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Teaching GTD as a Writing Tool
pooks | Nov 20 2006
I teach Creative Writing (basics of writing a novel) and am considering doing something new next semester. It's an 8-week class, and I'm thinking of introducing a few GTD techniques along with hPDA. Using index cards is nothing new for writers, especially screenwriters, but before my last class of this semester I decided to print out some cards from the hPDA set and distribute them to my classes. (The very first class of the semester, I did warn them to all have a "capture device" and write down every idea, every line of dialogue, every title, every 'anything' that popped into their heads about their potential novels.) I printed out the character, story idea and plot point cards. (There are other cards I'd like, but don't have the know-how to create them.) I also printed out "Shopping" and "Agenda" and "Next Action" and "Project" cards. As I talked about them, and the process, with my morning class, they LOVED it. Ate it up. My evening class seemed less enamored. A couple of them seemed interested but others barely even glanced at the cards and listened patiently until I was ready to talk about something they were more interested in. (wry grin) What I'd like to do here is brainstorm the way I'll approach this with my classes starting in January. One way is to give them appropriate cards at each class, like, character cards when we talk about characterization. Anyway, I've just started working with this idea and am pleased Merlin has given us this space to brainstorm. If you were going to take a class like this, any suggestions of what kinds of GTD info or hPDA cards you might find helpful the very first day? 5 Comments
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 I'm also going to use...Submitted by pooks on December 15, 2006 - 2:31pm.
I'm also going to use 3x5s for lesson plans. First of all you have to understand, I've never taken any formal education classes, nor did anyone ever teach me how to teach. I was asked at the last minute to teach a 5-hour workshop on "How to Write a Romance Novel" when I'd had one published, and I filled in to help out a friend. All I knew to do was to make a list of things like "Characterization," and "Plot," etc., then figure out exercises for each, and things to say about each, and hope I filled in five hours. I mean, we're talking about an ENFP with ADD and that means pure impulse and no logic, and here I am teaching a class without knowing how! But it worked out okay, and I've been teaching ever since. My classes have grown and evolved and now I've been teaching the same two classes for several years. I have more exercises and "things to say" on any given topic than there are hours in a session, so I never run out of stuff. But occasionally I'll find myself thinking, "I forgot to tell them the Mike C. story!" (which illustrates important aspects of dialogue) or "This would have been a good class to do that other exercise with," after the fact. So I've decided I'm going to sit down and list all the various things I can do on any given element of fiction (and remind myself of some of them I haven't done in a long time, and add some new things I've thought about), then come up with a list for each class. (I teach an 8-session course and a 6-session course.) I'll probably just list key words for each thing, print them all out on a 3x5 (a different one for each class) and have it with me so that I can make sure I hit every important point each time. That may not be an actuall "lesson plan" the way most people teach, but it fits my method. My classes are often shaped by the students, because I encourage them to ask questions or make comments. Even when I teach the same class in the morning and evening, it's not unusual for them to go off in different directions due to students asking totally different kinds of questions, depending upon their own projects. This will be a way for me to make sure I hit every important point even as I address their individual needs. (Yes, as I get older I get more forgetful!) So I'll have two sets -- one set for each class. Each set will have key topics for each session. That's just the beginning -- I'm going to use 3x5s for other things, as well. » POSTED IN:
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