Creative Writing Lab, session 1

Creative Writing Lab

I’ve taught this class perhaps the most times of all my onsite ones over the 40 years I’ve been doing this marvelous word game I call a career.

In this class, you’ll get to discover several of my favorite exercises: Left Hand Freedom, Lateral Thinking, Re-experiencing and others. I’ll also share with you some of the basics of writing and some things that are my own take on how the creative process and the writing process occur and what sets those engines purring.

First: Feelings about colors—a human experience, a good place to start our creative exploration.

I’m sure we all know that some colors act on people in some universal ways. For example, green is considered calming, while red is for fires, blood, danger, and speeding sports cars—exciting or scary. Orange is considered the color most likely to irritate people—used in public places where they want you to move along. Yellow is a lovely kitchen color but famed for encouraging humans to consume more.

Cultural differences figure in too. Black is for funerals in the Western world—can carry a sad feeling. White is the same in the East, where it is worn for funerals. In many Asian countries, red is more often the wedding color, rather than white, and this, too, can cause us to have different feelings about a color. But in the exercise that follows, we’ll take our predilections for certain shades and tints to deeper more personal levels.

Exercise: Write about a color you like. I used to ask for a favorite color but then someone always had to become distracted by not having a favorite color. “I like them ALL.” ;-)

Try to select one that carries with it some pleasant body feelings. If being around a color makes your back muscles relax or your stomach feel warm or brings a smile to your face, that’s what we’re looking for. What color do you choose for your bedroom or another space where you spend a lot of time? Now, let yourself write as lengthily as you want. When I first tried this exercise, I wrote many pages—about black, a favorite color, at that time especially. Let yourself wander around all the meanings that come to mind. Look for incidents in your past that are part of why this is a pleasant color for you. Maybe you had a blanket as a child or this is a color your mother wore frequently or the color of newly mown grass and the smell arises for you along with the color. Give yourself lots of time to follow any directions this topic wants to take you.

If you have a 250 to 500 word segment of this journey that especially pleases you, send it to me and it may get printed in this column or in Sharing Stories on the Northwest Prime Time website. Send submissions to me at ariele@comcast.net. Also, to get a copy of Ariele’s current class flyer connect at ariele@comcast.net.

SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).

SHARING STORIES is featured on www.northwestprimetime.com, the website for Northwest Prime Time, a monthly publication for baby boomers, seniors, retirees, and those contemplating retirement. The newspaper can be found in the greater Seattle area and other Puget Sound locations. For more information, call 206-824-8600 or visit www.northwestprimetime.com. To find other SHARING STORIES articles on this website type "sharing stories" in the search function above.