Crossposted from Blogetary 2.0
When I went to a
poetry reading recently, I entered a door prize raffle and won some poetry books and a book of writing exercises, "
Clear Out the Static In Your Attic," by Rebecca Bridge and Isla McKetta, published by Write Bloody Publishing, September 2014.
- Some of the door prize swag from the poetry reading.
Why this book?
I
have enjoyed some of the poems from the poetry books I received, but I
think the gold nugget in the door prize I received was this book.
Previously,
I blogged about getting into some of the exercises in this book as a way to self-workshop.
I was going to leave it at that, but decided it might be good to leave
an in-depth user review for anyone who might be on the fence about
spending the money on it (
hint: Long story short, I'm for it.
And if the price is steep for you — $10 for Kindle or $13-15 for
paperback can be steep when you're trying to make ends meet — try
tracking down a used copy or see if it's available on
BiblioBoard or somewhere).
If
you don't have the time to track down or create a writers group or
can't afford a workshop on your own, then something like this book might
help keep you fighting the good fight in the writers world. "Clear Out
the Static In Your Attic" (still think it's an awkwardly worded title,
but there, not my book) won't replace a good comprehensive six-week
course, of-er-course, which can cost anywhere from $300 to $600 or more.
And going through a book will never take the place of interacting with
other writers, getting critique and feedback, or reading your own or
others' work aloud (great for catching all sorts of problems in your
writing, especially the ebb and flow of dialogue), but for $15 this book
will help motivate you to get back into writing shape or get you to
start looking at what you are writing differently.
That's how I
approached using this book. When I delved into it, I hadn't worked on my
poetry or fiction for at least a year. While I do write some small
filler articles at the community newspaper where I work or occasionally
write resumes or bios or letters or other copy for clients, that's not
the same as using my creativity muscles or stretching my storytelling
bones. You need to have writing stamina to work on poetry of all types
or specific characters or story line or plot over time. It's like any
other exercise; you need practice. So, that's how I have been using this
book, to help me get back into the practice of writing creatively on a
regular basis. This is what I have learned.
Pros:
This
book has 47 chapters, which means that if you only did one chapter a
week, you would get a whole year's worth of use out of it. You might not
do that. You might do several exercises in one night, skip a couple of
weeks, and then go back to it. Perhaps you're setting yourself a goal to
write every day, so you might also do one exercise a day, that would be
a month and a half. (
Note: I wouldn't recommend a hurried or
slapdash method like that, by the way, as many of the exercises require
the writer do some prior research or homework. So, a weekly appointment
with a chapter seems the best way to go, in my opinion.) The point is,
one could use this book to keep one writing for a sustained amount of
time, and so get in the habit of writing regularly, just as one needs to
get in the habit of exercising regularly. So, for me anyway, it belongs
in the "useful" category for that alone.
Also, while this is a
straightforward book of writing exercises, the writers understand how
the creative brain works and have set it up so that the creative part of
your mind can anchor to something to help it create. It won't get
bored. So, the book is set up as if a brain was like a house with an
attic with all sorts of boxes and closets of things in it. These things
in the metaphoric attic can inspire writing. Each chapter looks at a
different part or something stored in the attic. Here we find a secret,
there we explore a lamp or a floorboard, old letters or a sewing kit.
And the writer is to use that as a starting point in a writing exercise,
to create a scene, poem or essay, or whatever.
Each chapter also
has slightly different input from the two separate writers as to how to
approach that part of the attic to accomplish the writing exercise, so
it's not just one person's point of view. An example is usually
included, as well as a brief list of books for further reading.
Sometimes I read the example and look over the list of books, sometimes I
don't. I don't always need it or want it (though they make for
interesting reading).
For the most part I have found the exercises
fairly intuitively based and easy for me to grasp. I think they are
natural exercises for a writer to undertake. Some require doing
homework, but it's the kind of homework that needs doing anyway, such as
eavesdropping into conversations to hear the cadences and ebb and flow
of speech patterns (writers are a nosy lot). Or looking up poems,
sayings or old photographs for inspiration. In fact, one of my past
exercises was to go out and eavesdrop. And my next exercise is to look
for an inspiring photograph to write a story or poem on. As I write in
the kitchen with photos of my family staring down at me, all I really
need to do is look up on the wall to find something if I like. Or I
could go open up one of several boxes I have stored. I have my pick. (I
had to try a little harder to find a spare seat at a cafe and listen in
on people talking. That was hard.) The point is, though, that when I was
writing stories and poems regularly I didn't need to be told to go look
for a photograph. Sometimes it was just necessary to go look for that
picture of that garden of my Grandmother's because that was the one I
was trying to describe. Again, this book is getting me back in that
habit.
I haven't gotten further in than the first eight chapters,
though I have peeked ahead to see what's coming. And the exercises do
appear to get more difficult and demanding as one goes along, so if one
keeps at it, it will make one push oneself and grow in one's writing.
This is a good thing. I had assumed that the exercises would be all easy
when I first began, but it's nice to know that there are challenges
coming up that will push me into writing better, writing more close to
the bone. To borrow words from the publishing company that put out the
book, to write more bloody.
Also good is the fact that, for the
most part, these exercises can be accomplished with little more than
paper and pencil or pen. There are a couple that may require going to
the computer or the internet to get say a photo or run a program, but
mostly it's done with what's in one's head and at hand. Since I work
looking at a computer screen most days, typing on a keyboard, I find
that a good contrast for me. My hand sometimes cramps up with the
writing while working on the exercises, but it's better to give my eyes a
rest, or I wouldn't do any writing at all. And the contrast also seems
to spur me to go off on jaunts that I might not otherwise give myself
permission to take. And while I am in danger of repeating myself, I will
say it again, a writer needs to build up stamina. If I need to build up
the muscles in my writing hand so I can churn out better poetry and
prose, so be it.
Cons:
The only real con I can see with
this book is how people treat it. I think if the writers were asked
they'd say that these exercises are meant to be jumping off points for
the person going through them. These exercises are meant to be
suggestions, not rules. However, there are people out there in the world
who will read through these exercises and think of them as "rules."
Some people are just like that. They see a recipe in a cookbook or read
in a magazine what the next fashionable cut of something is and take it
as "gospel," with no thought of improvising something to suit
themselves, or just for the hell of it.
If you are one of these
people I do believe you can still get a lot out of these writing
exercises, however, I beg you, please, give yourself permission to
improvise and explore, because that's what these exercises are all
about. Throw the rules out the door and just treat these exercises as
suggestions for mental play.
For example, you tell me you can't
write about an attic because you never had one? Well guess what, neither
did I. The most attic we ever had was the space between the ceiling and
the roof that Grampa kept us out of because he's put insulation up
there to keep down the heating bill, but otherwise it was dangerous for
anyone to be up there.
But, I had a really cool basement growing
up, and I have known old houses with all sorts of nooks and crannies and
rooms hidden here and there. I grew up reading about wardrobes that
were doorways into far off lands, and I watched TV shows where a police
box was bigger on the inside and space ships could take me galaxies
away. So I can imagine quite a bit for my writing exercises,
et voilà! I have my inspiration, just the same as if I had my attic.
So,
as long as you're willing to improvise, go with the flow, use your
imagination and use these exercises in the spirit in which they are
presented, as jumping off points to get you writing more, writing
better, then you'll find this a very helpful book.
- Teddy tells me it's time for bed.
