Accidental poetry: Improve your english through creative writing - Lisa Lieberman 2015

How to use this book

Accidental Poetry: Improve Your English Through Creative Writing is designed to guide instructors and learners alike. Its goal is to give new speakers of English the confidence to communicate creatively with the vocabulary that’s available now. New English speakers will continue to reap the book’s benefits over time, as the ability to master the language increases. To that end, here are a few suggestions for using the book to its fullest extent:

1.Individually: Start at the beginning of the book and choose a different writing exercise each day. When you’ve completed all of the exercises, go back and start again. Notice how your vocabulary and your confidence when writing in English has increased. Continue using the exercises, telling new stories and exploring new emotions as your mastery continues to grow.

2.With a friend: Share your work with a friend who is also new to the language. You can choose the same writing exercises or work with different ones. Read your work out loud to each other, practicing pronunciation. Perhaps your responses will elicit a dialogue. Discuss your reactions to each other’s work—in English!

3.With a group: Gather with others at regular intervals and each time you do, have one of the participants choose the exercises. Allow for ample writing time, and then share your written work with each other. Talk about the emotional response you have to each other’s work.

4.In the classroom: Language instructors will find the exercises to be a handy teaching tool. Allowing students to write what they feel is a fun and rewarding diversion from the rigors of grappling with grammar and syntax. Try working with a specific topic, or choose random prompts, assigning a different one to each student. Follow each exercise with a second prompt that goes deeper, giving students additional opportunities for expression. Encourage them to use more complex verb tenses as they continue to write, and give them an opportunity to correct their grammar, spelling and punctuation in order to refine their written words.

5.Place: When you’re ready to write, either on your own or with others, find a quiet and comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed. If you’re using a computer or tablet, rest your fingers on the keys, take in the exercise, and write as the thoughts come to you. Let the words flow.

6.Should You Get Stuck: When you respond to the exercises the first time around, work with the English words you have on hand. Don’t waste energy worrying about the correctness of your sentences. If a prompt contains a word that’s new to you, take the opportunity to look up its meaning. Likewise, as you write, you might find that you don’t know a specific word in English. When this happens, you might want to find it in the dictionary.

7.Length: Your response to the writing prompts can be as short as a few paragraphs or as long as a novel. Write whatever stories come to mind as you work with the exercise. You can set the scene, activate the senses, and use dialogue. Don’t be concerned about correctness. Have fun! You’ll be pleased to see how far it takes you.

8.Order: The writing exercises are divided into chapters, beginning with awakening the senses. From there, we’ll move on to the darker and lighter shades of our emotions, our longings and desires, and interpersonal relationships, from parents and siblings to friends and romantic partners. We’ll also explore feelings about growing older and our personal evolution. Naturally, these topics get more complicated. Feel free to skip around, but you may find that beginning with simpler emotions helps you gain the confidence to increase the complexity of both emotion and language.

9.A word of caution: It’s important to note that many of the exercises might bring up unexpected feelings. Please be assured that any emotions you’re feeling will not harm you as you express them in writing. In fact, writing may help you feel better. Feelings are the richest part of our lives, and expressing them on the page can be a deeply rewarding experience. If you choose to share your written work with others, you’ll soon realize that your feelings are universal and germane to all of us.

10.Hold on to your written work: Keep a notebook or a journal of your responses to the exercises. This way, you’ll have a collection of your work and you’ll be able to track your progress.

Enjoy!