Creative writing: the quick matrix

Lee Kerr Susan

Informations

• Publié par: Paxton Publishing
• Date de parution: 31 août 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780955137013
• Langue: English

Extrait

Creative Writing: the Quick Matrix, Selected Exercises & Ideas for Teachers
Nurture. Stimulus. Craft. Process. Running the Course.
This book can be adapted by any teacher for all levels and circumstances of teaching creative writing and by individual writers and writers’ circles.
PRAISE FOR the original paperback CREATIVE WRITING: THE MATRIX Exercises & Ideas for Creative Writing Teachers
‘This inspiring book is jam-packed with writing exercises and full of tips for teaching creative writing. It's making my class preparation/delivery a cinch and I just wish I'd had it when I started teaching two years ago (when I had to learn by trial and error - and boy, did I make some errors!) … If you teach creative writing - or you're interested in learning more about the craft of writing as a writer yourself - this book comes highly recommended!
-- Amazon review by Hellymart
'Kerr's ideas are inventive, sparkling, and inspiring and she comes up with many useful solutions to commonly encountered problems… The activities suggested are designed to awaken and stimulate a creative writing spirit among students and are suitable for both beginners and more advanced writers… Kerr leads potential teachers through all stages of the teaching process… Teachers of creative writing will also find advice on strategies for controlling the changing mood of a group and coping with potentially difficult individuals… '
-- Zuzanna Bartoszewska in Writing in Education , the journal of National Association of Writers in Education
‘Very easy to use, this book is packed full of good ideas that work very well even for small groups. Its compact size means it's easy to carry with you so can be kept to hand for when you need a gap filler quickly. Although I've been writing for several years, I've never led a writing group before and this book has been a great confidence booster; definitely one to keep in your box of tricks.’
-- Amazon review by Cassandra
Creative Writing: the Quick Matrix
Selected Exercises & Ideas for Teachers
Susan Lee Kerr
Creative Writing: The Quick Matrix Selected Exercises & Ideas for Teachers
Contents
86 Exercises, 18 Mini-Lectures
Introduction: A Guide to Using this Book
Section I: NURTURE -- A Safe Place in Which to Grow
Mapping the Course
Forming and Supporting the Group
Start of Course Questionnaire [1]
Introduction Exercises
Mini Interviews in Pairs [2]
Self-Introductions [3]
Name Game [4]
MINI-LECTURE 1: Course Overview
Writing and Reading Out
Tutor Ground Rules & Support
Sensitive Flowers & Other Pitfalls
Quick Tips for Teachers
Section II: STIMULUS -- Sparking the Writer
Bubble Chart [5]
Choose One, Bubble & Riff [6]
More Bubble & Riff Stimuli [7]
Life-Listing [8]
More Listing-and-Riff Stimuli [9]
Life-Listing in Depth Variation [10]
MINI-LECTURE 2: Writing with the 8 Senses
Travel and the Senses [11]
Picture Senses [12]
Hyper-Awareness Surprise [13]
Hyper-Awareness Prepared [14]
Serendipity Bag [15]
Whose Is It? Serendipity Bag Variation [16]
Alien View Serendipity Bag Variation [17]
Blindman’s Bluff Serendipity Bag Variation [18]
Stone Writing [19]
Word Box [20]
Sweetie Jar [21]
I Remember [22]
Writing from the Negative Wordstart Variation [23]
Line from a Poem [24]
Grab-Bag Line from a Poem Variation [25]
Postcards & Pictures Exercise Methods
Postcards of Places [26]
Surreal Postcards [27]
Situation Pictures [28]
Portraits [29]
Mythical Pictures [30]
Season and Element Pictures [31]
Animal Pictures [32]
Sensing the Picture [33]
Pairing Devices Exercise Methods
Word-match [34]
Picture-match [35]
Quiz-match [36]
Quote-match [37]
Tutor Zero Preparation Exercises
The Rant [38]
Peer Imperative [39]
Peer Imperative Character [40]
Who’s Desperate and Why? [41]
Reflective Writing [42]
Section III: CRAFT -- Producing the Work
MINI-LECTURE 3: Elements of Fiction
Story Exercises
Stone Soup [43]
Plunge into Action [44]
Character Exercises
Character Profile [45]
Monologues for Discovering a Character [46]
Character Profile from a Name (variation) [47]
Expanding Monologues [48]
Point of View Exercises
Agony Letter [49]
MINI-LECTURE 4: Story Point of View & Person Point of View
Transcribing POV [50]
Dialogue Exercises
One-line Plunge [51]
MINI-LECTURE 5: Why Dialogue?
Surreal Dialogue [52]
Dialogue Technicalities [53]
Dialogue Non-conventional Technicalities [54]
Scene and Plot Exercises
MINI-LECTURE 6: What’s a Scene?
Plunge into Scene [55]
Scene Staging Demo [56]
Scene Staging Solo [57]
Scene v Narrative [58]
The Shape of a Scene [59]
Groupwork Scene Writing [60]
Groupwork Scene Writing Variation [61]
MINI-LECTURE 7: The Shape of the Whole Story
Storytelling Devices
Matching Openings [62]
Openings – Write On! [63]
Modelling Openings [64]
Imperative Opening [65]
Titles [66]
MINI-LECTURE 8: What should a Title Do?
Deeper into Character Exercises
Backstory Flashback [67]
MINI-LECTURE 9: Flashback Transition Tips
Deeper into Character – The Scar [68]
Deeper into Character – Dream [69]
MINI-LECTURE 10: Characterization
Characterization Challenge [70]
Richer Writing Exercises
Ritual & Reverie [71]
MINI-LECTURE 11: Setting
Setting & Subtext [72]
Transcribing Tenses [73]
Adjectives/Adverbs – Style & Genre [74]
Style & Voice [75]
Dip into Poetry Exercises
MINI-LECTURE 12: Elements of a Poem
MINI-LECTURE 13: On Reading a Poem
Free Verse – Why is it a Poem? [76]
Cinquain [77]
Section IV: PROCESS -- Living the Writing Life
Teaching Writing/Growing People
Writer’s Toolkit: The Writer’s Journal [78]
Writer’s Toolkit: Focus Statement [79]
Writer’s Toolkit: Procrastination [80]
MINI-LECTURE 14: Right Brain/Left Brain
A Happy Moan [81]
Feel Free Joy [82]
Into the Writing World
MINI-LECTURE 15: Finding a Publisher or Agent
Other Avenues for Publication
Section V: RUNNING THE COURSE – Enriching Elements
On Reading Out and Workshopping
MINI-LECTURE 16: Guidelines for Reading Out, Commenting and Receiving Criticism
Using a Class Text
MINI-LECTURE 17: Reading for Writers
MINI-LECTURE 18: Reading for Writers Discussion Guide
End-of-Course Extras
Celebrate! Class Anthology [83]
A Story of Consequences [84]
Unseen Questions & Answers [85]
End of Year Questionnaire [86]
Sources
About the Author
Copyright & Acknowledgments
GREETINGS! A GUIDE TO USING THIS BOOK
MATRIX , according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, means ‘womb; place in which thing is developed.’ Which feels to me exactly what a creative writing class is – a place to develop.
To tutors reading this book: I’ve written this for you with the assumption that you are a writer. Maybe you are published, even much published, maybe still working toward that glorified state. Some of my writerly explanations may seem simplistic – sorry about that, but it’s because I’ve learned students need these basics. Some, on the other hand, may seem scanty – because I assume that you know what I mean and you’ll use your knowledge, experience and creativity to fill in the gaps. Ditto teaching: if you’re an old hand, you’ll gut this book for what you need – we’re always looking for new material, aren’t we! I have started, however, with the notion that you are new to the role of creative writing tutor – welcome to the front of the classroom.
To writers reading this book: Aha, a how-to addict! You’ll be looking, as always, for insights and methods to help you write. A lot of the exercises here are adapted for teaching from books aimed at writers, so you may be able to interpret them backwards for work on your own – or use the source list to buy the originals. However, most exercises need leadership, many only succeed as staged or surprise writing, quite a few need pairs or groupwork, many need preparation – now you see what your tutor does for you! If you’re in a writers’ circle, members in turn can take on the ringmaster role to run exercises. I wish you good writing.
The Quick Matrix ebook v the original Matrix paperback, what’s the difference?
All the 86 exercises and 18 mini-lectures here in this ebook are there in the print version. But the paperback has additional exercises and mini-lectures of a longer, deeper nature, especially in creative processes and story craft.
Start at the beginning, and then skip around: This book is arranged in five sections which are not meant to be used in consecutive order when teaching. The first and last sections, Nurture and Running the Course, focus on overall planning and organising. The middle sections offer loads of exercises and mini-lectures. I’ve numbered these to make using the book easier – but this in no way indicates order for use in the class. Skip around, pick and choose; call on your own creativity for class planning.
Italics throughout the book indicates talks or instructions for you (tutor) to give to students; obviously not meant as a verbatim script, this graphic mode lets me shortcut explanations. Italics also indicates handouts, tasksheets, whiteboard, PowerPoint or similar direct communication with students.
In the Craft section my focus is prose fiction and narrative, applicable to short story, novel, possibly memoir and narrative non-fiction; the Stimulus and Process sections can be used for all forms of creative writing. In Sources I list for your further support many how-to books that have helped grow me and this book.
SECTION I: NURTURE -- A Safe Place in Which to Grow
This Nurture section provides a course planning and pacing overview, and then suggests specifics for the first class of a course. Stimulus, Craft, Process and Running the Course sections follow with heaps of material to piece together to suit your own style and class needs.
MAPPING THE COURSE
When you sit down to prepare a course, 12 weeks, 30 weeks, 6 weeks or even one day feels a