It Takes Two: How to kickstart your story-making brain

You can’t make a story out of a single thing. A “one” thing. A lone thing. Story comes from that lone thing in relationship to something, anything else. That’s where it all begins.

If you’re starting to think of the story of Dot, it’s because your brain has already added a second element. The dot is trying to escape the square? The dot is lonely? Your brain is already adding something else for Dot to be in relationship with.

I discussed this idea little in my last post—how the human brain seems hardwired to find connections between things.  And out of that instinct comes story.

I love this idea that all it takes is two images to prompt story. Using this kind of prompt could be a fun activity for yourself or for any of your at-home kids who can “never think of anything to write about.”

Of course, you can come up a story with just one image.

A lot of writers start with just that–character. But look what happens to your story-making brain if you add just one other element.

Is this Bulldog’s dream self, a goal, an unlikely friend, his mortal foe?

Just about any pairing can suggest a story, but I’m always looking for contrast, contradiction and the unlikely:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting two things in relationship almost inherently suggests goals or dreams or conflict… plot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You could put almost any of the images on this page together and start to get story ideas.

 

 

 

Of course, the more unlikely the juxtaposition, the harder it can be to create a logical story. But, especially with picture books, it’s exactly the unlikely, the unexpected that can make your book jump off the shelves

So it’s great to play with all kinds of juxtapositions. Watch what happens to your story-telling brain as you run through the possibilities:

There’s this adorable kid. And then this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or this:

 

And, of course, our very unlikely crocodile.

 

 

 

 

 

Every one of these stories would be very different. So which do you tell? For me, it comes down to a gut feeling about where my heart and energy want to go.

If you find yourself stuck for story and would like to get out of your own head for awhile, pull some images from the Internet or from magazines or even your own photo albums and put them together. There’s a story in there!

If any of these prompt a story in your household, I’d love to hear about it or to have you share images you might have found that sparked story for you.

Be well!

 

 

 

 

Radishes and Prayer Wheels: Looking for Something New

Seen on my walk: a startled Little Library

These are strange times. Maybe even startling times. Are we all doing a few things we’ve never done before? Sure we are. Social distancing? New to me.  Zoom-ing instead of having a cuppa coffee with a friend? Never heard of Zoom before all this.  Wiping down the groceries before adding them to the pantry? Never done that before, definitely not, nope. Strange, strange.

Seed packets a little worse for wear….

But also, for the first time in my life, I’m planting a kitchen garden: broccoli, kohlrabi, gold and red beets, orange and red carrots, radishes, four kinds of peas (I’m sure there’s a poem in that list somewhere.. or there will be by the time the seeds germinate.)  Before sundown tomorrow I’ll have the cilantro, parsley, basil, and lettuce in. If I have room, I’ll spread some snapdragon seeds. The sun’s been out – there’s been no rain in our neck of the woods since April 1st –  that’s seventeen days! (Even the weather is doing new things!) So I’ve been in my garden with a shovel, a hoe, a bucket for the weeds, a sieve for the dirt, a trowel, some twine, and my seed packets.  I’m not just thinking about planting flowers and vegetables – I’m doing it. That’s new.

I’m  also going for (not just thinking about going for) a daily neighborhood walk.. My  post today is filled with some of the strange, sweet, mysterious, hilarious and beautiful things I saw as I walked three blocks north on Williams St., two blocks west on Illinois, five blocks south on Henry, two blocks east on Washington, and two blocks north again on Williams, back to the Little Yellow House that my husband and I call home. There were a few detours down alleys, to be honest. Irresistible. I love alleys.

Little Yellow House – my home base.

I wrote a poem after I came home from my walk. That often feels like the right thing to do if I’ve been looking carefully at the world around me. If you’re looking for something new to do and you’ve never written a poem, how about using some of the photographs I took as a springboard to a poem of your own? If you have kids at home who are looking for new things to do, how about getting outside with them, walking, photographing, going home and writing stories or poems of their own about what they saw? Try for the littlest or strangest or most unusual discoveries you find, things you only see if you linger a bit, things you see up in a tree or at your feet, on a fence post or down an alley. And please, share them with me in the Comments section below.

Is it a spaceship – or is it a butterfly ?

A Buddhist prayer wheel – “Always spin clockwise.”

Bicycle in a tree (sign supporting local whistle-blower, Dr. Ming Lin)

A gate made of animals….

Three ceramic balls in a cement leaf….

Bottles (and a glass chicken!) on bare branches…..

A flower-filled sink in the dirt…

Lightning hits the sidewalk….

Red fence, white blossoms….

Goose and Duck waiting for the rocks to hatch….

Message from our neighbors (notice the yellow house, blue door….)

Sometimes it’s comforting to stay inside and do familiar things. Other times, it’s exciting to try something new. Plant some kohlrabi and carrots, or head three blocks this way, five blocks that way, savor the creativity of your neighbors, take a few photographs. Then write a poem.

 

Authors Connect with Kids Stuck at Home

Last month, many U.S. schools were closed until the end of April to try to slow the spread of the corona virus. This week, our Washington Governor, Jay Inslee, announced state schools will likely not reopen until fall. All these closures have sent parents scrambling for study space, learning materials and content.

Luckily, Erica Rand Silverman, who works for the Stimola Literary Studio, had an idea how to fill that content need. Within days of the first closures, she contacted the authors and illustrators the agency works with, asking them to contribute programs – and StimolaLive.com was born.

Launched on March 23, the programs run on weekdays for kids of all ages. So far, they include picture book readings, a sing along, a bake along, and wonderful workshops on myriad aspects of writing and illustration. After each program is livestreamed, it is transferred to the Stimola Live YouTube channel for future reference.

On April Fool’s day, with help from my husband John, I jumped into the livestream. My event included reading Little Wolf’s First Howling and a workshop about creating a character based on a stuffed animal, as I did with Little Wolf and A.A. Milne did with the Winnie the Pooh crew. Clearly, it’s my first attempt at livestreaming, but I was pleased to get my toes wet. See here.

Erica juggles her new livestreaming project with literary agent tasks and family duties, but she found time to tell us more about Stimola Live. What follows is our Q and A.

How did you get this idea? 

I was near other parents when we received the news that school was going to close. The look of fear on all their faces would have been funny if it wasn’t such truly devastating news. Most of them were worrying how they would be able to continue engaging their kids authentically on their own. They were worrying that one of the first things to slip would be their kids’ reading skills and interest in books. The idea for Stimola Live came flying in at the very moment – our authors and illustrators can help to create content that parents can feel good about using with their kids. It’s a win for the parents who are desperate to keep their growing readers engaged. A win for authors and illustrators who want to stay connected to their readers. And, a win for booksellers who desperately need patrons to remain invested in book buying (we link to booksellers – often indies- on each event page!). Honestly, it grew into something bigger and better than I could have ever imagined! I called author-illustrator, Shanda McCloskey, to ask her to participate and three sleepless days later she and her husband had created a website and logo for it! Then, my colleague, Allison Hellegers, had the idea to save the livestreams as videos to a Stimola Live YouTube channel.

Erica Rand Silverman and her boys. She writes, “This is from the first day of school this year which is particularly bitter sweet.”

What kinds of challenges did you have to overcome to create Stimola Live?

The biggest challenge has been figuring out the technology end of things. We learned a lot as we went through the process, like which platforms are easiest to save the video from, which platforms allow for interaction, which are difficult to use because of overcrowding. Some of the livestream platforms translate well to a saved video and some aren’t as good. We had over 50 participating authors and illustrators each with their own questions and challenges. It was a lot to manage but incredibly satisfying at the same time.

Can you offer recommendations per age level or guidance through the offerings?

One of the best things about Stimola Live is that the livestreams and saved video content range in age from preschool to teen. There is truly something for everyone. Each event page on StimolaLive.com lists appropriate ages directly in the event title, and on the Stimola Live YouTube channel we organize videos by age as well.

Unexpected benefits? Response?

I loved unexpectedly bumping into [Stimola Literary] Studio authors and illustrators at the different live stream events. Authors and illustrators who might not have known each other well before were able to tune into each other’s live streams and participate. I loved seeing them (and their own children in many instances) participate. It helped to create even more camaraderie and community at the Studio itself. There may be 15 people attending the livestream with you or 300. Either way, when you’re able to see each other tune in and read each other’s comments, you really feel like you’re all in the room together.

It has also been amazing to see that people from all over the world have come to the site! People have visited from Canada, Germany, Mexico, China and more.

Teachers write to us to ask if they can link to Stimola Live or specific events/videos in their Google Classrooms. Those are the best emails to get!

There were instances where some livestreams didn’t go as planned or teachers/students/kids weren’t able to access the event as expected. That was disappointing for all but as we say on the FAQ page, we’re book-makers, not professional livestreamers . . . at least not yet!  We did over 60 events in two weeks! There were bound to be some mistakes and all the viewers were really kind about it.

Going forward we’ll continue to host events and will now be able to refine them based on everything we learned. We love feedback and suggestions. So, please let everyone know that they can email us at info@stimolalive.com  and if they want to know when we have more events going up they can subscribe to the newsletter – https://www.stimolalive.com/newsletter/

• • • • •

Thank you, dear husband and quarantine mate, for helping me participate. And thank you, Erica, for inventing this wonderful river of connection and sharing the story of its beginnings with our BATT readers. 

Topsy Turvy

The world has felt topsy-turvy lately. Here are some upside down images to reflect that state of affairs.

Because you might not be able to turn your computer over I will include every image twice – as a topsy and a turvy.
The illustrations are from the book The Playful Eye, by Julian Rothenstein and Mel Gooding.

OHO! -a matchbox is from India, 1927. Harrumph.

The burro is from Spain, 1865.  Flip it over to see the rider.

This Japanese woodblock was made in the 1830s. The bullfrog/skull in the center row is perplexing and perplexed.

From Italy in 1870…a gentleman, charming in both directions

Here is a gender bending topsy turvy from Spain, 1865.

This Indian topsy turvy from 1948 takes the face from youth to adulthood.

This is from an Indian pamphlet, painted in the 1980’s. I find it difficult but not impossible to ignore the lips in the forehead.

Try drawing your own topsy turvy head: fold a piece of paper in half and draw eyes in the middle. Draw a nose and a mouth below the eyes. Flip the paper and repeat with another nose and mouth. Fool around until it looks interesting from both directions.

Or you could color in these pages. Click on the link beneath each image for a pdf that you can download and print.

topsy turvy coloring page

topsy tree coloring page

Here is the topsy turvy tree page as interpreted by Susan Hughes-Hayton and family.

 

Also, I have added a section of coloring pages to my website. Every weekday (until schools reopen and home isolation is over) I will post a page that you can download, print and color in.
juliepaschkis.com/coloring-pages/
Please share this link with children, teachers or anyone who would like to draw. Email me at juliepaschkis@comcast.net if you would like to get weekly notifications linking you to the coloring pages. Thanks!

Have fun drawing in these topsy turvy times!

(Peter Newell 1893)