Last week I talked about color, and this week I'm adding music. I love mixing different senses, like sight and sound, to see how that affects what we write.
I did this writing exercise in my class for adults, "Creativity for Writers," and it's a great exercise to do in a group. Six to eight is a good number.
Let's say you have 8 people. Find 8 pens with different colored ink, or 8 sharp colored pencils. Each person chooses a pen, and takes out their notebook or a big piece of paper. Find a source of music--an MP3 player, a CD player and some CDs, a computer, or the radio. Sit in a circle.
One person is in charge of the music. This exercise works best if you have different kinds of music--pop, rap, classical, country, rock, jazz, etc. You don't have to like the music. In fact, if you hate the music, that can make things more interesting!
The person in charge puts on a piece of music. While it's playing, everyone writes about the color of their ink or pencil. The person with the green pen writes about the color green. The person with the red pen writes about the color red.
What to write about? Write quickly without thinking too much, and listen to the music while you're writing. What associations do you have with that color? What does the color make you think of? Does the music tie in somehow? You don't have to write in complete sentences. Words or phrases are okay. Don't worry about spelling or punctuation.
Here's what I wrote about the color blue while a song by the 1960s band The Beach Boys was playing:
Blue perfect for the Beach Boys waves water California clouds sun the blue of the day in summer, shimmering ocean, the blue of a boy's eyes as he runs in the sand. Sparkle deep, flip flops with aqua blue flowers.
After a minute or two, the person in charge changes to a different piece of music. Everyone passes their pen to the person on the right, and takes a pen from the person on their left.
Write about your new color while the new music is playing. Again, write quickly without thinking too much. After another minute or two, switch the music and your pens. Keep writing about each color until you're all back to your original color, and write about that color again. How was your writing different this time?
For fun, read your writing out loud in the circle. What did everyone write for pink, or yellow? What colors did everyone have for the jazz piece (if you had jazz), and what did you all write about? Did the music affect the writing? Did some music make you angry, or happy?
Did any words or phrases you wrote down give you a story idea?
