Dream Keepers Blog

Welcome, Dream Keepers! Fall classes have started--and we'd love to have you to stop by and create! We meet at the library and use words and art to make sense of the world.  Each week, I bring a project or prompt for writers to work with. But you are welcome to bring your own ideas and projects. One of our Dream Keepers is writing a novel! Another is using photoshop to learn how to design books. I look forward to seeing what YOU will create with your imagination! Mitchell Street Branch 903 West Historic Mitchell Street 4:30-6:00 PM We meet in the library's Makerspace downstairs. Join us to create something with words, art, and more! September 4, 17 October 1, 15 November  6, 19 December 4, 8 Capitol Drive Branch 3969 N 74th Street 4:00-5:30 PM We meet in the children's area of the library. September 10, 24 October 8, 22 November 12, 26 December 10, 17 Can't wait to see you at the library!

--> Write Your Dreams by Rochelle Melander Your dreams can be a rich source of stories, images, metaphors, and sensory details for your writing.  Many famous novels began with the writer's dreams. Mary Shelley was staying with Lord Byron in Switzerland during a frightful cold spell. Byron suggested they write a ghost storied. After Shelley came up with the idea of a reanimated corpse, she had a spooky dream: that dream became the core of her famous novel  Frankenstein . While traveling on a train, E.B. White dreamed of a small, adventurous mouse. Although he started writing the story almost immediately, it would be twenty years before he published, Stuart Little . When Stephen King snoozed on a long flight, he dreamed about a woman who kills her favorite writer, using his skin to bind a book. That dream gave him the idea for his bestselling book, Misery .  You, too, can use your dreams...

--> Write Now: Superhero You --> Not easy to find the balance, for if one does not have wild dreams of achievement, there is no spur even to get the dishes washed. One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.  —May Sarton,  Journal of a Solitude If you were a superhero, who would you be? Discover your strengths Consider a recent significant success: a time when something went well. You made a great art piece, you gave a good presentation for class, you got your room cleaned before you got in trouble for the dirty dishes under your bed. Describe this success story in rich detail, using all five senses. +What happened? +What did you do? +What strengths did you use? (For example, curiosity, woo, vision, etc.)  Superhero You! Look at the strengths you identified above. Give yourself a name and a short description. Here's an example:  A few years ago, I wa...

Map Your Life by Rochelle Melander I love maps: old maps, new maps, digital, paper, hand-made and computer generated. I love to study maps and imagine trips. I also like to make maps. As a writer, I often create maps for the fictional worlds I write about. I love knowing where my characters live, how they get to the library and the grocery store, and where their favorite hangouts are. With a map, I can better write about their adventures. I also love mapping ideas and feelings. Several years ago, I learned how to use mind mapping to record information, explore ideas, and develop stories. I turn to mind mapping when I have a story to write but I don't know where I'm going with it. It helps me organize my ideas--and often the process helps me uncover new ideas and connections. In My Map Book , Sara Fanelli has created a child's world with maps. The book includes maps of external places like the child's bedroom, neighborhood, and route to school. And it includ...

--> I still remember the moment. My husband and I were in the checkout line at the grocery store. I was reading the headlines on the magazines when I saw this one, "Constipation Killed the Dinosaurs." Until then, I don't think I realized how amazingly creative tabloid writers need to be. Here's your assignment : Write a tabloid article, complete with headline, that could appear in your current work-in-progress. If this seems too challenging, grab a headline from an existing tabloid and write your article based on that.