A Class in Writing, Led by Linda Loomis

I remember the fun of a Class in Writing led by Linda Loomis, and held in the Fall of 1998 at the First United Methodist Church in my town.

To get our class started, Linda asked us to close our eyes and visualize some experience we had had in our lives. While we immersed ourselves in that activity, Linda asked us questions: "Are you in the scene? Who else is there? What is happening? How are people feeling?” and so on.

Soon we were asked to open our eyes and to draw a picture of the scene. With that instruction, "groans" were heard around the room. Linda said, "Do the best you can. If we make a mental picture first, that step helps us tell the story."

Our next task was to tell our story to the person sitting next to us, and then let our neighbor tell us her story.

Now, we were ready to write the story we had shared with our partner. Linda suggested that we make our stories about 250 words long.

For a final step in the writing activity, each one of us read her story to the group. After one person finished sharing her story, she called on someone else to read. No one felt confident that her story was polished enough to read aloud, but we did as directed. After all, we were there to learn how to communicate our thoughts in writing.

Linda said, "Let’s each plan to write two devotions for the church booklet.” In my mind, I applauded Linda's confidence in our ability to let our thoughts take wing.

I was a little in awe, too, of Linda's ingenuity as our teacher! She led us to write in steps that brought us success. And as a bonus, it was a time we learners all enjoyed.

Marylee Manson Armour, with appreciation to my friend, Linda Loomis, Journalism Faculty, SUNY Oswego.
Collected in 1998
Revised February 12,2007