Hi there,
Welcome to the February 2023 Methods and Madness.
In this month’s missive I have a couple of great things to share with you. So, without further ado, here is this month’s…
Creative prompt
This is a technique shared by writer Suzan-Lori Parks during a recent Watch me Work session.
These sessions are online, free, and can be attended by anyone who has some creative writing to do. Lasting for an hour, the first 20 minutes are dedicated to writing, and during the last 40 minutes Parks answers questions on creative process. If you’re interested, read more about them on the HowlRound Theatre Commons website (which is a terrific creativity resource in its own right).
Parks recently fielded a question from a playwright who was asking how they could bring imagined characters – that lived in their head – to life on the page.
Parks advised the playwright to set up a dialogue with these characters and to ask them why they wanted to be in the play. I think that this is a great suggestion as it takes an ethereal idea of a person and starts to give it form and a voice, and helps you to imagine them as a creature of agency and activity.
And I think that there is no reason why you can’t extend it to other art forms. Why not ask imaginary characters why they want to be in your dance, your painting, your sculpture, or your game?
And if you’re not working on anything at the moment, here are some ‘people’ for you to have a conversation with right now:
Start by asking if they want to create a story with you and, if so, what would that story be? And see where you end up.
Resource of the month
For the resource of the month, I’m going to recommend The Kureishi Chronicles, a substack publication by writer Hanif Kureishi, who is currently in hospital following a severe accident. Kureishi is currently unable to use his hands to physically write and composes text via dictation and the help of his family. On his substack you can find articles about his experience in hospital, but also samples of his writing plus some writing advice, such as this:
“Writing tip: write a character, give them a problem, have them devise an unusual solution.”
Or the exercise contained in this post:
“Create a character, make one person come alive on the page. Two-hundred and fifty words. I’d like to see what you come up with. Make it lively and good fun.”
Enjoy!
Another resource
This time, it’s my own. I have put together a collection of articles about creative process and what it is to live a creative life. Or to try to. This includes previously published blogs that I reworked for this eZine and which had garnered feedback that showed that they resonated with readers, plus some new articles.
You can read one of my personal favourites for free here.
I’ve called the eZine Experiri, it features a beautiful cover by Rebecca Stewart, and it’s on sale now.
Please buy it and support my work.
Fabulous prompts - love the idea of a conversation with a character and them having to justify their place in the piece being worked on ... a gorgeously written post, thank you.