Write What You Know

I’m taking a course on writing what you know. As part of that course, I’m writing down all my notes as I go through the course. The course if you are interested is here:

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/creative-writing/writing-what-you-know

Activity 1¶

Write down a quick sentence in response to the advice ‘write what you know’. What does it immediately suggest to you?

It means write from your own experience and knowledge.

Activity 3¶

Close your eyes for a few moments and think of the room or place around you. Think of the details that you would include in any description and make a mental note of them. Open your eyes and, without looking around, write down what you thought of.

The glare of the screens, the fans running loud, the bottles of water on the dresser.

Now look at your surroundings and write a paragraph (no more than 150 words) describing them, picking out at least three things that you haven't noticed recently – things you didn't think of when you closed your eyes.

The cat paced around the room with an unknown purpose. The bearded dragon was asleep in an upright position on a rock inside a glass enclosure. The wife was laying in bed, trying to read a book, but distracted by TikTok.

Activity 4¶

In an indoor location write down three things for each of the following:
sounds that you can hear;
textures that you can feel;
odours that you can smell;
flavours that you can taste;
objects that you can see.

The screen was very bright, even with dark mode enabled. It’s possible he was tired as he was starting this course, but he knew he wanted to improve his writing. He had a lot to say and little time left to say it.

His fingertips felt numb as he typed. He had been practicing guitar earlier that night and the callouses were starting to develop into nice round bumps. He enjoyed playing and was becoming better at it every time he played. The fact that he was feeling less pain every day pleased him.

He adjusted his legs and kept writing. He was tasting some of the food he had earlier in the night: burgers, hot dogs but mostly peanut butter. He had a love for peanut butter, almost like a dog has a love for any kind of food, but especially peanut butter. The sound of his wife playing videos was distracting him. He noticed the notification bar and opened it.

It was a video from his wife about white water rafting. “This does not look fun,” she said. He watched the video. A loud roar of water was heard as water rushed through the river but it became drowned out by Rusted Root’s Send Me On My Way. The music felt a bit cliched but the rapids looked like fun and not incredibly scary.

“We’ll be fine,” he told her. That was as truthful as it could be false. Only time will tell if that actually happens or not.

Activity 5¶

Read the opening of Laurie Lee's _Cider with Rosie_ . Think about the following questions:
Which sensory perceptions are used, and how are they used?
Do the perceptions belong to a character?
Is a place realised through the sensory perceptions?
How is time being organised?
Are the perceptions from one moment or many?
Click on the link below to open the start of Laurie Lee's _Cider_ with Rosie
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/resource/view.php?id=17640

The author is using the sensory perceptions of hearing, sight, touch and smell. The roots and nettles gave off a smell due to the heat, the blossoms showered fumes and lakes, the larks chirped in the sky.

Yes, they do belong to a character as you see the character use the word “I” when describing all these perceptions.

I suppose this place is becoming realized by the perceptions. The perceptions were the beginning of this person’s life, even though a life had been lived to that point.

Time is being organized by memories. The memory of being lost coincided with what the character eventually came to know as a summer day in the last year of the first world war.

I think the perceptions are from several moments. There is a moment of being lost, a moment of being reunited with siblings and then the moment of entering the village.

Activity 6¶

After reading the text below, click on the link supplied to read Lesley Glaister's ‘Memory: The true key to real imagining’. Look for the following things:
How is the memory realised and written about?
How is time organised in the memory?
In Glaister's version of this memory, what really brings it alive?
What use does Glaister make of her memory in her writing?
Click on the link below to open Lesley Glaister's ‘Memory: The true key to real imagining’.
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/ocw/mod/resource/view.php?id=17642

Memory is realized from emotional moments. Remembering the day at the beach with her father was tied to believing their father had drowned. The author ascribes this memory as being the key moment to what took off in the novel.

Time is organized in a linear fashion but with the opportunity to look back on moments.

The fear of her father’s death is what makes the memory come alive.

She uses small parts of her and allows her characters to take that memory as a seed and grow into a branching tree.

Activity 7¶

Using the present tense, like Glaister does, write about a personal memory of either a place or a character in your notebook.
Make it brief, 250 words or so, but try to get as many sensory perceptions as possible going, and try to fix the memory in time, as Glaister does, so it is just one moment. Include everyday details and don't be afraid to admit one or two uncertainties.

I was in the tower again. Where I was before, I wasn’t sure, but I had to get to the bottom of the tower. Everything here was in reverse. The stairs went sideways, but I always kept going down. The place emanated a soundless static that pierced every part of me as I got closer to the bottom. I was there for hours and suddenly I was in my bed.

My throat hurt. I felt hot and sweaty. I kicked off my blanket and felt reprieve at the cool night air. I looked around and became aware of where I actually was. The tower had called me but I wasn’t ready. I let out a cough at the scratch in my throat. I closed my eyes wishing that tomorrow I would feel better.