| Product: |
Creative Writing |
| Date: |
07.02.02 (75 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Way of remembering events, Can be an outlet for emotions
Disadvantages: None
Creative writing. Writing creatively.
I sat here looking at my screen at the above two statements, thinking, have I got this wrong? Am I writing this in the wrong place? Should I be writing it at all?
But then I got to thinking. Of course poetry is creative writing. Shakespeare himself wrote poetry. His plays are masterful works of creativity, and no-one would dispute that they are poetry, as well as being plays.
In the end I decided to put this op in this category. If anyone strongly objects, and can offer a better place on the site in which to place it, then let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do. However, in my own mind, I feel it belongs here, for two reasons.
1) It is most certainly a hobby of mine.
2) Poetry is just one form of creative writing. There are many others of course: story telling, novels writing and play-writing being three more examples.
EARLY WRITING
My earliest memory of enjoying writing what could loosely be described as poetry is from when I was about 12 years old. I can remember being given assignments at school, and thinking how enjoyable and relatively easy it was. I couldn't really understand why the other girls groaned and sweated over this type of work.
We were encouraged at school to write poetry of all types: Limericks, non-rhyming poems, class poems (I cringe now when I think of the poem we made up as a whole class, and put to music) and conventional rhyming verse. I loved it all, and would churn out verse after verse on all sorts of topics. It probably wasn't very good at all: I can't remember that far back, and we didn't have computers then on which to store our treasured works! But I do remember that I got a lot of pleasure from writing, and the teachers seemed to like it too!
Then when I was about 14 (and I've never forgiven her for this) my sister came home with a leaflet for a poetry competition. The topic wa
s Wildlife, and those entering the competition had to still attend primary school. (I bet you can guess what is coming next!)
At the time, an Eagle called Goldie had escaped from London Zoo, and was living wild in the surrounding area. This sort of gripped my imagination, and in a short space of time, I had a five or six verse poem written. Being the kind-hearted sister that I am, I said that she could use it if she wanted to, never dreaming that she would copy it out word for word! I simply meant that she could use the ideas!
Months later, she came tearing home from school, with the news that "she" had got 2nd prize in a national poetry competition! With MY poem! There was her name emblazoned on the certificate! I felt dreadfully guilty, and yet also jealous! Sibling rivalry was obviously still going strong!
Somewhere in the teenage years, probably with the pressures of GCE and A levels, I seemed to lose the enthusiasm for writing, and really have no recollection of writing any more poetry until 1999!
1999 AND AFTER
In 1999, I was lucky enough to witness the Total Eclipse of the Sun on August 11th, whilst holidaying in the Isles of Scilly. These islands were the first landfall for the eclipse, which began out in the Atlantic, and, unlike most of Cornwall, we saw the whole awesome thing.
I can't begin to explain the emotions that filled the whole islands that day. It was an incredible experience. So much so, that when I returned to our hotel, I felt compelled to put pen to paper, and my love for writing poetry was once more awakened. Below is the first poem I wrote. The words just came: I really didn't have to think about them.
Looking up at cloudy skies.
Wait!
A break in the clouds
For just a few seconds
The full sun is in view.
First Contact is seen.
A small bite
Gone from the sun.
The cloud covers it again.
We wait.
A crowd gathers.
Again
the clouds roll back.
Incredible!
A black disc
Covers half the sun.
Our life-giving force
Half gone.
The air feels colder.
We wait and wonder.
Will we or won't we?
The tension is tangible
In the highly charged atmosphere.
We hold our breaths.
All this waiting.
All this wondering.
All this anticipation.
Will it be worth it?
Then it happens!
The clouds thin.
The shadow of the moon
Races across from the west.
Enveloping the Bishop,
Covering St. Agnes,
Surrounding us!
The last tiny sliver of light
Disappears.
Pink solar flares
Dance around the edge
Of a black disc.
A superb diamond ring
Shines briefly in the sky.
Then totality.
All is in darkness.
A quivering glow
Flickers around the edge
Of a coal black moon.
Eerie lights,
Yellow, orange and red
Dance on the horizon
As the sun appears to set in the East.
All too soon the reverse happens.
A second diamond ring
On the opposite side.
Then the sun emerges
From behind the black circle of the moon.
We clap!
We cheer!
We cry!
We have just witnessed it.
The last total eclipse
Of the twentieth Century.
Once I had started writing again, I found I couldn't stop. It was as though floodgates which had held the flow back for years had been opened, and words just kept pouring out. I had forgotten just how enjoyable, how theraputic, and how satisfying creative writing was!
When I got home, a friend of mine read this poem, and commented "That's not a poem: it doesn't rhyme!"
Well I don't know about you, but when faced with a comment like that, I see it as a challenge! I sat down with the poem, and within half an hour, I had re-written it, but this time in rhyming verse! Oh it was so satisfying to see the look on his face when I presented him with the following poem.
Looking up
at the cloudy skies.
But wait! Can we believe our eyes?
The clouds are parting! What can we see?
A bite from the sun! We shout with glee!
Slowly, slowly the disc moves on.
Soon the sun is halfway gone.
An eerie twilight covers the ground.
The people wait - there's barely a sound.
Eyes all turned upwards towards the sun
Covered by the moon - it's almost done!
A tiny sliver still remains.
What's left of daylight rapidly wanes.
From over the Bishop, a dark shadow racing.
And what happens next is truly amazing!
A single bright light - a diamond ring!
We gasp, we clap at this wonderful thing.
Solar flares, pink and glowing
Around the dark edge of the moon are showing.
Then blackness, surrounded by streams of light
The sun has gone. It's as dark as night.
For nearly two minutes we gaze in awe.
Then another ring! The crowd starts to roar!
A total eclipse we came to see.
We witnessed it's full majesty.
It's a sight I will truly never forget.
We all felt emotional! My cheeks were quite wet.
The euphoria lasted the rest of the day
Each person we met would stop and say
"Did you see it? Wasn't it grand?"
We'd meet up with strangers and shake their hand.
"It truly was awesome", those words left our lips
The day that we witnessed the Total Eclipse.
Since then, I have written endless poems, most of them for my own satisfaction. It has become a hobby. I will have a go at writing on almost any subject, but my favourite times are still those which are influenced by some event or other.
I also find my enthusism for poetry rubs off on the kids in school. For example, after the events of September 11th, our Year Six children produced what I feel is outstanding creative, sympathetic and beautiful poetry. We all sat there writing, me included, and then shared our thoughts with each other. I have to
say I was amazed that such young kids (10 and 11 year olds) could produce such moving work. Even the children who normally baulk at the word poetry wrote some beautiful stuff.
I began this op by wondering if I was putting this in the right place. I'm also beginning to wonder if it's far too long, and blow your own trumpet time. But I'm going to post it anyway! I know the critics out there will soon let me know!
I think creative writing, poetry style, is a great way to save memories. Just writing a diary would bore me I think. Being able to get my thoughts down in verse, or any other sort of poem brings life's experiences back to me when I read them.
I'm so glad that the eclipse re-awakened my love of poetry writing. It's a hobby I hope I never tire of.
Update 13/03/02
I heard this morning that a poem I submitted some time ago has been accepted for inclusion in a new anthology of poetry to be published later this summer! Now I can't wait to see it in print! I'll keep you updated as and when I hear more, but just wanted to share this with you.
Lesley
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