Day: March 19, 2020

Stories Are Everywhere But Being Original Is Another Story!

~ mairineilcreative writer ~ 4 Comments

Skye.jpg

Day Three & Another Post From Me!

Images as Writing Prompts

I often use pictures, photographs, paintings and even postcards to stimulate the imagination of students and give them a visual experience to prompt a story or poem.

It may be a cliche but a picture can be worth (or stimulate) a thousand words. The best photographers not only show people, other subjects, and environments that are fresh and unfamiliar, but they reveal the familiar from a new point of view depending on where the camera is focused.

So too with painters, an artist’s eye trained and sensitive like the photographer’s. Unusual angles, specific details, particular highlights… the visual prompt sets off trains of thought and feelings and can be a powerful starting point for all forms of writing.

The example is a tool to use and sometimes it’s helpful to go round the table and discuss initial impressions and responses, sometimes I suggest a particular genre, and may even give the choice of a first or last line.

There are always a variety of ways of creating a context to encourage writing.

Below is one of my favourite images because I love mysteries.

(I’m also a self-confessed devotee of British crime drama and in 2017 was thrilled to stand outside the house of Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez in Shetland!)

image
I first used this prompt a decade ago, I think it came from the Writers Digest – apologies if I’m mistaken.

Look at the picture and think of possible ideas for a story.

Look beyond the obvious – this could be the beginning or the end of a tale/adventure.

  • It could be a woman or a man’s feet.
  • The car may be hired or stolen – it may not even be involved.
  • Is this death/injury by accident or design?
  • Is the car stopping to help or is it the weapon?
  • Is/are the documents stolen and/or valuable?
  • Could the paper be lecture notes, a will, a shopping list, a contract, top-secret plans?
  • Perhaps the papers belong to a bystander.  Are they important or unimportant?
  • Where is the story set – will you make it a period piece, modern-day, pick a particular country?
  • Will you take the idea and not too much detail and apply it to a personal experience?

Your Interpretation and Your Story – Have fun

“Your voice is how you write, the way you handle language, your style—if you have one. Do I? I write like I think. I like spontaneity. I push and pull, change speed and rhythm, balance short and long sentences. I compare it to jazz riffs and drum rolls. I’m economical with words, but I won’t interrupt a nice solo. I never have to think about this. It’s me… I’ve known excellent writers who don’t have a recognizable voice but have earned awards and attracted readers through their work. Your voice, ultimately, will be what comes out of you. And you’re entitled to it. But how you use it will also depend upon the audience at which it’s aimed and/or the market to which it’s sold.”

Art Spikol

If you can’t get too enthused about this image you might like to practise your sentence structures and powers of observation by:

  • writing a simple description of the scene, making sure you include the important details
  • writing your opinion of what you see and your feelings about the scene
  • writing a poem describing the feelings of onlookers or the person lying on the road
  • writing what an imaginary visitor might think or how they’d act coming across the scene
  • writing a list of how many other characters could be in a story about this scene

I guarantee if you do all of the above, you will be hooked and a story – maybe even a novel – will be in the making!

All these different approaches should result in an interesting piece of writing but start by looking carefully at the image and using sharp observation skills with a hefty dose of imagination.

Here is my effort – I called it Tripped Up  short story 581 words

I love double meanings, writing in layers and short stories with a twist.  I was aiming for under 600 words and after writing the story in class along with my students, I edited at home following my mantra:

  • Revisit and polish what you wrote in class – did you pick up ideas/phrases/different viewpoint from listening to other’s read their work? What can you add to your piece?

If you are uninspired or disinterested in this photo prompt just go to Google images and type in a subject or event you care about and go through a similar process until an idea for a story or poem bubbles to the surface.

Happy Writing

Please share your work – we all learn from each other!

Could You Use a Key to Unlock Creativity?

~ mairineilcreative writer ~ 2 Comments

heather with key

Writing Post Two For Isolated You

Often the hardest thing about creative writing is getting started.

The advice to just pick up a pen or fire up the computer and make a start doesn’t necessarily motivate everyone. If you have ideas swirling inside your head – that one book everybody apparently has in them – perhaps you can just pour thousands of words out, but many people struggle to get that first sentence written.

For those wondering what to write, or needing some direction/inspiration/trigger writing prompts do work, particularly if the prompt isn’t too specific and it triggers an idea or a memory of a person, place, event or an opinion.

Whether the words flow without prompting or you need a nudge, you will always need to go back and redraft, refine and rewrite. However, having a substantial amount of words to edit is always easier and once you have begun, you might even finish!

In the accompanying notes to every lesson, I always added: Polish the work you have written in class and be inspired to write more.

keys

An Object Can Be A Great Writing Prompt

One of the most successful lessons I’ve taught over the years involves asking the students to close their eyes and hold out their hand.

I place a key in each person’s hand and ask them to close their hand, sit quietly with their eyes still closed and concentrate on the key.

  • What does it feel like? (cold, metallic, hard, light, shaped, ridged, small, big….?)
  • Can they discern the shape and size? (what might it fit – a car, a door, a cash box, a locker…?)
  • Have they ever held a similar key? (think about when you use a key and what for?)

After they’ve had a couple of minutes of ruminating, I say, ‘Open your eyes and start writing.’

Key:

A small metal instrument specially cut to fit into a lock and move its bolt. (car key, door key, gate key, locker key, letterbox key, suitcase key, money box key, padlock and any of various devices resembling or functioning as a key: eg the key of a clock.

The stories and poems that unfold are completely different – some personal life experiences, others concerning a character or characters.

  • Lost and found keys
  • forgetting keys or being locked out
  • getting a driving licence,
  • the customary key to the door (21st or 18th),
  • renting or buying a first home,
  • getting keys cut
  • latch-key kids,
  • robbing cash boxes,
  • hiding documents,
  • clockwork toys,
  • hotel stays,
  • first or the last worker in a factory or business…
  • magic keys

judy with key

There are stories about the ubiquitous Allen Key, especially in relation to assembling furniture, not mentioning any brand name but Ikea comes to mind:)

Then there are the new keys in use – plastic cards to swipe – no longer turning a key in a keyhole.

In my travels, I’ve encountered plastic card keys in hotels and cabins on ferries. To say they are prone to glitches an understatement!

Writing Exercises If Home Alone

Exercise 1:

Round up the keys in your house – you may be surprised how many you have – and the variety. (Hint – check out the junk drawer, we all have one!)

Put the keys on the table or in a bowl and close your eyes before choosing one of those keys.

Be inspired and write.

patricia with key

Exercise 2:

English is a fascinating language. It invites wordplay, puns, ambiguity, hidden meanings, interpretations and misinterpretations. There are similes and antonyms.

A word like KEY can be a noun, a verb and an adjective.

It is a word that works well with other words: keyboard, keyhole, keynote, keypunch, keystroke, keypad, keystone, key card, key signature, key grip, key money, keyhole surgery…

Choose one of these words and write: eg. –

  • have you or your character ever had keyhole surgery
  • have you or your character ever been a keynote speaker
  • have you or character been a key grip on a film set
  • have you or character lost your key card?
  • do you or your character play a musical keyboard, work in computers…

They say all good stories need CONFLICT – it can be internal or external – make sure you include some.

toula with key

Exercise 3:

A key can be a metaphor or representing an abstract concept. Think and write about what can go wrong or how you can work these ideas into a story:

  • something that affords a means of access:  the key to happiness, the key to spiritual authority
  • something that secures or controls entrance to a place: Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.
  • something that affords a means of clarifying a problem: the computer code the key to the puzzle
  • a book, pamphlet, or other text containing the solutions or translations of material given elsewhere, as testing exercises.
  • a systematic explanation of abbreviations, symbols used in a dictionary, map –pronunciation key, the table or legend of a map
  • the system, method, pattern used to decode or decipher a cryptogram, as a codebook,  machine setting, or keyword.
  • a manually operated lever for opening and closing an electric circuit used to produce signals in telegraphy.
  • the keynote or tonic of a scale, tone or pitch, as of voice: to speak in a high key.
  • mood or characteristic style, as of expression or thought – He writes in a melancholy key.
  •  a keystone. in a Masonry project
  • Painting – the tonal value and intensity of a colour or range of colours
  • a pin, bolt, wedge, or other piece inserted in a hole or space to lock or hold parts of a  mechanism or structure together; a cotter.
  • a small piece of steel fitting into matching slots of a hub of a wheel or the like and the shaft on which the wheel is mounted so that torque is transmitted from one to the other.

Practice Is Key

  • Set a timer for 15 minutes
  • Choose a topic and write
  • Share what you have written for feedback or at least read it aloud to yourself
  • edit and rewrite
  • look for a home – there are lots of online and traditional magazines looking for short creative pieces

When I thought about a key, I considered the ritual of winding the grandfather clock in the hallway:

Marking Time
Mairi Neil

He stands in the hallway
as time ticks away
but he’ll never age,
grow wrinkles or grey

He’s witness to life
his hands carefully mark
the passing of time
the light and the dark.

His voice is a comfort
seductive pendulums sway
A soothing commentary
whether work, sleep or play.

His facial expression
unchanging and bland
just like his demeanour ––
as in hallway he stands.

He’s a constant reminder
Time won’t standstill
even for those who boast
of having time to kill.

My grandfather clock
marks each day’s stage
A comforting fixture
in this Digital Age.

© 2014

grandfather clock in hallway

And this meme did the rounds of FB today – there are benefits to isolation or alone time!

FB_meme

Happy Writing!