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(These are some ideas that Robbert sent around late September 2022).
Writing is as diverse as life itself but good writing has purpose and some kind of internal logic. Much of it seeks to tell the truth but much more involves deception obfuscation or just plain nonsense. A great deal of writing is accompanied with music in songs etc.
Writing groups like ours generally exist to inspire and improve skills for writers.
The field is bewilderingly diverse so if we are to achieve anything we must discipline ourselves to bite off bits small enough to chew. So here is a list of small ‘chewable’ chunks (say 20 mins) of which we could do a few in the hour or two of a meeting.
1. Choose a common nursery rhyme and change the words to reflect on a news item of the week
2. Choose a typically poor tabloid article and criticise it.
3. Write a haiku
4. Write a satirical piece on futility of war, love ,peace, pets etc.
5. Conceive an interim cast of characters ( and their relationships) around which a story could be built
6. Devise a way to tell a short story involving a totally deaf person and a another who does not speak the language of the writer. How and what do they communicate
7. write a couple of jokes which depend on malapropism s
8. Write a press release for an embarrassed politician who wants calm the public but to reveal nothing.
9 spontaneously write a limerick about a random subject from a magazine
10 chose a favourite singer/ band. Chose and explain an idea you would like them to sing about.
11. Enough of counting and alphabet books. Write a 100 work children’s book about facial expressions.
12. How outraged/ delighted were you about a recent political announcement or sermon or advertisement
13. write an advertisement for a ridiculous product e.g. robotic spittoon, magnetic toothpaste, portable skyscraper etc.
14 write an ode to a glass half full
15.write an angry but not abusive letter of complaint to an insurer who made you wait on the phone for 40 minutes. And separately what you REALLY wanted to say..
16 correct all my spelling and grammar