ROSES ARE RED....OR ARE THEY?....
Sometimes, just sometimes, when I know I should be writing and I even know what I want to write, I find it damned difficult to start. I mean where exactly should I begin? With this word, this phrase, this moment, with this action or perhaps over here? And yes, I know we are told to simply write and before you know it you'll be in knee deep and problem solved....however....
Remember those workshops you did where the tutor/ speaker/ author would start a writing exercise with those words 'I remember...'. That's because we all do, remember that is. Something, no matter how close or distant, there is always some memory that catches us off guard and before we know it, we are putting it (and all its emotional baggage) down on paper.
Often used when facing the dreaded blank page...writers block...or simply a way to find a way in.
Last week at Storytime I was giving the usual 'hints' to what the day's theme would be. In this case it was ducks, and I talked about loving water, having two legs...and then I said 'I'm soft and yellow' thinking of a duckling and one little boy said "Nan".
To him, when asked, soft and yellow is Nan's jumper....and therefore her.
Often when faced with a colour we go for first impressions.
Red -tomatoes- chillies- strawberries- rhubarb - love- hate - passion- blood- anger - stop - warning - fire - flame - fast- raspberries - blushing - embarrassed - burnt- roses - poppies - red blooded - red rag to a bull- becoming a woman - bleeding hearts- red sky at night - raspberry beret - caught red handed - paint the town red- red red wine- red and blistered - ears turning red - roses for my valentine - valentine massacre....and so on.
Colour is such a huge part of our life that it's easy to over look.
White - virginity - pure- snow- ice- crisp linen - eggs- white cockatoos - blank computer screen - blank sheet of paper - envelopes - snow drops - clouds- white elephant - ivory - white flag of truce - white roses (Alice in Wonderland images)- white wash - white lie - just a little fib - sparkling teeth - alligator smile - untrustworthy .... see where the simple word white has taken me?
Blue- ink - pens - blue whale - blue wren - blue blood- royalty - black and blue- domestic violence - feeling blue- mental illness- hydrangeas- blue iris - blue eyed boy - little boy blue- out of the blue- blue ribbon- pigtails in my hair as a child - putting in rags to make my hair curl.....once again back to a childhood memory.
Brown - earth - solid - chocolate - dirt - brown as a berry - suntanned - leather - aged - brown eyed girl - bronze goddess- teak- wood - nuts- sludge- shit- security- dependable- boring - Charlie Brown- amber - fossilised tree sap - frozen tears.
A simple word, in this case a colour- and with a bit of brainstorming then you have a whole collection of words to use or memories snagged, begging to be captured and put down on paper.
An interesting exercise- even more interesting when I was putting together the items for the photographs. The brown above, boring and safe - represents holidays. The amber necklaces other half brought back from Moscow - the painted Santa gourd came from the Christmas market in Cologne, just beneath the Cathedral, top temperature 1 degrees - the two clay pots are from India and had ice cream in them - the wooden vase, Huon pine, came from our honeymoon in Tasmania.
Colours mean different things to different people. Just ask someone if something is blue or green, and be prepared for the conflict. But I find it a good way to get the old brain working, a way to get me writing, a jumping off point - and before you know it I'm knee deep in and well on my way.
Why don't you give it a go?
Vicki
Remember those workshops you did where the tutor/ speaker/ author would start a writing exercise with those words 'I remember...'. That's because we all do, remember that is. Something, no matter how close or distant, there is always some memory that catches us off guard and before we know it, we are putting it (and all its emotional baggage) down on paper.
Often used when facing the dreaded blank page...writers block...or simply a way to find a way in.
Last week at Storytime I was giving the usual 'hints' to what the day's theme would be. In this case it was ducks, and I talked about loving water, having two legs...and then I said 'I'm soft and yellow' thinking of a duckling and one little boy said "Nan".
To him, when asked, soft and yellow is Nan's jumper....and therefore her.
Often when faced with a colour we go for first impressions.
Red -tomatoes- chillies- strawberries- rhubarb - love- hate - passion- blood- anger - stop - warning - fire - flame - fast- raspberries - blushing - embarrassed - burnt- roses - poppies - red blooded - red rag to a bull- becoming a woman - bleeding hearts- red sky at night - raspberry beret - caught red handed - paint the town red- red red wine- red and blistered - ears turning red - roses for my valentine - valentine massacre....and so on.
Colour is such a huge part of our life that it's easy to over look.
White - virginity - pure- snow- ice- crisp linen - eggs- white cockatoos - blank computer screen - blank sheet of paper - envelopes - snow drops - clouds- white elephant - ivory - white flag of truce - white roses (Alice in Wonderland images)- white wash - white lie - just a little fib - sparkling teeth - alligator smile - untrustworthy .... see where the simple word white has taken me?
Blue- ink - pens - blue whale - blue wren - blue blood- royalty - black and blue- domestic violence - feeling blue- mental illness- hydrangeas- blue iris - blue eyed boy - little boy blue- out of the blue- blue ribbon- pigtails in my hair as a child - putting in rags to make my hair curl.....once again back to a childhood memory.
A simple word, in this case a colour- and with a bit of brainstorming then you have a whole collection of words to use or memories snagged, begging to be captured and put down on paper.
An interesting exercise- even more interesting when I was putting together the items for the photographs. The brown above, boring and safe - represents holidays. The amber necklaces other half brought back from Moscow - the painted Santa gourd came from the Christmas market in Cologne, just beneath the Cathedral, top temperature 1 degrees - the two clay pots are from India and had ice cream in them - the wooden vase, Huon pine, came from our honeymoon in Tasmania.
Colours mean different things to different people. Just ask someone if something is blue or green, and be prepared for the conflict. But I find it a good way to get the old brain working, a way to get me writing, a jumping off point - and before you know it I'm knee deep in and well on my way.
Why don't you give it a go?
Vicki
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