Poetic Eavesdropping

A Writing Exercise:

Take yourself out into the world and listen. Whether you find yourself on a train, in a coffee shop, in an art gallery or in a supermarket queue, there should be plenty of chatter for you to eavesdrop on. Listen to the conversations of those around you, and jot down anything that catches your attention. Perhaps you'll find yourself drawn to a singular voice, one conversation, or maybe you'll find your attention flits between different voices in different conversations. Either way, just write what you hear (or what you think you hear).

Can the snippets of conversation be reworked into a type of 'found poem'?

Does anything you've heard cause you to think of anything else?

Can you find a starting, middle or end point for a poem from the conversations you've overheard?

*Due to illness this post is minimal 

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Writing Exercises? Keep the weight off and do it all in your head.

You've probably heard some idiot tell you all about a room full of monkeys with typewriters composing Shakespeare at some point, right. Well, I assure you all that this is never going to happen. To write poetry, you have to read poetry- if only to have some kind of benchmark form... And teaching monkeys to read? They'd revolt.
Tonight then, I'm going to share with you my 'whole day not writing' approach to creating a poem. This is no work of genius I'll grant you but, it does seem to keep me with fallback poems for the DGPS events.

1. Wake up. Before you do yourself a mischief and turn on the TV, read a poem. This early morning kick for the brain may seem a little intense before the kettle has had a chance to brew but you've set the frame of mind at the very start of the day- something which will help when you get a chance to read/watch/hear the ever depressing and enraging morning news.

2. Have you seen the news? I don't believe there is a person out there without an axe to grind at the moment. If you're stuck for issues of ideas, pick your most lively topic. It might end up in the never again pile, it might spur you on to that long poem you've been promising yourself. DON'T PICK UP YOUR PEN YET. I know you think I'm mad but you've had that idea for all of what, half an hour. Mull it over a minute.

3. At about this stage of the day, with a rough idea of a theme in mind, I like to do some 'dum-de-dums'. Without patronising you, this literally means making one of those little ditty tunes up, comprising only of the dum-de-dums. After a minute or so, and I advise you do that bit in your head if you're in public, you'll have some kind of rhythm going on that feels natural to you. We're roughing it today, so keep that beat in your head, it will become your first line soon enough.

4. Now you've got some kind of beat going on, probably some words and key phrases and ideas are nipping up. Try to remember them but not write them straight away. The mind is a curious place and you'll be amazed what it throws back out to you in the butter churn of creativity. In the author's note to Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks quotes fellow writer James Fenton's advice to would be poets 'Put something in your poem that the reader doesn't know'. This will at least give you a vehicle for passing that information on, instantly adding some kind of depth to your audience.

5. Now you've had a think, let the brain do an edit. You have my permission to get the pen out. I want you to just fill a page with ideas- brainstorming if you will. Your rhymes are handy to note if using, as well as any particularly ringing phrases that have stuck. If you've lost your line, in the long run was it really that memorable? You will do this as well, you'll forget something good. Take it from me that it pays to have a scrap notebook in the bathroom somewhere, as well as one in the dash, coat, bag and kitchen. You've got a basis so keep adding to it throughout the morning- things will come to you, as well as rewrites of previous lines.

6. The internet is your friend. You've got so far but can't find a rhyme for melancholy? Don't throw in the towel, get it looked up on an online dictionary. And if you're savvy enough to read here, you can do better than hook and book. Whilst you're online (and avoiding facebook) research the theme you've chosen. You should at the very least be fact checking with wiki or the various news sites. In fact, at this very point last week my poem changed. I was online when I noticed John Prescott had started the hashtag #picklesbiscuits. Within moments I' come up with a few, some original and some repeats but that whole five minutes of laughing my ass off changed the afternoon significantly.

7. You've started building your poem now. This seems really brief doesn't it- you're forgetting that the brain has done two edits or so of everything you've managed to jot down for you already. I mentioned the intenet changing directions- I thought to search biscuit brands and as a result,  found a few that were either fitting or tweakable for my poem. I got about three lines out of this but closed my little stanza idea- it is really a repeat until fade process from here on in.

So there you have it. My fools guide to composing the works of William Shakespeare, monkey and idiot proof just as you'd like, and the whole thing falls around that simple notion of just being aware, reading what others have thought and mulling over in your head for a while what you'd like to add to that discourse.
At least you're on your way now...


This week's theme is Poetry or Writing Exercises. I look forward to seeing what secrets will be shared amongst our writers this week. Thanks for reading, and apologies for the late post, S.

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A Monstrous Creation

 By Ashley Lister

 It’s not often that I share creative writing exercises on here. However, I figured the theme of ghostly goings-on would be appropriate for this one. Do you want to create a spooky creature from the darkest depths of your imagination? Do you want to create something truly scary?

You will need:

A pen

A sheet of paper or a notepad

A change of trousers

Alcohol (for afterwards) to steady your nerves.

EXERCISE

Pick up the pen. Without turning around, write about the creature that is now lurking over your shoulder. Is it larger than a cluster of scurrying spiders? More dangerous than a rabid werewolf? More monstrous than any cinematic villain?

It’s about to reach out and touch you. If you listen hard enough you can hear the wet rasp of its breath. If you focus on the shifts in the air you can catch the fetid tang of its breath as it creeps closer and closer.

What is it?
Why is it there?
Where will it start?
What could it do to you?

Write for five minutes. If you don’t write for that long the creature could get you. Write swiftly and without thinking. Describe the creature using all five senses. Develop its monstrous character by discussing what it does to its victims and why it’s motivated to strike again and again and again.

When you've finished you should have an original character caught on paper. Perhaps the beginnings of a short story, a novel - or fodder for a poem.

Of course, if you fancy sharing your monstrous creation in the comments box below, it would be fun to read someone else’s nightmares. Alternatively, if you don't want to try the exercise or share your writing, you could watch this video:

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Fifty Shades of Red

1.      September leaves before they fall.

2.      Rust on the Triumph propped up outside.

3.      The bricks around a fireplace.

4.      A glass of black grape wine.

5.      Mistakes in a Word document (or words Word doesn’t know).

6.      Squashed beetles in penny sweets.

7.      Our dwindling native squirrels.

8.      The dressing gown (with fluffy sheep) that I made him return – but I kept the socks.

9.      Royal Gala apples bobbing in a bucket at Halloween

10.  Noses in winter and the ones found on clowns

11.  The hips on the ‘Sweet Briar’ ...

12.  ... and the plant pot it sits in.

13.  Love hearts and kisses.

14.  The traffic light that tells us to stop.

15.  Homemade tomato soup once the nights draw in.

16.  Holly and Christmas and St. Nick’s coat.

17.  The lollipops Patch invented in Santa Claus: The Movie.

18.  The Treasure Secretary’s hair.

19.  Ed Miliband’s tie.

20.  A flying carpet and a fading sun.

21.  The Hillsborough lies and the paper that spread them.

22.  The post boxes we pass without really noticing.

23.  An old-style phone box turned into a library.

24.  Danger, blood and ‘No Entry’ signs.

25.  Candlelight, passion and romantic gestures.

26.   An argument about laundry or washing-up

27.  The lipstick I’ve never worn.

28.  The away shirt we (Coventry) never won away in.

29.  Being eaten by a wolf disguised as a Granny

30.  Wembley, Old Trafford, Anfield and Bramall Lane.

31.  Lightning McQueen and Mr Strong.

32.  Strawberries, Raspberries and mixed fruit jam.

33.  Envelopes (on Valentine’s day).

34.  Chilli peppers, paprika and pink peppercorns.

35.  The Hush Puppy patent leather shoes from when I was 5.

36.  Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae’s poem “In Flanders Field.”

37.  Coral and the Squirrelfish.

38.  Flea bites, wasp stings, chickenpox and pimples.

39.  The car I learnt to drive in.

40.  Cranberry juice and Costa cups.

41.  The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

42.  Fingertips after a snowball fight.

43.  The planet Mars, Mira and Betelgeuse.

44.  The Flash, Daredevil, Iron Man and Superman’s cape.

45.  The sofa on BBC Breakfast.

46.  A robin’s chest and a swooping cardinal.

47.  Calcium when it burns.

48.  Player two on Fifa 12

49.  St. George’s cross and Denmark’s flag.

50.  A sending off in football.

Thank you for reading,

Lara 

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