The weeks are going quickly now that I am back at lectures. Last week we looked at writer's block, inspiration and the muse. It was an interesting one for me as I must admit I found it difficult to relate to. Firstly, I don't get writer's block. I have days when I don't feel like writing or I can't find ways to say what exactly what I want to but I can still write something. I also struggle with the concept of the muse - this is just something that I haven't experienced. I do, however, appreciate that this is my experience and that there are many people out there who can relate to these concepts. I enjoyed the homework for last week - writing about someone with writers block. I wrote a piece entitled Story Collector which was about a woman who was trying to find the 'first' stories.
This week's homework is less enjoyable. The focus of this week's lectures was creativity and speech. There were very interesting examples of dialects, children's speech and Polari (a language based on italian and used by people in the theatre and latterly the gay community up until the 1960's). The reason I am not enjoying the homework is that I find it difficult to launch into dialogue without spending some time with my characters first.
Anyway, it is done now and I am content with it. I can now spend a wonderful afternoon doing more research for my coursework.
This week's homework is less enjoyable. The focus of this week's lectures was creativity and speech. There were very interesting examples of dialects, children's speech and Polari (a language based on italian and used by people in the theatre and latterly the gay community up until the 1960's). The reason I am not enjoying the homework is that I find it difficult to launch into dialogue without spending some time with my characters first.
Anyway, it is done now and I am content with it. I can now spend a wonderful afternoon doing more research for my coursework.
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Ah, your post brings back memories of last year... Did David make you all close your eyes, imagine walking through a long, long corridor, passing a lot of doors, until you reach the end of the corridor, where you open the last door, to face... well, whoever you see there, is your muse?
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, I ended up facing my brother.
Even more surprising is that my dissertation ended up being about someone pulling out her own teeth, while my brother is a dentist!
Maybe there is a hint of truth to David's meditation technique...
You should post that story on your blog!
Best, Deborah
Hi,
ReplyDeleteYes, David did get us to do that exercise. I certainly didn't find a beautiful woman in diaphanous robes behind the door but an old man with disturbing features. Not sure what that says about my mind!
I guess we'll find out by the time you've finished your dissertation!
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