Exercise #26: List
Since the exercises will stop being posted here at the end of the month, let's go out with a bang, yes?
I usually start a workshop with the following exercise, but now's as good a time as any to really amp up the difficulty rating. A good place to do this one is in the first page of your notebook or journal if you write that way.
List the following things:
5 people you see all of the time
3 places you are at all of the time
3 activities you do all of the time
3 of your favorite movies
3 of your favorite music artists
3 of your favorite TV shows
2 of your favorite foods
Your favorite color
Your most common emotion
You should have 9 lists with 24 items on them.
What now? Well...do the exercise before you reveal what's behind the cut!
This is a list of common things, things you reference all of the time in your life. These are things you see, smell, touch, taste and hear all of the time.
Because I prize originality above all else in poetry, I usually have poets or students start off with this list of things...and then demand that every poem they write from that point forward include NONE of these things. I call it a "cleansing the palette" exercise, but I don't say that upfront becuase then people might hold back on items that are common but that they feel comfortable using all of the time. When I notice that someone falls back on common themes even after this exrercise, I usually institute other non-usable themes or items. For example, I typically tell high school students they can't write any love poems. Because it is so common a reference with teens, I exorcise the use of it as theme en toto and make them focus on other things.
So: The remaining exercises should utilize none of these things.
Good luck!