I proposed this workshop to my favorite local library branch, the one that hosts my “First Monday, First Person” salons, because I wanted a break from teaching reminiscence writing. I believe in its mandate to write the truth, but I just wanted some summer fun, in community with other writers. I wanted to mess about with the clay of words.

The sessions would consist of timed, prompted writing, trying out different kinds of prompts, different lengths of scribble-time. There would be a “teachable moment” with a craft tip of some kind. I would read aloud some short piece that exemplified what I was teaching. Everyone loves to be read to, I think. There would be pauses to share what we’d written with each other—if we felt like it. No pressure. I would ask students to do a different creativity-priming activity–a “Field Trip”–between each session.

What would you have witnessed if you’d been among us?

Each session started with an ice-breaker—the first time it was “Two truths and a lie.” That will teach you not to jump to conclusions about others solely on appearance. Others: “Something on you has meaning for you—tell us about it.” “If you could live in a sitcom, which one would it be? What character would you be? If you were to get a tattoo, what would it say or what would the graphic be? And where would you put it on your body?” We were getting to know each other through these ice-breakers, and it was delightful.

Then out would come the prompts. A basket of ordinary objects one time, another time an assortment of things with aromas or smells or scents—what would be the right word? We’d choose one and write for 15 minutes, then share. I played music in the background, mixing it up between genres. A Pandora “French Café” soundtrack took one writer deep into her favorite double crème brie. An Arabic dance track took another into her past as a belly dancer.

After the teaching/reading, the next prompt was what Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors, calls “Bible Dips”: “It was like asking a Magic Eight Ball a question, only you were asking God. The way it worked was, one person held the Bible while another person thought of a question to ask God, like, ‘Should I get my hair cut short?’” Each week I had the librarian pull a dozen books on a different theme—travel guides, how-to books, biographies. Open to a page, plant a finger, read a short bit, write. Participants said this was one of their favorite parts of the class.

What were the “Field Trips”? The first was to visit a new location and, while there, write a detailed description, drawing on all the senses. Another was to go somewhere public, observe, and eavesdrop on people. Come back with a snippet of dialogue. (This turned out to be harder than it sounds—if you don’t want to attract attention.)

Playing along—I was doing this for fun, after all–I wrote during the free-writes along with my participants. I did the Field Trips.

And what do I have to say for myself? I didn’t produce great gems—and that’s precisely the point. I had fun. “Believe me my young friend, there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” So says Ratty to Mole in Kenneth Grahame’s classic novel The Wind in the Willows. For this writer, there is nothing more fun that simply messing about with words.

Don’t forget to have fun with your writing!

© 2024 Sarah White