Warm Ups November 11, 2008
Posted by Becca in Write On Wednesday.trackback
Music and writing are woven throughout my life like the strands of a double helix, and I often learn things from one discipline which can be applied to the other. Warm ups, for example. Singers simply must warm up their vocal chords before a performance, and there is a wide variety of exercises designed to target specific aspects of vocal production. The high school girls love to do “sirens,” a high pitched “woo-oo” sound which gets them singing in their head voice and also relieves a lot of tension, effectively serving as a (safe!) vocal scream.
As a pianist, I need those warm up exercises too, and the older I get the more important they are. My fingers are literally stiff until I’ve played for a bit, and my mind needs some time to focus itself on the music, to set aside my worries from the day and hone in on the nuances of those notes in front of me. If I’m playing a different instrument, the warm up becomes even more important. What’s the key action like? Is the pedal sticky or loose? Is the upper register overly bright? All those things are important to know to avoid being surprised during the actual performance.
In this month’s Poets and Writers Magazine, novelist Bret Anthony Johnson writes about the effectiveness of writer’s warmups, which, not surprisingly, serve similar purposes for the writer as they do for the musician. Ellis calls them Narrative Calisthenics, and says they transition the writer from the world of daily living into the world of the imagination.
“Writing exercise purges my mind of everything but a concentrated attention to language. I’ve forgotten about the leaky faucet or the overdue library book, and most importantly, I’ve released my fear about starting the morning’s writing.”
Ah yes, the fear of the blank page. Sometimes that seems almost insurmountable, doesn’t it? Here are a couple of Johnson’s suggestions to get the writing muscles warmed up:
- Spend five minutes listing every word you can think of that starts with the letter “a”; tomorrow, use “b”; and so on…
- Spend five minutes listing everything you can think of that’s the color blue; tomorrow, green, and so on…
- Open your dictionary and blindly point to an entry. Do this until you land on a noun, then spend 10 minutes writing a scene in which that noun figures significantly.
About two years ago, I began doing Morning Pages, as recommended by Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way). I’ve found those three pages of stream of consciousness writing each morning to be a useful warm up exercise, a way of “priming the pump” of my imagination. However, they often become an emotional clearing house for worries and concerns which have little or nothing to do with my writing projects. I see the value of Johnson’s objective writing exercises as a way to sharpen the focus before embarking on whatever writing you’re engaged in.
“Writing is one of the most difficult and frightening things anyone chooses to do,” Johnson concludes. “Exercises make the work a little easier and a little less terrifying.”
How about you? Do you do writing exercises or warm ups? Do you think they could be valuable? Have you found warm up exercises helpful in some other area of your life, e.g. art, music, athletics?
Extra Credit: Try one of Johnson’s exercises above, and post about your experiences. Or create an exercise of your own and share it.
Every morning I wake up stiff and creaky. No matter how many years of yoga I have behind me, I can still barely reach my knees. So first I breathe deep, and then I reach up high and stretch. By about 7 pm, I’m about as flexible as usual. The one thing about getting older, it takes me longer to get there.
For writing, I read. And I comment on blogs. When I was a tech writer, I used to list words I never got to use (azure, cerulean, negligee). Sometimes nowadays I make up lists of mythological creatures, technical words related to esoteric fields (astronomy, cartography, botany). Takes me a while to warm up in this area of life as well. If I haven’t found something to say by about 7 pm, I’m probably going to have to wait until the next day..
Becca ~ In one way or another, the NaNoWriMo post I’ve been working on for the two previous weeks works here, too. While I don’t address specific “warmups”, I do touch on the importance of honing our best tool – language – saying,
“Without form and structure, without a command of our language, an understanding of its possibilities and commitment to the disciplines necessary for its flowering, literary creation is impossible.”
And though I may sound a little grumpy at first read, I’m really not. I just want everyone to have the opportunity to experience the kind of breathless excitement that a really, REALLY good word, sentence or paragraph can bring.
You can find my current post (complete with Annie Dillard quotation) here: http://shoreacres.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/no-mo-wrimo/
Another great prompt, you can see my blog here: http://keepthisonthedl.blogspot.com/2008/11/write-on-wednesday-warm-ups.html
Again, great prompt at just the right time – http://www.andilit.com/?p=318
This is a great one, Becca. I love writing exercises. Will do some at my desk today, only during lunch, of course! More later. Will post when I get home tonight! Thanks!
Here’s my response
I’ll have a “part 2″ post next week with results of extra credit assignment.
Thanks for another great prompt: http://mymuseandme.blogspot.com/2008/11/write-on-wednesday_12.html
I ha given warm ups muh thought before this! Thanks for making me think.
Here are my thoughts:
http://firmlyrooted.blogspot.com/2008/11/warming-up-to-you-and-lot-more.html
Opps! I meant I had not given much..blah blah blah..
*grin*
Becca: you made me sit down and do a warm up again, even though to start off with I felt too tired and thought I would keep it till tomorrow. But no, it’s there, I’ve written it. My warm up for today….
http://51stories.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/write-on-wednesdays-a-warm-up/
Hi, I’m in. At http://westcobich.wordpress.com
And now I get to take a break and read everyone. Which I always always look forward to!
I haven’t written my entry yet but I’m thinking about it. I have so much to write this week…Yikes!
I love the music/writing connection.
Bonnie
Okay, my post is up and ready to be read.
Bonnie
http://blk1.edublogs.org
This was a good one to really think about. I never “think” about them as writing exercises, but in a way, they are. The exercise I didn’t mention isn’t so much a conscious exercise, but simply reading — and reading all different types of things (blogs, newspapers, magazines, books) a lot. I learn a lot of words from “The New Yorker” — words I might not use again, but it stretches me!
You can find my post on http://themarmeladegypsy.blogspot.com
Here’s my post:
http://kytyn.blogspot.com/2008/11/write-on-wednesday-for-this-week-is.html
Thanks again for the relevant prompt, Becca. WOW is my warm up every week – I appreciate you!
http://qugrainne.com/2008/11/15/today-is-a-gift/
Write on Wednesday on November 11, 2009
Do you do writing exercises or warm ups? Do you think they could be valuable? Have you found warm up exercises helpful in some other area of your life? Examples: art, music, athletics?
The only thing I do to warm up my writing is to do this plan that I got from a group that I am in called: Writer’s Reminders. This group sends a warm up plan once a month to help you remember to do some writing. It does help a lot to do these writing warm ups.
Writing Warm Ups from Writer’s Remembers:
DRAW METHOD AND WEEKLY PLAN
—————————-
The DRAW Method described below is for your daily routine. You will be surprised at how much it helps you focus. The Basic Weekly Plan helps you remember those annoying tasks that tend to fall through the cracks, and for freelance writers, send at least one query-a-week. A sample is listed at the end of this meesage.
One last thing. The message at this link includes tips for reducing spam in your email:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Writer-Reminders/message/25
Comments or questions? Email me at mailto:julie@organizedwriter.com.
Happy writing, and thanks for joining!
Julie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DRAW DAILY for 20 minutes
Declutter-Read-Assess-Write
** Beginners start here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Declutter (only 5 minutes)
2. Read (only 5 minutes)
3. Assess (30 seconds to 5 minutes)
4. Write (at least 5 minutes)
What is the DRAW method?
Take 20 minutes each day to help you focus. You MUST have a timer and your Writer’s Planner for this exercise. My watch has a five-minute timer to keep me on track.
Start by DECLUTTERING for five minutes. You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in five minutes. Clear a space to work on your desk. Clean space will help your mind settle. Don’t get overwhelmed here! When the buzzer goes off, stop. You will do more tomorrow. After a few days, your desk will be clean, and you can move onto another area (maybe your files or bookshelves).
Then READ for five minutes. You want to warm up your brain for words. Stay away from email–it is too easy to go over your five-minute allotment. Jot any new ideas in the Idea Grabber section of your planner.
Use the next few minutes to ASSESS what’s your MIP (most important writing project). Flip through your calendar and your list of projects. Get a feeling for what’s hot and what can wait. Make notes on your daily/weekly planner. Don’t get stuck here. Once you have a MIP, move on to WRITING.
Finally, WRITE. Fill the remainder of your time writing. Use your timer if you need to work on multiple projects. List any submissions, queries, or manuscripts in your planner.
Print the checklist above and check off the steps as you go each day. You deserve that feeling of accomplishment from checking off the list!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRINTABLE CHECKLIST
http://www.organizedwriter.com/03/checklist.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DRAW daily (Declutter-Read-Assess-Write)
** For more info, visit
http://www.organizedwriter.com/draw.htm
M T W T F S S
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. Declutter (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 2. Read (only 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 3. Assess (30 seconds to 5 minutes)
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 4. Write (at least 5 minutes)