Awaken the Writer Within

Class Schedule
Pierce College, South Hill Mall Campus, www.piercece.com
6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday nights

• September 30
• No class October 7
• October 14
• October 21
  
• October 28
  
• November 4
  
• November 11
  
• November 18
  
• November 25

Exercises - September 30

• I remember . . .
  
• It all went wrong when . . .
  
• Character opens a drawer and finds .  . .
  
• Day in the life of a ordinary superhero.

Week Two — Tapping your senses - October 14

Writing Exercises

 

• Take bite of chocolate. What images does it bring to mind? What experiences or memories? Write for 10 minutes.
• Inhale a strong scent (we used lavender). Again what images come to mind? Write for 10 minutes. Don’t stop.
• Listen to a random clip of music. Don’t ponder too long. Turn it off and begin writing. Don’t stop for 10 minutes.
  
  Weekly exercise: Be aware during the week. Each day notice something that stands out. Make time to write about it.
  

Week Three — Looking at Plot - October 21

Writing Exercises

 

• Students could choose from one of two photos (one of a man in a pig farm, and other of a bar in Santa Fe). Once they chose the photo, they wrote “what came next” in either of the photos. Exercise was for 10 minutes.
  
  
• Choose one of the six choices below. Set your timer for ten minutes. Write a piece beginning with your “before” phrase.
  1 – Before the Texan could say another word . . .
  2 – Before the Chinese seamstress opened the letter . . .
  3 – Before the bowling team met for the last time . . .
  4 – Before the violinist and his wife left to have dinner . . .
  5 – Before she found the sapphire ring . . .
  6 – Before Annie sold the pet parlor . . .
  
  
• Choose one of the six choices below. Set your timer for ten minutes. Write a piece beginning with your “after” phrase.
  1 – After he canceled the wedding . . .
  2 – After the Dalmatian was lost . . .
  3 – After the Siamese twins were born . . .
  4 – After the Mercedes drove away . . .
  5 – After the old couple searched the house . . .
  6 – After Eric declined the lady wrestler’s invitation
  
  Weekly exercise: Listen to dialogue during the week. Each day write down a piece that stood out.
  

Sample Exercises
Taken from Barbara DeMarco-Barrett's book, Pen on Fire

1. Choosing a path. This about where you would like to be 6 months from now, a year from now, 5 years from now.  Now write the ideal scenario. How will your days play out? Where will you write? What will it look like? Be specific. What types of things are your writing? Full-time writer? Hobbies?
   
   
2. Defining your Obstacles. What is keeping you or stopping you from being a writer? Be specific. Next write imagine a physical partition. What does it look like? How does it feel on this side of the partition?  How will you protect yourself when negativity approaches?
   
   
3. Finding Moments to Write. Where can you find pockets of time? Write about how you spend you time— working, watching TV, movies, reading, visiting friends, running errands, cooking, etc.  Now can you borrow time from any of these? There should be somewhere you can fine 15 minutes a day.
   
   
4. Free writing. On slips of paper write nouns and phrases.  Put them in a container. Pull out a word or two and write for 5 minutes. Read it over. Pick two more words and write for longer. Carry those words with you. Pull them out and write when you find those free minutes. Good way to get unstuck.
   
   
5. Finding Meaning in images.  Postcards, photographs from flea markets, or maybe candid family shots. Pick one that speaks to you or deal them out like cards if you want to work with them in a group.  Set timer for 15 minutes and write. If postcard or photo, what sparks you imagination, write on it. Be specific, what's happening just outside the edges, what mood does it provoke? Is there music playing? If there are people, what are they saying?
   
   If this is a family shot, what was happening at exactly that moment? What's the subtext? The tension? What meaning is underlined by this photo? What are the characters thinking and feeling at the moment? What mood does it engage? Continue for 15 minutes.
   
   
6. Collecting Words. Keep a journal. In it keep a list of words. Words you have run across, what to look up, or want to use. For a week write 5 words a day that you have either read or hear spoken. Read authors that have an incredible vocabulary and write down the words you look up or love. Do free writing on some of these words.
   
   
7. First lines. First lines can lead you in.  Make a list of first lines. They can be anything, such as . . . The first time I . . . I remember . . .The cutest/saddest/funniest I know . . . It takes a long time to . . .
   
   Collect slogans and lines that inspire you. Write down bits of conversation that stay with you. Borrow first lines from other writings or ask someone for a first time.  Keep them in your journal when you need inspiration, grab one, set a timer and start to write. If you don't know what to write, free write.
   
   
8. Create a snapshot of the moment you are living. During a lecture, a concert, a meeting, take a personal time out and write what's happening at that moment. Write what people are saying and doing. Don't worry they will read it just write.
   
   In your home, become quite and listen and look around and write what you see, what you don't want to forget. Describe the bathroom rug, the photos on the refrigerator. Or what are the little things about a person in your life that you don't want to forget. The shy smile, a smell, a piece of clothing they love.
   
   
9. Writing through a Child's Eyes. Describe an activity (cooking, a sport, riding a horse), a place (kitchen, a public bathroom), and item, or a living creature as though it's been seen for the first time through the eyes of a child. Write for 15 minutes. Use words a child would use, and short sentences. Use metaphors and similes drawing on images in a child's life.
   
   If you have memento from you childhood, write on it. What it meant to you and from the child's point of view. Or tell a child what you're working on and ask where the story should go and write from his/her answer.
   
   
10. Start Making Lists. Select topics. For example: Things that go on at my neighbor's house. Funny things my pets do? My pet peeves.  Things I dwell on? Things I love. Things I fear. Set time for 15 minutes and make lists under your selected topic(s).  Make lists under selected topics.   You can make lists in those pockets of time.
    
    Collect lists and use them as free writing prompts. Review your lists when you are trying to find a topic to write on or a character to develop.