INKSPILL Writing Exercise #1 – Step into a Life

Watch this short video.

Choose a person, think about their character, write their story.

200 max. GO!

 

Writing Activity #1 Nature

Welcome to the first writing activity. You will need a notebook, pen and some highlighters or coloured pens. The process of writing out by hand is an important one.

Once you have completed the activity feel free to share extracts of your work in the comment boxes below. Alternatively you can post a link if you have posted your writing elsewhere. You are under no obligation to share at all, but promise me you will not throw this writing away.

Ready?

---

The idea behind this initial activity is to get your mind set to ‘retreat’. Our lives are busy and we rarely have time to stop or connect with the world around us. By the end of the activity you may have some writing you can use elsewhere or ideas that wouldn’t have otherwise surfaced. So be open to it and try not to ask ‘why?’ and ‘so what?’ For pleasure, freedom and morning heads.

 

 

In order for this activity to be delivered correctly I have left intentional gaps for you to scroll after you have completed each stage of the writing.

1. Choose one of the following images (repeat the exercise 3x if you can’t decide).

 

 

 

 

 

2. Spend some time staring at your chosen image. Allow thoughts to gather in your mind. Write down a list of words or phrases that come into your head.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Go back through the list, use highlighters if you have some – find where the senses are; What have you written that you can see, hear, taste, smell, touch?

Spend a few minutes adding to your list words and phrases that cover every sense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Now put yourself there. Freewrite * for 5 minutes.

*Freewrite: keep your pen moving, even if your thoughts run dry write something ‘my thoughts are running dry’ or repeat a phrase from your original notes ‘the sky is yellow’… until your brain kicks in with new writing again. Time it. Set a timer. 5 minutes.

 

You are there, in the scene.

Use this link for an online timer 

DO NOT re-read this writing when the timer sounds. Just scroll down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here comes the real writing…

 

5. Use what you have written to create an extended narrative or poem (the genre is up to you), at this point you may want to freewrite again. I suggest about 10 -15 mins. for this writing. You can use the timer if you wish.

This new writing can be based on a recalled experience or you can use the images from the exercise to create your world. Go wild, try going outside to complete this activity. Be one with nature.

Describe the most intimate experience you’ve ever had with nature. Try to remember a time in which you were truly affected by the natural world and it became a major part of who you are.

 

 

---

Feel free to post comments, questions and extracts from this writing activity in the box below.

 

 

 

INKSPILL Beautiful Ugly Part 3

Earlier this morning we shared Part 1 & 2 of this exercise. The same thing again for Part 3, sharing the last of Debbie’s photographs on the theme of Beautiful Ugly.

For this writing challenge pick any number of the photographs and just write, see what comes out, work with the bits you’re happy with and don’t forget to post comments and share your work.

© Debbie Aldous 2015

 

© Debbie Aldous 2015

© Debbie Aldous 2015

 

© Debbie Aldous 2015

Thank you to Debbie for kind permission to use these photographs as part of the Inkspill Programme 2015.

 

INKSPILL Beautiful Ugly Part 2

In part 1 we shared four photographs along the theme of Beautiful Ugly and you created writing (free writing) from an image or images of your choice.

I promised you more and the opportunity to do the same again.

© Debbie Aldous 2015

 

© Debbie Aldous 2015

 

© Debbie Aldous 2015

 

© Debbie Aldous 2015

For this writing challenge pick any number of the photographs and just write, see what comes out, work with the bits you’re happy with and don’t forget to post comments and share your work.

INKSPILL Beautiful Ugly Part 1

10:00 Time for some INKSPILL writing.

These photographs were taken by Debbie Aldous in her bid to find beauty and ugliness in the same frame. There are 12 shots in total, I am sharing more with you later this morning.

For this writing challenge pick any number of the photographs and just write, see what comes out, work with the bits you’re happy with and don’t forget to post comments and share your work.

ENJOY!

© Debbie Aldous 2015

© Debbie Aldous 2015

© Debbie Aldous 2015

© Debbie Aldous 2015

INKSPILL – Free Writing – Activity

 

One thing I love about workshops & writing retreats is you end up with writing that otherwise may not have existed. Be as open as you can be approaching this activity and if you find more than one piece of writing coming through, then let it. Scribble pages of notes, work on it throughout the weekend. Let’s CREATE!

I am sure you know the term and have used automatic writing before, but just in case here is a simple definition:

Free writing

 

• Free writing is a prewriting technique in which a person writes continuously for a set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. It produces raw, often unusable material, but helps writers overcome blocks of apathy and self-criticism. It is used mainly by prose writers and writing teachers.

  I often meet ‘why’ learners/ writers – people who need to know the reason behind what we are doing/achieving. Questions may arise about the calibre of writing we are about to produce… so here’s WHY.

  WHY?
• It makes you more comfortable with the act of writing.
• It helps you bypass the “inner critic” who tells you you can’t write.
• It can be a valve to release inner tensions.
• It can help you discover things to write about.
• It can indirectly improve your formal writing.
• It can be fun.

 

RULES FOR FREE WRITING:

• Write nonstop for a set period of time (10–20 minutes).
• Do not make corrections as you write.
• Keep writing, even if you have to write something like, “I don’t know what to write.”
• Write whatever comes into your mind.
• Do not judge or censor what you are writing.
• If you can, let GO of punctuation – this will help your writing flow.
• DEFINITELY DO NOT WORRY about your spellings or handwriting!

A twinkling eye can mean many things – start with someone who has a twinkle in their eye and see where it takes you…..

 

 

 

 

Here are some more fun ideas if you want to keep writing or have some spare time this weekend …. don’t forget to go and grab some lunch though!

Other than using this picture of street food as a prompt;

• List 10 book titles you might like to write.
• Write an imaginary letter to an Agent, tell them how wonderful you are!
• Pick a book off your shelf (or kindle) at random, open it at any chapter. Write down the first line. Find another chapter, this time write down the last line of the chapter. Now use the opening line to start your story (you’ve guessed it) the endline should be the 2nd sentence you wrote down. Limit yourself to 1000 words.

 

REMEMBER If you do any of these exercises link back to your blog post or post them as comments here, we would love to see/read the results!

INKSPILL 2014 – Morning Activity – Pens at the ready!

 

  It has been well documented that writing on waking, first thing in the morning, whilst your brain is still somewhere between sleep and the new day can produce great results and uncover words which would otherwise never have been written.

SUNDAY 26th OCTOBER DAY 2

I want you to make a commitment RIGHT NOW that tomorrow morning you will start the day with your notebook and pen (it is best to go ‘old school’ and avoid more techno versions), you needn’t even get out of bed! Write for 5 minutes or 10 if you can manage – a stream of consciousness that may not even make sense (don’t worry) keep the pen moving (this is why it’s best to ditch the gadgets)! Let your mind and hand be open.

 

BACK TO NOW

 1) Think of a dream, it can be one you have dreamt or something made up. Make a note.

2) Add a description of your dream/character into this statement;

You had that dream again. The one where ___________________________________ stares you down from your window. Except the windows open this time—and you’re awake! What happens next?

Example: You had that dream again. The one where the beast with the drooping hands and wicked fangs stares you down from your window. Except the windows open this time—and you’re awake! What happens next?

3) Free write for a while, then decide if you want to polish, edit redraft or stick with the original flow of thoughts.

 

Aim for about 500 words.

Finally share LINKS here to where you have posted – or copy & paste  your writing into a reply on this post.

 

 HAPPY WRITING!

Writing 101: Day 5 – Be Brief

Writing 101

Day 5: Be Brief

You discover a letter on a path that affects you deeply. Today, write about this encounter.

And your twist? Be as succinct as possible.

You stumble upon a random letter on the path. You read it. It affects you deeply,

and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it’s addressed.

Write a story about this encounter.

 

Today’s twist: Approach this post in as few words as possible.

 

None of us will ever know the whole story in other words. We can only collect a bag full of shards that each seem perfect.

— From 100 Word Story‘s About page

 

Brevity is the goal of this task, although “brief” can mean five words or five-hundred words.

You might write a fifty-word story, as writer Vincent Mars publishes on his blog, Boy in the Hat.

Or you might tell your tale in precisely one-hundred words, like the folks at 100 Word Story – an approach that forces you to question every word.

For writers who tend to write more, a longer word count may be considered concise, too. At Brevity, writers publish nonfiction of seven-hundred-fifty words or less: there is space to develop a piece, yet a focus on succinctness.

For inspiration, browse two fifty-word stories — on the silence between a husband and wife, or a story on time and a missed connection – or these one-hundred words by H. Edwards to see how others write clever concise tales.

 

 

The letter was full of gratitude, personal, exposing. Only the eyes it was meant for should have read it.

I tried to make out the smudged address, I wondered about posting it back in the box,

but thought the postman had dropped it to save himself that job. The stamps were franked, it had been sent from Yorkshire.

I didn’t know how to pretend, how to erase what I had seen, scan the memory and press delete. It wasn’t that easy and now my fingerprints were all over it too.

 

 

I have had a few formatting issues with this post.

 

 

Writing 101 – Building a Blogging Habit

Brought to you from THE DAILY POST Writing 101

 

JUST WRITE

In this inaugural assignment, let’s loosen up and just write. We’re so excited you’ve joined us — let’s get started!

I am very excited, the weekends are unprompted so we have 20 days of writing activities ahead, they are also cite Natalie Goldberg, who I love, her books gave me my first nervous strokes into the waters of writing beyond poetry.

Last year I put myself through so much study; workshops, day events, toolkits, lectures, online courses – this year I have concentrated on producing work and the study has taken a back seat, spurred on by my workshop this weekend I am ready to give over to this daily event and will do my best to post daily regardless of work and weekday busyness!

Oh, look… a new SHINY badge!

You write because you have an idea in your mind that feels so genuine, so important, so true. And yet, by the time this idea passes through the different filters of your mind, and into your hand, and onto the page or computer screen — it becomes distorted, and it’s been diminished. The writing you end up with is an approximation, if you’re lucky, of whatever it was you really wanted to say.

– Author Khaled Hosseini, “How to Write,” the Atlantic

 

To get started, let’s loosen up. Let’s unlock the mind. Today, take twenty minutes to free write. And don’t think about what you’ll write. Just write.

Keep typing (or scribbling, if you prefer to handwrite for this exercise) until your twenty minutes are up. It doesn’t matter if what you write is incomplete, or nonsense, or not worthy of the “Publish” button.

And for your first twist? Publish this stream-of-consciousness post on your blog.

The sun is shining through the blinds, which are shut, the brightness plays havoc with my eyes, squinting at the computer screen doesn’t help. I can hear traffic on the road, cars racing home before rush hour begins, although it is Monday, at the beginning of the week the traffic jams start around 4pm.

I have spent the whole day feeling washed out and glazed over, tired. I had an early enough night but woke at 5:30 this morning, before the larks I think! I couldn’t get back to sleep and it was after 7:30 before I set my alarm for quarter past eight. I woke up at 10.

I panicked as I was expected to take hold of a delivery and also I knew I had the whole day to write and sort the kitchen and I wanted an early start. I have been treading through treacle ever since.

The delivery came, two sun loungers with multi-coloured stripy mattresses, ready to relax on this summer, or hopefully before, if the weather picks up. The weather last week was particularly dreadful. I had the week off work, typically my plans to sun myself outside for the week were scuppered! The first weekend of the holidays my friends and I all took off to the South coast – in torrential rain and Bank Holiday nose-to-bumper traffic, the epic journey took over 5 hours of driving and it was over 4 before I unfolded my body, stopped driving and got out of the car. I realise anybody reading this from larger countries will think nothing of this journey but we can get to Scotland in seven hours and this journey took more than double the time it should have.

We had a great time but it wasn’t a long enough break, although I was happy I didn’t have to go back to work on Tuesday, like everyone else. Have only had a few days to relax since though. So busy, always so busy. I think it’s better that way, it keeps my mind off things, stops me thinking too deeply.

After spending the day alone writing (and cleaning), I am now adjusting to sharing the room again. The TV remote is in action and the channels are being flicked faster than I can type. The TV programme chosen is one that I won’t worry about missing from our (almost always full) planner. I find it hard to focus on free writing when there is a script and visuals that I can see just over the top of the laptop.

It is a film.

I love films. Love relaxing ready to watch one at home. Feet up on the settee ready for a whole world to open up around you, going places without ever having to move. I like them in cinemas too, the sheer luxury of it as it has become an expensive night out. We have a surround sound system but it’s not Dolby or attached to the walls and to have popcorn, we’d have to microwave it first.

My fingers tap lighter on the keys, so the narrative can be heard, I wouldn’t be able to watch a film with some tip, tapping away. It’s funny what affects some people has no impact on others. And yet sometimes if we are both watching something, even a shuffling foot can burst his audio visual bubble of focus.

I am aware of time now, I have been checking without stopping typing two or three times, I can glance down to the computer clock. But now it reads 17:05 and I know I have just 5 minutes of this un-interrupted free write left. I find it easier to free write by hand, something about the flow of ink, but I realised that part of the point of this assignment was to post our free writes and I know it would take me at least the same time again to type it up and I have a kitchen to finish cleaning. There is another load of washing up and rubbish to get rid of after a busy weekend. I managed to almost get on top of the laundry. Funny how there is only ever a window of a few hours before you are no longer ON TOP of the washing again!

In the last few minutes I find it amazing that this post is now over 1000 words (including the prompt itself) – we can work all day to get this many words written. Whether any of it will be useful is another question.

Leave your thoughts, I would love to hear which bits of this free write stand out and speak to you. I am going to read some from fellow Blogging /Writing 101 students when I have finished.

The clock tells me it is 17:10 – my 20 minutes is done. Deep breath now as I hit PUBLISH!

 

NaNoWriMo & NaPoWriMo – It’s that time of year again!

 Last year I took part in the Spring and Summer camps for NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – the main event takes place in November. I successfully completed all 3 challenges and have over 100,000 of writing I have done nothing with since.
 Whereas   I wrote a poem a day, some from prompts some from my muse. I am DEFINITELY signing up for NaPoWriMo but have decided that for NaNoWriMo it will only be to write a couple of short stories so my monthly target will be 4000 words as opposed to 50,000! I think the minimum is 10,000 but have read that this year they have extended genres and they mention Haikus… I wrote 21 Haikus last Wednesday and even that many poems don’t have many words.

People can sign up already for the NaNoWriMo Spring Camp which starts on the 1st April.
I have collected shiny new badges to display here      There are also tips to help you plan. I have been both a planner/prepper and a pantster (someone who approaches the target word count without a plan, thought or direction!)

 Cabin sign ups start on March 25th.

How many of you are going to challenge yourself to camp this April?

 

I have submitted the site to appear on the participants list on NaPoWriMo and am fully ready to take part with a daily poetry challenge. As with last year (due to copyright issues) I won’t post an entire poem here throughout April, I post extracts and blog about the prompts and experience.