z Writing Territories z Part 1 Writing Territories

z Writing Territories

z Part 1: Writing Territories § Take five minutes to brainstorm and write down a list of your own writing territories, or subjects you are passionate about § Notice how some territories result from conscious study, some come from your family, some because of chance, some from natural talents

z § Get into pairs. Share your writing territories with each other. We will go around the room and each student will “introduce” their partner by sharing two or three of their writing territories

z Part 2: Narrowing Down a Topic § Randomly connect 2 -3 territories together. This can be done just by drawing some lines between them or circling them. Take five minutes to write about the connections between those writing territories. Some questions to probe these connections: § Are there any obvious similarities between the territories? If so, what are they? If not, what makes them different? § What are some topics these territories are related to? Are there any topics that these territories share? § Who might be interested in these territories? Are there any audiences these territories share?

z Part 3: Identifying Opportunities for Change § Pick two of your writing territories. Point out some potential problems, issues, or opportunities for change within the topic § Take out a sheet of paper and write your 2 -3 writing territories (from part two) at the top. Make sure to write your name on this. Crumble the paper into a ball. Toss the paper to someone randomly in the room. Every student should have a paper ball that is not their own

z § List out possible solutions to the problems your partner has listed

z Making Connections § For the Proposal Letter assignment, pick a topic that is interesting to you. We write best about things that matter to us, and those things are likely to show up in our territories. Writers return to their experiences and hopefully this excersise is a good way for you to figure out what to write about