Creative Writing Exercises - Leicestershire County Council

WORDS
THINGS&
Sensory exploration
– we have 5 senses, often under-used.
Objects and artworks can be used to
explore:
The sensory deprivation
of disability or imprisonment.
You can discuss how loss of any of the
senses affects our impression of the
world: of strangers, of places, sounds,
etc. Learners could write a poem in
which one colour is absent (for example,
consider all the phrases that include the
word ‘green’: how would we replace
it, if we had no sense of green?), and
then develop the exercise by writing a
description of an object with no visual
details, adjectives or facts.
The evocative memories through smell.
Two descriptions of the same place; one
written using only smell, the other using
all the senses except smell, will bring this
aspect into relief. It could be interesting to
discuss the different effects of the pieces,
and how they bring the place to mind.
Communicating without some
of the 5 senses.
Ask yourself if you’ve ever tried to have a
conversation without speaking, and whilst
wearing a blindfold (best for people who
are not complete strangers!). Each person
writes down what they were trying to say,
and what they thought the other
person said.
Practical Workshop Ideas
for Cross-Curricular Work
As indicated in Section A - Creative Wordplay, the workshops which are at
the heart of Words & Things are designed to support and enhance creative
writing, but they can also be used in other ways.
For example…
All workshops which focus on objects or artworks also have the potential for:
Alternatively, think of describing something
visual without using any visual vocabulary,
or describing a piece of music without any
reference to sound. Ask simple questions:
What does the internet taste of? What’s
the sound of a watercolour? What colour
would a jazz solo be?
The challenges and opportunities of
running workshops for learners who
are sight - or hearing - impaired.
These learners will often respond in
different ways, and focus their descriptive
work on different aspects of a solid object.
A poetry engine exercise combining two
of these approaches can be very powerful
and effective.
(See also Additional Support for Learners
in this section and Using Museum
and Artworks in Multi-sensory Ways
in Section B).
The investigation of sources:
What? Where? When? and Why?
These are questions which can structure
discussions, research and observations
in history, science and technology,
sociology, politics, art and design,
geography, economics, amongst other
curriculum areas.
Cultural comparisons
Many classes and groups involve students
from different countries or faiths.
Section C
136
Creative
Writing
Exercises