What can watermelon teach us about writing? Lots! Read on!
Academic developmental editor helping clients produce their best writing and thinking
Some good writing advice from my son's first grade teacher! Felix told me that he teacher told him that when you write a story, you need to think about watermelons. She explained that you shouldn't just drop the watermelon and let all of the seeds fall out. He said that would sound like this: "A story about camping would be like: First we went to our campsite. Then we set up the tent. Then we made a fire. Then we ate dinner." Even Felix could see that this wouldn't be the most interesting story. She suggests instead that the students pick one seed and explore that in more detail. Felix might talk about the challenges we faced in making the fire - wet wood, weird newspaper that didn't burn right, my temper in the face of such obstacles - and then narrate how this all played out. I love the idea of identifying the important seeds in our work, teasing them out, and bringing them to life for readers. Photo by 煜翔 肖 on Unsplash
