A Cry for Help
her, maybe
I have a strained relationship with writing exercises. The whole idea—the open-ended prompt, the furious silence in the room while the pens scratch the paper, the cramps between the knuckles, and most of all the sharing that follows—thinking about this feels, to me, like thinking about a girl who I might’ve had a crush on in high school. In retrospect, the whole business seems like evidence of my poor taste. Writing exercises are that person who you desperately hoped wouldn’t friend you. But then they did.
Now that I am teaching undergrad creative writing classes, I find myself in a strange spot. I have zero interest in writing exercises, but I know that my students love them. And I also know that they’re probably good for my students at this stage in their writing lives. They were, with some qualifications (fodder for another post), good for me when I was in their shoes. Incidentally, I also know that many writers far more accomplished than I also love writing exercises, so far from judging the practice, I find that I need to reassess my dislike.
I also need some good writing exercises. That’s where you come in. If you love writing exercises, what writing exercises do you love? If you hate writing exercises, what writing exercises do you hate a little less than others? What is it that makes a writing exercise work in the first place? Are they genre-specific, or can I use a “poetry” exercise in my fiction class or a “fiction” exercise in my nonfiction class? My students thank you in advance for your input.
I taught writing as a part of the fourth grade curriculum when I was an elementary teacher. I often started my students off by letting them draw their story. They had just ten minutes to do so, but had to include details worthy of a written story after. I’m a ‘forget the box’ kinda guy. So, why not with a sketch?
Thanks, Joel. I like this idea of mixing forms a little.
Your post’s accompanying photo of Barbie with the 80′s hair reminded me that I might have a suggestion for ya’. ;) One exercise I have used and the students seemed to really like was regarding character development. I found a bunch of strange portraits on this website (which is covered in foreign language and is probably breaking copyright laws all over the place, but – hey – it’s just a writing exercise, right?): http://www.interesno.dn.ua/interesting-photo/interesting-photo-people/8-photo-interesting-people/242-homo. I would either give them the link or print off several of the photos and have them pick one as though they were drawing from a pack of cards. I asked the students to give me all the basic bloody details on their character including things such as life history (as much as they wanted to include), but the big focus in their sketch was to be upon the question, “What does this person want, right here and now, more than anything?” The conversations could then lead to how character details affect motivations and choices, how character motivations drive plots, etc.. Writers would also see that “Joe wanted a hot dog” COULD become a fascinating story given enough depth of character. Because the characters in the photos were so distinctive, the exercise was both inspiring and challenging. It was a super fun thing to share in class the next day too. :) Good luck with everything!
These photos are amazing. I think my favorite is the old woman holding the moose antlers in front of a heap of discarded tires. How did you find this? By googling random things with your cyrillic keyboard?
I love this idea; I’ll be stealing this for sure. And I’m very much in favor of bending copyright law for good purposes. Something about fair use, I think.
I love the moose antler lady too! Her and the little 110 year-old lady in the tiara are definitely my favs. I think I came upon this website as I was searching for images of people and found one that led me to the whole site. It’s been a few years; my memory is a little fuzzy on this. I’ve saved most of the pics to my computer for fear the website might disappear one day – and any time I come upon a strange portrait online, I impulsively save it to my computer for my “Homo-sapiens” folder. :)
Great post, Jonathan.
I love this: “Writing exercises are that person who you desperately hoped wouldn’t friend you. But then they did.”
One exercise I use is to bring in postcards. I hand them out and let students pick the postcard. The prompt, “What happened just before/just after this picture in this postcard?” The prompt is basic, but the wacky postcards seem to get a reaction. Online I just use one picture, though I could mix it up.
Another exercise I like is to make everyone use three movements to describe a scene. You know, up out of the chairs and move. Then they have to sit down and write what they just described through movement.
And the sharing part? I mostly skip it, because it makes me feel really shy when someone asks me to share.
:)
I like that postcard prompt. Sounds like it would be effective at getting the students to hone in on narrative and scene, which is a bit of a struggle in intro-level fiction classes. Nonfiction too, presumably.
I think it’s hilarious–and telling–that it makes you shy to share your writing but not to stand up and do a scene through movement. One would be tempted to wonder if you had a background in the performing arts or something… :) But what a cool exercise. I think I may clear away the desks and books and give this a shot.
Thanks for reading, Renee.
I can send you some writing exercises that I’ve used with students and received in writing classes. I’ll have to send them to you by email, though, since they are in Word Documents and/or PDFs.
One book that has fun writing exercises is Steve Kowit’s book on writing poetry, _In the Palm of Your Hand_. Kowit was one of Dorianne Laux’s early poetry teachers.
More soon, my friend.
Thanks, Shira. I’ll be checking my inbox eagerly!
Also, for anyone interested, I got some really helpful responses on facebook, including a link to Figment, a writing site that is delivering daily prompts via email through March. Thanks for the input, everyone!
Thanks for the Figment tip, Jonathan, and for your reply. :)
The picture in your post should be the writing prompt. Show your students the picture and have them write about the perceived effects on our current economy if the American public consumed Aqua Net in the same quantities today as we did in 1986.
If that doesn’t work, have them create an alternative history where the 12 Apostles and Ayn Rand carried automatic weapons.
If that doesn’t work, have them write about the anachronisms in McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men.
Writing prompt as cultural commentary. I like it. Also, hairspray as economic policy. I like that too. You should consider running for office.
One exercise my creative writing students had fun with that I may have stolen from Chris Howell (can’t remember) was when I asked them to write a piece using “red” without using the word “red.” Some students used synonyms and symbols like apples or blood, and others played with using the word without using the word. For instance, they’d use words like “murder,” “redress,” or “ready” to suggest the sound of “red.” It was pretty cool, and it seemed simple but made them work.
A somewhat similar exercise for fiction is to write part of a scene in which a character has just gone through some kind of trauma or has an ongoing, grinding problem — his mother is dying and just took a turn for the worst, she just lost her job. Write the scene bringing that underlying emotion to every gesture, every line of dialogue, to each perception, without ever directly mentioning it, but informing everything.
I like both of these a lot. Thanks!