by Nancy Casey
I stopped by the Latah Recovery Community Center the other day, to ask around about what people might be looking for in a writing class. Someone told me that the best writing class they took that had fun assignments like, “Write the first chapter of a story using only words that are one syllable long.”
“How totally cool.” I thought. “I should try that.”
And so should you!
You don’t necessarily have to write the first chapter of a story, but you can. You might decide instead to write about an event or an experience, something you remember, or something that you invent.
Write a page about anything at all, as long as you only use one-syllable words.
If you have trouble deciding what to write about, just begin in the immediate present and describe what’s in front of you. Then go where your imagination carries you—around the room or all over the universe.
This can seem impossible at first. How are you supposed to write about what’s in front of you if you look out the window and see a shovel in the garden? You can’t write window, shovel, or garden! But you can write the clear glass in the wall. You can write the thing I dig with. You can write the place where the plants grow.
You get the idea (or rather, the thought.)
When you have filled a page, give your work a title. Make sure the date is on it somewhere, too. Add further decoration and color to the page as needed. Here is an example of what a person could write. There, you can also see an example of a page written with only two-syllable words.
You can share what you have written by posting it as a comment below. You can type in your work. Or post a picture of it.
Nancy Casey has lived in Latah County for many years. You can find more of her work here. She offers (free!) writing help to anyone in recovery. This can be for any kind of writing project—resumes, letters, stories, novels, homework, etc. She will be teaching writing classes at the Recovery Center starting in May. Email Nancy or the Recovery Center for more information or to make a suggestion about the type of class to offer.
Latah Recovery Community Center, Inc. 