01 Mar Creative Writing:Karl Foster Session
A strip of light fractures the otherwise dark surface of the stone. Split in two but still whole. Rough hewn. Larger flat sides command that it’s placed a certain way. Lying flat or perched upright on the ugliest face. I count five sides. The white band wraps around its middle, not centered. The division appropriate. my favourite sides features two loose triangles in opposite directions. One up, one down.
In the breakout room with John we both enjoyed the exercise of writing about our chosen objects. Defamiliarise an object – record the encounter. Describe and praise it. How the act of writing highlighted the area and allowed the space defined to be considered.
I picked up some good tips, recipes of sorts to improve and focus my writing. ‘To meet the work with the writings of others’ and avoid ploughing loads of quotes into an essay. Trust your own voice. Allow this to bring appropriate critical integrity to the Exploratory Project. Consider writing as a way out of practice, as a need. Reflection. Don’t be afraid of alternative ways of thinking – Bakhtin. Use etymology dictionaries, does it reintroduce you to the word/object. Do I recognise frequent words within my practice?
Say what you are going to say. Say it. Say what you said. Revisit Essay draft with this sanity check in mind. Re read Steven Benson text again, I will probably glean a deeper meaning having engaged in this session.