Writing "communication," is not as easy as it might look. But good news... it can be learned.  

Let's consider an example...

--> A simple idea like communicating to someone near you that they smell badly.

First, the actual words... 

• You stink. 
• You might want to shower. 
• Is that smell you? 
• Did you use deodorant today? 
• Have you showered lately? 
• Did you step in something? 
• Is that smell your clothes or you?
• You smell bad. 
• I'm not fond of your new perfume. 

Second, the tone...

• Sarcastic 
• Matter-of-fact 
• Motherly
• Compassionate 
• Insulting 
• Playful

Third, the delivery...

• Whispered 
• Loudly stated in a room full of people
• Written on a piece of paper and slid across the table
• Intentionally in the presence of another admirer 
• Told at the end of long meeting
• Pull them aside

Can you begin to picture how each combination could communicate the same idea, slightly differently? 

Can you also see how it communicates so much more? 

It reveals the relationship...

Writing dialogue is more than just words said... it's motive, meaning, and the dynamics of the relationship. It's intentional and yet filled with subtext. 

But what about one's internal dialogue? 

Is it simpler because there is only one person involved? 

OR...

Is it just as complex because of the truth and lies tug-o-war going on in one's head?

Consider this example... 

When the pie fell to the floor, Lorinda let out a scream. 

"Nooooo! This can't be happening. This is my year." 

She knelt beside the pie and tried to scoop it back into the pan, but she knew it would never win the blue ribbon. 

Tears began to slide down her cheeks as she rolled to her back and let the spatula fall to the kitchen floor beside her. 

"I'm never gonna win. 

And I'm not sure why... because I make the very best cinnamon apple pie. 

How does she still win? She's been gone a year and that girl is still messing with me. 

Well, no more.

I have another hour before the tasting. I can do this."

And...

Typography can be really FUN in storybooks. 

The easiest way to understand Typography is that it uses words inside the illustration versus as a layer over one. 

Here is one kind of typography... this storybook creator used the words to show the shape of the object it was talking about.  (image #1 - giraffe, image #2 - skyscraper) 

Now you try it. 

Creative Muscle Exercise 

Try on Typography for fun. 

1. Pick a favorite poem

2. Use the words to draw an image that is directly talked about in the poem or implied. 

3. Use color

4. Have fun... it doesn't need to be perfect. 

5. Now try it in reverse. Select an object or idea and use your own descriptive words to draw it. 

DEBRIEF: 

1. What was hard about this kind of drawing? Why do you think that was hard? 

2. Which was easier... using someone else's words to draw an image or using your own? Why do you think it was easier? 

3. Can you see using this strategy sometime in your storybook? 

Typography - 

Again, typography is words IN images versus like a layer over them. 

Another way to do typography is by representing other thinking, talking, or ideas that contribute to the story, but are not in the text of the story through "text boxes." 

• Journal entries 
• Thought bubbles 
• Dialogue bubbles
• Words on a chart
• Info boxes

Here are a couple of examples. 

Now it's your turn. 

Creative Muscle Exercise 

• Grab a favorite storybook and pick a page. 
• What additional information, thoughts, feelings, or ideas could you add to story by adding a typographical "text box" to the illustration? 
• Try it. What would you add? What would you put into the thought bubble, journal entry, etc.? 

DEBRIEF: 

1. Was it fun to consider what you could add? Or did it feel like the story didn't really need it? 

2. Do you think this is something that could be helpful in your book? (Maybe not on every page, but on 1-2?) 

3. What part of this was easy? Hard? Why do yo...

Research has uncovered an interesting kind of brain cell called the Mirror Neuron. This mirror neuron mimics or mirrors what we see. 

• It's why we unconsciously repeat phrases we've seen and heard.
• It's why we have mannerisms like our parents.
• It's why we treat others how we've been treated.
• It's why we yawn when we see others yawn. 

It simply is our brains learning how to act by observing, unconsciously, how others are acting. 

This can be dangerous or beautiful, depending on how we allow our mirror neurons (and our children's) to be trained. 

Dangerous -

• If I watch, willingly or unwillingly, my mother get emotionally or physically abused by my father, then I choose a man who will treat me this way. 
• If I witness self-preservation through emotional walls that don't allow my parents to say 'I love you,' to me, then I build emotional walls and never say 'I love you.' 
• If I heard profanity as the response to frustration, then I use that same profanity when I'm frustrate...

I love when Holy Spirit teaches me from my son's mouth (he's 9 by the way).

The other day we were in the car and headed to a friends house. I noticed some detour signs and decided to take another route to avoid traffic.

My little Jacob declared from the backseat, "Mom, you're going the wrong way. We stay on that street to go to his house."

I replied, "Honey, I saw some possible obstacles, so I'm going a different route."

Jacob, "But mom, this is not the way to his house."

I replied, "It is a different way to his house. Trust me, I know where we are going."

Jacob, "Mom, you can't go another way. This way does not get us to his house."

I replied, "There is another way and I know it.. trust me."

Jacob, "I don't trust you mom. This is not the way to his house."

And with that he folded his arms in frustration.

Then when we turned the corner and he saw the house, "Oh. Ok."

I immediately felt a nudge in my spirit, "Does this sound familiar?"

So many times I've though...

Modeling / Observation

Officially, this way of learning is called Modeling or Observation and is more powerful than we can even imagine. 

My little Jacob was sitting beside his Dad on the couch and mimicked every little action he was doing. At one point Jacob came and got a cup of orange juice because that was what Dad was sipping. Jacob then went to set on the couch and held the cup, just like Dad. Every time Dad sipped, he would sip. It was adorable and POWERFUL at the same time. 

That old saying, “Do what I say and not what I do,” just simply is NEVER how things work.  Kids learn by observation/ modeling. It's sobering and humbling, but reality. 

The good news is that we can change what they observe, by changing our behavior and then explaining WHY we did. This models intentionality in order to improve, a great skill and character trait.  

What are you children learning from you through modeling/ observation? Come share the good or the bad, which is the first self-aware step...

RHYMING - 

Finding words that rhyme are only 10% of Rhyming. The real work is getting those words that rhyme to work in your sentences and rhythms (if you have these too) so it makes sense for your overall story or poem. 

Rhyming dictionaries help the 1st part... you build skill in the 2nd part. 

Creative Exercise #13

Finish this well-know poem with 2 lines that...

A)... are sad 

B)... are funny 

C)... are grandma wisdom

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

_____________

_____________

DEBRIEF: 

1. What was most difficult about writing these 2 lines? Why do you think that is? 

2. What was easiest about writing these 2 lines? Why do you think that is? 

3. What was your process? Did it change (revise) as you proceeded? 

4. Use your process and write one last time to get to LOVE.

In preparation for my Remembrance Storybook Challenge, I'm thinking about how people remember loved ones.

WHAT do they never want to forget?  

And HOW do they ensure they won't forget? 

• I've seen a widower visit his wife's gravesite and bring fresh flowers every week. 
• I've seen parents go to a lake and throw pebbles into the water as they remember stories of their child playing there. 
• I've seen friends go back to a crash site and leave pictures and flowers every year to remember the place an accident took their friend's life. 
• I've seen faith-filled communities take communion every month to remember the cross.

Remembrance is both WHAT you remember of someone and HOW you remember it. 

And it reveals a ton about the person remembering, the person being remembered, and their relationship.

Exploring this may be a creative muscle exercise, but it can also be helpful to better understand a character you are writing. 

CREATIVE MUSCLE EXERCISE #12

1. Decide to do this exerc...