Thoughts on the Craft

Teaching an upper-division writing class makes me happy.

By this point in their college careers, my students--all journalism/pr majors--have spent a great deal of time writing and learning how to write. My challenge to them in this class? Go beyond what they've been taught; write actively and show me what they're talking about. Paint with words. Stop writing with "is" and "has" and "was" and "were."

This challenge disarms them, and me. Just in writing this entry I've deleted and started over sentences that I wanted to write passively. Such writing makes us lazy. Moreover, these students need to be challenged, as do I. Only good can come from thick description that uses active verbs and adjectives.

For example, I could describe my desk:

"A polished silver shell of new Mac rests on top of an oak-toned wooden desk, surrounded by cluttered papers, post-it notes, and reminders. An inspirational calendar, torn to reveal yesterday's message from a notable woman in history, looks perfectly in place among the varied colors of newsletters, brochures and postcards that rise in a stack next to it, ready to use as demonstrations in a publication design class. Next to the stack, the efficient gray phone with its secret-password screen stands ready for use in a call to a student, a spouse, or a future student employer who wants a reference. Under my hands, the keys of the ergonomically flat keyboard click softly while I ponder what else to say in this message."

See? Not a single "is." Believe me when I tell you how challenging writing actively can be!!

What's your challenge today?

Fine, fine, fine.

I've apparently been lax in updating the blog, so this post is for my cousin Sara, who pointed it out over the weekend. :P

Some friends and I are starting a new, online sociable/blog, dedicated to friends and fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her universe. We want to let visitors see the side of the Laura-verse "Beyond Little House," so that's what it's called: Beyond Little House, and it will be launched at http://www.beyondlittlehouse.com by the end of the month. Visitors will find an A-Z directory of links and other resources about Laura, weekly blog posts by the experts, and an opportunity to ask the experts your questions about Laura.

We've each got a different range of expertise that we'll offer.

In other news, my second book, "More than a Farmer's Wife: American Farm Women's Voices, 1910 to 1960" will be out in June from University of Missouri Press. It's available for pre-order on Amazon.com right now. Go here to find it.

Peace.

Fundraiser for the Burr Oak LIW Site:

From Sarah Sue at Trundlebed Tales:

"Card Shower for Burr Oak Museum

February 8, 2009 by trundlebedtales

"The story of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museums is one of grass root efforts. Small towns scattered across the Midwest decided they had to have something for the fans who came to visit them to see and slowly developed museums almost everywhere Laura and her family lived. Among the many methods of raising the initial funding for theses museums were Pennies for Laura campaigns where school children collected and sent in pennies toward getting the museums built. One of the museums these programs, which helped restore is the only original childhood home of Laura in its original location, is in Iowa.

"The Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum is located in the small, northeast Iowa town of Burr Oak, Iowa. The Masters Hotel where the Ingalls family lived and worked has been restored. The bank building that first alerted Wilder’s daughter Rose Wilder Lane that she had finally found where her mother had lived has been turned into a visitor center and gift shop. They had 1,635 fewer visitors this year than last and sales of merchandise are down. They have been somewhat unstable the past few years as they have had rapid turnover of directors. Also, the local restaurant/antique shop has closed down and they have hopes of purchasing the building and eventually re-opening it. Even with this instability, they still had visitors from every state in the Union and 23 different countries this year. They presented programs to 550 children this year alone. Now with a new director with a forwarding thinking plan, they need to stabilize their financial situation.

"Bearing all this in mind, I’ve decided that the time is right to host a card shower for the museum during Laura’s birthday month. You can participate several ways during the month of February.

1. Send the museum a card. Even if you can’t donate, hopefully the display of cards will give them a chance to get the word out and encourage others to donate.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum
3603 - 236th Avenue
Burr Oak, Iowa 52101


2. Send them a card and put in a monetary remembrance. Every little bit helps. Do it alone or as a class or club project. If you can’t afford anything else send them a card, to let them and everyone else know you are thinking about them.

3. Send them a donation even if you don’t want to send a card. Even small donations can add up.

"Please re-post this widely and help spread the word.

I hope that we’ll soon be able to look forward to many more years in this museum. Again, please help us by spreading the word. I’m sending a card and hope you will, too."


I'll be sending my card in, too!