Writer's Journal

02/17/20
(1) Write your own version of thirteen ways of looking at something, inspired by Wallace Stevens' poem "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"; ​(2) Listen to Baz Luhrman's "Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen)" and write your own freewrite on the life advice you could dispense; (3) Start with the prompt "You taught me" and freewrite.
02/12/20
(1) "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega: freewrite to the cadence and rhythm of this song... (2) Start with the prompt "I remember" and continue with what comes to mind; (3) start with the prompt "As a child I walked", and continue on.
12/11/19
Focus on elements of the absurd and the surreal, and this,  or this and do the following freewrites: (1) Absurd freewrite see instructions here; (2) Surrealist freewrite: Imagine yourself in a waking daydream describe where you are and what you're doing - you can be anything, have any power, make it a totally random stream-of-consciousness; 
12/06/19
Using "Pine" by Zane Andrew, "The Cabin" by Phil Town, and "Snow White Adopted" by J.D. Edwin as models, focus on elements of magical realism and do the following freewrites: (1) Using the information garnered over homework about an anniversary, use it to freewrite a story - what character would find that anniversary significant, adding in one mystical element to weave through (2) Follow the instructions on this exercise. See also "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World" By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
12/04/19
Gothic genre part deux: (1) folklore or mythology explaining the how or why something is or came to be; (2) brainstorm a list of titles of anything (books, movies, songs etc) freewrite but not with this title as your lead, instead find a way to weave it into your freewrite at some point, once or more than once; 
HoMeWorK Using Brad Herzog's article "The Art of Anniversaries" ; think of a list of things and research one or a combo of some you could use for a similar feature  - this day in history, anniversary of an album, someone's death, a book, a fictional character, a toy, a logo, etc...and then look up info on this. bring this info to next class.
12/02/19
Using "The Dead Boy at your Window" by Bruce Holland Rogers as a model for Gothic elements. Then we did a pastel emotion abstract creation, which we then freewrote a story to.
10/22/19
Free Verse - it's finally here, time for open form poetry! WOOP! No rules. Content creates the form. Even a single word can be a line. You have total free reign. You're aiming for 30 lines.
10/18/19
Villanelle is a 19 line fixed form poem which has a song-like quality to the pattern of repetition used. It has often been used to treat topics such as obsession, being an outsider, and pastoral or country life / nature. 
  • See the following examples: Sylvia Plath's "Mad Girl's Love Song"; See Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night" and others here. 
  • ​​See Sauvé's draft example.
10/16/19
Roundel is a poetic form that circles around a subject and echoes the main point in a refrain.
10/10/19
​Sonnet - Decide between Shakespearean (English) or Petrarchan (Italian) - and draft a whole sonnet (14 lines in iambic pentameter)
10/08/19
Beginning to shape one exercise into several forms. Today it's this:
  1. ​Folk Ballad: examples include Simon & Garfunkel “The Boxer” and Poe's "Bridal Ballad" ​
  • Trying to apply the rules: consistent quatrain stanzaic structure, rhyme scheme, and metric pattern  
  • See ​Sauvé's draft example
10/03/19
Continuing to explore different types of poems before we look at forms. Today it's these:
  1. Confessional: This one is personal and deals with feelings experiences etc that have happened to you. Again you don’t have to be specific, but it does have to be personal and like you are telling a secret – think Emo music. Pick something – make a list if you have to – and then write for 10 minutes… it can be a fight, your opinion, about a parent like the model “Daddy” – something personal... Cold Play's "Fix You" video & lyrics. Taylor Swift "Back to December" video & lyrics.
  2. Allegory: This uses an extended metaphor to reveal two layers of meaning. Think about Animal Farm which is an allegory about the Russian revolution using animals on a farm to represent the various real people. It can resemble a fable and have a moral. Allegories can be political, satirical, personal, mythical, etc. as long as the imagery used is figurative and represents another layer of meaning. See these famous musical examples and what they're allegorical of. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" video and lyrics;  "American Pie" video and lyrics; "Hotel California" video and lyrics; "I used to love H.E.R." video and lyrics. 
10/01/19
​Poetic Forms handout; freewrites will explore these different forms. Today we're doing these:
  1. Apostrophe to one of the social issues: An apostrophe is a type of poem which is a direct address either to an absent person or to an abstract or inanimate entity. The effects can be either highly formal or of a sudden emotional impulse. Read the model examples. Choose 1 issue / idea / quality / sub-idea and write to that thing as though it can hear you – so use second person ‘you’, personify it. Models: “Dirty Window”,  “Box of Rain” lyrics or audio, Ms. Sauvé’s journal
    Read the model examples. Choose 1 issue / idea / quality / sub-idea and write to that thing as though it can hear you – so use second person ‘you’, personify it. Use issues from your WTF entry, or other lists we've made (12 Truths, etc)
  2. Elegy: An elegy is written to mourn for the loss of someone or something – it can be a person, a character, an idea, a thing, a dead celebrity – So choose something you are sad to see gone – for me it could be my dad, my youth, it could be chivalry or even properly fitting pants. It could also be something you have not lost, but would miss if you did. Again you can look at your lists of things you would fight for or know to be true and take one of those and imagine it was gone, then write for 10 minutes about how much you miss it and what exactly you miss about it. Examples are Pink's "Stupid Girls" video & lyrics and Alan Jackson's "Sissy's Song" video & lyrics. Don't forget to take this home a draft a poem. Try to write this like a story - see Paul Kelley's "Deeper Water" as well.​
09/18/19
Experiment with point of view exercise:
  1. Imagine a person, any person and use 3rd person omniscient narrator to describe everything you can about this person: looks, actions, thoughts, where they're going and son on.
  2. Now use 2nd person, inching closer - ask questions, wonder, accuse... use you. Make assumptions.
  3. Now 1st person - be the character - use I, what do you think know, feel, choose to share...
​Every time you inch closer, use the point of view to help you add onto the story, not retell what you've already written
09/13/19
  1. Watch Brad Herzog's TED talk "A Writer's Secrets to Catching Creative Ideas"; make a list of everyday mundane things to wonder out loud about
  2. List all the things you're good at / know about, from the serious to the odd; in a second column list as many processes, phenomena, relationships, sequences etc that you can think of that have to do with the natural world - such as migration, constellations, planets with moons, a tidal wave, leaves falling, etc.
  3. Choose one from each column that make sense together - that people would see compared - to create your own analogy (like Herzog's writing is like fishing)
  4. List the qualities, steps, properties, aspects of each one to use as the basis of your comparison
  5. Freewrite a vignette describing (showing not telling) how these two processes / relationships / phenomena are alike
  1. List point form all the stories you have to tell (real or imagined)
  2. List point form all the versions of you: Answer a few points for each of these: I was, I am, I will be, I wish 
09/11/19 ​
  1. Make two columns, 1 for everyday objects, and 1 for big concepts, ideas, values. Choose 1 from each column and create a      metaphor, then extend it. For example, Apathy is a pebble...
  2. Inspired by the children's book Whimsy's Heavy Things by Julie Kraulis experiment with extended metaphor by writing a story in a similar vein, doesn't have to be for children.
09/09/19
  1. Inspired by Anne Lamott's TED talk "12 Truths I learned from Life and Writing". List the 12 truths you know for sure.
  2. Freewrite and extend one of them. 
  3. List point form all the stories you have to tell (real or imagined)
  4. List point form all the versions of you answer a few points for each of these: I was, I am, I will be, I wish 
09/05/19
  1. Freewrite inspired by Pablo Neruda's Odes to Common Things specifically "Ode to My Socks" and "Ode to a Bar of Soap"
  2. Freewite on a long sheet of paper with a prompt of a your neighbour's song lyric choice
09/17/18 - watch Elizabeth Gilbert's talk "Your Elusive Creative Genius"