Writing for Writers #18

Check out Richard Baker's book portraits at Poets and Writers. Then write a book portrait (interpret this as you wish) of your own.

Writing for Writers #17

Take a look at Joseph Cornell's "Setting for a Fairy Tale."

Then write a stage set. Don't write the action, just create a setting that implies that action will eventually take place.

Writing for Writers #16

Take a look at the Miniature Worlds exhibit. Especialy Tessa Farmer's fairies made of dead insects. Write something miniature. Or miniaturize something in writing.

Writing for Writers #15

Take a look at the Human/Nature project.

Set a piece of writing somewhere noticeably changed by the effects of global warming.

Writing for Writers #14

Look at Julia Fullterton-Batten's series, Teenage Stories. Write about a teenage girl who is a giant.

Writing for Writers #13

Look at Paloma Munoz and Walter Martin's unusual snowglobes:

http://www.martin-munoz.com/recent/index07.html

(my personal favorite: http://www.martin-munoz.com/recent/night/48.html)

Write a snowglobe of your own.
(don't forget the snow)

Writing for Writers #12

My interest in Leonora Carrington has led me to her good friend Remedios Varo, another ex-patriate (Spanish) surrealist painter who lived in Mexico, and who made an appearance (fictionalized) in Carrington's novel, The Hearing Trumpet. Varo liked to play the what ifs. Here are two of my favorites (from Remedios Varo: Unexpected Journeys by Janet A. Kaplan):

1. What if the world was created by schoolgirls embroidering a sampler?
2. What if the furniture in a rented home retained the images of its previous inhabitants?

Varo would explore the possible answers in paintings. Try one with words. Or make up your own what if and write that.