Week 1

• Think of a significant moment in your life, one that changed you. Write a scene of that moment that includes setting, your age, who was there, and what happened. Write about the event, and then how you made sense of that moment, how it changed you and why it mattered in your life.
• Find another moment, a turning point, that stands out from your childhood and freewrite about it—a word sprint. Write as quickly as you can as you explore the meaning of that moment, an aha that resulted from it. How that moment became a theme in your life.

Week 2

• Write about a time where you spoke or acted against the prevailing norm in your life—with family, friends, society. Write the conflict, using dialogue.
• Write from a body part that carries emotion for you—what is your stomach saying? Your heart? What do your hands do when you’re thinking of the past, or your legs?

Week 3

• Write about a secret that your family doesn’t know. Include how you know the secret and how holding the secret affects your life.
• Write a holiday scene when the family gathered. Who’s there, what are they like? Draw upon characterization and dialogue.

Week 4

• Write about an experience in the “now” time frame, and then break to the past to pick up a thematically similar moment or memory using flashback, which is writing an entire scene set in another time and place. Then return to the now, using a transition, as Brooke presented on Tuesday.
• Practice your transitions. Write a series an opening to a scene, focusing on transitioning the reader in using time, place, or reflection. Work on the entire scene minding where you are “in relation” to the opening moment.

Week 5

• Choose one of your own language “codes” from your Tuesday brainstorm. This could be cultural, ethnic, regional language, or just integrating a certain slang. Write a scene adopting how you are when you’re interacting with one of these “in-groups.” 
• Write a scene from the point of view of you as a child—the voice of that child. Rewrite the same scene from the voice and POV of you as an adult.

Week 6

• Write a scene that includes dialogue with someone with whom you have a conflict. Set the context in reflection, include the dialogue to show the relationship, and weave in reflection, After the dialogue scene, include a longer reflection.
• List your theme(s). Write a reflection—try using “we” or “you” voice if you like, about your theme, the things you think of and know.