Friday 9 October 2009

Homework Already

I know it’s been over two weeks since I last posted and haven’t I been busy in that time. But now all my students are here and settled so it should all calm down again.

A363 starts tomorrow! And we’ve been given homework already!!
The activity is the sort of thing you’d be asked to do if you went on an Arvon course.
Basically you take a blank sheet of paper and write for ten minutes non-stop. You shouldn’t stop at any point, just keep writing. If you can’t think what to write, write ‘I can’t think what to write.’ After ten minutes, stop writing and read back what you wrote. Then the hard bit. Pick your favourite sentence from what you’ve written.
The next day you use the sentence you picked yesterday and write again for ten minutes. At the end pick your favourite sentence from what you’ve written.
The next day use the sentence you picked yesterday and write again for ten minutes and so on.
After ten days, or seven in my case, you take your sentences and assemble them into a poem or short piece of prose. You can change things about and add extra bits but should try to keep the gist of them intact.
This is what I came up with.

My mind runs in circles with the problem.
Tying its self in knots and making me feel sick.
They rise out of the autumn mist like huge dragons with burning breath.
And a glimmer of alien light, blue, red, orange and cold cold white.

Who can say what is the best way to live?
They give you an idea of the feel of earth moving under foot.
But don’t go the full extent. No pumping heart or fear of death.
Yet running can be so seductive.
I like the habit of it.

Still not feeling the writing. I hope that this will get better as I get into the course.

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