Today we read the intro to Joyce Carole Oates short story "Shopping." We discussed the piece as inspiration for scene setting, dialogue writing, and character development. Chase then continued to work on the draft of her own short story.

Today, we started with a creative word association game to help Chase brainstorm ideas for the rest of her short story. We then highlighted a few of the concepts to concentrate on and Chase made a list of scene ideas. We discussed these ideas and then reread the intro to her short story to go over any edits that would better set up the rest of her story.

Today, Chase decided on a conflict to explore in her new short story: working title "Lies, Loyalty, and Loss." We went over possible character development and subplots she could weave in, and then she began drafting.

Today we discussed and revised the intro to a short-story Chase wrote over vacation. We went over possible conflicts to introduce and themes to explore. We also discussed Chase's other story "Moxy Brown." Chase then did a quick descriptive writing prompt which asked her to describe a scene from her sailing trip using figurative language.

Today we discussed Chase's idea for her next short story. She did some quick scene mapping to help her brainstorm characters, conflicts, and overall themes that might fit within the story's narrative. We also discussed what elements she might use in her story to help develop her theme.

Today, Chase continued to work on her new short story "Moxy Brown." We discussed symbolism, and embedding motifs to create deeper layers of meaning.

Today we began with a fun creative writing game called "Fade Out." Chase had to take a word list and create sentences with the words before they disappeared. Next, we read "Kokoman Running" and discussed the theme, impact, symbolism and figurative language in the creative essay. I asked Chase to use the story as inspiration for her "Child Prodigy" story.

Today Chase and I concentrated on creating figurative language. I gave Chase a number of descriptions to turn into similes, metaphors, and personifications. Next, we discussed writing the middle of her photograph inspired story and creating conflict and tension using figurative language.

Today we began with a creative brainstorming technique called word association. We started with creating webs of associated words of common nouns, and then we moved on to more challenging abstract nouns. Next, I discussed final lines and endings with Chase. We read over the final lines of many different stories and discussed what type of narrative significance, thematic context, and larger consequences they might hold. Chase then brainstormed the final lines of the hypothetical stories she could have created with each word association cloud she made in the beginning of class. Lastly, I asked Chase to write an ending for the story based on a photo she began yesterday.

In this lesson, we worked on Chase's latest writing, discussing and editing to take it from very good to excellent. We discussed use of homonyms in word play, and practiced writing with this. Repetition (not purposeful) was replaced with synonymous terms and rewording that enriched the text. Alliterations used naturally in Chase's writing were pointed out, and she will observe the use of this rhetorical device in her normal activities in the next days (gathering 12). Chase scanned, read, and listened to an interactive iBook on creative writing featuring six well-known American writers. Ideas were gleaned from this brief perusal, such as writing fictionally by way of true life (as in Amy Tan's presentation). We verbally voiced examples. Next lesson Chase will do a short writing using this strategy.