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Beat The Blank Page Writing
Exercise
February 2004
"Talking to Yourself "
Other Exercises:
[ Latest] [ All]
- Start by digging out an old photograph - this
can be of yourself, a friend, a member of your family or a complete
stranger - there are lots of fascinating old photos to be had in junk
shops if you keep a look out. Whatever you choose, it's important to
have the picture in front of you. Also, photos from the more distant
past tend to work better than recent pictures as they allow greater room
for the imagination.
- Start by describing the photograph, studying it
as intently as possible. The idea is to convey the essence of the
picture to a reader who won't have the photograph in front of them. This
is a good exercise in close description and should be as vivid as
possible, capturing the atmosphere and spirit of the picture as well as
its physical contents. Don't neglect the photo as an object itself at
this point - its size, its condition, where you found it etc.
- Once you've done this, imagine what isn't in the
photo - what lies beyond the frame? This begins to open up the
photograph to imaginative enquiry.
- Now put yourself in the subject of the
photograph's shoes - what were they experiencing as the picture was
taken? At this stage you could bring in the other senses. What could the
subject hear and touch and smell as well as see? What were their
emotions at the time of the picture being taken?
- Finally, begin a dialogue with the person in the
photograph. By this I mean literally start to ask the subject questions.
Imagine how they might reply to you. The earlier stages of the exercise
are a preparation for this interaction - I hope by the time you reach
this stage you will have developed an emotional relationship with the
picture and the person in it and this will generate an intensity in the
writing.
- All of this material may make it into a poem or
perhaps you'll find one aspect of it more interesting/successful and
choose to focus on this.
- Photographs
have long been recognised as good starting points for writing - whether
for fiction or poetry. Because they capture a moment in time they are
both evocative and precise, qualities which are valuable in writing.
- Using dialogue in poetry can be an arresting technique adding drama and movement - if you feel your writing is becoming too static, too reliant on description, then this exercise might open up other possibilities.
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Photograph of
My Father in October. Here
in this dank, unfamiliar kitchen In jeans and
denim shirt, he leans But the eyes
give him away, and the hands by Raymond Carver |