Tag: writing exercises

Some Ray Bradbury Writing Advice

by hkatz, posted in Writing

In his collection of essays, Zen in the Art of Writing, one of Bradbury’s inspiring suggestions is as follows:

Make a long list of nouns (or titles), like THE LAKE or THE CAROUSEL. Pick one of these nouns and do a freewrite on it (mix prose and poetry, fiction and essay writing, just write). Then, at some point, maybe in the middle of the page, a character will appear. Something will click and come together. You’ll discover a story that you now need to tell.

Does this always work? I’m not sure, but it’s a fun exercise anyway. It may give you something, even if only one sentence (an observation, a joke) that you wind up using somewhere.

Ella Minnow Pea: Anti-Censorship and Prompts for Creativity

by hkatz, posted in Writing

I just read Ella Minnow Pea, a novel set on a fictional island where the High Council has begun to ban the use of different letters.

Along with its humor, there are two main reasons I like the novel:

Its Anti-Censorship Theme

One of the strengths of Mark Dunn’s novel is how it portrays the psychological costs of censorship. The mental tiptoeing around the language, the fact that letters have become minefields, the way neighbors begin to inform on each other for verbal slip-ups. One of the island’s residents, a teacher, says the following:

In the sanctuary of my thoughts, I am a fearless renegade. Yet in the company of the children I cringe and cower in a most depreciating way.

When the letter ‘D’ falls prey to the power-hungry and zealous Council, how do you teach kids grammar? (Never take the word “and” for granted.)

Semicolons are simply not an option. These youngsters are only seven! Young people of such age can’t fathom semicolons! Nor can I employ an “or” when I want the other one – the one that brings together, not separates.

The Way It Inspires Writing Creativity

Unlike the island’s residents, you don’t have any penalties hanging over your head for illegal letter usage. So you can use this novel as a creative writing exercise. Try writing a piece of flash fiction without the letter ‘V.’ Or a haiku without ‘O.’

The island’s residents have to scramble for synonyms and to find new terms for things. “Sun-to-suns” (as a substitute for “days”), and “learny-house” instead of “school.”

How well would you do during a letter purge?