#summersparks DAY 5: A Visual Writing Prompt: Begin at the End by Julie Gribble

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Summer SparksA Visual Writing Prompt: Begin at the End.
by Julie Gribble

 

Visual learning

In a recent post here on her blog, Tracey encouraged us to include videos in our marketing strategy. MONDAY MARKETING: YOUTUBE  *VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR*

https://traceymcox.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/

“What better concept to get your message across. Let’s face the facts. MOST PEOPLE ARE VISUAL LEARNERS. This means a picture is worth a thousand words (which makes me sad … I’m an author! I live on words). You can tell someone something (directions/recipes/variations of color/yadda yadda), but if you SHOW them…It clicks!”

 

As one of those visual learners, I can tell you her words ring true to me.

Like most kids, I had a vivid imagination (still do) and an active body that always seemed to be in motion (not so much anymore). You’d usually find me up a tree, on a bike, or in the municipal pool – I just didn’t want to sit still. However, I would sit still for a moment to read a book, if that book was filled with pictures. Illustrations sparked my imagination – I’d think up a story of my own that I wanted to tell, and then scribble this version of the story next to images in the book. Upon reflection, I realize now that pictures prompted my interest in writing.

 

Endings are hard

Working in television for many years, behind the scenes on comedy shows, gave me a rare perspective on the creative writing process as skits were drafted, rehearsed, rewritten, rehearsed again, revised, and then performed live. This perspective could best be described as a master class in comedy writing. And indeed, I learned that a good ending, although difficult to write, is a critical element in every good skit or story. I also learned that even the pros have trouble with endings because endings are hard.

 

Using visuals to write satisfying endings

One of the best writing prompts I’ve ever come across, was taught in a screenwriting course. Each student was given a different photograph then asked to place it on the table in front of him or her. The teacher asked us to imagine that the picture in front of us depicted the last scene in our film – it was the last image seen by the audience before the credits rolled. We were asked to describe what was happening at that very moment, in as much detail as we could imagine. Then we were asked to tell the story that ended with that scene.

This exercise made us focus on just the ending of the story – no need to think about how the story might end, because we were already there.

 

Since good endings are hard to write, why not start with them first? So let’s try doing that here on Summer Sparks!

 

Choose your favorite picture below then imagine that it’s the last image in your story – don’t think about how the subject(s) got there, just think about what they’re doing, thinking, or feeling at the very moment this picture was taken.

 

Let’s begin with this image:

**click picture for better viewing**article-1207590-061B1271000005DC-144_634x838©Specialist Stock/Barcroft Media

What’s happening here?

Is the whale happy to meet this skinny walrus?

Or perhaps the whale now believes mermaids are real?

Have the hunter and whale come to a truce?

Or did this diver wish to meet the last whale in the sea?

 

1 – Chose your ending.

2 – Ok, now that you have your ending, tell us how they got there – think about what happened to the characters before this scene. That is your story to tell.

Writing Prompt

So, let’s continue the exercise. Imagine the last image in your story is depicted below. How does your story end? Let your imagination run wild and let the Summer Sparks fly!

**click pictures for better viewing:

ladybug-landing-with-style1© Source Unknown

 

original© Jay Malone

 

Bearbreakfast©ChubbyCheekPhotography

 

slide_326400_3140268_free©Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

 

mantis-bike_2191258b©Eco Suparman

cute-baby-animals-37©Andreas Butz

 

baby01© Source Unknown

 

Here are a few resources to help get you off to a good start finish:

 

Sources for visually-inspiring writing prompts:

http://www.pinterest.com/mseringannon/visual-writing-prompts

http://www.pinterest.com/lilmarbar/pictures-and-writing-inspiration

http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx

https://www.behance.net

http://thedesigninspiration.com/articles/70-cutie-baby-animals-bring-your-a-good-mood

http://visualprompts.weebly.com

 

Articles on using visual writing prompts:

http://www.carriemumford.com/using-photos-to-inspire-your-writing

http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/eringannon/we-love-visual-writing-prompts

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/11/piclits-inspired-picture-writing.html#.U6jPz15ebud

 

Articles on visual learning:

How Visual Learning Supports Writing | Thinkspiration™ The Inspiration® Software Blog

http://www.inspiration.com/blog/2011/03/how-visual-learning-supports-writing/

“Pre-writing is essential to producing quality writing. Research indicates that skilled writers spend significantly more time organizing and planning what they are going to write.

So, when teachers ask students to create a bubble diagram, a web or any other visual diagram in the pre-writing process, it’s utilizing visual learning to help students clarify their thinking and organize their writing.”

Sensory Learning Styles | Grapplearts

http://www.grapplearts.com/Blog/2012/04/sensory-learning-styles

“Visual learners prefer to watch demonstrations and will often get a lot out of video taped instruction as well. You can sometimes tell you’re dealing with a visual learner when they ask, “Can I see that again?” Other types of learners would ask if you could do it again, or explain it again, but visual learners will often say they want to see it. It’s just a little sign that the person you’re coaching may be a visual learner.”

 

Articles on good endings:

How to Write Successful Endings | WritersDigest.com

http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/improve-my-writing/how_to_write_successful_endings

“The most-asked question when someone describes a novel, movie or short story to a friend probably is, “How does it end?” Endings carry tremendous weight with readers; if they don’t like the ending, chances are they’ll say they didn’t like the work. Failed endings are also the most common problems editors have with submitted works.

Making your ending a success involves two things. The first is content; the events of the ending must satisfy everything that has gone before. There’s no easy way to tell anyone how to do this; it depends entirely on what the work has seemed to promise the reader. Whatever that was must be delivered.”

Teaching That Makes Sense!

www.ttms.org/PDFs/01%20Writing%20Strategy%20Guide%20v001%20(Full).pdf

 

“• Feel finished. A good ending has a certain feel to it, and that feeling is one of completeness: there’s nothing else the writer needs to say, the piece has been wrapped up, summed up, and tied up so completely that the reader feels completely satisfied.

• Give the reader something to think about or do. Readers like to ponder a bit at the end of a piece, they like to have something to consider, something to reflect on, something to take with them for the future. Ideally, your ideas will linger in their mind long after they’ve read your last sentence. That’s the test of truly effective writing.

• Meet your reader’s expectations. With the beginning and middle of your piece, you’ve set up certain expectations in the minds of your readers. Your ending has to live up to those expectations, it has to fulfill the promise of everything that has come before.

• Too often, readers feel let down by the ending. And that can ruin their entire experience of a piece. It’s not that readers are mean people with impossibly high standards. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Your readers want you to have a great ending so badly that they often can’t help but disappoint themselves. This is just another reason why endings are so important and why good endings are so hard to write.

• The ending is the last thing your audience will read. As we’ve talked about before, you have a lot of responsibility when it comes to ending your piece effectively. After all, the ending is the last thing your readers will read and that means they’re quite likely to remember it better than other parts of your piece. But this means you have an opportunity, too. You can use your ending to say something very important with the knowledge that your readers will be listening closely to your every word. There are only two places where you can count on having your reader’s full attention. One is at the beginning, the other is at the end.”

 

Photo Credits:

 

JULIE GRIBBLE

Julie Gribble

 

After 19 years and 2 Emmy nominations, Julie left a successful career at NBC Universal to launch New York Media Works. As an award winning children’s book author, screenwriter, and independent filmmaker, she provides narrative fiction and documentary content for NYMW projects. She enjoys collaborating with other artists and bringing creative people together.

Julie was the first picture book author accepted into the Stony Brook Southampton Children’s Literature Fellows program and has been mentored by Emma Walton Hamilton and Cindy Kane Trumbore. She’s a full-time writer and a member of BAFTA-NY Children’s Committee, SCBWI, ChLA, and is founder of KidLit TV an online visual resource for the greater kid lit community which launches in the Fall.

Julie and Tracey run KidLit TV’s Facebook group – Join us!  https://www.facebook.com/ groups/KidLitTV
Julie is the author of:
Bubble Gum Princess

Bubble Gum Princess

 

FIND JULIE:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

 

Julie is giving away one copy of BUBBLE GUM PRINÇESS. Go ”HERE” for your chance to win.

:::LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW:::
Let us know if you are more visual.
What other things can you do to get the juices going? Listening to music? Take a walk? Take a shower?

 

 

Missed a SUMMER SPARK? Don’t worry, you can find them here:

Day 1: In Celebration of Summer Magic  by Kelly Milner Halls
Day 2:  The Power of Doodling  by Alison K. Hertz
Day 3: Cause & Effect  by Alayne Kay Christian
Day 4: How to be a Marketing Ninja  by Corey Rosen Schwartz
Day 5: A Visual Writing Prompt: Begin at the End  by Julie Gribble
Day 6: The Final Word  by Jodi Moore
Day 7: Inspiration Station  by Susanna Hill
Day 8: Voice and Word Choice in Picture Books by Tara Lazar
Day 9: Platform Building Can You Build It? Yes, You Can!  by Tracey M. Cox
Day 10: 5 Ways to Hook Your Reader with Your Very First Line  by Kirsti Call
Day 11: Burning Down the House aka Revision by Donna Earnhardt
Day 12: Persistence  by Donna M. McDine
Day 13: Writing Your Way to a Spark  by Kris Dinnison
Day 14: Hope In Your Heart  by Carol Gordon Ekster
BONUS: What Songs Rock Your World?  by Claire Rudolf Murphy
THAT’S A WRAP!
Follow-up #1: TIPS
Follow-up #2: 9 Ways to Tighten Your Story
Prize Announcement: Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

47 thoughts on “#summersparks DAY 5: A Visual Writing Prompt: Begin at the End by Julie Gribble”

  3. Lot of great resources and inspiration, Julie! Thanks. I’m especially pondering the grasshopper on the “bicycle.”

  4. Thank you Pathapp. Whenever I come across an interesting pic, I store it in a folder on my desktop called “Writing Inspiration-PICS” so that it’s always there to help spark a new idea.

  5. Totally fun exercise, Julie! I’m not as much a visual learner as some, but pictures definitely help. Off to give that teddy-bear-carrying-mouse an ending description. Thank so much!

  7. Tracey – Thank you for hosting this amazing series. I’m in awe of all the writers chosen to blog here, and I’m just honored to be among them. I think the whale and diver photo is one of my favorites – it just fills your head with questions, doesn’t it? (oh, BTW I’m logged in as NYMEDIAWORKS, here on WordPress, but it’s me, Julie!)

  8. NatureLady, that pic was a lucky accident according to the photographer, Eco Suparman. He was practicing his macro photography when the praying mantis he was shooting jumped onto this unusually shaped plant!

  12. Incredible tips and photos! Gets my creative juices flowing. I’ve become more visual as the years go by, I often wonder if I struggled in school since I must have always been a visual learner. Soft non-lyric music playing softly in the background while I’m journaling before I get down to the task of working on my latest manuscript gets my creative juices going 🙂

  13. Donnancdine, That’s awesome.
    I know several children that learn better visually. When I coached kids wrestling, I had one child who loved me to be on the mat during his matches. I would run through the moves I knew he had difficulty with. He was visual, so telling him didn’t work.

  14. Pingback: A Visual Writing Prompt: Begin at the End | New York Media Works

  17. DONNAMCDINE – You know, I need to listen to music when I write, too! Instrumental (absolutely no words) either classical or contemporary. Music with lyrics is a distraction.

  20. Fantastic post! This is so helpful. I chose the picture of the girl trying to sell her little brother–all kinds of ideas started flowing once I got started! Lots of great resources–I can’t wait to surf through them all. Thanks so much!

  25. Loved the post and the pics! I’m a rather visual thinker by nature and have been using pics to inspire my poetry already. Now–thanks to your post–I’m using some pics to inspire my story writing.

  27. Pingback: #summersparks DAY 1: In Celebration of Summer Magic by: Kelly Halls | a writers blog by: Tracey M. Cox

  28. Pingback: #summersparks DAY 2: The Power of Doodling by Alison Hertz | a writers blog by: Tracey M. Cox

  29. Pingback: #summersparks Day 3: Cause and Effect by Alayne Kay Christian | a writers blog by: Tracey M. Cox

  30. Pingback: #summersparks DAY 4: How to be a Marketing Ninja by Corey Rosen Schwartz | a writers blog by: Tracey M. Cox

  31. Pingback: #summersparks DAY 6: The Final Word by Jodi Moore | a writers blog by: Tracey M. Cox

  32. Julie, what an amazing post! Thank you for the list of resources. I guess you could say that I’m a visual learner or rather a “visual writer” as I’m always getting ideas from either sitting on my deck early in the morning as dawn breaks or from puttering around in the garden. I tried having new age music playing softly in the background, but found that I kept drifting off with the music, especially if it was Yanni’s…yeah, I admit it, I’m a Yanni fan.

    And as someone who has had 99 cats share her life, you know which photo I was drawn to : ) for this morning’s writing prompt

  38. Pingback: #summersparks DAY 7: Inspiration Station by Susanna Hill | a writers blog by: Tracey M. Cox

  39. Julie: A visual learner I am. Actually, I believe I am best at being a VAK Learner [Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic]. So many great visuals and resources you have shared. The Bubblegum Princess looks like it needs to be on my book shelf. ~Suzy Leopold

  40. Suzy – this is the first I’ve heard of VAK – def think I’m one as well. The PDF from Teaching That Makes Sense! is geared toward younger writers, but it was so good I thought it could be helpful to us grown-ups, too.

  41. Suzy – Also meant to thank you for looking to add our little book to your shelf! The Princess would be honored 🙂 – Julie G.

  42. Julie and Tracey, I love your post. I can’t wait to begin my next story, using one of the wonderful photos. Now, the problem is choosing one of the pictures to focus on. They’re all so wonderful. Also, on my to do list; read “Bubble Gum Princess.” Thanks for another spark filled day.

  47. Thanks for all those great resources!! I’m just “surfacing” after a non-stop month of revising two manuscripts. I’m really enjoying catching up on what I’ve missed here!

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