LIFE LISTING
This is a particularly good way to
get students into their own private store of writing sparks. In two stages, the process stirs, then stirs
again, allowing the writer to discover more to say than he or she thought
possible.
Stage 1. List six objects you remember from childhood. (Someone will ask, I usually say under the age of ten). Give 5 minutes for this; if some get only to three or four that’s fine.
Stage 2. Sit back, study the list. Choose one to write on, the one that speaks to you most at this moment. Another time it might be another one, but right now, choose one and start writing. You might want to bubble first, or maybe it’s ready to come flowing out, just write. A paragraph is fine, more if you want to. Allow 10, 15 or even 20 minutes for this.
What’s the point? These can be left as riffs only, or they can be a springboard to evocative short stories, poems or plays. Students are often amazed at the excellence of their own and their classmates’ pieces.
From the Stimulus section, Life Listing is exercise 7 in paperback and 8 in ebook versions of Creative Writing; the Matirx/the Quick Matrix. Beyond that there are other exercises not in either book here in this blogsite. Just scroll to the Labels list and call up Exercises. Happy teaching -- and writing -- see you later in the year.
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Quick Matrix ebook is £2.99 available everywhere.
