Haiku: getting creative

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Sleepless In Newcastle

Hey again folks, I thought I would let you see some of the haiku that I have been writing as part of my course in Creative Writing. I have been trying to do at least one per day on totally random subjects that happen to come into my consciousness so they are a little strange at times.

Sorry the posts haven’t been as frequent as they have been in the past but I am battling with new medications and for some reason my brain won’t allow me to sleep at all lately so I am suffering all of the side effects that go along with that as well. A big thank you has to go to my wife and the kids though as I can imagine I am a complete nightmare when I am tired, run down, ill and grouchy. I love you girls loads and thanks for putting up with Mr. Grumpy-chops!

The time I have been wide awake has been spent reading loads of books on loads of different subjects and in loads of different styles and genres. It has made me realise just how far I still have to go to be able to write as effectively as I would like to be able to. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience so far though and I will try and share what I can with you lovely folks when I get the chance.

So here we go with a selection of haiku written by yours truly (oh, a Haiku is a 3 line piece of prose that has a 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable line structure):

(Haiku)
俳句

(A rainstorm)

Swirling, Twirling Round

A fresh wind blows through my mind

Rain pours down ideas

(Break time)

Hot, Steamy, Milky

Sugar sweetens up the brew

Crossword time at last

(Cheesecakes)

Sharp, Fruit filled

Buttery biscuit bases

Creamy Goodness, Yum!

(Daughter playing Minecraft)

Clicking, Tapping fast

Block after Block building more

Will the game end soon?

(Werewolf film on tv)

Pitch black, moonlight skies

Changing, morphing, quite close now

Screams pierce cold night air

Books, Books, Everywhere

So many things I must read

Shh! Quiet time please!

Granted they aren’t anything spectacular or anything particularly deep and meaningful but it has helped me to look at things around me in a totally different light and it has definitely made a difference to the pieces I have been playing around with.

What I would love for you folks to do though is give me 3 completely random words or phrases that you would like me to write a short piece about. I will try to write a nice short descriptive piece about the story it formulates in my mind and then I will post it up here on my blog. If you really like the sound of it I can then look at trying to expand it into a longer story and see what comes out of it all.

So if you fancy having a go leave a reply for me with your three words and I will try and get something back up here withing a couple of days or so.

Let’s get creative together!

Until next time folks, Stay Safe and Keep Smiling

Creativity Journal

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Sleepless In Newcastle

Creativity Journal

I am going to let you in on what I have been doing for the past couple of months that has kept me away from the blog in the past couple of months. I have been keeping a creativity journal which means I am writing every single day on a wide variety of subjects.

I am studying creative writing at the moment through university and I have been having a blast with it. One of the things my course asks me to do is keep a writers journal. A writers journal is a book of observations, ideas, random quotes and pretty much anything else that has interested me or has popped into my head for some reason. It is a good exercise to get the creative juices flowing and it is also very therapeutic to empty my head of all of the things I would bottle up inside and obsess about for ages.

Ideas, Sharing and Blogging

So that got me thinking about my blog and what I could do to tie in both the things I have spoken about before and the creativity journal that I am keeping each day. I thought I could share some of the things that I have been writing each day and let you tell me whether you like/dislike them and it also may give me an idea to try and write some short stories or hopefully a novel!

I also thought about having a day where I will take suggestions from you folks of 3 different objects or ideas and then I will write them into some kind of short story. I reckon this would be a good challenge and it would get me into a good habit of writing and would also let me give you guys something that I have created just for you! I could try and use the few photography tips that I have been given to try and take some photos that tie in with the story that I have written as well.

Another idea buzzing around my head is to do a photography scavenger hunt, for those of you that blog, so we can share photos about our local areas and link up to promote each other. I think it could be great fun and I hope you guys are on board with it as I would love to see some of the places that you visit in your local area.

Sunset over mountains taken from the plane

This doesn’t mean that I am going to be changing the blog completely to talk about different subjects though, I am just hoping to include you all in some of the things that I like to do to relax when the pressure of my own pain and Pretzel’s disability get on top of me.

So what do you reckon? Are you guys up for putting your toes into the pool of creativity with me and coming on a journey? I hope so and I reckon we could have a good laugh along the way as well.

Until next time folks, Stay Safe and Keep Smiling!

Short Story teaser, what do you think?

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Sleepless In Newcastle

Short story teaser attempt number 1

I am going to try something a bit different for this post to see how well it works for me. I chose a photograph taken by one of my fellow WANA members that looked really interesting and I thought I would try and write a teaser to a short story and gauge how you folks reading felt about it. I have never written any kind of story before (except maybe in school) so I would love some constructive criticism and any kind of suggestions on improving or getting started in writing some short stories.

So here is the photograph :

Photo provided by Prudence Macleod

The icy wind bit into his cheek as he made his way up the ridge. He had been walking all night and the numbness had crept slowly from his toes, through his feet up to his ankles and was so bad he now struggled to feel his feet at all. Each step in the thick snow drained a little more energy each time he moved and if he didn’t find somewhere to rest soon he would succumb to the elements. That was not an option, he had to make it, he had to reach her otherwise the consequences would be dire not only for both of them, but both of their families too. He tripped and fell gashing his hand on one of the sharp rocks hidden just beneath the surface of the snow. A crimson pool slowly started to spread out across the snow as he hauled himself up and looked at the wound. The rock had sliced through his palm leaving an ugly, ragged tear stretching from his thumb to his middle finger. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of tape and began to wrap it around his hand over and over. A shot rang out from behind him and whistled past his head. Another shot followed, this one a little closer as it nicked his ear on the way past. He felt the searing pain and the familiar trickle as the blood began to run down his face. He clapped his taped hand to his ear and began to run as fast as his legs could take him. Half stumbling down the hillside he ran towards the small town of Hartsville. He knew that if he could get there he would at least have a chance of survival as he could hijack a car or at least find a place to hide. He made it to the bottom of the hill and he could hear the shouts that followed him. He dared not stop, he had to make it to the cover of the buildings. At least there he could duck out of sight and hopefully find a weapon or a good ambush point if he needed it. He went to vault the small fence that surrounded the garden of the first house but he slipped, crashing down to the floor in a heap. “No time to stop” he thought as he stood up. They were getting so close now, too close for comfort. He set off again in a stumbling run heading for the house across the road. If he could make it around this corner he would be in the clear. Almost there now, one more corner and he would have given them the slip. A shot rang out and thudded into the side of the wooden hut. As he rounded the corner he was met with a hard sharp smack to the front of his face. He felt the bone shatter in his nose just before he blacked out…….

I have never tried writing anything at all like this before but I really enjoyed it. I might look at doing a series of these once the Ultimate Blog Challenge finishes as I hope it might get me started on writing something a bit longer. I managed to keep this to around 500 words but I think I could have gone on for a lot longer.

But what I really want to know is what did you folks think of it? Do you think it is worth me having a go at writing or is it so unbelievably terrible I should stick to writing my shopping list?

Drop me a comment and tell me what you think.

Stay safe and keep smiling!