Often at the beginning of creative writing courses, I like to bring in the ideas of cartoonist and writer Lynda Barry. Barry has extensively explored the mysterious confluence of memory, image, and the creative process. I highly recommend Barry’s book What It Is, a graphic (meaning including drawings) guide to writing and creativity, as well as a memoir of a difficult childhood that she transcended through her love of drawing and learning. In What It Is, Barry writes,
“At the center of every we call ‘the arts,’ and children call ‘play,’ is something which seems somehow alive. It’s not alive in the way that you and I are alive, but it’s certainly not dead. It’s alive in the way our memory is alive. Alive in the way the ocean is alive and able to transport us and contain us. Alive in the way think is not, but experiencing is, made of both memory and imagination, this is the thing we mean by ‘an image’” (p. 14).
If you’re ever stuck on how to find your way into writing (in general or about a topic you have in mind), I recommend starting with a resonant image or the concrete details of a specific scene from life. A note on the term “concrete”: When we speak of concrete language, we’re talking about nouns that refer to something that can be apprehended with the senses, something we can hear, see, taste, touch, smell. (You may remember this from school.) The opposite of a concrete noun is an abstract one, a noun that describes a concept or idea, one that cannot be directly apprehended with the sense. So, when I bring up abstract concepts such as “love”; “justice”; “freedom”; “equality,” what are the images or scenes that come to mind?
The abstract noun “love” makes me think—among other things—of my grandmother letting my cousin Angie and me lie as close to the TV as we wanted, eating copious amounts of chocolate chips out of small bowls. It also makes me think of how she would let us drink the hot Jello liquid out of teacups—I’m talking about what you get before you put the boiled water and sugary gelatin powder into the refrigerator and let it set, and how we would daintily sip it from the rose-patterned cups that I always assumed she got soon after she was married to my grandfather in the early ‘50s. One of my fondest memories of her is coming down to the kitchen on a morning near Christmas in fourth grade and seeing her laughing almost to the point of crying as the kitchen radio played a version of “Jingle Bells” with dogs barking out the different notes.
So. The concept of “love” is an abstract one, but as I piece together concrete details from my childhood, I begin to invite you into a re-imagined world, creating a sense of the scene and the characters.
[This section is adapted from my self-paced course Creativity Jumpstart, which is available now for $45.]
Here’s a writing exercise:
Read the piece below from Sonja Livingston’s memoir Ghostbread. Then write for 15 minutes on the subject of “love and sugar.”
Here’s some prep you can do first, if you like: Write a list of five memories that come up when you think of the topic. (You can also narrow it to just “sugar” or broaden it to “love and food.”) Then look over the list and choose the one that has the most energy for you. Think of a scene associated with that memory. Where were you? Who else was there? Did anyone else just leave or plan to arrive later? Where are you? Can you remember any details about the place? Etc. Try to ground your writing in the concrete.
Happy writing!
A couple reminders:
The self-guided course The Call: A Course on Creative Witness opens on Monday May 22nd! Students go through the class as a group, sharing insights and work, to the extent that they like. The class includes original recorded video interviews with poets/essayists Ross Gay, Sean Singer, and Erika Meitner.
Early bird prices for summer courses (Memoir in Collage, Lyric Essay, and Flash Fiction: Form and Fracture) end on May 30th.
Finally, I’m excited to be offering a webinar on Finding Your Voice for Craft Talks on May 24th. It’s only $25, and students receive a recording of the talk, as well. If you are wondering how to enliven your prose and turn good writing into masterful writing, you may want to tune in! This webinar is suitable for all levels of writers, beginner through professional.