Archive for the ‘Exercises’ Category:

The Two Headed Monster

Written on February 23rd, 2020 by adminno shouts

Not a tank

Sometimes modernity mimics the legends and folklore of old! Take this machine with its two heads, it seems to have a hydra like quality, an old Greek Myth about a dragon or serpent who grew two heads for every one you managed to chop off!

Have noticed any other parallels between the modern world and that of our ancestors?

Why not outline a modern form of a myth using objects we see around ourselves each and every day?

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

Ghost Structure

Written on February 18th, 2020 by adminno shouts

A remnant ghost of structure

Cities are often seen as vibrant and full of life – even the graffitied underworld is full of make shift structures and a life of its own but what of the border lands? The places in between, the forgotten industrial grandeur that lurks in random places in all cities? These places are full of memories and ghosts of what once was. Do you remember visiting such places? Weeds grow through the pavement and the skeletons of the buildings are spilling out from the inside.

Try and remember such places or look at the photo provided and spend half an hour describing what it feels, smells, and looks like.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

Tap or Valve

Written on February 13th, 2020 by adminno shouts

tap or valve opening

Sometimes there are things in life that are not obvious – they could be one thing but then they could be another, sometimes they are neither and sometimes they are both and sometimes their purpose changes depends on what else is happening and who else is around!

Have you ever experienced this? Or seen it in some form? Take a few minutes to think about it and if you truly can not come up with anything you can just start by describing the photograph. Once you have decided what scenario or object you are going to write about do 30 minutes or response writing – do not worry if it makes sense and do not go back and delete just keep writing.

Once this is done go through what you have written and pull out any interesting phrases – these may make a poem with just a bit of tweaking and rearranging or they might just be the jumping off phrases for other pieces of writing. If they are jumping off pieces do a further 10 minutes of writing from each – maybe using them as titles or first lines.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

Over Seeing the Rubble

Written on February 8th, 2020 by adminno shouts

Over seeing the rubble

What does this musty rubble strewn landscape say to you? What is the history behind the industry that erected such chimneys? Go a read an article on these old red brick chimneys or maybe watch a documentary on them and then write about the world from the perspective of the chimney. This writing may well be the seeds of a poem or even a short story.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

The Tower in The Rubble

Written on February 3rd, 2020 by adminno shouts

Tower of an older age

Towers of any type are mystical and when I saw this tower peeking out from behind the rubble I knew it was the perfect opportunity to create something magical – not necessarily nice but definitely magical. Alternatively this image can be seem as the epitome of industrial practicalness and completely devoid of any magic or mystery at all. I personally see it as some strange and fantastic combination of both of these.

Write on the image for 20 minutes.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

What’s Beneath

Written on February 26th, 2019 by adminno shouts

what's beneath next to

What could possibly be in this tank? What is it for? Look at how the luminous green contrasts with the grey sky and brick buildings. Is it in fact a tank at all? Or is it an alien hiding and observing the world? What would you see if you were this tank? How would you feel?

Come up with your own ten questions about the tank and then using those and/or the questions above begin to construct answers. These answers may automatically aline themselves into a poem but if not have a look and see if you can rearrange or tweak it into a poem.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

Lace Skull

Written on February 22nd, 2019 by adminno shouts

Lace Skull candle

Death can be beautiful too, or the remnant of remembering of a person – what is this candle about? What could happen when it’s flame is lit? Is there magic or just memory at play? Who would buy such a thing?

Spend 30 minutes writing about the above image.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

Broken Things

Written on February 19th, 2019 by adminno shouts

When you observe objects to write about, often they are new or shiny or whole, but this is not the majority of objects (or people for that matter), so instead why not look at broken things.

Think about these questions:

How are they broken? Does it alter how you think about them? What you can see? Does it make it more or less obvious how they work or what function they have? Can they still be useful in this truncated form? And what of repair?

Some cultures prize repaired objects above new ones – why do you think this is? IS there an object or belonging that you just can’t bring yourself to part with even though it is really a piece of useless junk these days? If so why? What are the memories and sentiments attached to it?

Answer these questions taking time to really examine the item you have chosen for scrutiny. Try and make the writing flow from one point to another so that it does not present as a list.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

Chimney of Gloucester

Written on February 18th, 2019 by adminno shouts

chimney Gloucester

Images and photographs can sometimes hook into ideas we have not even been aware of. Examine this image and write for 10 minutes, then see if you can find other similar images either at your library or on the internet. Compare the images and do a further 10 minutes of writing.

No combine the two pieces and see where that takes you.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:

Voice to Page

Written on February 17th, 2019 by adminno shouts

If you are struggling with the physical nature of writing if the pen or keyboard hurt you to type or just can’t sit down for that long etc… then you might want to try some speech to text software – many phones and tablet computers (iPads etc) come with basic set ups. The software can be a pain at first but once you work out how to talk to it then the possibilities are amazing!

It also works for dotting down inspiration whilst out and about or doing house work.

Even if you don’t need to use it have a little play. Some people find the way and how they write affects what sort of poetry they produce so it is always a good idea to try something new.

Full Story » Filed under Exercises Tags:
« Newer PostsOlder Posts »