Ahhhh, Spring.

Is this anyone else’s favorite time of year?

The weather slowly leans toward lovely, like it’s just resting on your shoulder.

The greens are greener, the pinks are pinker, the sky is fresh and blue.

Everything seems sharp and in focus.

Plus, there are jellybeans everywhere.

Anyhoo…

I learned a new word last week.

Ekphrastic.

Before I knew such a word existed, I was creating things using the ekphrastic method.

It means writing stories or poems based on artwork.

I used to open up my Norman Rockwell art books, turn to a charming painting
(as most all of his were) and create a story about the people in the picture.

It’s actually a super fun way to begin writing, especially when you don’t have a subject of your own.

Try it.

Open an art book at random, and really look at an image.

What characters are in it?

What are they doing?

Who is the prominent character?

What do you guess brought the people together?

What do they wish they were doing?

How come they’re not doing it?

What’s standing in their way—either literally or figuratively?

What are the solutions?

Let the prominent character attempt a solution.

What happened?

Let them try again.

Now what happened?

The third try is the charm.

(Or not.)

What happened?

Guess what?

You’ve just written a story.

If you’re a teacher or have kids at home, this is a fantastic way to get them to write their own story.

Let the painting or illustration be the springboard for them.

Try to use images that the child wouldn’t know.

For example, don’t use Disney images because those stories are probably ingrained in their brain and it’ll be difficult for them to create something new and different.

If you or the child gets stuck (“The family is having Thanksgiving dinner. They’re excited. The end.”), ask “What would they rather be doing?” or “Who is missing?” and “What happened to that person?”

At some point, the story may take over!

Let it.

On a similar subject, I attended an online writing workshop last week (that’s where I learned the new word).

It was about creating compelling stories that a reader can’t put down, which, of course, is the ultimate goal.

The free workshop was given by Traci Skuce (traciskuce.com, writer and “story midwife”) and Emma Dhesi (emmadhesi.com, novelist and book coach for beginning writers).

They suggested that the main reason a reader will keep reading is because they’re connected to the characters.

What compels you, as a reader, to keep reading?

Skuce and Dhesi said the way to make readers interested is to create characters that they can relate to.

Use qualities that they recognize because they see those qualities in themselves or in people they care about.

The reader can think, “Huh, this could be me in this precarious situation and what would I do?

One of our first exercises was to describe a stranger that we’ve seen recently.

You can do this exercise, too.

What does this person look like, what kind of clothes are they wearing, where is this person, what are their mannerisms, their striking features?

Does this person remind you of anyone?

After you’ve done this, try to go deeper.

Write about why this person is wearing these particular clothes?

What caused their mannerisms or tics?

Why does this person do what they do with their hands, or their feet, or their face?

What are this person’s thoughts about their striking feature?

Do they love their button nose?

How does their stick-straight hair make them feel about themselves?

What caused their limp?

You don’t know this person, so you’ll use your imagination, your humanity and compassion.

Finally, you can have this person “write” you a letter stating what haunts them when they close their eyes at night.

What are their beliefs about themselves that might not be true?

What do they wish they could do about this?

Obviously, the stranger won’t be writing to you—you’ll be writing the letter as if you were the stranger.

Get inside their head.

If you’ve gotten this far, know that you may never use everything you’ve just written.

It may just be background—like when an actor needs to know everything about the character they’re portraying so they can make them more real to the audience.

Traci Skuce made a point of saying that she believes that no writing is ever wasted.

If you don’t use it now, you might use it later to flavor something you’re working on.

Who knows?

A story may just start bubbling away in your head and the characters may demand to be let out to tell it.

(And if you’re not a writer, you can always use this exercise to bring life to the stranger you see at a coffee shop or the airport. It’s fun to give strangers a story.)

Please check out Traci Skuce and Emma Dhesi online.

They often offer free writing courses.

Have a great Spring week!

~Gail

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