Hi everyone.
For those of you who missed last week’s “Beginnings” workshop with Alex Chee, here’s the recording. I know some of you weren’t able to get into the Zoom room because of the 100-person limit (sorry!) but we got a higher-capacity plan so that doesn’t happen again. It’s only up for a month so I suggest watching soon!
I also wanted to show you this version of the exercise we did in the workshop, more complete and using a different set of words. We didn’t have a lot of time on Zoom, and it’s the kind of work that’s done best when one isn’t rushed. One of the key elements to improving writing, I believe, is taking the time to slow down and pay attention to your work, not in a spirit of evaluation but of discovery. The following is an exercise that’s a great way to enter a new project or passage, and also allows you to see for yourself how the specificity of words affects your writing.
Beginning Exercise
Work through this exercise one instruction at a time. If you find yourself feeling mentally tired, feel free to pause and rest your mind for a while, then pick it back up.
Start with a blank piece of paper and write the word “chair”
Write a word next to “chair” that’s a more precise synonym for something you sit on (i.e. bench, loveseat, sofa, divan, settee, etc.)
Alternate your focus between the two words and observe the images that come to mind when you focus on one word versus the other. What are the differences between how you picture the objects that correspond to the words?
Connect each of the words to a memory from your past.
Write two sentences, one about your memory of the word “chair” and the other about a memory of the second word.
Alternate your focus between the two sentences. What are the differences between them? Is your memory of one more or less tangible than the other? Realistic? Vivid?
Expand each of the sentences into a short paragraph about the memory you associate with each of them.
Alternate your focus between the two paragraphs and compare them in the same way you compared the two words, then the two sentences.
Put your two paragraphs in the class Google doc and we’ll discuss the exercise in class. Try your best not to focus on whether they’re “good.” We’re going to look at them purely from the perspective of observing what the differences are between them and what we’ve learned from the exercise.
NOTES:
You can keep expanding this exercise from paragraphs, to sections, even to whole essays.
You can use other words, whether objects or concepts, as long as you have one word that’s relatively general and a synonym that’s more precise. (blue vs. azure, eat vs. devour, etc.)
You can even use more than two levels of specificity (e.g. pet - dog - beagle)
A great way to improve your writing is to make up your own exercises that are specific to the issues you’re dealing with in your work. Try it sometime!
Hope to see you soon,
Meredith