About a month ago, my son Noah asked me if I’d be interested in teaching a writing class for his friends. He lives in Montreal, and my husband I would be visiting him over Memorial Day weekend. Noah has been hosting “salon-type” evenings at his apartment ever since the pandemic. Montreal had an eight o’clock curfew back then, and in response to this, Noah and his extremely creative friends, began gathering in small groups for events at their apartments. They offered everything from jazz jams to yoga stretching to candle-making. And if the session ran past curfew, many of them unrolled their sleeping bags and spent the night.
I told him I’d be happy to teach a class. After all, I am a teacher and I write almost every day. But my expertise was in elementary education. And I write children’s books. I needed to create an activity that would appeal to a group of international thirty-somethings, many of whom work in the tech field. Hmm…
I thought about the variety of writing workshops I’d attended over the years. Most of them focused on plotting tools, character arcs, and world building. These were great, but I needed something with more universal appeal. Something that might inspire poetry, song-writing, or journaling. I thought about the prompt intensive I took with Andrea Wang: (https://inthewritersweb.com/2022/12/the-stories-hidden-inside-you/) and the revision workshop with Kate Messner: (https://inthewritersweb.com/2024/03/highlights-from-the-2024-scbwi-winter-conference/). Both of these classes had us tapping into childhood memories to spark the stories within us.
I went through my notes and came up with a variety of prompts, starting with childhood memories and moving to present day experiences. I asked my attendees to bring a blank notebook and their favorite writing implements. (I brought extra of both, knowing some people were rushing over from work to the event.) By 6:30, there were 17 people gathered in my son’s living room. They all settled in on couches, chairs, pillows, and the floor, and looked like they were ready to write.
The prompts would be five minutes in duration. I began by saying that some of the prompts would resonate, while others would not. I told them not to worry. This was not a school assignment. There would be no critique and no grades. I invited them to write poems, draw pictures, or make lists. I wanted them to enjoy themselves. I also told them the writing would get easier as we progressed.
We started with the question: “What is your earliest memory?” People stared at their notebooks. Others looked at the floor or the ceiling, while some got right to work. Eventually, the pens and pencils started moving. Everyone was slowly, but surely, getting into the flow. The teacher in me was thrilled to see my “students” scribbling away.
To be honest, an hour of writing by hand can be tedious. Some people were literally wiggling their fingers in between prompts to loosen up the muscles. I told them writing by hand was important for this fast-paced activity. It made it harder to edit and forced them to keep going. They understood this and before long, were immersed in their writing and flipping through pages in their notebooks. It was going well!
I had prepared twenty prompts and chose the following eleven because of our time constraints.
- Describe the house or apartment and neighborhood you grew up in. Use your senses.
- Tell us about a memorable family trip. Where did you go? Who was there? Include as many details as possible.
- Who was your first real friend growing up? What did you do together? Are you still in touch with this person?
- What is your favorite food and when was the last time you had it? Who prepared it?
- First crushes: Who was it? Give us details!
- Is there a story in your family that gets told over and over again? Tell us that story.
- Write about an amazing trip you’ve taken as an adult. Where did you go? Who was with you? Try to include all the five senses in your writing.
- Successes: Write about a time you achieved something extraordinary. How did it feel?
- Failures: Describe the most devastating failure or disappointment in your life. What happened and how did you handle it?
- What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? Write about it using lots of emotion.
- Think about the most hilarious thing that has ever happened in your life. Write about this now and try to reignite those feelings of fun, laughter, and joy.
This took up the full hour because 12×5=60 minutes! We had twenty minutes to share before the next session, which was being taught by my husband. Each person was invited to read what they had written or tell the story in their own words. Only one person felt uncomfortable doing this, but at the end, she came over and said this was one of the most powerful experiences she’s ever had. She had no idea these events and feelings were lurking inside her brain, waiting to burst forth.
Can you guess which prompts were the most popular? Earliest childhood memories, favorite foods, and first crushes were the winners. Two people even had the same favorite food story – a sweet, buttery, stuffed pastry from India. One person described a crush she had on a boy in kindergarten. Another spoke about how his mother sang to him every night before he went to bed. And one women described the house she lived in as a child, which was so vivid, I told her it would be the perfect setting for a middle grade novel.
As writers, we enjoy creating a compelling plot. We rejoice in finding the perfect verb to convey a feeling. And we love the challenge of imagining a setting with lots of sensory details. Did any of these attendees feel this way? As it turned out, the answer was a resounding yes. One person told me she was now inspired to take a writing class Another said he had no idea these memories would be so emotional for him. A third said he needed to do more prompts when he taught his adult writing class for immigrants. I was elated. Telling our stories is the universal human language.
By the way, my husband’s class was about how to plan a multi-day bicycle trip. Perhaps when our “students” go on a bike trip, they’ll take some time to write about it!
By Rondi Sokoloff Frieder