom and Hal Bonnacker, when they visit Mirror Lake, after which he plans to blackmail them. Although Cindy seduces the men, she double crosses Downing, disappears, and the men get away.
For the next few months Engstrom and Bonnacker express guilt over what happened at the lake. They decide to return to the scene to find Cindy. Sensing a problem, their wives decide to accompany them.
At Mirror Lake Downing takes the two couples prisoner and plans to torture and humiliate them before killing them. But he does not know that Sheriff Jeff Parker and Molly Hutchison are on his trail and determined to stop him.
From page one all the way to the breathtaking ending, you will find yourself on pins and needles waiting to see what happens on the next page.
In Hamptonville they meet Luke Downing, a psychopath who soon uses drugs to control Cindy and make her his sex slave. A cruel, vicious character, Downing showed all the classic symptoms of a cold-blooded killer from the time he was a boy growing up with an imaginary friend who encourages him in his perversions until he became and adult.
Having dominated Cindy, Downing uses her to seduce two fishermen, Pete Engstrom and Hal Bonnacker, when they visit Mirror Lake, after which he plans to blackmail them. Although Cindy seduces the men, she double crosses Downing, disappears, and the men get away.
For the next few months Engstrom and Bonnacker express guilt over what happened at the lake. They decide to return to the scene to find Cindy. Sensing a problem, their wives decide to accompany them.
At Mirror Lake Downing takes the two couples prisoner and plans to torture and humiliate them before killing them. But he does not know that Sheriff Jeff Parker and Molly Hutchison are on his trail and determined to stop him.
From page one all the way to the breathtaking ending, you will find yourself on pins and needles waiting to see what happens on the next page.
See sample pages and buy this
eBook at https:www.smashwords.com/books/view/309191
Two Books That Will Help
to Inspire Writing
Reflect
and Write contains more than 300 poems and photos; keywords; quotations;
either “Inspiration” or “Challenge” prompts; a “Themes to Explore” section; a
“Twelve Ways to Inspire Your Students” section; a special “Internet Resources”
section, and more. This collection will help stimulate discussion that will
trigger meaningful writing at many levels.
Includes CD with photos and poems from the book.
Reflect and Write: 300 Poems and
Photos to Inspire Writing by Hank
Kellner and Elizabeth Guy , ISBN
978-1-61821-023-4, Prufrock Press, 2013, 153 pages, $24.95. See more and order
at http://www.prufrock.com/Reflect-and-Write-P1752.aspx.
Write What You See: 99 Photos
to Inspire Writing is a collection of photographs and writing prompts
designed to inspire writing. In addition to the many photos and ideas it
presents, this collection includes a section that cites “Ten Ways to Use
Reflect and Write” as well as a second section titled “How Some Teachers Use
Photos to Inspire Writing” An added bonus is a CD with photos and writing
prompts.
Write What You See: 99 Photos to
Inspire Writing by Hank Kellner, Prufrock Press, 2009, ISBN
978-1-877673-83-2, 118 pages, includes CD, $24.95. See more and order at http://www.prufrock.com/Write-What-You-See-P791.aspx.
