okay, i like this

here’s the drill – you get one word, and 60 seconds to write about it – no thinking allowed

the reason i like this? brings back fond memories of the only class i ever enjoyed in high school – creative writing – where our teacher, the crushable terence young, would ask us at the beginning of each class to write stream of consciousness about a word, a phrase, a snippet of a song or poem, an image – for some allotted period of time (5 minutes – more?) .

i still do this from time to time – though i think to go back to be a halfway decent writer – i would have to do it every day again – and i am poor with self-imposed disciplines like this (though i manage to blog most days – so who knows).

when i first reconnected with my friend dustin, who is now in the 8th year of a 12-life sentence for 2nd degree murder, and who is also now a writer of pretty amazing prose and some poetry – he told me it was that class, and specifically me, that made him want to become a writer 14 years ago…. in one of his letters, he recounted a story of coming into writing class late one day, where i stood reading something (a something he has no memory of) outloud. whatever the piece, it moved him so much that he left the room that day wanting to be able to also move people the way i had him.

he was expelled from the school shortly after that (drugs? fighting? i’m not sure now)…. and i didn’t see him again until we re-met this summer by letter.

anyhow – that stream of consciousness writing – was always my favourite exercise. when you stop the rigid thinking process and just allow words and feeling to *flow* – it’s interesting (and sometimes disturbing) what becomes in that space.

(thanks to seeking clarity for the first link – it was her blog i found this exercise on)