Write Now!

I've been playing a little catch-up on my Write Now! class with Amy Sorensen at Big Picture Classes.  I cannot begin to describe how this class has helped me with my journaling.  I am not and will probably never be a "writer" where every sentence has perfect structure and every word is critiqued. I'm not striving for perfection in writing. I'm just striving to present the story on my scrapbook pages more interesting and informative.  Here's the latest pages I've done.

1. Journaling with a summery - taking a particular set of pictures and summarizing what is happening in an orderly manor without obviously stating what is seen in the pictures. We are trying to get away from the "we had a lot of fun making candy cane cookies" style of journaling.

the journaling reads:

Making CANDY CANE COOKIES is a tradition I began with my children when they were small. As they grew up and married, I then had to roll out the dough and make the cookies by myself. Now, I continue the tradition with my grandsons. At first, only Josh was enthusiastic about making the cookies. But, we were having so much fun that Drew decided to help. Well, sort of help, he didn’t like the feel of the dough and had to put his hand on top of his Mommy’s. Finally, Jake joined the fun. Making cookies with the boys was one of the highlights of my Christmas. A memory we will share, just like I share the memory of making CANDY CANE COOKIES with their Mom.

2. In the next assignment we wrote a rough draft about the photos and then learned ways to shape our journaling...breaking it into paragraphs, rewriting awkward spots, and making sure we focus on details to tell original thought of the story.

The journaling;

     Our grandsons are obsessed with trains When trains are included in our outings together they are ecstatic. A restaurant where trains run around the ceiling is the perfect place to take the boys. To keep sanity in the car, the destination for lunch was a surprise. It was worth it to see their excitement when we walked in the door! Their eyes widened, they squealed, they jumped up and down, and they danced around.

     We placed our order and found two booths side by side that could hold all of us. That’s when the boys realized that the small trains running on a track around the top of the room where going to deliver our food. Each train had a tray attached to the bottom which carried the food basket. The train dropped the basket on a shelf that lowered to the table.

        As we waited for our food, the boys just could not sit still. They were on their knees in the booths or standing in the aisles. Their faces were turned up watching the trains. Their eyes twinkled with delight. The smaller ones giggled!

       The excitement grew as each train passed overhead. Would this be the train that would bring our food. Finally, the train stopped above our table. Our food had arrived. They were fascinated to watch our basket being lowered to our table. Then, they got another surprise, our food wouldn’t fit in just one basket. Along came another train with the rest of the food. That doubled the excitement. It didn’t matter to them what the food tasted like. We had to keep reminding them to eat because they were so absorbed in watching the trains.

     Our smiles were as big as theirs. We were thrilled to be making this special memory with our grandsons!!

I usually scrap two page layouts. On the second page for this layout, I just wanted to include as many photos of the day as I could.

3. This assignment was very different, yet fun. We were learning to journal in the form of poetry. We were to read Patricia Fargnolito's poem "Naming My Daughter". Then, we were to choose a person to write about. I chose to write the poem about myself. Using her poem as a structure, we were to substitute our own words describing events and characteristics of the chosen person.
This is the description of her poem:  In the Uruba tribe in Africa, children are named not only at birth, but throughout their lives by their characteristics and the events that befall them.

My Poem

Naming Catherine

One who arrived early and fast

One who has older sister
One who has silky blond hair
Child who strives to do right
Child who is shy and quiet
Child who believes in God
Girl with love of music
Girl with friendships dear
Girl with desire to please
Catherine (Greek name meaning pure)
Sue (a name all her own)
Hardin (for father, preacher and house painter)
Wife of high school sweetheart
Wife of thirty-nine years
Wife of loving man
Mother to one lovely daughter
Mother to one delightful son
Mother to one who is in heaven
The quilter
The reader
The photographer
Gramma who rocks and sings

Gramma who hugs and kisses

Gramma who plays and laughs

Woman who loves and is loved
Whose cup runneth over with joy

 

I think journaling will be more fun for me as I scrapbook. I'm finding unique and fun ways to add words to layouts!