Lesson Activities

Each lesson contains four steps that you do in order: Dream First, Write Fast, Vision Share, and Think Again.

The lessons also include optional activities to extend your writing and thinking. When you complete a lesson, you’ll close with a self-evaluation.

Step 1 – Dream First

Begin with a walk or some other form of mental wandering. You’ll then respond to an open-ended notebook prompt. Allowing thoughts and words to flow is crucial to getting in touch with your first-person voice.

Step 2 – Write Fast

The next step is a short writing activity meant to be done quickly – such as a letter to yourself or a capsule description. Building a writing habit depends on generating free-flowing drafts you can edit or revise later.

Step 3 – Vision Share

After generating a draft, you’ll create a visual representation to share with others, like a snapshot or sketch. Visualizing helps with finding your focus. This step is about using other ways of thinking, not artistic skill.

Step 4 – Think Again

The last step of the sequence is for reflecting on what you really want to say, what you could add to your draft, and how you might change your writing voice. For some lessons, you’ll be asked to do a revision, too.

Optional Activities

Stretch: More Writing

These additional activities will help extend and revise your drafts. In some of the lessons, stretch activities encourage writers to polish their work for potential publication.

Other stretches involve building good writing and observation habits – key “Life Lessons” for first-person storytellers.

Respond: More Reading

Here you’ll find suggested readings from my book First-Person Journalism and links to work by other writers.

Responding to media of all kinds in passionate, engaged ways helps writers figure out what they care about themselves.

For more about why reading matters for writing, see “Reading to Spark Yourself.”

Writing Groups: Connecting with Others

These discussion prompts and ideas for sharing work involve a group of your choosing.

You can do the lessons on your own, but consider meeting regularly with a writing group while working at the same pace. This will provide many more opportunities for feedback from peers.

For more about peer discussion and feedback, see “Forming a Writing Group.”