The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you.
― B.B. King
Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.
— Chinese Proverb
There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.
– Jiddu Krishnamurti
Saturday at the retreat was soggy, weather-wise, so it was the perfect backdrop for getting creative. We had a lively discussion about using personal papers as a source for our writing: wills, letters, notes, reminders, lists, journals, diaries, memos, inspirational messages, ship’s passenger logs, personal ads in the newspaper . . . Then we discussed using these as a source for epistolary writing.
Epistolary writing, by definition, is telling a story through letters or notes, or the judicious use of letters or notes. Using epistolary material for research or inspiration gives your writing something tactile and real.
Advantages:
- immediate access to characters through point of view or perception
- correspondence or journal entries allow you to add selected details and reactions
- it avoids the omniscient POV but allows for “head-hopping”
- gives the allusion of reality
- in non-fiction it supports theories and demonstrates relatable facts
Unearthing personal material can help reveal a character’s motivation, wants, or needs. An excerpt from a letter, a note left as a clue, a shopping list, all can help develop the story. Ideas for stories can be inspired by a letter, an old diary, postcards, a ticket stub, or any number of memorabilia.
This was followed by our guided meditation and freefall writing. This time we were told to visualize a place and then begin our piece with “In this place…” and describe what we see.
In this place . . . there is darkness and silence. I am one of those rare individuals who lack the ability to visualize things in their mind. This condition is called aphantasia. For the longest time I never even knew I was different. It never occurred to me that others could visualize things clearly in their minds. What a gift that must be! That is not to say I don’t have any imagination, I have stories running through my head constantly, but they’re audio only. This is probably why I had trouble with art. I could draw or paint from real life, or from a picture before me, but I could not imagine a painting in my head and then bring it to life.
We learned the benefits of turning things upside down. We were given a paper with nine boxes on it and each box had a doodle in it. We were given a time limit and asked to make something out of each doodle. When our time was up we were given a second sheet and told to flip it upside down and try again. I don’t know about anyone else, but this new perspective allowed me to fill in more that twice the number of boxes than I had on the first sheet.
The afternoon session began with a few writing games, and then we settled in for some ekphrastic writing. Ekphrasis is basically praising a work of art through poetry or prose. Art emerging from art. I’ve done ekphrastic poetry before, but I’ve never thought to apply it to other writing.
First we were told to choose an object or painting from a collection set up, one that “spoke” to us. I was too slow to get the painting I wanted and ended up with a little mosaic frog. We were to jot down observations about it, followed by memories or emotions that it evoked. It didn’t really surprise me that my finished piece evolved into a poem:
If the world were black and white
Then my frog would be unremarkable
He rests on the table top
Dark green toes spread wide
Skin of blue and green mosaic
Catching the light
Not at all like the frogs
That use to sing on summer nights
So long ago
I wonder if he began
As a multi-coloured polliwog
Somehow escaping the hungry birds
I wonder . . .
Can he swim at all?
Once again I did not meet my goal of writing every day this week, but if you count blog posts I did write most days. And wonder of wonders, I settled on my NaNo idea, which for me is early. I decided to go with the flash anthology – 30 stories in 30 days. The best that can happen is that at the end of the month I’ll have a ready made anthology for my book flood book this year. The worst? I decide I can’t keep up the pace and have to switch to a novel. Won’t be the first time I’ve changed horse mid-stream during NaNo. :-D
I haven’t been reading a lot lately. I’m working on The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman, but I’m reading it slowly. This is the final story in the Practical Magic series and I want to savour it.
I finished a long letter to my sister, and I did the research on a couple more spices. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have completed the posts because they can be a little time-consuming and I’m going to be crunched for time as it is.
The Week Ahead . . .
Well, duh! Monday is the start of NaNoWriMo. If nothing else, then at least you can be sure I’ll be writing every day. LOL
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