SOL2015 March 16 - Monday In The Cave




Today, like most Mondays I spend a significant amount of time in my writing space. Writing, reading, preparing for the week ahead. The next three days will be spent in schools working with teachers and students on a range of literacy related tasks. Modelling, coaching and planning, are all part of the coming week. So too is a lot of driving.

 The time spent in my writing space (Vicki calls it,The Cave) is therefore vital to the work I am planning to do. In this space, I am surrounded by the books and writers who are my collaborators in writing. Their words sustain me, inspire me, challenge me.

The shelves are brimming with loosely categorized titles. Assembled on assorted shelves are books on reading, books on philosophy, books on general fiction, books on travel, books on history, books on sport, books that deal with general educational theory, books for children and young adults and two shelves of books dealing exclusively with writing. Also on the shelves are artifacts gathered from numerous times and places, magazines and boxes containing assorted paraphernalia. The drawers of my desk hold a multitude of stationary and a not insignificant amount of junky items too precious to jettison.

At my finger tips is the technology so essential to drive the many platforms of my writing and reading life. Computer, scanner and printer are at the ready.

 In the cupboards directly behind where I sit are shelves stacked with fiction and non fiction picture books. I am rapidly running out of space. But those irresistible books keep turning up. It may look a little messy, but I can assure you dear reader, I can pin point a book almost instantly.


Artifacts, ephemera, and other treasures
 Beneath the window is a couch upon which I can sit and read with the sun streaming in over my shoulder. I can watch the wattlebirds, rainbow lorikeets and rosellas feast on the seeds  and flowers of the Bushy Yate outside the window.  This is my main writing space. I have others, but this is where my writing finds its wings.

A Rainbow Lorikeet in the Bushy outside the study window

Comments

  1. Michelle Haseltine16 March 2015 at 20:29

    I love getting peeks into the writing space of others!! Seeing the choices they make inspire me and help me with my own space. I must say that rainbow lorikeet is the prettiest bird I've ever seen!! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown16 March 2015 at 22:04

    Lovely space. And what a view. Beautiful bird!

    ReplyDelete
  3. mbhmaine16 March 2015 at 23:09

    I love the phrasing, "This is where my writing finds its wings" and its juxtaposition with that gorgeous bird! What an Aladdin's cave of riches you have created for yourself and how lucky others are that these treasures spill out generously through your teaching. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. elsie17 March 2015 at 01:12

    Nature a glance away, books at your fingertips, and ephemera at hand, that's a writing space! I know what you mean about irresistible books, I'm out of space too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Terje 17 March 2015 at 03:14

    Your writing space is rich. I like how you look at is as a cave with treasures. The last paragraph, with the sun and the birds outside your window, sounds like a paradise.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tara17 March 2015 at 08:23

    I love the fact that you have this enclosed and book surrounded space from one angle, and then a view of nature from another - a rich and varied space, indeed.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not every thing has a
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers to gain i
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intention of drawing t
Read more

Answering Questions Posed by Young POETS

Image
UPDATED, May 2020 As a frequent visitor to schools I have the great pleasure of working with groups of young, enthusiastic poets and their teachers. When I arrive in a classroom, young poets are often pre-loaded with questions, and most keen to have them answered.  I try to answer as many as I can, but we frequently run out of time, and the poetry caravan moves on to the next classroom. So I am here to answer some of those questions -right here, right now. So here goes: When you were little did you love writing? The short answer is yes. I have always enjoyed words and language. I can't recall a time when I wasn't doing some kind of writing. When did you write your first poetry book? I have had poems published over the years, but it wasn't until 2014 that I had an entire book of poems (an anthology) published. When I looked back through all my notebooks I realized I had hundreds of poems from which to choose. So, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth-Poetry From The
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to
Read more