Cre8Tive Writing

50-Word Stories

2011-02-17T10:11:00.001-08:00

Can you tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end that will engage your reader in 50-words or less?

See http://fiftywordstories.com/top-stories/ for examples. Then write your own.

Creative Writing -- Prose Exercises

2011-01-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

To improve as a writer, it is important to:
(1) Write frequently. Write every day, if possible.
(2) Try your hand at all different kinds of writing. (This is like cross training for an athlete or trying new ethnic foods for a chef. It can only make you better at your main specialty.
(3) Save what you write, read it over, and reflect on it occassionally.
(4) Have others read and critique what you write.
(5) Read. Continuously. You can't read enough. Borrow tricks of the trade from the masters. Try out different styles. Be impressed. Get motivated. Let your imagination take flight.
(6) Engage in some longterm writing projects of your own choosing.

The principles above can be useful in helping giving direction to this course. Some of the daily writing exercises may seem like they "are not your cup of tea," but I encourage you to try them all. The exercises that seem most difficult may actually be the ones that stretch you the most and do you the most good.

Some exercises to get started:

1. Write about a place (real or imaginary). Involve all 5 senses in your description of this place.
2. Write about a person (real or imaginary). Involve 2 or more senses in your description of this person.
3. Write about an object. Tell the story of this object through time.
4. Write about a pet (or other animal) from the point of view of that pet. Tell a story (real or imagined) through the pet or animal's eyes.
5. Write about a birthday, Christmas, or other holiday from the point of view of a young child. Use the language and way of looking at the world suitable to a child.
6. Write from a point of view of a person very different from yourself -- a prisoner in a jail, a nomad living in the desert, a yak farmer in Tibet, a rancher in Australia -- you get the idea. Tell a story about your life from this perspective.
7. Write a complete short story that includes a beginning, middle, and an end in less than 200 words. Then try to get it down to less than 100 words.
8. Write a fable or a myth.
9. Write about your first memory (from childhood).
10. Tell a story by only using dialogue. No narration.
For example:
     "How would I go about doing that?" he said.
     "Just start in the middle of a conversation and keep going," she replied.
     "But what about the story part?"
     She paused before answering. "We've already got a beginning. Now make it go somewhere. . . ."

Read a Poem Aloud

2010-02-09T09:39:00.001-08:00

More than most other things that are written, most poems need to be read aloud to be fully appreciated. In fact, the poems themselves crave it. So do a poem a favor by adopting it for a day and preparing to read it aloud for the class.

This can be one of your poems -- or a poem by another writer. Be sure the poem is well-suited for reading aloud, and keep your audience in mind as you make your selection.

Some tips on reading poetry aloud can be found here:
Tips on reading poetry aloud from Billy Collins.

#5 Break the Rules

2010-02-05T09:35:00.001-08:00

Poets of all times have been rule-breakers. (Just another reason to love poetry!)

Don't like punctuation? Leave it out. Wanna ms. spell words? Do it. Want to write about something you are not supposed to say in polite company, go for it.

The above are just a few examples of how poets of the past have broken the rules. To truly be a rule-breaker, you will have to find your own rule to break -- and to break it in a truly original way.

(Or maybe, just maybe, you could break the rule by following all the rules.)

Here is one example of a poem that breaks the rules:

Why do we read from the top to the bottom? Do poems always need to be read that way?

See the poem at thestarlitecafe.com/poems/51/poem_8213044778.html to find out.

#4 Imitation / Response Poem

2010-02-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

Exercise #4: Imitation Response Poem

Imitate or respond to a poem by another.

respond to the ideas of the poem, or change the topic slightly
imitate at least some aspects of the writer's style
your poem need not be as long as the original

Model: See The New Poem by Charles Wright

#3 Figurative Language

2010-02-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Exercise #3:
(1) Read the model poems below.
(2) Create a list of 9 original metaphors / similes.
(3) Write 1 - 3 poems (total of 15 lines or more), each using a least one example of figurative language.

Models:

Mary Oliver, Morning at Great Pond

Pablo Neruda, Ode to My Socks

Metaphors and Similes in Hip Hop

Poetry.org: On Figurative Language

#2 Repetition Poem

2010-01-28T09:08:00.001-08:00

After reading models and dicussing what makes language memorable and powerful, brainstorm a list of words or phrases that might make good bases for repetition poems.

Then choose a word or phrase as a base and write a poem around it.

Write quick (at least partial) drafts of 3 or more repetition poems. Aim to develop at least one of these enough that it feels complete.

Tips:

Aim to alternate repetition with variation.
The poem should build up to something or go somewhere.
Don't stop too soon. Ask yourself, "What else can I say?" "Where else can I take this?"
Surprise and irony are always good!

Models:
Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool
Robert Frost, Stopping By Woods
W.S. Merwin, Thanks
Theodore Roethke, The Waking
Elizabeth Bishop, One Art
Bob Dylan, Ballad of a Thin Man

Cool Site for Lazy Poets

2009-06-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

Got that crazy, lazy word splurging summertime feeling?

This is the site for you: Instant Poetry Forms from ETTC

Creative Writing Assignment -- May 28, 2009

2009-05-28T04:04:00.000-07:00

(1) Please "share" your drafts with each other via google docs. You will need to share your gmail addresses with each other. I will also share my draft with you.
(2) Then read the drafts that have been shared with you.
(3) As a class discuss any revisions that may be needed to remove inconsistencies.
(4) Begin to revise your own drafts.

Prose Issues and a Prompt

2009-03-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Identify a question or issue related to your prose project. This is likely an issue that has come up as you have been working on the project. You may be wondering how to handle or better handle:
--dialogue
--descibing a person
--describing a place
--lead
--conflict
--rising action
--climax
--resolution (ending)
--symbolism
--character names
--narration
--character's internal thoughts
--action
--theme
--other

Prompt:
#8 Extra Credit: Write about your hair. That's it: write about your hair. You might tell a story or story about your hair and will probably relate some feelings about your hair. Write for 10 ninutes without stopping. If you get to the end of one "thread," start another. See how many pages you can fill. Go for it.

Read this from the Bottom Up

2009-03-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

Why do we read from the top to the bottom? Do poems always need to be read that way?

See the poem at thestarlitecafe.com/poems/51/poem_8213044778.html to find out.

Plan for Wednesday

2009-02-24T05:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome back from vacation! I hope you had a good one -- and are enjoying all the snow. Pretty crazy, huh?

(1) As a class, re-read the tips from Billy Collins (see Friday the 13th post) on reading poetry aloud.

(2) Choose a partner and spend 10 - 15 minutes reading your chosen Read Aloud poems to each other. If anyone is ready to practice with Leah, that would be great. If you don't have your poem, choose any poem by another person and practice with that.

(3) #6 Point of View / Voice Poem:

Write a poem in which you write in 1st person and take on the voice, vocabulary, and point of view of someone or something other than yourself.

A few possibilities:

write from the point of view of your cat, dog, horse, etc.
write from the point of view of a grandparent, or a baby, or a homeless person.
write from the point of view of an inanimate object.
find a news story in today's paper and write from the point of view of one of the people involved.
find an animal shelter listing of a cat or dog -- and write a poem from the perspective of that animal.

When writing, you might choose to situate the person, animal, or object in a particular moment and a particular place -- and then go from there.

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Use any remaining time to touch up previous poems.

"Y'all" are producing some really good material. It's time to start thinking about moving toward a product. Where would you like to go from here in terms of producing a collection of poems? (We'll talk about this next time).

Reading Poetry Aloud

2009-02-13T07:02:00.001-08:00

Tips on reading poetry aloud from Billy Collins.

#5 Imitation/Response Poem

2009-02-11T05:32:00.000-08:00

Exercise #5: Imitation Response Poem

Imitate or respond to a poem by another.

respond to the ideas of the poem, or change the topic slightly
imitate at least some aspects of the writer's style
your poem need not be as long as the original

Model: See The New Poem by Charles Wright

#4 Line Breaks

2009-02-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

Exercise #4

Make some observations about line breaks after looking at some sample poems in class
Write your own short poem that incorporates use of what you have learned about line breaks
Write a alternate version of the poem by changing the line breaks.
Place a star near the version of the poem you prefer.

That's it! Pretty simple! Line breaks are a powerful and simple tool!

#3 Figurative Language

2009-02-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

#2 Repetition Poem

2009-01-29T18:32:00.000-08:00

Aim to alternate repetition with variation.
The poem should build up to something or go somewhere.
Don't stop too soon. Ask yourself, "What else can I say?" "Where else can I take this?"
Surprise and irony are always good!

Models:
Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool
Robert Frost, Stopping By Woods
W.S. Merwin, Thanks
Theodore Roethke, The Waking
Elizabeth Bishop, One Art
Bob Dylan, Ballad of a Thin Man

#1 Found Poetry

2009-01-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

Find words or phrases in a magazine that seem powerful or memorable. Cut out those bits of found poetry and then arrange them together into a found poem. Your found poem should make some kind of statement. Minimum length -- 1 sentence.