Goal for the day: For students to use their body and senses to find inspiration to write
Often we are writing about a moment in the past or imagining the future. Writers trying to work their magic on readers spend a great deal of time trying to convey the physical experience of being in a particular time and place.
But writers often do not live in the moment themselves. They are recalling a moment in the past or projecting forward, imagining what will happen in the future. Oftentimes they live in their imagination, in different places entirely, or depending on the genre, in a parallel universe.
This is fine. And much great work comes from these journeys of the mind. But great subjects for writing are also found in the present moment.
Today, we are going to do a mindfulness exercise to start and then take a silent walk to a glade up in Twin Buttes. During the 45 minutes we’ll be gone, try your best to pay attention to message from your body and messages from your senses.
You’ll write a line of poetry for each sense and then pick the best one to begin to develop into a poem, essay or story.
Assignment for Wednesday, August 27th
Bring an object that means a great deal to you and be prepared to briefly tell the story of the object.
Often we are writing about a moment in the past or imagining the future. Writers trying to work their magic on readers spend a great deal of time trying to convey the physical experience of being in a particular time and place.
But writers often do not live in the moment themselves. They are recalling a moment in the past or projecting forward, imagining what will happen in the future. Oftentimes they live in their imagination, in different places entirely, or depending on the genre, in a parallel universe.
This is fine. And much great work comes from these journeys of the mind. But great subjects for writing are also found in the present moment.
Today, we are going to do a mindfulness exercise to start and then take a silent walk to a glade up in Twin Buttes. During the 45 minutes we’ll be gone, try your best to pay attention to message from your body and messages from your senses.
You’ll write a line of poetry for each sense and then pick the best one to begin to develop into a poem, essay or story.
Assignment for Wednesday, August 27th
Bring an object that means a great deal to you and be prepared to briefly tell the story of the object.