Hollowdeck Press - Try This

Try This

As part of our continued commitment to supporting your writing practice we will regularly post writing exercises here for you to try. The exercises below were drawn from recent weekly writing workshops held in Boulder, Colorado.

1) 25 Things I Want to Say About It
Think of a topic, story, idea, person, place or experience that you have been wanting to write about. The idea may be a new one, something you thought of or experienced this summer, etc. Or it might be something you have been wanting to write about for a long time. Without even trying to create a Source Text of First Draft, just make a detailed list of 15 individual things you would like to say about that topic. This could be, physical details, facts, colors, sounds, names, pieces of the plot or story, any elements that you would eventually like to include in a piece of writing about that topic. This exercise invites us to slow down the process of creating a text, so just type up your list and bring it in to class.

2) Prompt: Rushing In
You can interpret this any way you want, rushing into a room, rushing in to help, floodwaters rushing in to the basement, etc, etc. Translate it until it becomes useful to you.

3) A Debt Owed
As a culture, we are in an interesting and troubled financial moment in history and many folks struggle with managing financial debts. But the concept of a “debt” can be translated in many ways, not just in its relationship to money. Tell a story or make a portrait inspired by the idea of a debt. This debt might be spiritual, financial, physical, emotional, etc. Your text can be based in memory, observation or imagination. But try to be as specific as you can in your text.

4) Fearless
What does this word conjure for you? Think of a time when you were fearless, when your main character was fearless, a memory of someone who seemed fearless, an animal who was fearless, a fearless moment in a fictional story, etc.

5) Around Your Neck
The human neck is a miracle of engineering, it holds up our big, heavy heads, dips, curves, swivels, cranes, and runs air-traffic-control for our spines. It is a place of great beauty and strength, as well as a place of great vulnerability. Think of a story of image inspired by something that went around your (or your character’s) neck. This can be your own memory of picking up a small child, a portrait of a necklace your mother used to wear, a description of how your character feel chokes by their own silence, etc. etc. Make a quick list of possibilities, choose one, and get rolling.