"The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say."
- Mark Twain's Notebook, 1902-1903


UNIT 1   GETTING STARTED

THE INGREDIENTS OF STORIES, BOTH ORAL AND WRITTEN

Spinning a good yarn or telling interesting stories is something you learn as you go along. Storytelling evolves from its own rough initial form. The good storyteller seeks a goal of satisfaction and pride in sharing an entertaining happening, either in friendly conversation or in written form.

Writing stories is dependent upon memory, integrity, trust, and vision. Great painters, architects, composers - any artist - must look at their own pasts to gather all that had a bearing on their art.

Telling stories is a folk art grown out of the primal urge to give tongue or written word to what has been seen, heard, or experienced. The intense urgency to share something that has moved the writer or storyteller deeply is not just a clever transmission of information but involves heart and spirit - intangibles. Stories must appear to be alive. It is impossible to kindle fresh fires from burned-out embers.

Try to see your story - revisit it; make it live for you to the point that you can make it live for others. Fit the words, either yours or another's, to each movement of life as it passes by your inner eye To be able to weave a story, to make it live during the telling or reading, to arouse emotions - wonder, laughter, joy, and amazement - this is the only goal a yarn spinner may have.

OUR FAVORITE STORYTELLERS

What storytellers do you like the most? Hemingway, Michener, Steinbeck, Danielle Steele? What is it you like most about their writing? Try making a list in your journal of each of your favorite authors and the reasons you like them. Remember, like attracts like. Remember, too, that our contemporary story weavers come from a long line of predecessors. Think of someone you know or whom you've heard on the radio or television, someone like Bill Cosby, who's a really good storyteller. Why are their stories so enjoyable? Sure, something funny, surprising, or very interesting happens to someone. That's called a climax in writing terms.

BUILDING A "MEMORY BANK"

A system known as the "Memory Bank" can be used as a means to recall long-forgotten, but important, incidents in your life. As part of your Spinning Yarns course, a Memory Checklist, will become the core of this course.

Starting with Earliest Memories (age 1 to 3), you will record your recollections, in brief form, progressing to ages 3 to 5, then memories of school, childhood memories, the teens, entering adulthood, frights and thrills, evolving as a person, memories and dreams of love, moving, and today.

By providing you with a series of questions or prompts, this checklist is designed to stir up memories, to encourage you to let your mind wander back to periods of your life that you may think you have forgotten; some memories you purposely tried to forget. Good or bad, memories are what will get you started on the project of writing about your life. By the end of this course, you will have culled out those memories best not included in your writings for various reasons. Your refined checklist will provide you with subject matter for future quality writing.

KEEPING A JOURNAL

A loose-leaf notebook, a five-by-seven bound journal, a pocket-size notepad, or all of the above, will enable you to deposit facts about your past as they come to mind. You need only jot a few words down to keep the thought from getting away. These facts will gather "interest" like a savings account. As you read them over and over and begin to write about segments of your life, one memory will spark another and multiply itself many times. As you note each of these new memories, you should soon have a wealth of materials from which to begin your life writing.

You can write other things in your journal besides life experiences to jog your memory. Keep notes on what you have accomplished, who you need to contact, what you learned from a particular source, what new materials you want to explore to provide you with new insights. Your journal writing keeps you on track.

YOUR PORTFOLIO

This can be a simple manila folder in which you accumulate your writing activities prompted by your homework assignments at the end of each unit. For example, at the end of this first unit, under Homework, you will be asked to prepare a paragraph on an early memory from your Memory Checklist. By the end of the course, your floppy disc and your portfolio will contain all your drafts and computer generated essays based on Homework assignments.

THE COMPUTER

Since the advent of the personal computer (pc) has gradually spread into more and more facets of our lives and has made a huge impact on publishing, it is important to make full use of them. To that end, you should consider keeping your journal in your computer, ideally on a floppy disk, or both places. For example, if you were to carry a pocket-size notepad in a pocket or purse and you jot some words, phrases, or brief sentences to keep a thought, you may want to amplify your notes on your pc later that day and save them under the file name "Journal." That way, when you complete this course and continue your life writing, all you need will be at your beck and call on screen.

If, however, you neither have a computer nor have access to one, keeping the loose-leaf suggested above will suffice. It should be noted, however, that a serious writer today uses a computer, not only for convenience and software help, but because more and more publishers expect their writers to submit stories via the Internet.

Throughout this course, you will find information on various aids or "tools of the trade" that you may wish to check into. Today, there are many ways to insure your writing outcomes are successfully accomplished, and your time is spent on writing rather than laboriously gathering facts.

Unit 1  Questions:

1. What is the only goal a yarn spinner may have?

2. What is a journal?

3. What is a portfolio?

Send a copy of your answers as an attachment to an E-mail addressed to your mentor.

HOMEWORK

Please send each homework submittal as an attachment to an E-mail addressed to your mentor.

1. Make daily entries in your journal about interesting things that happened to you, observations, and your writing activities for the past seven days.

2. Complete the Memory Checklist on "Earliest Memories (1 to 3)," "Memories of Childhood (3 to5)," " Memories of School," and "Childhood Memories". Send a copy as an attachment to an E-mail addressed to your mentor.

3. In your journal, enter the ten most important memories during this period .

4. In your journal, identify five people you consider to be good storytellers.

5. Complete the 81-items Mastery Test, which has been mailed to you, on the enclosed Scantron and return it along with the test in the self-addressed stamped envelope enclosed. DO NOT WRITE ON THE MASTERY TEST PAPERS. USE THE SCANTRON TO MARK YOUR ANSWERS IN NO. 2 PENCIL.

6. Write a brief paragraph on an early memory from your Memory Checklist and send a copy as an attachment to an E-mail addressed to your mentor.