Last Friday in celebration of the National Day on Writing, I hosted one of three live/online workshops for my university’s first ever #whyIwrite event. Each workshop (creative nonfiction -me, poetry, environmental writing) was a flash: 30 minutes including guidance on what to write, writing, sharing.
For my session, students worked with the last photo on their phone to write as descriptively as possible the scene of the photo which could include background details that led to the photo as well as the scene unfolding in the photo. My own example below. Tip for students: this is a great exercise to break writer’s anxiety/block.
The air that was laden with humidity just days ago is finally crisp – it’s possible to move freely now outside without the weight of heat-filled water pressing down on my scalp. Today, my cheeks feel the tiny pricks of the wind that keep my face and head cool as I walk at a faster clip up the hill than I’ve been able to do in months. Darkened seed pods greet me on my approach that just days ago held the only wisp of summer flowers to grace this red mud hill. The wind carries the whistle of an oncoming train but I knew it was near before – the wind carries too the aging roasted and burnt tar of railroad ties before I turned this corner. The train rushes in on its way through town, blowing, as if those of us on the trail might leap down – the hawks, pigeons and waterlings scurry away in fright at the depth of the engines bluster and seemingly endless chugging, the humans not so much. We are unphased – the speed and dust kicked up by the engine’s pull cause these remaining seed pods to stir, but not drop, clinging to the best of seasons, for a little while to come.
3 Coffees A Day 