Library

What writer doesn't love the library? All those lovely books... all those stories and adventures and dilemmas and other people's problems and pastel shade escapes... sigh... take me there now.

Hence today's writing warm-up for the A to Z Challenge: L for Library.

The Mitchell Library... one of the Great Loves of my life.

1. You're sitting at a desk in the library, surrounded by a big pile of books. At the table to your left is a scruffy old man, reading a newspaper. Is he homeless; seeking sanctuary from the bitter cold? To the right of you is a group of giggling girls who'd prefer to gossip than study. What's going on in their lives? Do they have fickle, theatrical dilemmas? Or are there sensitive family issues affecting them all in various degrees of severity? Spend a few minutes pondering characters, using the library as common ground.


2. Sketch a mind-map using the key word as the nucleus, then branch out in whatever direction you please. You might find yourself going in completely unrelated paths (which I personally prefer). Do a five-minute freewrite incorporating as many (or few) branch words as you like. Here is my mind map (created using the SimpleMind app on my phone).

3. Choose one of the following sentence starts and freewrite for a few minutes, letting the words tumble out without a second thought:

• I found the letter in the library book I'd just checked out...
• The couple argued in hushed tones, mindful of the library rule...
• She didn't notice the "entry forbidden" sign as she walked through the door, looking for a way out of the library...

I find it best not to read my freewrites for at least a few days. Why not stuff them in a drawer and surprise yourself? It's blatant evidence that our minds work in mysterious ways. Plus, I defy you not to find an array of story seeds amongst your work.

Do you have any writing warm-ups you'd like to share?

Take care,
Catherine x

Note: All photo prompts in the A to Z Challenge 2013 are my own. Feel free to use/copy/share to your hearts content. Help yourself. :)

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Library

Imprisonment

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

Today's writing warm-up for the A to Z Challenge is I for Imprisonment.

1. There are many ways you can be imprisoned:

• Literally (the tin pail): what are you in for? Who's your cell mate? Are the guards treating you terribly? Are you due any visitors? Or have you been disowned by all?
• Physically: you've lost all use of your body in a freak accident and can only observe things with your eyes. What happens when you can't answer back (I'm writing a short story about this right now, as it happens)?
• Mentally: you're so crippled by anxiety you can't see past what's bothering you. Trapped in your own mind, you delve into a whirlpool of paranoia. Scribble down your thoughts...

2. Sketch a mind-map using the key word as the nucleus, then branch out in whatever direction you please. You might find yourself going in completely unrelated paths (which I personally prefer). Do a five-minute freewrite incorporating as many (or few) branch words as you like. Here is my mind map (created using the SimpleMind app on my phone).

3. Choose one of the following sentence starts and freewrite for a few minutes, letting the words tumble out without a second thought:

• 'You're not leaving until you tell me...'
• Nobody else believed him when he said he didn't do it...
• I'd have to break the glass to escape...

I find it best not to read my freewrites for at least a few days. Why not stuff them in a drawer and surprise yourself? It's blatant evidence that our minds work in mysterious ways. Plus, I defy you not to find an array of story seeds amongst your work.

Do you have any writing warm-ups you'd like to share?

Take care,

Catherine x

Note: All photo prompts in the A to Z Challenge 2013 are my own. Feel free to use/copy/share to your hearts content. Help yourself. :)

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Imprisonment

Freewriting

Whenever I heard the word "freewriting", I would think of something akin to journal writing: scribbling down your innermost thoughts as soon as they pop into your head. 


But I didn't get it. Not until a few days ago, when I learned how to do it properly.


After spotting this excersize, I realised freewriting is not about coherent thought. I'm going to go all "hippy" on you for a minute and entertain the idea that freewriting is all about unclogging your subconscious, in order to make way for wondrous creation (say it with a grand, old man voice).


What I'm about to say next will probably go against the point of being a writer, but the thought of writing with such... lack of inhibition... it scared me. What if I just spouted out a load of crap? I'm a control freak; I like structure; I like order. This goes against my usual way of doing stuff.


But it works. Sweet Mother of Lucifer, it works!

I set my timer for five minutes, then started freewriting, using the word "hands" as a prompt. Next followed an accumulation of words that were in no way related to the word "hands". I just wrote without regard to comprehension, punctuation, spelling and, lastly (as you can see from the state of my writing), a complete disregard for neatness.


After what only seemed like a minute or two, my alarm was going off. Reading it back immediately, it was pretty surreal; as though someone else had written it. A lot of it made me think "where the hell did that come from?" but there were a couple of words or phrases that ignited my curiosity and made me want to explore further.


This is a perfect excersize for writing short stories. Or even getting into that writing zone I spoke about a couple of posts ago. 


A lot of people choose to freewrite first thing in the morning. I certainly couldn't do that during the working week. I just want to write for hours after doing this excersize, not travel into work and spend the day reading committee papers and drawing on maps. 


Do you already freewrite? Am I the last to learn of this phenomenon? If not, why don't you set the timer, give it a bash and let me know how you got on?


I've been doing it every day since, and I'm happy to report my first draft is now FINISHED! As Jay Z would say... on to the next one (draft, that is)...

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Freewriting