One of my pastimes is reading the dictionary. This came from my own difficulty with the English language. I was dreadful at it in school and found it extremely overwhelming, everyone seemed to be so erudite with the English language. Then I decided to complete a degree that fully challenged this fear, I remember thinking on my first day of college, ‘did I apply to this course when I was drunk?’. I began to subsume myself in anything and everything relating to academic writing. And one weepy night in the library I discovered a literary dictionary. My professor at the time told our class ‘get a literary dictionary it will be one of the most used items you invest in for this course’. Unfortunately I was busy feeling sorry for myself and probably would have saved myself a lot more time if I had listened to him in that moment. When I delved into this glorious dictionary it was incredibly empowering, the words were at my disposable, they weren’t linguistic ninjas trying to nunchuck me into little stupid pieces, they were to be utilised not feared. From this experience I began to create a new exercise for playwrighting.
I began writing a vade mecum, this means ‘a manual or handbook carried for frequent and regular reference, (translated from Latin, ‘go with me’). With this, I began to read what I found to be the hardest form reading. From the Anthology to Literary Theory to Stephen Hawking’s The Universe in a Nutshell. As I read I would extrapolate as many words, theories and terms as possible that I found complex and challenging and then create a story from them.
To many this may seem silly, but through this process it gave me an extra tool for creative writing and playwrighting. For many playwrights may come to a dead end and struggle to finish a scene or create an adequate and appropriate ending. I short struggling with thoughts that are at the tip of your pen but not on the page. What may be useful is writing isolated stories or what I call Turbo Plays. Ones that are simply based on one word. Here is an example…
WORD- RUBRIC
1. Initial thought- Rubik’s cube (initial thought relates to your immediate superficial response when you see the word).
2. Appearance- Rounded letters, good symmetry, apart from the letter ‘i’.
Actual translation (Oxford English Dictionary)- noun, 1. A heading on a document.
* A category
2. A set of instructions or rules.
* A direction in a liturgical book as to how a
church service should be conducted.
* A statement of purpose or function.
Now those three points are your whole story, your Turbo play. Now give yourself 10 minutes to write the whole thing. It may look similar to the example below.
Abigail entered the symmetrical building with the goal to solving the rubik’s cube. But was rudely interrupted by a man who looked like a human ‘I’. He was badgering her about the disgraceful heading on a document he had just witnessed. How could a document be so awfully constructed, particularly one that was meant to outline the church service in the local supermarket. Abigail did not enjoy this set of instructions and rules he was discussing on the headed document. And proceeded to kill him with her rubik’s cube in a statement of purpose or some can say function.
THE END.
As you can see the story does not make a lot of sense, but I have started and finished the story with the intent to involve already established ideas. The purpose of Turbo Stories is to create new synapses of creativity, in a very short amount of time. There is no clear logic or linkage, all you need to know is to write it in 10 minutes, involve all of the aspects of the word from the three points, to start and finish the small story and/or you can make it into a small play. There is some similar writing techniques out there, which I didn’t really enjoy mostly because it reminded me of the gravity of a lot of writing deadlines that were creeping up on me. This version forces you out of the ordinary and into extraordinary linguistic obscurity. A reminder not to feel threatened by writing, and to simplify it for yourself, venturing into the world of the weird and the wonderful.
Hope this odd exercise benefits you in some way. If not make up your own one and tell me about it.
All rights are reserved to Katie Poushpom, k.e.cleary. ©
The Madwoman in the Theatre. 