Creative Non-Fiction Assignment
Assignment Week 5
The Five Senses (yet again)
In these forums our concern is not so much the quality of writing but the willingness on your part to be open, honest, and part of a conversation.
So here’s another exercise to challenge you to think in terms of the five senses we discussed last week with concrete details. This particular exercise comes from The Creative Writing Handbook, edited by John Singleton and Mary Luckhurst.
This exercise also fits into one of subjects this week, the memoir. You’ve read Alice Walker’s Beauty, now it’s time to cast your mind back to your own young self.
Recall yourself and your life at age seven. Now go through the five senses and write a single word or idea for each that brings that time alive again for you. It could be the taste of a certain candy, or the feel of oil on your hands from your bicycle chain. It doesn’t matter.
Now imagine yourself at fifteen. This time we are interested in bringing forth three things: A piece of clothing you wore, a turn of phrase you used back then (like a piece of slang or a catchphrase), and a favourite song.
After fulfilling the above questions about these two stages of your life, choose one, and write a brief story of 3pages of words built around the material you have. Don’t worry about it being as dramatic as Alice Walker’s story. Most importantly your story should be fresh and come quickly, do not worry about it being polished. But it must be true.
3 pages.
