In addition to discussing issues relating to memoir, such as legal issues of writing about the living and recently deceased, we also discuss writing techniques.
One method used is to have each person in the room write a word on a slip of paper and then the teacher gives them all to us and we write a story based on them.
I can end up with all the words in one sentence. Brevity, thy name can be Marsha.
Recently I was asked to provide the following for publication regarding what the class does:
Writing is an
exercise in flexibility and creativity. We flex our mental muscles in many
ways; one is taking a set of random words and writing a short story using each of
them in ten to twenty minutes.
Here’s the word
list: ------------------->
First
attempt: A salamander skin umbrella with a tentacle fringe is a timeless
accessory for the fashion conscious.
That
took only a few minutes and everyone else was still writing, so I thought –
that’s the advertisement!
The story: Samantha
Skiddlesmore-Braithwait-Cooperstein pressed her nose against the window of the
boutique. She was practically drooling. There, in full living color, was a
salamander skin umbrella. It even had a tentacle fringe. Everyone who was
anyone had one these days. It was considered a timeless accessory. Not that she
could afford it on the salary a low-level clerical witch made. But someday.
Someday she’d have one too. Just like the over-minister of magic. Lucky
woman.
Marsha Graham
is a wandering career changer who currently lives in Tyler. She’s an author and
member of the East Texas Writers Guild. You can find her at the memoir class at
TASCA most Wednesdays. Come join us – we need more random words.
