Back at it! I took this book out of the school library because it was back in a corner in the “T” (Teachers) section and hasn’t been used in years. Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain sounded like something I could use (besides coffee). Published in 2006 by HOW Books, Stefan Mamaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield got me thinking.

Here’s page 235…

Wait! I cannot use, “Once upon a time…?” The premise that a character has to DO something is one that we tell our students all the time. Students always write plot: “And then…and then…and then…” but their characters are not developed (sixth-graders), so the reader never really wants to read more and the story sort of dies on the second page. We try motivating our students by reading those “First Line Fridays” book openings, where we find the best lines from library books to check out and encourage our writers to pen something of their own.

Tonight I’m writing opening sentences. I’ll see if I can find something cool to share with you tomorrow.