Family Nature Journal
Option 9: Nature Story

"Next, I ask the students to go outdoors, but in silence. We walk across their schoolyard to a spot where we can all gather in a standing circle. I ask them to listen and write down three sounds, under the heading 'I Hear...' These might be cars, people's feet on the grass, birds, crickets, airplanes or whatever. I then ask them to write a brief stream-of-consciousness sentence or poem, such as, 'I feel the cold wind under the dark green tree but the sun brightens me.' – Clare Walker Leslie, from "Teaching Nature Journaling and Observation"





Clare Walker Leslie, in the introduction to her short chapter contribution to the book Into the Field: A Guide to Locally Focused Teaching, talks about the enormous popularity of everyday naturalists keeping nature journals in various periods in the past. "Historically, nature journals were part of the curricula in schools throughout Europe and America, especially in the nineteenth century and the first half of this one." Since then, we know that tools for observation have no doubt changed -- it's possible to say that the iPhone camera has taken over the recorder's sketching pencil -- but of course nature is still there, the prospect for curiosity is still there, and an ability to observe and wonder, we hope, is still there. Knowing this ratio of what has stayed constant versus what has changed, really leaves us to realize that anybody can still create a nature journal, it simply takes more effort than in the past to set aside time and follow through.

Drawing for the casual nature journal might very well be the easiest way to get things started – as she says, to go into the field and sketch its parts has always been a spontaneous and low pressure exercise. Even the great illustrators Linnaeus and Audubon created very primitive drawings when in the field for the sake of taking down information that they could then bring back for more formal reproduction. Anybody can walk outside, draw, and ponder. Just as anybody can write, the next component in nature journaling.  Leslie further talks about getting the young journaler outside in local places. "Everyday places desperately need our attention – partly because they are changing so fast, and not always for the better, but also because tremendous benefit is to be gained from personal involvement with your own locality."  To find a a favorite regular hiking spot, or sit spot creates some continuity with the project. One great way to get writers back in the same spot is writing your own nature story.

While the journal style writing reaction, or the poem, or the sketch, are perfect for taking down impressions, the story is a great way to provide a cycle of continuity, rhythm, and expectation for any writer.  Great writers of the past have mentioned the importance of anticipating what is to be written the next day, or in the case of the journaler, the next time at one's favorite place.  To continue the tradition of keeping this nature experience low pressure, it is very important to write the nature story without any major concerns for plotting or perfect continuity of character. This is a story that will be written spontaneously and hopefully kept that way.  The key is that it draws you back into the field and provides a creative connection to your place, the people, the locality itself.  No need to re-read, edit, or even necessarily ask for immediate feedback. The point is for the writer to lose oneself in the process of observation and expression ... based outside.

Option 9: Kathi Appelt's wonderfully imaginative book Keeper, begins with this sentence, "Keeper leaned over the edge of the boat. In the darkness of the night, she glared at the black surface of the water. 'You stupid crabs!' She sputtered as she said it."  The writer of the nature story will need a

couple of things in place to start: 1) a specific outside scene, in this case on the water in a boat, and 2) at least one character thinking and talking, in this case Keeper leaning over the boat and yelling out "You stupid crabs."  With these two things in mind, the sky is now the limit. Quickly come up with a good name and a good place, then infuse a little humor if possible by allowing for some joking or some kind of complaint. Create some action and let your character meander around the scene in conversation with someone, or something. Write for at least 10 minutes! When finished, quickly think about what might happen next but instead of writing that next thing, just let it simmer until the next day or the next time you are out in the same spot. Write at least 10 chapters with the same characters and place. See where it leads you.