In The Beginning…
Today there are ideas for poems and for fiction. Those of you who have been following the fiction prompts would (hopefully) want to stick with that. For others, it might be time for a shift. As I shift my thinking I will keep you fiction people in mind too!
I have been working on a poem with the refrain, “in the beginning”
It’s an interesting sentence — right? It can go in two directions —
It can set up a story — or it can imply a contrast to the ending — or the present.
It is a deceptive sentence, too — what is the beginning, really? Is the beginning when my coffee cup (now woefully close to empty) was full? Was it an hour ago when I put the kettle on to boil? Was it when I bought this coffee, in a store in Vermont when we were still traveling between states daily? Was it when my cousin gave me my first cup of coffee when I was 10? Was it when my father would make me coffee milk to drink along with him — with loads of sugar and milk?
This is a silly example, but it’s important to keep history in mind… the beginning of your beginning. You have The Who, When and Where -- don't forget the Why. It's important not only to have a plot, but to keep a psychological plot in mind as well. Stanley Kunitz used to say of poems, there's the thing, and then there is the other thing. A lot of today’s thinking comes out of my work with the brilliant book Story Genius by Lisa Cron. I recommend it highly!
Elementary
Take a look at a few of your favorite books. What do you notice about the beginnings? Can you see how the characters first words give you a hint about what is coming later?
You can watch this fun video. Notice how what Grover thinks the end will be both is and isn't true!
You have two choices — if you haven’t yet, WRITE YOUR STORY! You’ve been working on character and what your character is wanting — now bring the story to life! Think about beginning, middle and end — so that something happens to your character.
Give yourself three pages. Write on the top of the pages: First — Next — Then. If I were you I would draw pictures to go along with the story! Then I might even ask one of your grown ups if they have a stapler. Do you know what you will have if you staple these together? A Book! Put a blank piece of paper on the front and draw the cover!
Middle
Ok - We’ve been working on fiction — I want to start taking about poems, too — so now it’s up to you which way you write. (I mean, it’s always up to you, of course. No matter who tells you it’s not — it’s always up to you! I used to get into a lot of trouble in college because I would try to interject humor into my scholarly endeavors… I still remember the red pen underlined saying, “NEVER DO THIS”. So, of course, you have to think about what it is you want — if you want a good grade, you will maybe decide to do what you are told… Man! This is not what you are supposed to say in a writing assignment!)
If you want to keep going on your fiction —
Think about the beginning of your story — now think about your main character — think about why the beginning of the story is important to them. What was it their mother taught them to be afraid of? What are they afraid of? What is at stake for them as the story begins? Can you write a scene, in your character’s kitchen, that happened before your beginning that foreshadows what is to come and raises the stakes? Did your character always dream of being an astronaut, so when the alien lands in her back yard she is totally ready to climb aboard? Did you character just spend the last week replanting the lawn so instead of being welcoming she is just pissed that the UFO ruined her work?
If you want to work on a poem —
Write a poem about your personal mornings…
Think about the beginning of your day today. How is it different from a day a month ago? A year ago? How do you think is different from the beginning of a day a month from now? A year?
High School and Beyond
So — if you want to keep working on your fiction — it’s time to start working on the story.
Think about the beginning. How does the beginning of your story relate to what is at stake for your character? There are a few ways of starting — you can set the scene, or you can dive right in… I have to say, I’m a dive right in girl — but that’s yours… Also think about what it is in the character’s past that has lead them to this moment being the beginning of their story -
I have been thinking a lot about how different things are setting off different people right now. Some things simply are simply more difficult to navigate because of the climate now — Driving to MGH last week there was construction at the entrance to the hospital. It required a small, painless detour — but I nearly lost my shit. Because everything is unpredictable at this moment, the disruption in the path I thought I knew by heart was disproportionately unsettling. This is the heart of personality, right? What happens to us that makes us us — makes us respond in our own way to the things that happen.
Write the opening scene. Also write a scene from the past that has influenced the character.
Poem —
I am intrigued by this moment. About how this moment is different from he moments that came before — and the ones that are to come.
Write a poem about one thing — either that is the same as it was — or that is very different — because of what we are experiencing. Think about this moment entirely as it relates to time and continuum.
Here's a poem I've been obsessed with this week:
Spring
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
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