The Curious Creative: Week 29

Free Association

This is the twenty-ninth 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:

To free-associate means to say the first thing that comes to mind when presented with a word, a phrase, or an object. Freud used this method to discover repressed material in his patients’ unconscious. In this week’s exercise, you’re going to use this technique to generate material. You won’t have an analyst to provide word after word for you, but it’s possible to free-associate a chain of words on your own. The aim is to dredge up surprising material in the connections (or lack of connection) between words and ideas.

Your Turn!

1.     Choose a phrase from the list below. These words come from a list of “Fashion Idioms and Vocabulary.”  It seems random because it is. Alternately, you can choose another random phrase. Look around you for ideas. Don’t think too hard about it. It’s just a jumping-off point. Your thoughts will soon take a detour from this original word, so don’t worry about not wanting to write about the word’s subject.

fashion victim

baggy

catwalk

clothes stall

fashion icon

must-haves

a sense of style

old-fashioned

strike a pose

dressed to kill

have an eye for fashion

dressed for the occasion

well dressed

2.     Write the phrase on the first line of your paper. Before you finish writing its last letter, let a new word pop into your mind, and write it next to the phrase. Repeat this process until you have a chain of words written as a paragraph.

3.     Now explore the connections. Freewrite or list possible connections between some of the words.

4.     If you have time, you can start a story/essay/poem that includes several of the words and their relationship.

How did you do? Did you some of your words and their connections at times make sense? Did your sequence of words bring up any surprising material?

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 box 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. “Free Association.” Everyday Creative Writing: Panning for Gold in the Kitchen Sink, 2^nd ed. NCT Publishing Group, 2000, p. 11-12.

The Curious Creative: Week 28

A Picture from Another Lifetime

This is the twenty-eighth 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:

Old pictures of ourselves have the power to transport us to what feels like a lifetime ago compared to the world we live in now, to a different person on a foreign planet. Spending time with a photograph can conjure up details you haven’t thought of in years, perhaps even ones that have been buried in your subconscious. In this week’s activity, you will use an old picture to unearth long-forgotten details and emotional truths.

Your Turn!

1. Choose a photograph from one of your “other lives,” from a long time ago and a totally different world than the one you live in now.

2. Freewrite about this photo beginning with description. Explore these questions:

·      Where are you? What does it look like?

·      What time of day is it? What is the light like?

·      What does it smell like?

·      How are you occupying the space? What is your body doing?

·      What are you wearing? How do you feel in that clothing?

·      What does it feel like to be there?

·      Where have you just been and where are you going?

3. Read your freewrite. Notice that something is at stake. What is the question you are asking? Write down that question. Example: Why did I want to be right in the middle of this?

4. Write a poem that begins by answering this question. It’s the exploration we’re interested in. When you hit an emotional truth, you’ll know it. Keep going even if it is nonsensical. Feel free to pull in some of the golden lines from your freewrite. 

How did you do? Did you uncover an emotional truth from that moment? Does your piece explore multiple layers? Are there moments of heat in your poem?

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 box 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! 

The Curious Creative: Week 27

Ekphrasis

This is the twenty-seventh 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:

An ekphrasis is a written description or commentary on a visual work of art. Writers have long been using visual art as inspiration for poetry and prose. “One of the earliest and most commonly cited forms of ekphrasis occurs in The Iliad, when Homer provides a long and discursive account of the elaborate scenes embossed on the shield of Achilles” (Merriam-Webster). Many literary journals host ekphrasis contests, and some are even devoted entirely to ekphrases. Currently, Rattle, is hosting a monthly contest. They provide the artwork; you provide the poem. 

Your Turn!

1. Examine the painting “And the Wolf” by Laura Jenson, Rattle’s current ekphrastic subject. Observe, observe, observe.

2. Choose one of the following writing prompts. Don’t worry about producing a poem at first-go. Maybe you just list phrases or draw a concept map. If you only have 10 minutes, this exercise will still have its benefits of creative play.

1. Write about your experience viewing the art, for example, a memory the artwork evokes.
2. Write a monologue coming from a voice inside the artwork.
3. Write about the scene depicted.
4. Write to the artist or subject of the painting (in second person, using “you”). 

3. If you’re excited about what you produced, submit it to Rattle’s contest (deadline April 30, 2017).

How did you do? Did spending time observing the painting bring your mind to a different state? More relaxed, focused, imaginative? Did the painting encourage a new voice to emerge in your 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! 

The Curious Creative: Week 26

Political Cartoons

This is the twenty-sixth 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:

Artists commonly use pictures as inspiration for new work as well as a means to beat artist’s block. Political cartoons, in particular, contain images that require interpretation and imagination. As a result of engaging with a caricature, you make your own connections and construct meaning. This week, I will provide you with several cartoons by Turkish cartoonist, Osman Turhan, to whet your creative appetite.

Your Turn!

1. Choose one of the political cartoons below. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

2. Begin by describing what is literally happening in the image. The physical act of putting pen to paper is the first step in freeing writer’s block, and allowing more interesting thoughts to eventually emerge.

3. Keep the pen moving and write one possible interpretation of the image through the lens of a current event.

4. Next, keep the pen moving and construct meaning through a more personal lens. When have you experienced this feeling or situation? What did it feel like?

How did you do? Did you invent a character or scenario by interpreting the cartoon? Did the image lend itself to some original connections or insights?

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!