Party, party!

One of the many things that seems at the moment like a distant memory is - parties. Personally I don't see this as a loss, as, with very few exceptions, I hate parties - but I think they might be quite fertile ground for writing. Here are some suggestions: 

Write a shortish piece about a party when you were a child, a teenager, and an adult.

Write a longer piece about a party you particularly remember - whether because it was great, or because it was horrible.

Write a story centring on a party. There are lots of parties in films, aren't there? I guess because of the potential for comedy/disaster/arguments/new-found friendships etc.

As ever, strongly suggest starting with a spider chart and jotting down lots of details - the food, the clothes, the setting, the way you/the narrator feels...

Goodness, it gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

Looking at poetry

 Watching the inauguration of Joe Biden yesterday, I was hugely impressed by the young poet, Amanda Gorman. Wasn't she amazing? If you didn't see her, I'll put a link at the bottom of the post.

Amanda Gorman

Inspired by her, I thought we'd have a look at poetry this week. In discussion, several of you have said that you're unsure about how to write poetry that doesn't have an obvious, regular rhyme scheme. And Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate, has been mentioned - so I thought I'd look for an example by him. This was actually written about thirty years ago - I don't have anything very recent. Have a look at it, and think about the form as well as the meaning. I think it's probably true to say that poetry is a short piece of language which has a pattern: so what's the pattern here? Probably a good idea to read it aloud. 

It would be interesting to do the same with Amanda Gorman's piece - it certainly had patterns - but I haven't seen the text yet. The task follows the poem.

In Clover

This winter, six white geese have settled near the house.

This morning as she polishes the furniture 

and peers across the river to their nesting place

she finds the gaggle floating off downstream, and there

instead is one white egg sat upright in the sand.

The geese, distracted with a crust, are unaware

as Rose, her eldest, in ankle socks and sandals

cradles the egg in the lap of her pinafore

and picks a safe way back across the stepping stones.

She cracks the contents on a bed of cornflour

and paints policemen on the empty halves of shell

to sell as plant-pot-men in next month's flower show.

Later, the six white geese will crane their necks to smell

the fine egg-pudding cooling on the window-sill.

Task

Write a poem of your own, in 'free' verse. It can be on any subject you like, but here are some starters:

• Winter - this winter in particular. What are your feelings about it?
• Zoom in, on a particular detail: birds in the garden, first flowers coming up, a rainbow.
• Spme aspect of the inauguration - perhaps 'The Leaving of Trump'!

The link to Amanda Gorman is here.

First things first...

 This week, I want you to write about the first time you - or your character - did something. Jot down some possibilities first - eg:

First day at school

First job

First time you bought a dress your mum disapproved of

First time you travelled abroad

Your first home

These are a few examples, but really, the list is endless! Can be a story or a memoir.

My first...mini-skirt.

Feeling bad, feeling better...

(This exercise is taken from 'Free-Range Writing', by Jenny Alexander.)

Someone is rocked by a difficult emotion. What is it? For example, jealousy, anger, boredom, fear.

Why are they feeling this way? What caused it?

Take a moment to imagine you are feeling this emotion. Notice the physical effects - where do you feel it in your body?

Stories are always about a protagonist who wants something. Your protagonist wants to stop feeling this way. what needs to happen in order for them to feel better? How can they make that happen?

Write the story of how they try to change their situation, ending in either success or failure. What do they learn? How does the journey change them?

Fiction tip: when you are writing stories, as well as the action of the plot, think about the psychological journey of the protagonist. How are they changed by what has happened?

(Non-fiction alternative

Write about a time when you've felt a difficult emotion. What was the context? How did you feel? What happened? How was the situation resolved?

If this feels a bit gloomy or negative, you could write about a time when you/your character felt happy, elated, hugely relieved. But it might be harder to make it into a story! SP)