Margret Geraghty - More Five Minute Writing: 50 Inspiring Exercises In Creative Writing in Five Minutes a Day

Constable & Robinson Ltd
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First published in the UK by How To Books,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2013

2013 Margret Geraghty

The right of Margret Geraghty to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in
Publication Data is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-1-84528-509-8
eISBN 978-1-84528-531-9

Printed and bound in the UK

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Cover design: Baseline Arts Ltd

On a warm summer day in 2007, I resigned from teaching in adult education. I loved my writing classes but not the growing mound of administrative paperwork. When one of the office staff revealed that none of this paperwork was ever read but was just filed to comply with regulations, I decided that enough was enough. I wanted to teach, not fill in forms, particularly those that asked me to rate a students learning on a scale of one to five.

There was just one problem. The students didnt want to stop. They found a new place to meet and asked me to continue. And so Valley Writers named after that first venue was born. Every Monday evening, 12 of us crowded into a small room, to discuss fiction and how to write it. The room was a bit stuffy and we would often hear blood-curdling battle cries from the martial art session along the hall, but that didnt matter. We were free to do whatever we wanted. In one memorable session intended to raise awareness of textures, we played blind mans buff, but with a twist. Half the students acted as guides, leading their partners to touch different surfaces, including trees, walls and according to one student but denied by her guide road kill.

The sessions were fun. They were experimental, both for me and the students, who often did not know what next week would bring. One feature, however, remained inviolate. The five-minute exercise. In all my years of teaching, Ive never come across a writer who disliked these short bursts of writing. That doesnt mean that every exercise is equally helpful. Rather, it means that working quickly taps the unconscious in a way that often surprises the writers themselves. I dont know where that came from is a common response when the time is up. John Steinbeck once articulated the process well in an interview with the Paris Review.

Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.

The five-minute exercise is not about producing a perfect piece of work if indeed such a thing exists. Its about inspiration, exploration, and most important of all freedom.

I had to leave Valley Writers behind when I moved to the Cotswolds. The sessions live on in the pages of this book, for which Ive selected the best of our exercises. There are plenty of brand-new exercises, too, inspired by topical stories and fresh research. Thats the thing about writing. Our source material is like the sea: always there, but constantly changing. Ive also included a new feature, Snippet Triggers, designed to show you how to develop stories from those quirky little anecdotes you find in newspapers, magazines and on the Internet. One of my own first successes was triggered by something I read in a newspaper and I know that other writers are similarly inspired.

This book is for you. I hope you will enjoy doing these exercises as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Dip in today.

Have you ever felt youd like to be a touch more poetic in your writing? Perhaps you recall certain poems from your childhood but are not sure what makes them so memorable. Or maybe youre not interested in poetry at all but just want to tap into its rich use of language.

Well, for starters, take another look at the humble tongue twister. As children, we all fell about laughing as we tried to get to grips with She Sells Seashells by the Seashore or Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper. But the tongue twister is just one example of a literary device called alliteration, the effect created when two or more words with the same initial sound are used close together. In poetry, William Blakes Tyger, tyger, burning bright is a simple but classic example. Try replacing burning bright with another phrase. Tiger, tiger, flaming bright just doesnt cut it. Neither does, Tiger, tiger, burning gold. Its the repeated b sound that works the magic.

Here are some other poetic examples to whet your appetite:

Fly oer waste fens and windy fields.

Alfred Tennyson, Sir Galahad

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Wilfrid Owen, Anthem for Doomed Youth

But lets not get stuck on poetry. Alliteration is a versatile technique that works for many different types of writing. Ad agencies use it to create memorable slogans such as Youll never put a better bit of butter on your knife. Copy-editors use it to create catchy headlines: Birthday girl Kate looks lovely in lace. Even government departments get in on the act. Remember Dont drink and drive?

Alliteration is also a favourite with great orators. In 47 BCE, Julius Caesar shouted Veni, vidi, vici after his overthrow of a rebellious king. In 1961, John F. Kennedys inaugural address urged the American people to Let us go forth to lead the land we love. More recently, Barack Obama told an awed audience that Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

For straightforward prose, the trick is not to overdo it or the impact will be lost. Amely Greeven writes about fashion, preventive health care and the mindbodyspirit balance. See how she uses alliteration to highlight the moment she decided to leave her life in the city and move to a log cabin in Jackson Hole, Wyoming:

For a second, sparkly city things danced like sugarplums in my head: salsa music on street corners, lofts with poured-concrete floors, kisses in cabs after cocktails. But I was pretty sure I couldnt sacrifice the aliveness I felt for that familiar lifestyle.

That first sentence is a goody-bag of alliteration which helps to create a lyrical quality. Note how the soft s sounds at the beginning contrast with the harder c sounds at the end. In the second sentence, by contrast, its far less obvious. The result is a piece that tweaks the senses but doesnt overwhelm.