Creative Writing Club: Week One

I recently started going to the Creative Writing Club at the school I work at. I have started writing again but I thought I needed more inspiration if I was going to keep it up. Not to mention, I want to make myself known in the English department. My aspiration is to work my way up from TA to library assistant or similar, hence why I also did Year 9 Books and Beyond, a reading challenge. I also don't want to let my Creative Writing degree go to waste.

I'm not the only TA at CWC but most of the other attendees are Year 9 or below, a big change from University where I felt like a toddler doodling with crayons while everyone wrote masterpieces. This week, as it was so sunny, we went outside to the grass bank to write about summer.

Our task was to split our page into boxes and write about the five senses in an imaginative way.

Here are some of my lines:

Sight
The sun winks off car windscreens, like light off ocean waves.
Students are scattered across the field amongst sprinklings of daises and clovers.

Touch

The warm breeze brushes through my hair like a lovers caress.

Despite the warmth of the afternoon sun, the damp of the waterlogged earth creeps through the fabric of my dress.

Sound
Children's playful cheers are carried across the valley on the wind, so carefree after the captivity of school.

Smell
The air is warm and thick, bristling with ozone, bringing with it the threat of an early storm.
Fresh cut grass infuses the air as hundreds of people decide, as if connected, to mow their scraggly lawns.

Taste
My mouth is parched and the sheer azure of the sky makes me crave the cool splash of water.

After we wrote our lines we went around and shared them, 'magpie-ing' from each other, which meant nabbing the best lines other people wrote. Lots of the students had some really unique lines; I could never have written like that at their age, so I was thoroughly impressed.

We returned to the classroom and used our lines to write a poem. I baulked at the idea as poetry really isn't my thing, but I gave it a go anyway.

From the sea
over the hills
across the moors
it ruffles the emerald leaves of trees
ripples the delicate glass of ponds
helps the young birds take their first flight
With it follows
cut grass
fresh fields
greasy burgers,
the scents of summer come early.
Warm and demanding
it forces them out of
coats
jumpers
and scarves.
It pulls at skirts
tugs at shirts.
Runs its fingers through hair,
gentle as a lover,
as constant as a mother.
The wind brings the change
yet, he himself, is constant.
Never ending,
never leaving.

I didn't think it was too bad. Next time we'll be writing them up neat to put them on display in the corridor. In conclusion, CWC was enjoyable and I'm looking forward to going again!

How to Write Description

Here is the post I promised earlier. I still haven't settled in properly at home yet; my boxes still crowd the hallway, and I haven't unpacked my hundreds of flowery summer dresses, but I seriously need to blog more (it's on my To Do list, don't worry).

Anyway, this post is all about description and how to write it creatively. I have a real problem with writing description, or setting the scene. I can see it in my head and so think everyone else can picture it too without going into much detail. Rookie mistake. I also think when writing description that it will distract from the plot; I am very much an action writer and love to get to all the exciting bits straight away. I have to slow myself down and force myself to write about the scene. Or sometimes I write all the action parts and then go back through and add the setting later.

I was thinking about this when I came up with a great idea on how to get the descriptive juices flowing. Stick with me here. This workshop comes in three easy steps.

1. Below is a series of pictures and I want you to write a 200 word description about each one.

You can write it from any Point of View, and in third, second, or first person.

Try to include each of the five senses; sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Obviously, it might be hard to include them all. You might think how can I taste a place? Well, in the desert your character's mouth could be very dry, and that would say something about the setting. Don't go OTT as you only have 200 words.

Remember, the best description works with the action.
Don't write: There was an old wooden chair in the corner.
Do write: Ben eyed the spindly chair warily. It looked like it would collapse under the weight of a feather, let alone his hefty backside.

2. Think about a setting in your own novel, short-story, or flashfiction. Even if you're rubbish at art, I want you to draw out the scene. It can just be stick people, or it could be a masterpiece. Drawing a scene can help you to realise what's important in that setting - what's essential to include in your writing and what you can skim over. Now write another 200 words based on that drawing.

3. Give that drawing to a friend, preferably someone who also writes, or send it to me, and see what they write. They could pick up on something you wouldn't have thought of before, or make you realise something the reader will need to know about that place.

Its only a simple workshop but it should help when finally writing that novel.

Okay, ready? Here come the pictures...

They're quite varied, so have fun! I'll write about them too and draw my scene and post them in a couple of days. I hope this helps! 

Sketch - The House at the End of the Road

Here's another one of my sketches. This one is based on setting. We had a task in which we had to describe a person through their rooms. The choices were: a middle aged recluse, a heartthrob actor, a writer with writer's block, or a recently adopted child. I didn't really know what I chose as it ended up like a reclusive writer. Anyway, I developed it further and this is the final outcome. I quite like it myself!

The House at the End of the Road

This sketch has been temporarily removed as I have sent it to a short story competition. Hope it wins!