Lyn Hoopes

Lyn Littlefield Hoopes, MA Children’s Literature, MFA Children’s Literature, Poetry,
is the author of a number of picture books including “Wing A Ding,” “Freefall,”
and “The Unbeatable Bread” (Parent’s Choice Gold Award for Story Books,
Bookseller’s Pick of the Best Spring Children’s Books, and Junior Library Guild Selection).

She lives in the Boston area with her family, and adventures widely, writing, taking photos, creating new poetry workshops and visiting schools.

As I lead students into writing, my goal is to strengthen their natural ability to concentrate deeply on an image in thought and to listen for their writer’s voice. I begin my workshops sharing several of my poems and photographs, exploring the concept of a moment and noting my creative process. Then we warm up our imaginations, creating similes and metaphors, discovering details that hold meaning, and writing a poem together as a class. As we write, we notice rhythms and patterns, listen to make a design with our language. Students then choose one of my photographs, an art image, or perhaps something to hold such as a seashell or old time toy to inspire their writing. They work across a large piece of art paper, creating a brainstorm, drafting and revising their poems.

The Moment

Beyond what you see with your eyes, hear with your ears, is the spirit of the moment… Take your time. Be in the presence of the moment, and the words will take care of themselves. llh

Selected  from www.lynhoopes.com