So this one isn't going to be quite as creatively productive as a traditonal free write, though the language-generating paragraphs are incredibly helpful for me (I guess the first calisthenic we did was the most beneficial for my writing mentality), but I think this one has it its place in my writing life. Due to recent reading, I'm suddenly obsessed with the idea of persona writing. We've seen it a few times this semester, I guess, with the Penelope poems, but I wonder what everyone's take is on that kind of writing? Is it too much, at my level, to try a series of poems in random personas?
A few ideas I had, totally random, I know:
-Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen (which spawned all of this. I'd love to mimic the way he sees destruction and is completely numb to it, watching distantly. It'd be a challenge primarily because how do you create poetic language and evoke distance simultaneously? Also, I'd like to play with how, in the movie when he is explaining his "accident," he states the date (and time?) that these things happened. If you don't know the movie/character, this would obviously be a bit confusing, but...)
-Flat Stanley (please someone know who this is? It's a children's book character frequently used in classrooms--you make a flat Stanley and send him off to another state, to someone you know, who writes back about where they took him, along with pictures of his "adventures." Mine went to an Aunt in Colorado)
-Huck Finn, Age 21 (I have no commentary to go with this one but...I have to wonder how Huck would be when he's a bit older)
-Waldo from Where's Waldo. Maybe he'll hook up with Carmen SanDiego...
Just a few ideas... I really want to try some of them!
Oh Jenna, you make my heart happy. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I know nothing about Dr. Manhattan or Flat Stanley... I think this idea of AWESOME!
First of all, I definitely do NOT think it is "too much" for you to venture out and try this type of writing. Honestly, I don't think, we as (serious) writers, should ever question if something is too much for our skill level. I've found that the joy and advantage to being so serious about writing poetry is, in fact, taking wild, exploratory leaps, including 'persona writing'...
As far as tackling this type of writing, I'm not sure I have much advice to provide you with. However, I do suggest you first try and tackle it by using some type of calisthenic exercise/method, just to get your mind pumping out and generating ideas. Then, (I guess) the next step would consist of decided the course you want to take... how you are going to deal strictly with this character; working on adapting/adopting that persona, that mindset. Yes, in many ways it will be a challenge... but not only will the exercise help strengthen your writing capabilites, it will provide you with TONS of material to play around with and shape. :) best of luck, my dear! I want to see what you come up with!