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The Wanderer

The Wanderer

by | Feb 8, 2019

Recommended Book: The Wanderer

By: Sharon Creech

 

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 THE WANDERER

By: SHARON CREECH

ISBN: 978-0064410328

QUESTIONS EXPLORED:

  • What role do our memories play in our day-to-day lives?
  • How do our pasts define or contribute to who we are today?
  • How might a quest or an adventure deepen our connection to our true hearts?

 

WHAT I LOVE:

The Wanderer stands out to me for many reasons, but two are primary.

First, the story is very clearly a hero’s journey.

It’s set in the here and now, but has that epic journey feel. In some seasons, the best thing for our emotional growth might be to leave our everyday lives and venture out. Our journey might take us across the sea, as in The Wanderer, along the Pacific Crest Trail, or even on a trek through a distant country.

Even when a quest isn’t possible, we can build the emotional equivalent by taking on a new challenge. We might choose a learning or creative challenge. What’s important is that we choose a true stretch that engages us on a practical level and as an emotional one. While on a personal quest, books such as The Wanderer can heighten our experience. They add an epic undercurrent to otherwise ordinary-feeling days.

Cognitive scientists have discovered that when we read, listen to, or watch stories, our synapses fire along the same lines as they would if we experienced those events in person. Maybe you can’t head out on a physical quest right now. Still, if you’re ready for a transformational experience, take on a challenge and stack your bedside table with epic stories like this one.

Second, I return to this book again and again as a writer. 

I return to examine how Sharon Creech uses memory and back story. With these tools, she creates characters who leap off the page in three dimensions. As I’ve grown as a writer and teacher, I’ve become at least as interested–if not more interested–in what’s not on the pages of a story. I might include those “scenes around the edges” in the story. However, often they resonate invisibly behind the character’s actions and reactions. They’re the gems that transform figments of imagination into memorable, believable characters. 

PUBLISHER DESCRIPTION:

“A beautifully written and imaginatively constructed novel that speaks to the power of survival and the delicacy of grief.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

This acclaimed bestselling Newbery Honor Book from multi-award-winning author Sharon Creech is a classic and moving story of adventure, self-discovery, and one girl’s independence.

Thirteen-year-old Sophie hears the sea calling, promising adventure and a chance for discovery as she sets sail for England with her three uncles and two cousins. Sophie’s cousin Cody isn’t so sure he has the strength to prove himself to the crew and to his father.

Through Sophie’s and Cody’s travel logs, we hear stories of the past and the daily challenges of surviving at sea as The Wanderer sails toward its destination—and its passengers search for their places in the world.

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Writerly Play Activities for the Attic

by | Jan 24, 2019

Writerly Play Activities

for the Attic

Here is a collection of activities for when you need interior time to reflect, focus, and tap into your emotionally resonant, genuine voice.

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Wondering what Writerly Play is all about?

What if you could ramble around your mind as easily as you might explore the nooks and crannies of an intriguing house?  Writerly Play invites you to visualize your thinking from a new angle, and provides tools to help you personalize, map, and problem-solve the creative process.

Read On ...

Writerly Play Kit 004 – Tap Into the Heart of Your Work

Writerly Play Kit 004 – Tap Into the Heart of Your Work

by | Jan 24, 2019

Writerly Play Kit: 004

Creative Thinking: Tap Into the Heart of Your Work

WP Kit: 004

Tap Into the Heart of Your Work

I used to stress out when editors said, “I’m looking for a manuscript with a strong voice.” It felt like they were actually saying, “I’m looking for a writer who’s cool, who has a great personality, who I’d invite to sit at my table for lunch.” Unfortunately, the echo of my middle school self shows up at the most unhelpful times!

The truth is, voice is about personality. It’s about braving the terrifying–and meaningful–experience of putting our hearts on the page. As long as we’re focused on being cool, about becoming who an editor or a reader might want us to be, we’re prickly, self-conscious, and inauthentic. What’s worse, our emotional armor is tricky and so familiar that we may not even realize our guard is up. It takes focused attention to tap into the heart of our work, and to stay connected. Fortunately, with this creative skill, as in all of them, we can bypass our defenses by approaching sideways, with a playful spirit.

In this Writerly Play Kit, we’ll explore questions, activities, and resources to take us deeper into the landscape of our own hearts, where we will discover our richest creative material.

 

Featured articles

CREATIVE LIFE

GRIT, EMPATHY and Vision

II woke up in the middle of the night before our most recent Inklings Book launch with these three words bouncing around my mind – grit, empathy, and vision. Sometimes the answer to a question I’ve been wrestling shows up this way. The question? Why is creative writing important, in a world filled with opportunities and responsibilities? The answer:

Creative writing is one of the best ways I know to build grit, empathy, and vision.

Read on ...

BOOK FLIGHT

JOURNEY TO YOUR WRITER’S HEART

The journey to find our artist’s heart is not a one-time ordeal. It’s a life journey, one that is traveled in multiple parts. The three titles I’ve chosen for this flight have served as companions to me on that journey, urging me on toward courage, and lighting my way in the dark. I highly recommend each individually. I also encourage you: consider reading the three as a flight, allowing their ideas and insights to illuminate one another.

Read on ...

“My purpose is to create a mirror for the reader to see themselves, to create a light for people to see themselves in the characters, pictures, and stories. So they resonate.”

-Kadir Nelson

Activities: the Heart of your project

Freewrite Your Heart

FOR INVENTORS

Move your hand across the page speedily to bypass your critic and discover your heart.

Try This

Frame Your Heart in Three

FOR SPECIAL AGENTS

Choose three adjectives that focus your attention on the core of this project, and its importance to you.

Try This

Zoom In On the Heart

FOR ARCHITECTS

Answer three key questions to focus your attention on the core of this project, and its importance to you.

Try This

Share Your Heart with a Loved One

FOR COLLABORATORS

Choose a confidant and write a letter about your project. What is most important to you about creating this artwork?

Try This

The Writerly Play Attic

To find the heart of our work is a core skill used in the Writerly Play Attic.

We visit this mental space when we need interior time to reflect, focus, and tap into our emotionally resonant, genuine voices.

 

Explore the Attic Further

Wondering what Writerly Play is all about?

Writerly Play is designed to help you make the most of your creative potential. Each Writerly Play Kit is designed to help you stretch your thinking skills and develop practical strategies perfectly fit for you.

Want a shortcut? If you don’t have time to read today, but want a quick win, try this quick quiz to identify your creative strengths and weaknesses:

QUIZ: What's Your Creativity Style?

Once you know what works best for you, you need a perfect-for-you plan. Writerly Play functions more like a map rather than a cookie-cutter recipe. First, you’ll locate yourself on the map. Then, with a clear understanding of where you are, you can make informed choices about your next best steps.

ARCHITECT: Zoom In On Your Heart

ARCHITECT: Zoom In On Your Heart

by | Jan 24, 2019

Zoom In On Your Heart

Answer three key questions to focus your attention on the core of this project, and its importance to you.

Style

Architect

Skill

Finding the Heart

Time

15 mins

THE ATTIC:

Zoom In On the Heart

While there are only three questions in this exercise, there are likely a number of answers to explore. Give yourself the space to answer in a variety of directions to start. Then, review the ideas that arose, choose the answers that are most helpful, intriguing, or surprising, and follow that thinking through the second and third questions.

Your goal is to zoom in on what matters most to you in this project, and you are more likely to find that key insight by looking at the question from a number of angles.

 

Materials

How to Play

  • Timer

  • Paper

  • Pen

1. Set the timer for five minutes. List as many answers as you can to this question: In this idea, what matters most to me?

– If you run out of ideas, and there is still time, keep thinking until the timer buzzes. Sometimes the ideas that come after we think we’ve run out are the most helpful.

– If you run out of time but you still have more to say, allow yourself to keep going for a reasonable amount of time. Keep in mind that there are two more steps, and you want to have time for the entire exercise.

2. Review your answers, and star the ones that are most helpful, intriguing, or surprising. Ideally, you’ll have two or three ideas starred.

3. Set your timer for two minutes per starred item and list reasons why. Sometimes it helps to think in categories: personal, professional, community, etc.

4. Review your reasons, and then set the timer for a final five minutes. Write in as much detail to answer: What might success look like? Paint the scene of the project, finished, and how it will be experienced by others. If you can, invent a specific moment, a specific person, and build a circumstance that is meaningful to you.

5. The timer may run out, but keep going if you’re on a roll. You may want to revise your story into a short two-three paragraph reminder of where you’re headed. Keep your writing close at hand–it will help keep you focused on what’s most important in your work.

Try On Other Creative Styles

Freewrite Your Heart

FOR INVENTORS

Move your hand across the page speedily to bypass your critic and discover your heart.

Try This

Share Your Heart with a Loved One

FOR COLLABORATORS

Choose a confidant and write a letter about your project. What is most important to you about creating this artwork?

Try This

Frame Your Heart in Three

FOR SPECIAL AGENTS

Choose three adjectives that focus your attention on the core of this project, and its importance to you.

Try This

Frame Your Heart in Three

Frame Your Heart in Three

by | Jan 24, 2019

Frame Your Heart in Three

Choose three adjectives that focus your attention on the core of this project, and its importance to you.

Style

Special Agent

Skill

Finding the Heart

Time

5 mins

THE ATTIC:

Frame Your Heart in Three

Don’t let the simplicity of this exercise fool you. Taking the time to choose three adjectives that you’d be proud to use to describe your project when it is finished can give you a powerful focus. Your adjectives will help you avoid detours, and ensure that when you reach the end of your creative process, you land at the desired destination.

Materials

How to Play

  • Timer

  • Index Cards

  • Pen

1. Take a moment to picture your project when it is finished. Picture the circumstance in which you might you share it with a friend.

2. Imagine for a moment how you would describe the project. What kinds of words might you use?

3. Set your timer for two minutes and write one word per card, listing as many adjectives as you can think of that describe how the project will look and feel. Go for a variety.

4. Spread out your index cards and begin to sort them. Stack synonyms. Then, try to rank the words in order of importance. Your goal is to finish with three words that create a frame (think triangle) that show three key aspects of your finished work.

5. Post your three words somewhere where you can see and reference them often.

Try On Other Creative Styles

Freewrite Your Heart

FOR INVENTORS

Move your hand across the page speedily to bypass your critic and discover your heart.

Try This

Share Your Heart with a Loved One

FOR COLLABORATORS

Choose a confidant and write a letter about your project. What is most important to you about creating this artwork?

Try This

Zoom In On the Heart

FOR ARCHITECTS

Answer three key questions to focus your attention on the core of this project, and its importance to you.

Try This