The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting 13 June 2009

Writers' Digest, August 2006, pages 30, 32 and 33, have an article by Joe Ortiz with some discussion of creativity followed by six -- a half-dozen! -- exercises. The title of the article is, "Supercharge Your Creativity."

From painting: Monet and the Stick

Claude Monet attached a brush to a long stick to avoid using comfortable, well-rehearsed methods. By breaking up his habits, and deliberately trying out new mechanics, he let himself play, experiencing impulse and expression.

Your task: "This game combines Monet's device with a Zen practice called 'walking meditation.' Take a passage you're having trouble with from your current project. Grab your notebook and a pen and take a walk. Let your mind bounce between your passage and the scenery around you. When a thought strikes, stop wherever you are and write one sentence. Then walk around again and repeat the process, allowing your mind to run free. When something pops into your head, stop again and write the next sentence. Continue walking and writing until the paragraph is completed. Take just five minutes."

Don't just sit there, get up and write!

Dancing in the light...

Original Posting 4 June 2009

Writers' Digest, August 2006, pages 30, 32 and 33, have an article by Joe Ortiz with some discussion of creativity followed by six -- a half-dozen! -- exercises. The title of the article is, "Supercharge Your Creativity."

From prose: Chekhov's Notebook

Anton Chekhov wrote short stories, and like many writers, kept a notebook of observations and character descriptions. However, in writing his stories, he tried to avoid using images and scenes "which are precious to me and which for some reason I carefully saved up and put aside." So he didn't use his notebook. He also wrote quickly, aiming to finish a story in 24 hours.

Your task: Write a two page story in one sitting. Start with a title, a first line or character. Adopt the attitude of not caring how it turns out -- this is a story for fun. Three requirements:

1. Write from memory only, without notes
2. End the story before the bottom of page 2, no matter how many or how few words you use
3. Do the story in five minute chunks -- beginning, middle, end -- take a five minute break between each section.

Total time: 25 minutes

You can also try some variations. Take a story or a scenario that you know, and set it aside. Now write it up again, fresh, from memory. Or try writing it up backwards? Start with the ending in five minutes, then write a middle, and then cap it with a beginning. Or bash out the ending and beginning, and then connect the dots?

Write!

Do you remember...

Original posting 23 May 2009

Writers' Digest, August 2006, pages 30, 32 and 33, have an article by Joe Ortiz with some discussion of creativity followed by six -- a half-dozen! -- exercises. The title of the article is, "Supercharge Your Creativity."

From drama: A Sound, a Key, a Knock at the Door

Theater games make actors build stories around arbitrary props and actions. Some seeds, a quick rehearsal, and show us the scene. Improvisation often makes lively scenes. Given this scenario: clashing swords clang off stage, a key slides under the door, and someone knocks at the door -- add gestures and movements and the actor has a lively scene.

Your task: use the same sort of improvisational strategy in a paragraph game to spark writing. Just fill in the blanks connecting these words into a paragraph. You can use your own set of words, although nouns or active verbs are best.

The fireplace [fill in the blanks] flames. [Fill in the blanks] smoke.

Connected words like this may make it too easy. Try again with words you normally wouldn't find in the same paragraph (raked, sauteed, dropkick). This should take two and a half minutes.

You can also pick three words from a dictionary. Just flip the pages and put your finger down. That's a good word! Now do it again. Oh! And once more! There you go, three words, just waiting for you.

Write!

Original posting 16 May 2009

Writers' Digest, August 2006, pages 30, 32 and 33, have an article by Joe Ortiz with some discussion of creativity followed by six -- a half-dozen! -- exercises. The title of the article is, "Supercharge Your Creativity."

The article starts with notes about Claude Monet trying to paint with a brush attached to a long stick, Miles Davis giving musicians music only minutes before the start of the recording session, and Anton Chekhov who tried to always finish stories in 24 hours or less without using notes from his notebook. "Good artists often put themselves into risky or challenging situations to spark their creativity." Monet was deliberately reducing his control, forcing himself to rely on impulse. Davis wanted improvisation based on pattern and variation, pushing the riffs and motifs, depending on spontaneity. Chekhov gave himself deadlines and wrote from memory to add urgency and emotion to his stories. They were all working towards what's often called the creative moment or breakthroughs.

All too often, hours of concentration don't really move things ahead. But get up and walk around the block, take a shower, or do something else -- and there is a lightbulb popping over your head and suddenly you know what needs to be done. Insight, inspiration, Eureka -- whatever you want to call it, that moment of creativity often makes complex tasks much easier. "Any self-imposed device that focuses intensely on craft can serve as a catalyst to set the wheels of creativity in motion."

The exercises translate established artistic processes or devices into tools that you can use to spark the fires of your most creative moment. Some suggestions for using them:

1. The games are an experience or adventure, not a thought process. Don't over think, and certainly don't grind away at them.
2. Observe the time limits as one of the keys for accessing creativity.
3. Trust the unknown. It's scary, but thrilling.
4. Look for spontaneous answers. Don't fabricate answers, just watch and see what comes up.
5. If one game doesn't work, try another. But don't be afraid to struggle with an uncomfortable task that forces your mind to try something new.
6. Learn to identify what you feel like when creativity strikes. But then just observe. Save the analysis for later.
7. The object of the games is the sensation you discover. Get in touch with how creativity feels.
8. Don't strive for a polished, finished piece. Do accept the vitality of your results.

As for instructions, each exercise has its own. But in general, you want to do this:

1. Relax. Use whatever techniques you like, such as meditation or deep breathing, to relax.
2. Enjoy the discomfort. Follow directions, do the assignment, "stupidly copy everything" as Michelangelo said.
3. Let go. We are not analyzing, critiquing, etc. Play again.
4. Watch your body for sensations. We really aren't disembodied creatures of thought. Recognize what creativity feels like to you.
5. Wait for inspiration. Patience -- creative fish bite when they want to, with the word, a phrase, an idea out of nowhere.
6. Go back for more. When you fall out of the creative zone, take another look at the pattern or structure that got you there, and climb back in again.

Okay? I'll go ahead and write up the exercises.