Writing Exercises for Family Entertainment: 4 of 6

Let's continue to explore the theory that learning to write can be a form of family entertainment.

If you have been performing these exercises, by now you should agree that not only can writing itself be fun, but learning to write can provide an opportunity for family entertainment. And it's not that difficult.

It bears repeating that in today's world of lightning-speed communication, writing continues to be a valuable way to reach out to one another. However, busy families seldom have time to speak to one another, much less take the time to learn how to write together. Nonetheless, it makes sense to hone your writing skills—even if you find writing to be a drudgery and avoid it, basking in the brevity of social media. So take the time to evaluate if your family might enjoy the simple exercises outlined in these columns to improve your writing skills while you have fun with your family.

In the first exercise, the family described the act of cooking dinner. Each family member first described the cook, then used at least three action verbs to tell us how the cook actually made the dinner, and concluded with a description of the result—with the caveat that it was not intended as a way for teenagers to critique their parents' or sibling's cooking.

For the second exercise, we called on the artistic skills of family members. Each member of the family took turns writing and then reading a paragraph describing a room that none of the other family members had ever seen. They then spent ten minutes drawing that room.

For the third exercise, each family member wrote a paragraph describing something that each of them sees every day, and asked the other family members to identify it, with the objective to identify it as quickly as possible.

For this exercise we are going to assume that the family is traveling—either in a car, a train, or plane. Before you start, choose your tool of writing. If you each want to have a computer and that's possible, then use the computer to write. However, a more likely writing implement might be just a small notebook with a pen. (It still works for writing.) It should be noted that if you are driving in a car, the driver is not to write anything and should focus on steering the car.

As you travel, identify something new that the family has never seen before, and each of you write a paragraph about it. If agreement on one item is a problem, the driver should resolve the argument, and assuming time allows, you can choose the loser's item for the next sentence. The idea is to write a paragraph about each new thing and then review them at the end of the trip as a memento.

Remember to describe:

• Physical characteristics: size, color, old or new, clean or dirty, moving or stable, liquid or solid, animal, bird

• Environment: light or dark, smell, water, humid

• Parts of the whole: furniture, porch, stones in the water, fences, grass, bugs

• Conclude with how you felt when you saw it: happy, sad, concerned, nervous, hopeful, content, wanting more

When you arrive at your destination—or even while you stop for dinner at a restaurant on your way—read your descriptions to each other. Hopefully you will also have time to gather them into some kind of file for safekeeping.

We have spent the first few exercises describing places or things. Our next exercise will focus on character development.

Joyce T. Strand, Ph.D.

Author of the Jillian Hillcrest Mystery Series

Joycestrand.com