Small Strokes Big Oaks

The Observation Deck

My mom bought this Observation Deck for me when I was in… maybe… 6th grade? Whenever it was, it was when I first got really into writing. This kit contains a deck of 50 cards that say things like “observe a ritual” and “set limits.” There’s also a book that goes with it that explains each card.

I’ve never used the whole deck, although I have tried using it with my creative writing students when I taught the class. Now, though, I’m going to make completing this deck of 50 cards my next project. And you all get to read the writing from it. 🙂 And if you play along, put a link in the comments!

I did think about doing this over at my Tumblr because it could be more personal than political, but then I thought, But the personal is political!  And, being a feminist writer, the writing I do will probably end up feminist anyway, right?  Plus, I’d love your feedback.

So, here are my ground rules for myself (because every good project needs good ground rules):

1. I will shuffle the card once and never again.
2. I must take the top card no matter what it says.
3. I have as long as I need to write the post for that card – could be a week, could be a month, could be 20 minutes.  This is casual.
4. One post per card.
5. One card per 24-hour period (so if I do finish in 20 minutes, I can’t take another one that day.  I have to wait.)
6. No peeking ahead.
7. I may or may not use the book of explanations.  I can do whatever I want with that.
8. Each post will be tagged “observation deck” and titled “Observations: The Text of the Card” (so if the text of the card is “test the limits,” the title of that post will be “Observations: Test the Limits.”)

Hopefully, this will improve my writing and give me somethign to do, and hopefully you’ll enjoy this, too!

Oh, and if you feel like playing along and writing posts about these cards as I go, leave a link in the comments!  Self promotion is always accepted here. 🙂