EXERCISE: muzak, anyone?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 22:58:00 -0500

Here's a simple one.

Pick a character (any character?  Yes, any character.  Now, you have a character, and I still have 51 cards in this deck, right?  Oh, that's another trick?  Okay, back to the writing tricks.)

Got your character in mind?

What is their theme song?  When they walk on stage (into the middle of the scene, demanding their bit of time in the limelight), what melody, rock song, or other tune accompanies them?

Go ahead, put your characters to music, and let the rhythm tell in their dialog, the descriptive swatches you drape them in, and so forth.

charms to sooth the muses' breath?

Journal writing is a voyage to the interior. Christina Baldwin

and what shores may lie there? ... tink

EXERCISE: Natural fear?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Tue, 11 Sep 2001 23:40:51 -0400

On a television program early this morning, they were talking with students in Cherry Hill, NJ, about the high school problems.

A statement made by one student rang oddly in my mind.

"There's just this natural fear of anyone different."

This was the justification for ostracizing and harassment of a local "freak" -- a student who dressed differently, likes Marilyn Manson (who is that?), and otherwise doesn't fit in.

Somehow, this notion that difference in some way justifies fear, anger, hatred... it doesn't ring true to me.  Certainly, we've all heard the tales of pink monkeys, but are we indeed trapped by such reactions, or are we able to look beyond our prejudices and reactions?

Anyway, a suggested exercise:

a.  Pick two of the following 12 emotions.  You may use two dice if you like.

1.  sadness  2. distress  3.  relief  4.  joy 
5.  hate  6. love 7.  fear  8. anticipation 
9.  anger  10.  guilt  11.  gratitude  12. pride

Now, pick a gaggle of characters, and one odd-ball(or ballette, as you decide).

Scene one -- introduce your characters, and establish that the gaggle feels one of your two emotions towards the odd-ball.

Scene two through n -- spend some time exploring those relations, the reactions of the odd-ball, the rising xxxxx of the gaggle, the bystanders joining in and raising the stakes.

Scene n+1 -- revelation.  Somehow, someway, let one or more of the gaggle get a good hard look at what they are doing, and at what walking in the shoes of the odd ball means.  This should result in the shift from the first emotion to the second one.

et diminuendo -- now, let us look at your second emotion, driven by the revelation.

Go ahead, spin that tale, warp those words, let the pink monkey dance on the table tops and humanity triumph!

(What, you don't like this one?  How about another tale, or a poem, based around the "natural fear" of difference?  Perhaps something about endogamy and exogamy?)

EXERCISE: One Line!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 00:49:12 -0500

I think I misheard the song, but here's your starting line:

There were crystal lakes inside her eyes.

There you go.  Now, who is she?  What are these crystal lakes?  Reflections, reality, or ???

Who is the narrator?  Where are they that they can see these crystal lakes?

By the way, what does a crystal lake look like?

Go ahead.  Start your story (poem, fragment, flash, etc.) with that line.

There were crystal lakes in her eyes.

Feel free to modify it.  Add to it.  Strip it down.

But write!

and, if you like, share the results with us.

There were crystal lakes in her eyes.

Look forward to reading you.