Write a first-person poem in the voice of that person.
1) Make a list of people you strongly dislike, and are morally or physically repelled by. These can be people you personally know very well, or mere acquaintances.
2) Choose one person from your list, and, in a paragraph, describe him or her in great detail: physical appearance, clothing, mannerisms, self-view, other-view, values, beliefs, history, character, personality. Be concrete and specific.
3) Now do one of the following:
Write a first-person poem in the voice of that person.
Write a short story in which the person you've just described is the protagonist--and
a sympathetic character. (You can use third or first person point
of view.) There can be (and probably should be) some ambiguity
in this character, but he/she should be mostly sympathetic. You
should also make this character believable, complex, and distinct.
(Note:
a "sympathetic character" in fiction is one whom the reader regards favorably;
one that evokes sympathy, admiration, or at least empathetic understanding.)
Hyperactive
Explore some hypertext literary sites and works on the Web (CLICK HERE). Read some hypertext stories and poems, and explore around also for theory about, and criticism of, such works. Then write your own hypertext poem or story, using resources unique to electronic environments (especially hypertext links, though you might also explore use of moving text, graphics, and sound). Try any and all programs, software, or skills you might have, including ability to use straight HTML.
How
does this experience compare to "flatlander" writing? What advantages
and disadvantages do you find in writing such a piece?
Barnsteaming and Bearstewing
Sit in a comfortable place and note the time. Begin writing whatever comes to mind, and continue without stopping for 5 minutes. It's important that you NOT stop to think; you should write continuously, even if what goes onto the paper is nonsensical or trite. Don't cross out or erase, and don't worry about mechanics. Just keep your pen in motion. At the end of the timed period you can stop, and you might then want to reflect on what you've written. Does any particular subject or image seem to recur? Anything odd or surprising?
Pick one item--a subject or image--from your passage, and start writing once more with that item as your focus again for 5 minutes, and again WITHOUT PAUSING TO THINK. At the end of the second 5 minutes, stop and again examine the results.
Once more pick an item from what you've just written, and freewrite about it for 5 minutes.
At
the end of this third period, read over your results carefully, looking
for patterns, semi-conscious perceptions, interesting leaps, "nonsensical
sense," small discoveries.
Civil Liberties
Go to a local
fiction or poetry reading. Check The Spectrum, Shining Times,
High Plains Reader, KDSU, and fliers all over campus for literary
events at school or in town. Make contact with a writer--young, old, published
or otherwise. Visit the new writer's corner at the Plains Art Museum.
Invite someone in our class to join you for a drink or cup of coffee.
Call someone in the MFA program at Moorhead State. Organize a reading
in your home town. Start a reading group or an informal writing workshop.
Get up at a poetry slam or open mike and read a couple pieces you've written.
Order information about writer's retreats and conferences. Become afflicted
with reverse agoraphobia.