Cow Tipping Press Writing Workshop Day 2

Cow Tipping Press, Day 2

Impending snow kept a few members away but we had a small but mighty group-Nathan, Mike, Danny, Mary, Shelagh and our teacher, Amy.

This week's writing genre was Fiction and we also talked about Imagination.

We started off by reading a passage from BFG. The groups' impressions of the passage were that it was an exciting adventure to be a friend of a giant and catch dreams, one understood why the nightmare was so angry being stuck in a jar, another felt scared of some of the giants, and yet another commented that he enjoyed the funny language, the names the BFG came up with for various items.

The 1st writing prompt was to imagine that you could make friends with a mythological (made up creature-a mermaid, giant, werewolf, etc.) and describe one of your adventures. The other choice was to tell about a dream as if it were a real event.

Danny read about a superhero dream he has had, where he is Super Dan. Shelagh recounted an adventure with a unicorn. Nathan shared a dream of meeting aliens and Mike, a horror fiction lover/writer, told a gruesome tale of being friends with a witch.

Next I shared a passage from the book From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. The group thought the idea of running away to a museum was cool, another member remarked that it reminded him of the movie "Night at the Museum". This prompted a discussion on Settings in writing and also realistic versus fantastic fiction. From the Mixed up Files is more realistic fiction while Night at the Museum is more fantastic fiction.

Our 2nd writing prompt was to write about where/when (what time period-current, historical, or future) and with whom would you run away.

Nathan read to us about going to meet a mummy in a museum in Egypt with deadly consequences. Mary was feeling stuck in her writing thinking that she didn't have anywhere to run away to, but she used this to create a beautiful poem called "Running Away to Nowhere". Shelagh read to us about running away to a secret garden in Disneyland with a friend, Mike veered away from horror and wrote about a romantic adventure and perfect getaway with his fiance, and Danny wrote some historical fiction, setting his story on the Oregon Trail.

Our last passage of the evening was from Because of Win Dixie. The groups' thoughts about the passage were that one member could tell the Winn Dixie store manager hated being licked by a dog, another liked how the dog was described as messy and looking like a carpet,  another felt sad about the dog not having an owner, but happy that the dog was so amazing and fell in love with Opal. Many agreed that it seemed like it was love at first site for Opal and Winn Dixie.

Our 3rd and last writing prompt was to either imagine finding something in a place it doesn't belong like how a dog is found in a supermarket in Because of Winn Dixie. The other choice was to imagine that someone needed rescuing like Winn Dixie, the dog, needed rescuing from Winn Dixie, the supermarket.

I apologize, but I was out of the room making copies of the participants' writings so I missed some of the last readings. I know that Danny wrote a fishing story about catching a bird who swam instead of flying and I believe Nathan wrote a poem about his cat. Unfortunately I didn't get to hear the others.

Next week we'll be working on Poetry.

Cow Tipping Press Writing Workshops, Day 1

Thanks to the Dakota/Ramsey County ASD Innovations Grant, SPPL has funds for a Cow Tipping Press 5 week writing workshop for adults with developmental disabilities to help enable them to have their own voice and do their own writing. CTP has instructions for Transcribers who help people who can't write on their own or benefit from assistance in writing to make sure that the participants' authentic voice is being heard.  We reached out to TAP to share with their members as well as with others and we have a great group of writers.

 Day 1 we focused on Creative Non-Fiction writing. Amy is our teacher and she started off the group with an Ice Breaker-tell us your name, why you wanted to be in the writing workshop, and your spirit animal. Next the group read a passage from the Diary of Anne Frank and talked about how it made them feel. We have a great group of self advocates and they all felt sad that Anne didn't have friends of her own age and that she, and other people who were Jewish, were restricted in what they could do and when they could do it. The writing prompt was "Write as if you were writing in a journal or about a time when you felt your freedom was being restricted." We listened to some very chill classical music and the group had 10 minutes to write. Hearing the group read was wonderful-some great descriptions of why they like to write, what they hope to gain from the class, as well as some inspiring stories of going through times when people felt they were on their own, facing challenges,  and how they worked through it and turned or are turning things around.

The next passage was from the House on Mango Street and Amy talked to the group about imagery-painting a picture with words. The group wrote about places/spaces they had been and how these places/spaces made them feel.

The final passage was Joyas Voladoras by Brian Doyle which considers the capacity of the heart in animals and humans. Our writers were tasked with writing for 5 minutes about their spirit or favorite animal or anything related to the heart. Some wonderful writings emerged about the heart and feelings as well as participants'connections to animals.

I am excited to see what people share with us next week when we focus on Fiction. I've been invited to share a passage with the group so I'm eager to give this a try. Stay tuned!