1. Insight Garden
Presented by Amanda Hadlock
Ozarks Writing Project 2017

2. About Me (And About You!)
I love writing poetry, short stories, comics, journals, letters, personal essays, academic/theoretical essays, and everything in between.
Writing and reading have always played a huge part in my life. I believe writing is the best way to learn about ourselves and about others.
Turn to your shoulder partner, introduce yourself, and share: why do you love to write?

3. Objectives:
To draw creative inspiration from the everyday, seemingly mundane things around us.
As the Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac said, “It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way thatcha write it.” You can make an interesting narrative out of anything!
To leave here today with a piece of writing- or at the very least, a good start- that we are proud of.
(We are NOT here to leave with a totally polished, publishable piece. Writing is a process, and we have limited time here. Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself still wanting to revise by the end of the session– that’s a good thing! It means you’ve written something worth revisiting).
To share our writing, even if it’s only a fragment.
To begin thinking about a meaningful way to revise our pieces after we leave today.

4. Agenda
20 minutes of “Insight Gardening;” we will visit each station and draw inspiration from/jot about the artifacts. (Feel free to touch the artifacts, but be careful, please. Some are fragile).
25 minutes of writing: Based on our thoughts about the artifacts, we will focus on writing a longer piece. No genre/form restrictions.
5 minutes of partner sharing.
5 minutes of class-wide sharing, if you so desire to participate. 

5. As you Insight Garden, ask yourself…
How can you give these seemingly mundane things a new, insightful, or surprising meaning?
How can you connect the artifacts to your own experiences?
Or, how can you connect it to an interesting fictional experience you’ve thought up?

6. Keep in mind the poet T.S. Eliot’s theory of the objective correlative:
certain objects and images in writing can serve as symbols for the emotions being experienced in the story/piece. (Ex: “Since her husband’s death, she spent all day in the dark, burrowed in her cold bed” vs. “Since her husband’s death, she was depressed.”) SHOW, don’t tell- it’s more fun to read something when we have to make the connections ourselves! Sensory detail is key. Put us IN the scene.

7. Ready, Set, Insight Garden!
Start at the station where you’re seated; speculate on the artifacts and write any thoughts or ideas that may come to you.
When the timer sounds, rotate to the station that’s next in numerical order (Table one will go to table two, table two to table three… you get the gist).
Have fun! 

8. Write Your Story.
25 minutes of focused writing: drawing inspiration from the artifacts you’ve just encountered, write in any form/genre you wish. You may choose to focus on one artifact, or you may choose to weave several of them into your piece- the freedom of choice is yours.

9. Make Your Statement. Raise your hand.
Find someone you haven’t met yet, go give them a high five. They’re your sharing partner.
Share something you wrote with them. This can be a paragraph, a sentence, a phrase, even just a word if you’re uncomfortable sharing anything more. (Trust me, I understand this stuff can get very personal).
Time permitting, we can take volunteers to read to the whole class, if you would like to. 

10. Closure Happy writing! 
How are we going to revise or expand these pieces?
How would your piece have turned out differently if you’d chosen to write in a different form or genre? Could trying a different form, genre, or point of view make for a meaningful revision of this piece?
Happy writing! 