Revision

This morning we were visited by Dana Trent, a religion and critical thinking college professor, as well as a four time published author. She also was a UNCG Young Writers’ Camp alum from 20 or so years ago. Because of this connection she was the perfect speaker for our campers. She talked about her fear of showing her work and how she never gave up on writing. She also led the campers in an activity in which they used their fingers to make 1 in x 1 in boxes and zero in on an item in the room. After doing this they were asked to describe the object as best they could. Once they finished, they had to edit down their description into a succinct yet descriptive sentence. This exercise helped the campers think about the editing process and how removing the “fluff” could make their writing even stronger. At the end of the presentation the floor was opened for questions to allow for the campers to have any of their more pressing concerns to be answered.
 
Today was the highly anticipated Kona Ice day. The campers brought money with them, and some smart campers bought refillable cups from last week and used those to get their snow cones. This event is always very successful as it provides a sweet treat to help cool campers down in the heat. If the campers did not bring money for Kona Ice, snacks were still provided, so no one was left out at snack time. The campers filled up the courtyard as they enjoyed their snow cones and snack, as well as interacting with campers of varying ages.

It took a little while to get back into the groove of things after such an exciting event. The campers got back to work on editing and finalizing their stories for it to be published. Today also marks the middle of the last week of camp, which to some campers, puts the pressure on to finish their writing. With one more full day and a half to go, campers worked hard to finish their presentation on Friday.
 
The afternoon session continued with finalizing rough drafts and working toward the final product. The podcasting group worked on recording voices for their podcast, and editing in sounds. The fiction group split into small groups to got peer feedback on their process and their writing. Spoken word rehearsed some pieces that they wrote and performed it in front of their instructor to get feedback.