The Curious Creative: Week 25

The Language of Spring Haikus

This is the twenty-fifth installment of The Curious Creative, weekly 10-minute writing exercises for busy individuals interested in exploring their creativity. For the complete rationale, click here. 

My Thoughts:

Haikus are very short poems in which writers, instead of using the language of emotions, use the language of objects to tell you how they feel. The aim is that if they share with you the event that gave them the feeling, you might feel similarly. Therefore, it’s the poet’s job to get to the bottom of the essential nature of the thing written about. To do this, the language used is simple yet descriptive. Here are some examples written by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), one of the great founders/masters of haiku:

old pond…

a frog leaps in

water’s sound

well! let’s go

snow-viewing till

we tumble!

In this week’s exercise, I will provide you with a list of words taken from Japanese haikus written about spring. You will use this simple yet descriptive language as a jump-off point for your own writing. Whether or not you want to challenge yourself to write a haiku is up to you!

Your Turn!

I’ve provided below seasonal wordlists taken from Japanese haikus about spring. Your options for play are (in order of least to most challenging):

1. Choose one of the words/phrases as a jump-off point for a freewrite. Begin with a sentence that includes the word/phrase and see where it takes you!

2. Create a found poem using only words found on this list.

3. Write a haiku using one or several of these words/phrases. What are the basic rules of a haiku?

·      7 accented syllabus, plus unaccented syllables up to a total of about 12

·      3-line structure of 2, 3, and 2 accented syllables

·      grammar should be stripped to a minimum that seems reasonably natural; complete sentences may or may not occur; use articles (a, an, the) and prepositions (to, of, for, etc.) sparingly.

ASTRONOMY

forgotten frost

hazy moon

hazy [moonlit] night

halo of the moon

mist / to mist

thin mist

evening mist

heat shimmer

wind is bright

east wind

fragrant wind/balmy wind

GEOGRAPHY

between snowfalls

leftover snow

melting snow

floating ice

snow-slide

water warms up

waters of spring

hills smile

LIVELIHOOD

burnt-over field

to plow

seeds

low tide

gather shells

tea [leaf] picking

closing the fireplace

balloon

swing

ANIMALS

cats in love

nest of mice

robin

wild geese

returning geese

sparrows

ten thousand birds

twittering

eagle’s nest

tadpoles

snails

PLANTS

camellia blossoms

first cherry blossoms

cherries bloom

clouds of cherry blossoms

falling cherry blossoms

old tree’s flowers

tulips

grass sprouts

tree buds

asparagus sprouts

How did you do? Did using the language already chosen by master haiku poets take your writing into a new plane?

To encourage each other and grow a community of Curious Creatives, sign in from a google account so you can share your creation in the comment boxes below. Also, if you subscribe to this blog (submit your email address in the "Follow this Site by Email" box to the right), you will get an email update whenever a new exercise is added. Thanks for playing! 

Inspired by: Higginson, William J. with Penny Harter. The Haiku Handbook: How to Write, Share, and Teach Haiku. Kodansha International, 1985, p. 105-106, 267-271.

The Curious Creative: Week 24

The Checkout Line

 This is the twenty-fourth installment of The Curious Creative, weekly 10-minute writing exercises for busy individuals interested in exploring their creativity. For the complete rationale, click here. 

My Thoughts:

Because express lanes limit purchases to 10 items, usually the people standing in them have a specific purpose to which they will soon tend to, and might even be in a hurry. They are not out for their normal once-a-week grocery shopping. This is a context ripe for creative exploration!

Your Turn!

1. The next time you go shopping this week, linger by the cash register line. This works best in a supermarket, drugstore, or hardware store. 

2. Observe and jot down the bizarre and unusual combinations people purchase.

3. At home, choose the most interesting combination. Brainstorm what that person’s life is like from the items s/he placed on the checkout belt.  Where is s/he going next? What is s/he going to do with those items?  

4. Draft a piece –poem, story, or essay - in which you incorporate your findings and imaginings.

How did you do? Did it feel playful, like solving a puzzle? Were you able to make some creative inferences about the combination of objects you observed?

To encourage each other and grow a community of Curious Creatives, sign in from a google account so you can share your creation in the comment boxes below. Also, if you subscribe to this blog (submit your email address in the "Follow this Site by Email" box to the right), you will get an email update whenever a new exercise is added. Thanks for playing! 

Inspired by: Smith, Michael C. and Suzanne Greenberg. “Checking Out the Checkout Line.” Everyday Creative Writing: Panning for Gold in the Kitchen Sink, 2^nd ed. NCT Publishing Group, 2000, p. 112-113.

The Curious Creative: Week 23

Spring is Upon Us!

This is the twenty-third installment of The Curious Creative, weekly 10-minute writing exercises for busy individuals interested in exploring their creativity. For the complete rationale, click here. 

My Thoughts:

Spring is upon us! Depending on where you live, it might be further along here than there. But if you pay close attention, you will feel the first hints of your senses awakening to this new input. The smells of wood smoke, cinnamon, and hot chocolate are fading away, and enter something fresh, something new. For this week’s exercise, you’ll pay close attention to the earliest signs of spring, and create a trio of writings, each focusing on a different sense.

Your Turn!

  

1. Make a list of words and phrases that describe the surface textures, odors, and colors that surround you as this season morphs into the next. You may notice the contrasting colors of green shoots poking through decayed leaf matter, the brighter colors of spring jackets and skirts, the fuzzy textures of leaf buds on trees, the lighter tones in the sky, or the scents of early spring flowers.

2. Look over your list and circle the words/phrases that are most evocative of spring.

3. From these, select one word or specific object.

4. Write a trio of poems, each focusing on one type of sense. Repeat the word/object throughout all three poems, in order to tie them together. Use your initial brainstorm list to draw inspiration from. 

How did you do? Did paying attention to the smallest signs of nature’s generativeness inspire you to generate new writing?

To encourage each other and grow a community of Curious Creatives, sign in from a google account so you can share your creation in the comment boxes below. Also, if you subscribe to this blog (submit your email address in the "Follow this Site by Email" box to the right), you will get an email update whenever a new exercise is added. Thanks for playing! 

Inspired by: “The Surface and Bloom of All Things” poetry prompt from “The Time is Now: Writing Prompts and Exercises.” Poets and Writers magazine. 15 Nov. 2016.