Write for 5 minutes solidly starting your first sentence with 'Blue makes me think of...'
You can write a list or a train of thought.
Blue makes me think of the colour the sky should be right now. It was Blue yesterday, a really pale Blue with a glorious hot sun lodged up there. I didn't see a great deal of the Blue due to being in the office all day. Today's colour is unfortunately Grey. Although according to the weather report we should be due a bit of Blue. And loads of Blue tomorrow.Blue is the colour of my notepad, THIS VERY PAD. It has swirls of different colours on it but it is mainly Blue. When I should be doing work in it it pokes out from where it lies under the bed, an accusing sliver of Blue. "You should be writing in me", it says. "Put down that magazine, don't think about the washing, stop procrastinating!"Looking around me there's not much Blue to be had. The sky is the aforementioned grey. Most other things are green. There's a pair of blue pants on the line. They're mine. Blue's not really my colour so there's nothing else. My school uniform used to be blue. Navy. Maybe five years of blue polyester has put me off!
Friday, 9 May 2008
Activity 1.7
Pick up an object and desribe it in 50 words. Say what it looks/feels/smells like, where you originally got it, any emotional ties you have to it.
I pick up a pen. It’s a very ordinary biro. Clear plastic hexagonal barrel with a strip of black running through the middle for the ink. It appeared on my desk about a week ago, a strange phenomenon – most pens mysteriously leave my desk never to return. My colleague, David, has clearly been in possession of it at some point as the end has been chewed off.
I pick up a pen. It’s a very ordinary biro. Clear plastic hexagonal barrel with a strip of black running through the middle for the ink. It appeared on my desk about a week ago, a strange phenomenon – most pens mysteriously leave my desk never to return. My colleague, David, has clearly been in possession of it at some point as the end has been chewed off.
1.6
Having a good imagination might also mean that the writer is good at seeing things differently – they ask ‘what if?’ of everyday situations.
For example, in a story about a straight-laced schoolteacher, what if at one time he worked in the circus?
Or what if that charming woman in the sweetshop poisoned her neighbour’s cat?
Or what if tomorrow I inherited a million pounds, and then what if the next day I lost it?
What if the characters are not as they first seem?
This ability to ask ‘what if?’ is a habit that can easily be learned.
In your journal, using the 3 observations you made in Activity 1.5 as your starting point, ask what if those things were different? Write down your thoughts.
Example: There is one small window, too high up to see out of. It is covered by a white paper blind that appears almost grey in the dull light of an early December morning.
Or: Beyond the prison bars over my cell window, I can hear the waves of the Caribbean sea against the beach.
The blueprints indicate a network of fat pipes just beneath the floor ofthe lower chamber. On gaining access through the ceiling one can see theyare covered in a slimy coating reflecting the little light available withstartling intensity. The chamber appears only as wide as it is deep, if itweren't for the pipes: the occupants must have felt crushed by their claustrophobic environs.
For example, in a story about a straight-laced schoolteacher, what if at one time he worked in the circus?
Or what if that charming woman in the sweetshop poisoned her neighbour’s cat?
Or what if tomorrow I inherited a million pounds, and then what if the next day I lost it?
What if the characters are not as they first seem?
This ability to ask ‘what if?’ is a habit that can easily be learned.
In your journal, using the 3 observations you made in Activity 1.5 as your starting point, ask what if those things were different? Write down your thoughts.
Example: There is one small window, too high up to see out of. It is covered by a white paper blind that appears almost grey in the dull light of an early December morning.
Or: Beyond the prison bars over my cell window, I can hear the waves of the Caribbean sea against the beach.
The blueprints indicate a network of fat pipes just beneath the floor ofthe lower chamber. On gaining access through the ceiling one can see theyare covered in a slimy coating reflecting the little light available withstartling intensity. The chamber appears only as wide as it is deep, if itweren't for the pipes: the occupants must have felt crushed by their claustrophobic environs.
Start writing fiction - 1.5
In your journal, write down 3 separate observations about the room you’re in right now. Try to be as accurate as possible.
Example: Floor-length silk velvet curtains cover the two sash windows. The curtains are poppy-red, but where the bright midsummer sunlight shines through them they are orange.
"Varying heights" the blueprints say. That can only be in reference to the network of fat pipes running over the ceiling. They are covered in a silvery coating, tinfoil-like in appearance. Without the intrusive pipes the ceiling would be higher than the room is wide, though the occupants of the space appreciate the contrast of the shiny material at the side of the bland institutional grey of the fittings.
Example: Floor-length silk velvet curtains cover the two sash windows. The curtains are poppy-red, but where the bright midsummer sunlight shines through them they are orange.
"Varying heights" the blueprints say. That can only be in reference to the network of fat pipes running over the ceiling. They are covered in a silvery coating, tinfoil-like in appearance. Without the intrusive pipes the ceiling would be higher than the room is wide, though the occupants of the space appreciate the contrast of the shiny material at the side of the bland institutional grey of the fittings.
Saturday, 31 March 2007
Activity 4.8
Alice and Bob's chorus bit. I'm liking the surreal bits... My outsider is a fairy who is observing Alice's attempts to dig a six-foot deep hole in the garden.
A trapdoor is open onstage, out of which bits of earth fly periodically. A projected image of a tiny woman, FAIRY, appears on stage and speaks.
FAIRY: Poor Alice! He was going to tell her properly, but he just didn't have the time. The gold is buried but three feet to the left, and now it will remain there forever, just out of his reach! How terrible! To save everything the way he did! To never spend anything on himself, to keep it all for his precious daughter, and now it is worthless - all that toil and miserdom. Destined to sit three feet from his unlawfully buried corpse, useless to everyone but the worms.
A trapdoor is open onstage, out of which bits of earth fly periodically. A projected image of a tiny woman, FAIRY, appears on stage and speaks.
FAIRY: Poor Alice! He was going to tell her properly, but he just didn't have the time. The gold is buried but three feet to the left, and now it will remain there forever, just out of his reach! How terrible! To save everything the way he did! To never spend anything on himself, to keep it all for his precious daughter, and now it is worthless - all that toil and miserdom. Destined to sit three feet from his unlawfully buried corpse, useless to everyone but the worms.
Activity 4.7
BOB is asleep. At the foot of his bed his FATHER turns up. He is wearing a devil's costume.
FATHER: Good day to you Bob!
BOB shuffles and slowly wakes, sitting up in bed
FATHER: (aside) Lazy bugger - always was. Bob! Bob!
BOB: Bloody hell! Dad! What the...
FATHER: Oh don't worry, you're not getting a visitation from the other side - you're making me up, and I must say, I'm far from impressed by the outfit.
BOB: But Dad!
FATHER: Now shut up and listen, son. This nonsense Alice is spinning out - she's daft in the head that girl! Don't let her go ahead with it! You know what a bloody dreamer she is! It's her wish that I get buried in the garden, not mine. She was waffling on about it and I made the mistake of sort of agreeing with her...
BOB: You did? So how am I supposed/
FATHER: I sort of did - it was no more than an assenting grunt - but by that time it was too late to tell anyone any different, I died the next day!
BOB:/ to convince her otherwise?
FATHER: Anyway, if YOU'D visited the morning of my death like you were supposed to, I could have told you and you'd have saved yourself a whole load of trouble, now, wouldn't you?
BOB: But Dad!
FATHER: (Lights fading on FATHER so he eventually disappears) Ta ra my boy. Just remember - if I don't get buried in cosecrated ground, my spirit will walk the earth FOREVER. (sniggers)
BOB screams.
FATHER: Good day to you Bob!
BOB shuffles and slowly wakes, sitting up in bed
FATHER: (aside) Lazy bugger - always was. Bob! Bob!
BOB: Bloody hell! Dad! What the...
FATHER: Oh don't worry, you're not getting a visitation from the other side - you're making me up, and I must say, I'm far from impressed by the outfit.
BOB: But Dad!
FATHER: Now shut up and listen, son. This nonsense Alice is spinning out - she's daft in the head that girl! Don't let her go ahead with it! You know what a bloody dreamer she is! It's her wish that I get buried in the garden, not mine. She was waffling on about it and I made the mistake of sort of agreeing with her...
BOB: You did? So how am I supposed/
FATHER: I sort of did - it was no more than an assenting grunt - but by that time it was too late to tell anyone any different, I died the next day!
BOB:/ to convince her otherwise?
FATHER: Anyway, if YOU'D visited the morning of my death like you were supposed to, I could have told you and you'd have saved yourself a whole load of trouble, now, wouldn't you?
BOB: But Dad!
FATHER: (Lights fading on FATHER so he eventually disappears) Ta ra my boy. Just remember - if I don't get buried in cosecrated ground, my spirit will walk the earth FOREVER. (sniggers)
BOB screams.
Wednesday, 7 March 2007
ETMA01.3 (roughs) - Bernice
A prison. Present. There are two cages on stage, each containing a camp bed. There is a spotlight on each cell.DANISH is sat on his camp bed in one cell, the other is empty. WOLF enters escorted by the WARDER and is put in it. DANISH stands.
DANISH: Ah, my new neighbour! Hello Frank, how's the wife? Did she enjoy Mexico?
WARDER: Very well thanks, Mr Bacon. You bet! The wife loved Mexico! The hotel was cracking, all inclusive! Beers whenever you want 'em, even brought 'em to you on the beach! Cheers for the tip.
DANISH: (laughs) No problem!
WARDER leaves.
DANISH: So.
WOLF: So.
(pause)
DANISH sits on his camp bed.
DANISH: You killed my brother.
(Pause)
Unneccessary violence the report/
WOLF: Unneccessary violence!
DANISH: /said. But that's not what you're in for, is it? No. You killed your Superintendent didn't you?
(Pause)
Billy told me you'd lost it. He said that you'd gone too far. (laughing) Who would have guessed how far you would go?
(Pause)
We didn't intend to kill the last lad. I expected you to hold yourself responsible for that and leave well alone. But you surprised us all. Do you think I'm threatened by your presence here, Mr John Wolf? Do you think I can't dispatch of you? I could have you flushed down the prison toilets in little pieces. The screws wouldn't even notice you'd gone - especially seeing as I pay them more than their wage. (laughs) And you don't have anyone to come asking after you. No wife, I'm told. Left you, I'm told. I imagine that no one down the station would ever wish to see you again. Who does that leave? Hmm?
WOLF growls. He lies down on his bed and switches off his light. DANISH remains illuminated.
DANISH: Ah, my new neighbour! Hello Frank, how's the wife? Did she enjoy Mexico?
WARDER: Very well thanks, Mr Bacon. You bet! The wife loved Mexico! The hotel was cracking, all inclusive! Beers whenever you want 'em, even brought 'em to you on the beach! Cheers for the tip.
DANISH: (laughs) No problem!
WARDER leaves.
DANISH: So.
WOLF: So.
(pause)
DANISH sits on his camp bed.
DANISH: You killed my brother.
(Pause)
Unneccessary violence the report/
WOLF: Unneccessary violence!
DANISH: /said. But that's not what you're in for, is it? No. You killed your Superintendent didn't you?
(Pause)
Billy told me you'd lost it. He said that you'd gone too far. (laughing) Who would have guessed how far you would go?
(Pause)
We didn't intend to kill the last lad. I expected you to hold yourself responsible for that and leave well alone. But you surprised us all. Do you think I'm threatened by your presence here, Mr John Wolf? Do you think I can't dispatch of you? I could have you flushed down the prison toilets in little pieces. The screws wouldn't even notice you'd gone - especially seeing as I pay them more than their wage. (laughs) And you don't have anyone to come asking after you. No wife, I'm told. Left you, I'm told. I imagine that no one down the station would ever wish to see you again. Who does that leave? Hmm?
WOLF growls. He lies down on his bed and switches off his light. DANISH remains illuminated.
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