Activity: Writing Bursts

 
The great thing about building on these submerged possibilities present in your early thoughts is that, although the finished piece of work may alter and turn out to be about something larger and richer than you first imagine, there will be an embodied sense that everything in it is intrinsic to the whole, created by the same original vision. Early drafts reveal the patterns and possibilities we can pick up on later and develop further.

Remember, the artist who inspired you did not leave the paper or canvas blank. Now it is your turn.

Now that you have read about the process of creating and studied some approaches to art-inspired writing, it is time to warm up with a quick exercise.

Pick a work of art from the selection below and, after taking time to absorb it, write for 10 minutes about anything that comes to mind. It might be the first thought or feeling that attracted you to the work, it might be describing what you see, it might be an idea, or it might be simply free writing, stream-of-consciousness style. Set a timer and just write.

After 10 minutes have passed, take a short break – walk around the block, make a cup of tea or coffee – and then come back to write again for another 5 minutes.

Things to think about

It is extremely valuable to do this type of writing regularly, to practise switching off the internal censor or critic and gathering material which has multiple possibilities for revisiting and reshaping. There is no right or wrong answer in these early stages; it is a ‘glimmering’ rather than a ‘strategy’. At this stage, you are revealing images and interconnected ideas to yourself, rather than a reader. In his book Trust the Process: An Artist’s Guide to Letting Go, Shaun McNiff writes:

When asked for advice on painting, Claude Monet told people not to fear mistakes. The discipline of art requires constant experimentation, wherein errors are harbingers of original ideas because they introduce new directions for expression. The mistake is outside the intended course of action, and it may present something that we never saw before, something unexpected and contradictory, something that may be put to use.¹

Writing in this freeform way, following the seemingly random or unexpected direction of your thoughts, is a generative process – the ‘outcome’ will come later. It gives you fragments and suggestive patterns which are not polished or finished but will be the creative source for future refining.

As you collect an assortment of brief writing exercises throughout this course, stimulated by different works of art you have been drawn to, you will begin to notice patterns, relationships and echoes which will become distinctive elements in your material. When McNiff says this is something that may be ‘put to use’, he is referring to the fluid stages of early writing where you notice what you have revealed to yourself and how you may build upon it to make a memorable finished work.

Share how you found this activity in the comments below. Did you surprise yourself with what you wrote? Feel free to share your writing if you would like as well.

References