Creative Writing Kickstart

The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create -- so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.
― Pearl S. Buck

This is how you do it: You sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it's done. It's that easy, and that hard.
— Neil Gaiman

Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.
— Albert Einstein

Workshop #10, Creative Writing Kickstart, was presented by Richard Scarsbrook first thing in the morning on the last day of Writersfest. The nice part about it was it included a 19-page handout, like a mini-course, and I might have been tempted to pare it down to share with you here if we hadn’t done so much actual writing. In fact, I think we did more writing in this workshop than all the others put together!

The best way to get yourself writing is to actually write. So Mr. Scarsbrook presented us with a number of prompts, breaking them down into two categories – experiential, and conceptual. For the experiential prompts we were given a single word, and told to focus on what that word evoked in us – a memory or experience, a strong response or feeling. For the conceptual prompt he played us a piece of music, geared to generate a feeling about something that is not a memory. And to make it more interesting, we weren’t told what the music clip was until we were done writing.

If there had been any discussion of some of the finer points from the hand out, I didn’t take any notes about it. To be honest, I’m pretty sure we jumped right to the prompts.

Our first experiential prompt was the word Childhood:
When I was a child, we lived in a rowhouse that was used as military family housing. We lived in a center row that faced onto a common square that held a large sandbox and swings. Our milk was delivered to our door in glass bottles, our bread was delivered by a breadman. We had a white cat (they were always white cats) named Fluffy. We also had my grandfather’s canary, named Ricky. One day, Fluffy knocked over Ricky’s cage and, as cats will, killed him. My mother told the breadman not to let the cat out but the warning came too late. We never saw Fluffy again. Being only three or four at the time, I understood that Fluffy had escaped out the door, but I couldn’t understand why Ricky’s cage was empty. Finally, my sister told me that Ricky was dead, and that dad had buried him in the sand box. So I got my mother’s large serving spoon and spent the rest of the day digging in the sand box, looking for Ricky.

Conceptual prompt #1
It was a calm and peaceful evening, but the woman was not able to enjoy the serenity around her. Her heart was filled with sorrow, her face was wet with tears. Never had she felt so alone. It was an ache she could not escape, no matter how far she walked along the beach. The moonlight was wasted on her. Her steps slowed, faltered. She stood on the shore facing the water. The clouds hid the moon.
Music clip: John Barry’s Out of Africa, Flight Over Africa.

Experiential prompt #2 –Person
His name was Billy-Bob. He was a good ‘ole boy, same as his cousins Jim-Bob and Eugene. Billy-Bob was only in his early 20s, but he already had a sizable paunch from weekends spent guzzling beer with Jim-Bob and Eugene. His personal hygiene left much to be desired and he was usually found wearing dirty, ripped jeans and a tee-shirt with some sort of humorous, usually offensive, picture on it. At least that’s what he wore to the bar. When he was working at Rusty Taylor’s garage, he wore grease spattered overalls. He was moon-faced with thinning, unwashed brown hair that he kept long, pulled back into a tail.

Conceptual prompt #2
She stood in the door, letting her eyes adjust to the smokey interior. Why on earth would Tom want to meet here? A jazz club of all places. A few annoyed glances were sent her way and she stepped fully inside, letting the door shut behind her, sealing in the darkness and blocking out the light. The music was loud, but she couldn’t deny there was something about it that pulled at her. Her eyes adjusted and she glanced around, looking for Tom. She couldn’t see him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t here. A look of annoyance flashed across her face. If he was, he could damn well come to her. With determination, she made her way to the bar to sit and wait.
Didn’t catch the name of the piece of music, but it was some kind of Bosa Nova.

Experiential prompt #3 – Family
She could see the lights of the small town she grew up in twinkling below her. If she tried hard, she could probably pick out her family’s house, but she wasn’t quite ready for that. She could picture it in her mind though – Mama would be in the kitchen in her big, yellow apron with the blue roses sprinkled over it. She’d be finishing up the dinner dishes, probably alone because Sissy wouldn’t think to offer to help. Sissy would consider clearing the table to be more than enough. When Mama was done with the dishes, she’d use the crocheted dish cloth – she only used crocheted ones, never store-bought – to wipe down the counters.

Conceptual prompt #3
How bittersweet, to have found him, only to have to say goodbye to him again. She stood on the cliff top, watching the ship sail away, imagining him at the rail, watching the shore recede. Would he look up at the cliffs, know she was watching him depart? She liked to think so. Her hand rested on her stomach. He said he’d come back to her, for her. All she could do was wait and see.
Music clip: Gayane Ballet Suite from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Experimental prompt #4 – A Place
It was dark and cool. The rocks loomed up on either side of the detritus strewn path that wound its way between them. The taste of moisture and age was in the air. Earthy scents of decay, and green, and age filled the sinuses. Dark green moss and bright green ferns formed a patchwork over black, fossil-filled stone. Sunlight was filtered through a canopy of cedar, beech, and pine. The glint of water could be seen, the sun’s reflection piercing.

Conceptual prompt #4
Running. She was running, but she didn’t know why or to where. All she was conscioius of was one foot after another. There was no past, not future, only now. A chill filled her. At the top of the rise she spared a glance behind her. There, just coming over the distant rise. A line of grey – ships, robots, she didn’t know what they were, but she knew she couldn’t let them catch her. She began to run in earnest.
Music clip: One of These Days, Pink Floyd

Experiential prompt #5 – Relationship
“We’ve been together for six years,” Mavis said. “Is it really too much to ask?”
“But you’re asking for a commitment,” Roger countered. “You want a r—r—r—”
“Oh for God’s sake. You can’t even say the word. Repeat after me, re-la-tion-ship.”
“I know what the word is,” he snapped. “I just don’t understand why all of a sudden you’re so gung-ho to start one.”
“Start one, start one?!” Mavis’s voice rose. “What do you think we’ve been in for the last six years?”
“Yeah, but now you want to label it. It makes it all official-like.”
Mavis just stared at him for a few seconds. Then she turned and walked away.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time for a fifth conceptual prompt. But these prompts really showed what we were capable of in just a few minutes. And it also proved that you don’t need an elaborate prompt to kickstart your creativity, all you need is a single word, or a song.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

WORDAGE REPORT

THE WEEK IN REVIEW
If I had to use one word to describe last week, that word would be mediocre. I didn’t have a lot of outside stuff going on – just a stitchery guild meeting – but I also didn’t have a lot of ambition to get things done.

The weather wasn’t quite as sunny as we were promised, but I really can’t use lack of sun as an excuse. Even when the sun was out I was feeling kind of blah. I got a lot of mundane things done – household chores, phone calls I’ve been putting off (like registering the microchips in the kittens) – but not a whole lot of extra writing.

My serial post was a few hours late . . . has anyone figured out what spell Izolda cast that drained her of all her power? I’m pretty sure I can wrap this mess of a story up in just a couple more installments. It really deviated from what it was supposed to be, but some of those deviations, like the introduction of a rusalka, make it a better story. Once it’s finished I’ll let it sit for a month or so before reading it from start to finish, and then I can decide whether it’s worth editing or not.

I took my Neo (which had a stuck X key and a missing #6 key) and my backup Neo (which was totally pooched) to the computer repair store and asked if they could take the keys from the backup one and fix the old one. The guy thought I was nuts, but lo and behold he did it and I now have a fully functional Alphasmart Neo again. Now I just have to start using it. LOL

I started doing the “morning pages”, as suggested by the instructor of one of the workshops I took at writersfest. He got the idea from the book The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. Now I just happen to own a copy of that book, so when I was struggling with then I looked them up and it turns out I was doing them exactly right. Who’d have thought?

Did some stitchery, not just at the stitchery meeting, did some reading, just didn’t do any writing outside of my blog posts, despite the fact I spent more time in my office. *sigh* But hope springs eternal. Maybe this will be the week the words return.

NEW WORDS:
2086+507+298+601=3,492
DOWN 495 – words from last week

Seriously, I do not know what’s wrong with my brain. I know the words are in there, why won’t they come out? I’ve done the morning pages 4 days in a row now, but I’m not really counting them as reportable words because they’re pretty much throw away words.

The book says it takes about three weeks for things to “click” so I’m crossing my fingers that’s the case. Which is not to say I’m going to wait three weeks for something to happen, I’ll keep trying anyway, but it’s nice to have something to look forward to (hopefully).

Goals For Next Week:
Get all my blog posts done and maybe a few extra words besides.

EDITING:
0 hours
A funny thing happened on the way to figuring the prophecy . . . Okay, maybe not. Maybe I figured I’d use one of my large, top wire bound note books to work out the prophecy on, and then just never got around to.

Have I mentioned I get distracted easily? I had cookies to bake, and cats to cuddle, and the neighbor’s plants to water (while neglecting my own). It was suggested I used my reMarkable tablet for this, but I think I need the large sized notebook for the space.

Maybe I should put it on my list.

Goal For Next Week:
Figure out the prophecy; get editing Elemental Spirit.

POETRY:
Last week’s form was a bit obscure, which is fun to do occasionally. It had a really weird syllable count to it, plus a rhyme scheme to follow, which made it a bit tricky, but I really like the way my example turned out.

And I found the poem remnants that I wrote during the Duende workshop, so that’s good. Duende isn’t exactly a poetry form, so I can’t cheat and turn them into the form of the week. The second one especially doesn’t lend itself to a form. But I’ll probably go ahead and finish them for my files – I don’t know what else to do with them.

Goal For Next Week:
Find another new poetry form to share. Expand on the poems I started during the Duende workshop.

CRAFTING:
I’m spending way too much time checking out the work of the members of the on-line stitchery groups that show up in my Facebook feed. And while they were inspirational at first, now they’re getting to be a little depressing. I’m seeing some brilliant stitching, and it’s kind of making me feel inadequate.

Yes, I know I shouldn’t compare myself to others, but sometimes you just can’t help it. And I’m sure if I wanted to give up my writing and focus on my stitchery I could be just as brilliant, but that’s not going to happen. So I am content to be good, with flashes of brilliance. LOL

We had a presentation by one of the newer members to the stitchery guild and I came away with a severe case of education envy. She showed us the wide range of stitchery techniques she’s tried over the years, and then told us that she learned most of it at this art school I didn’t even know existed!

Considering the amount of time I spent stitching on my zentangle sampler, I would have expected to be further along, but right now I’m working on a vine with leaves and it’s taking forever!

Goal For Next Week:
Keep working on my sampler; maybe give one of the kits I got from Amazon a try.

WHAT I’M READING:
My reading has slowed right now to a crawl. I’m still reading The Book of Magic, by Alice Hoffman, but that’s about it. I think I need to add reading to my list. :-)

Goal For Next Week:
Keep reading.

THE WEEK AHEAD:

The lists are really helpful for getting things done, even if most of those things are mundane. But it does show me what areas I’m slacking off in.

I want to keep up with my morning pages. Sometimes when I run out of things to whine about in them I’ll have an image or thought creep in that makes me go “Hmmm.” So maybe getting all that angst and whining down at the beginning of the day is actually working.

I have another fairly quiet week ahead, so now’s the time to make the most of it. Maybe I can even pull my Neo out and go outdoors to write. Wouldn’t that be a treat?

The weather is supposed to continue to be a little brighter, and it’s been warm enough lately that I’ve had the window in my office open. It’s a little easier to avoid the internet distractions when I’m using my laptop in my office because the internet sucks up the battery power, so there’s another advantage of spending more time at my desk.

That track is getting closer, I just have to step on it.