Month: May 2014

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Interview With A Plant

curly cup gumweed

May 3, 2014  •  Exercise #2
15 to 20 minutes

Getting Started

I just got off the phone with a long-time writing friend who reminded me about this playful writing exercise: “Interview with a Plant.”

I first wrote from this prompt on a hike sponsored by Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks. The instructions were to sit near a plant and “interview it,” posing questions in order to increase our awareness and appreciation. For instance, “Why do you grow in this particular place?” “Does any animal nibble on you?” etc.

After listening to the instructions, I asked, “And what if the plant answers?” The group laughed, but I decided to give voice to the plant — in this case, a Curly Cup Gumweed.

At the end of this post is my interview, which you can read before or after you write your own  interview. Choose whatever plant appeals to you — from a towering tree to creeping moss to an indoor spider plant.

Writing Tips:

  • Spending two minutes staring intently at the plant. Move around it. Look at it from above and below, if possible.
  • Make use of your senses. Touch its leaves, stem or branches. Listen with your eyes closed. Sniff.
  • Aim for six to ten questions.
  • Find an interview style that suits you. Need ideas? Imagine you are a reporter from the Washington Post or from a small town local news station or an elementary school newspaper. How would your questions differ if you were writing for the Sierra Club, Midwest Living, or Agriculture Week? What would Oprah ask this plant, what would Steven Colbert ask, what would you ask?

Again, if you are currently working on a book, you might pose your questions from the point of view of one of your characters or connect it to a theme you are already exploring.

How This Prompt Can Strengthen Your Writing

  1. It may help you break through writing resistance and start writing.
  2. It offers a point-of-view you might not have considered before.
  3. It’s a brain-stretcher!
  4. It encourages you to be outside and connect with nature, which, in my book, is always a good thing.

Follow-Up

Take one of your interview questions and rewrite it at the top of a new page. Expanding upon it, write for 15 more minutes. Be fanciful, seek metaphors, incorporate it into a larger story or go off into a whole other direction.

Have fun and have at it. Ready, set, write!

Ellen

Interview with a Curly Cup Gumweed
© Ellen Orleans 2009

Q. For the record, what is your official name?
A. Grindelia squarrosa. This is your language, not ours.

Q. Why are you gummy?
A. To trap aphids and weevils. To screen the ultra violet. To stick in your thoughts.

Q. Why are your petals yellow?
A. To entice the bees. To thank the sun.

Q. Why are your leaves serrated?
A. I once was in love with a plant named Holly.

Q. The scent of your resin reminds me of the Ponderosa Pine. Are you related?
A. She grows not far from here.

Q. Why do you have curly tendrils on your globe?
A. To spread the resin. To entrap our enemies. To honor our ancestors, the furled fern.

Q. But why are they so beautiful?
A. To whet your wonder. You marvel, don’t you?

Q. Yes.
A. Yes.

Q. How do you feel when children push your sticky cups together?
A. Their fingers will remember us all day.

Q. What’s inside your globe?
A. Milky stems. Pearl bulbs. My flesh. Fields to be.

 

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What If?

blue maps

May 2, 2014  •  Exercise #1

This first exercise gives you a series or words and phrases to work with. I suggest printing the text below on a sheet of lined paper or typing it onto a fresh electronic page. Once you’ve finished that, start your 10-minute times and fill in the blanks with a short sentence, phrase, or single word.

If you are working on fiction, you can write from the point of view of one of your characters. If you are working on memoir, you can write in your own voice at any age. If you are writing poetry, this structure make lend itself well to list poem.

A few tips: Write quickly.  Don’t over-think. If you are stuck, move on. (Remember, this won’t be graded!) Experiment. Break the mold or build on it. (More on that later.)  Write for ten minutes.

 

How This Prompt Can Strengthen Your Writing

  1. The word “if” invites you to consider possibilities and gives you permission to dream.
  2. The fill-in-the-blank format encourages brevity and the strengths that come with it.
  3. It can help you build rhythm into your writing.

IF

If I were ____________________________________________________________________
I would _____________________________________________________________________

If I were _____________________________________________________________________
I would not  ___________________________________________________________________

What if I _____________________________________________________________________
What if you____________________________________________________________________

What if I _____________________________________________________________________
What if  you___________________________________________________________________
What if we ____________________________________________________________________

If  instead ______________________________________________________________________

If instead ______________________________________________________________________

What if ________________________________________________________________________

If you hadn’t ____________________________________________________________________
I would ________________________________________________________________________

If I hadn’t ______________________________________________________________________
you would [not] ___________________________________________________________________

If only _________________________________________________________________________
If only_________________________________________________________________________

If  ____________________________________________________________________________

If_____________________________________________________________________________

Next Steps

Was ten minutes enough time?  Did you keep going? If you felt engaged with this exercise, here are two follow-ups:

  • Choose one sentence or phrase from the set and expand it on it. Turn it into a full paragraph, a narrative poem, or a flash fiction piece.
  • Read what you have written out loud. Can you hear a rhythm or pattern in your words? Does a word or phrase feel out of place or less lyrical?  If so, try writing it another way.

Tips for Writing Groups

  • Read your work out loud to see how others worked with the prompt. Do any of their approaches inspire you?
  • As a next step, choose a phrase or sentence from one of your group members and write it on the top of new sheet of paper. Then write for 10 to 20 more minutes in response to it. After, if you feel so inclined, share your work again.
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Getting Started with Writing Prompts

Ready. Set. Write.
I’ve been leading writing workshops and taking part in writing groups for over 25 years. In that time, I’ve amassed a large, messy pile of writing prompts. My writing pals have urged me to turn the prompts into a book, but, this being the 21st century, I’ve decided to create a blog for them instead. (The book can come later.)

What is a Writing Prompt and Who Can Benefit From One?
A strong writing prompt offers a hand-up when you are feeling unfocused, unmotivated, or unsure. These prompts can be used individually or in a group. Try them as a warm-up unrelated to writing you’re working on or integrate them into a story, essay, or novel that’s underway.  These prompts focus mostly on prose, but poets and experimental writers should feel free to jump in. Above all, remember to

travel big

Most prompts will fall under one of these categories:

  1. Structure, Lists, and Fill In the Blanks
  2. Time, Place, and Memory: Prompts that Engage with the Passage of Time
  3. Sensory Prompts: Prompts that Work with Photos, Objects, Sound, Taste, and Even Smell
  4. On Their Shoulders: Work by Great Writers Serves As A Jumping Off Point
  5. Our Own Words: Tearing Up, Turning Over and Reworking Our Writing
  6. Reference Desk: Using Dictionaries, Manuals, Encyclopedias As Inspiration
  7. Wild, Random, and Utterly Free: Using Chance and Play to Loosen Up and Go Deeper

That’s the scoop.  Tune in tomorrow for your first prompt.

Write back at you…

Ellen