Creativity Exercise

This is a part of my participation in a seminar about A Whack on the Head... taken from a book by the same name.

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Creativity

Writing is one of the most intimate things we can do. We disrobe our psyches and lay out our innermost thoughts, desires and wishes. No where else are we so revealed as in what we write. No other person sees us as deeply as a reader.

We come in all different styles and types. Some poets struggle over every word, honing, shining the words into diamonds and rubies. Their poem is never 'finished', they go back again and again, paring, trimming. Some poets are able to spew out several decent poems a day. I am one of the prolific writers.

How, though, do we get creative? What happens when that dreaded nemesis "writer's block" clamps down on the brain?

What motivates us to write. How can we work at writing rather than just wait for it to come to our muse?

I am going to share some of the things I do, as a poet. We are going to work together on some things so you can get a feel of what you can do to jump start the poetry.

One of my favorite "boosters" is writing about a picture. I love the contests that use this practical way of enticing muse to do her thing. Just look through Google Images, or Yahoo Images, for example. You can pick a subject that sounds enticing, or just browse until that magic picture touches you. Look deeply at it and feel, not see, what is there. What thoughts run through your mind as you are looking? Do you remember something from the past. A dream. A wish? Put those thoughts onto paper, in a poem, or in a summary for writing later. Notice tone, texture, color, shape and then look for the hidden gems others might miss.

My second favorite "booster" is word banks. I may have been as empty as broken bowl, but put words before me and I can't resist making them into poetry.

This brings us to our first exercise: each of you submit a 10 word list. Do not use your own list - find someone else's and see what you can do with it. Try to pick a variety of words. Try to use color, sound, emotion and sight words.