Remembering on Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day, a day we remember people in our lives who have died. We may also remember people we didn't know--people who gave up their lives for important causes.

Do you remember someone special? A grandparent, aunt, uncle, or a pet? 

A great way to remember those people or pets is to write about them. 

Here are ways to get started.

1. If you could do something with your special person or pet right now, what would it be? Describe it. I would ask my mom to make a batch of brownies with me.

2. If you had to describe your person or pet in 5 words, what would they be? My words for my cat Zoey would be funny, furry, curious, homebody, and chatty (yes, she loved to "chat"). After you write your 5 words, pick one and write more about it.

3. If you could say something to your person or pet, what would it be? I would tell my grandma that I wished I understood Polish while she was alive, so that I could talk to her.

As its name says, Memorial Day is a good day for remembering the people and animals we loved. Happy writing. 

Animal Poetry

I love poems about animals.

JooHee Yoon must too, because she has compiled a fun, innovative book of poems called Beastly Verse. 

Her bright illustrations in yellows, oranges, reds, and greens make the poems jump off the page. (Good thing the animals don't jump off--they only seem to.) 

Some of the poems are long. Some are short. Some are serious. Some are silly. Some rhyme. Some don't. All celebrate the wonderfulness that is the animal world.

Do you like to write verse about beasts? Try using one of these poems as a model:

The Friendly Hen by Arthur Waugh

Some birds lay eggs in towering trees,
And some in fens conceal them;
The hen seeks friendlier haunts than these,
Where every child can steal them.

Or if caterpillars are more your thing, here's a poem for you:

Caterpillar by Christina Rossetti

Brown and furry
Caterpillar in a hurry,
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly. 

Let your poem squawk like a hen or crawl like a caterpillar. Invent your own beast--a henpillar or caterhen. Whether your verse is beastly or ghastly or ghostly, have fun!

Strong Verbs

I was thinking about verbs today as I picked up Gary Paulsen's novel, Hatchet. 

In this award-winning novel, 13-year-old Brian has to survive in the wilderness alone after a plane crash.

Exciting plot, right?

Exciting plots deserve strong verbs. All plots deserve strong verbs. 

Here's a passage from Hatchet describing the crash. I highlighted in blue the verbs in all their forms.

Then a wild crashing sound, ripping of metal, and the plane rolled to the right and blew through the trees, out over the water and down, down to slam into the lake, skip once on water as hard as concrete, water that tore the windshield out and shattered the side windows, water that drove him back into the seat. Somebody was screaming, screaming as the plane drove down into the water. Someone screamed tight animal screams of fear and pain and he did not know that it was his sound, that he roared against the water that took him and the plane still deeper, down in the water. He saw nothing but sensed blue, cold blue-green, and he raked at the seatbelt catch, tore his nails loose on one hand. He ripped at it until it released and somehow—the water trying to kill him, to end him—somehow he pulled himself out of the shattered front window and clawed up into the blue, felt something hold him back, felt his windbreaker tear and he was free. Tearing free. Ripping free.

Did you notice the strong verbs? Crashing, ripping, slam, tore, shattered, clawed. We sometimes need weaker verbs like "was" and "felt," but in this passage the strong verbs dominate and bring the story to life.

Gary Paulsen also uses repetition--screaming, screaming--to show us Brian's emotions.

Read a scene from one of your stories. Rewrite the scene using strong verbs. Does your passage fly, lift, or soar? 

A How-To Story

We've written how-to poems on Yellow Pencils. How about a how-to story?

What's a how-to story? 

Think of doing something silly. Then imagine telling your best friend how to do it. 

• Wrestle a chimpmunk

• Pick a peck of pickled peppers

• Invite a zombie to dinner

• Live on the bottom of the ocean

• Teach an alien how to play the ukelele

• Give a salamander a bath

Got the idea? Pick one, or make up your own. 

In your writer's notebook, make a list of steps you would take to tell someone "how-to." Then connect the steps with words like "first, then, next." 

Here's my how-to story: 

How To Invite a Zombie to Dinner

First, find some really nice stationery. Zombies are fussy.

Next, write your invitation in red ink. Zombies aren't too smart. They'll think it's blood.

After that, put your invitation in a bright red envelope. Blood again.

Then, put on a stamp. One with a head is good. Zombies like heads.

Next, write on the envelope: "To the Zombie." Don't worry. Letter carriers always know where zombies live. 

Then, walk to your mailbox at night. But be careful. A hungry zombie may not be able to wait for the invitation.

Last, run home and plan your menu. Red food is good. Bon appetit!