Creative Writing Exercises - Leicestershire County Council

This exercise focuses:
on secrets, on things hidden and then perhaps revealed.
Boxes make us think and feel about the idea of inside versus outside, and this can be extended
to include our internal human feelings versus our external perceptions.
Hints and tips:
Some objects are taken for granted, as they are so much a part of human life. Boxes, tins and
containers seem at first to be mundane, but their simplicity and what they stand for can be
extremely evocative.
Boxes can be extended to include: drawers, wardrobes and cupboards, and even corners,
or even rooms or entire buildings. All of these are very powerful poetic stimuli for writing
creatively.
Boxes are worth taking time over. Explore slowly, don’t miss the outside by rushing to open
the box. Some boxes may have hidden aspects or details that will be missed without enough
time. This whole slow discovery process can be written about. For example, after a group
has played with a box they could then do an ‘outpour’ exercise (see for example the ‘Outpour’
exercise in the Warm-ups section).
Who?
Boxes are for everyone: children and adults alike are intrigued by boxes.
A box workshop can be as brief as an hour, but it is best if it is much more extended.
Box exploration combined with various writing games can easily engage most groups
for a whole day!
Boxes of various kinds with writing about them, in them or on them or by them, can produce
wonderful displays. (See Section B – Being Creative with Creative Writing.)
Section C
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WORDS
THINGS&
workshops