WRITERS’ CIRCLES
44 MARCH 2020 http://www.writers-online.co.ukWRITERS’ CIRCLES
With Valentine’s Day this month, get hearts fluttering with
these love-themed writing group exercises from Julie Phillipsexplore for the purpose of our writing.
Next, think about different kinds of
love. Ask them to write a few details
about a family member, a friend, a
teacher, a work colleague, a pet, their
first love and their present love. They
don’t have to mention names, just how
they feel about them. How does that
feeling change dependent on the person
or animal they are thinking about? How
does the love they feel for a sibling, for
example, differ from that love they feel
for their dog?
Thinking about different kinds of
love and the feelings that go along
with them can help us to write more
authentically. It would help to build up
a word bank of adjectives that describe
the various forms of love and associated
feelings, for example: warm, tingly, hot,
fluffy, comforting, fizzy, happy, etc.
Next, distribute to each person in the
group two pieces of paper with a very
different character written on each piece
of paper. The characters are going to be
thrown together and find themselves
eventually romantically linked, or
experience love in some way. For example,
a teenage girl and her estranged father
who suddenly appears on the scene,
two polar-opposite sisters who fell out
years ago and suddenly find themselvesove is in the air this month
for everyone, including
your writing group. We’ve
all experienced love and
heartache, from the love for
a new born child, to the love for our
parents, the heady heights of teenage
first love and that first rejection to
finding ‘the one’, and new love after
divorce. All the emotions are there –
excitement, butterflies fluttering in the
stomach, anxiety, happiness, longing,
joy, etc, so why not use them to their
best advantage in your writing?
For the first activity, we are going to
think about love in its abstract form.
When we say I love that or I love it
when, what do we mean? Ask the group
to write down something they love. It
could be anything from a person, a pet,
a food item, a piece of music, a place, a
piece of art, a book, a movie or a hobby.
Ask them to read it out and explain
how their chosen person or thing makes
them feel. If they could separate the
ingredients of that feeling and bottle it,
what would be in the bottle?
Ask them to think about what colour
love is? What does it look like? What
does it feel like? What does it smell
like? Love means different things to
different people so it’s interesting to
working together, two old school friends
who haven’t seen each other for years, an
old man and his noisy neighbour.
Ask the group to do a short character
study on both of their characters, and a
short synopsis on their differences and
how they might find common ground.
Then ask them to write a short piece
of dialogue when the characters are at
odds with each other, and another short
piece when they have found love. What
is the difference in tone and language
used? Think about body language and
what was the key that made them
transition from not seeing eye to eye,
to falling in love or gaining respect
and understanding for each other,
depending on your two characters.
For the final activity we’re going
to look at both sides of the coin and
explore the fine line between love
and hate. Conflict is an integral part
of writing and story telling so it’s
important your writing includes plenty
of it that can’t be easily or quickly
resolved. Think of words that describe
the other side of love – unrequited love
or when love sours and can turn so
easily to hate. For example, abandoned,
ache, hurt, distrust, despair, anger,
sorrow, etc. Write a short scene with
either the two characters you already
have, or your own characters.
The purpose of this is to try to get
as much of that raw and unrestrained
emotion into your writing as possible
so that you catch and keep the readers’
attention as they can identify with
what your characters are going through
because they’ve been there.
Then think about how the characters’
situation can be resolved. Can it be?
What is needed for reconciliation?
Forgiveness, compromise, giving another
chance? Or is walking away the only
possible conclusion? Read it out for the
group and ask them to comment on how
well the emotions spill out of the piece
or what could be done to improve it.
Love, in all its forms, makes the
world go round, and it can also breathe
new life into your group’s writing, so
embrace that love and hold on tight
to the rollercoaster of emotions that
love and hate can be and get writing.
Remember, no tears in the writer, no
tears in the reader, and if you want to
make your reader feel warm and fuzzy
inside with the love affair between your
characters then get that emotion in
your writing.in the airLove is