Writing for Writers #10

I just read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, a memoir that he blinked out one letter at a time to a speech therapist who transcribed his words. First Bauby would memorize each paragraph, then dictate it. And presumably as a result, the memoir reads as if it doesn't have a spare word in it. So try this:

Write a paragraph in your head, really crafting it, and memorizing it, before writing it down.

And then try this:

Write a paragraph in your head and memorize it, but instead of writing it down yourself, dictate it to a trusted scribe.

It seems to me both acts, writing and editing in your head, and inviting an audience into the process, might lead to some interesting alterations in your usual ways (unless those are your usual ways, naturally).

Writing for Writers #9

http://www.jessicatoddharper.com/3.html

Use a physical copy of a book as an image.

Writing for Writers #8

My favorite aspect of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman was how every character had an animal familiar who represented some part of their personality. And one of my favorite artists Leonora Carrington said we all have an inner bestiary. So here's a nonfiction exercise: describe your inner bestiary.

Writing for Writers #7

What I like about this painting by Amy Bennett:

http://www.richardhellergallery.com/dynamic/artwork_detail.asp?ArtworkID=840

is how the viewer is spying on the woman who is spying on her neighbors who are being photographed ...

so write about a spy/voyeur who doesn't know she is being watched.

Writing for Writers #6

Here's an Iron & Wine lyric from "White Tooth Man": "The postman cried while reading the mail".

Write the scene.

Writing for Writers #5

Most writers seemingly use a lot of white space in their collages...space breaks, paragraph breaks... pauses.



Check out some work by Jess Collins and then write a crowded collage.

Writing For Writers #4

I'm a fan of children's illustrations like Where's Waldo and Richard Scarry where there are a gazillion things happening on the page. I'm also a fan of paintings that have a big landscape and some little itty bitty thing happening in the corner:

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus

incidentally also a William Carlos Williams poem.

Or: Virginia Lee Burton's illustrations for The Little House.

So write a scene that shows a big landscape with something small in the corner. Interpret that how you see fit.

Feel free to post any results in the comments if you like.