Cleaning a corner of my office…going through a box of stuff from when I taught a 9th grade creative writing class. In the box, I found a stack of half-pages detailing an extra credit assignment I offered the students at the end of 2019. Though I rarely read my own work to the class, in this case I had shared my story “Curb Day” which is about dragging items out of your house and life. Finding this assignment now (as I drag to the curb what I no longer need from that job) seems very resonant! Use it if you want to.
DRAG IT TO THE CURB!
- Number from 1 to 10.
- Pretend there was a day when the trash collectors would take ANYTHING…start with the phrase, “I would drag to the curb…”
- List 10 things you would drag to the curb.
- Find an item that seems like it wants your attention and circle it.
- 5 minutes: Describe the item in detail. Pure description.
- Let the dragged item become part of a brief narrative/story.
- You can be the narrator/main character, or you can assign someone else to deal with the item.
- You can write in 1st (“I dragged…”) or 3rd person (“they/she/he dragged…”).
- You can fictionalize as much as you want to.
You can even change your mind about dragging it to the curb, and drag it back into your life!
Rebecca Kuder 