New Journalism 2012

Summer Address Poem

In the following exercise, I’m going to ask you a series of questions and make several suggestions of ideas for writing. Often, in response to these guidelines, people write in lines rather than sentences and paragraphs, a poem rather than a narrative. As we go through this process, in response to each set of directions or questions, you might want to write only a phrase or a single word on a line.

If your writing is moving along and you don’t need the questions I’m asking, try to ignore my voice and stay on your own path. The prompts are meant to help you when you need a new idea, but you don’t have to answer them.

I will read the following guidelines for composing (Perl):

• It’s summer vacation! For your title, write an address — somewhere you like to go when your on vacation from school, a place you have  visited before and you’ll probably go back to… where do you like to hang out in the summertime? (Please DO NOT choose where you live or work now.)

You may know this address very well, or only slightly — perhaps you’ve been there only once. Be as specific as you can. Remember that an address might be a room number or the name of a city (Athens, Greece). Write the address as specifically and completely as you can. (For example: 729 Memorial Avenue, Grove City , PA)

An address is probably coming to mind right now, whether you can explain the reason or not. Don’t worry. You won’t have to defend your choice. Just take a chance — write the address at the top of your sheet. If you feel uncertain about the choice, remember that you can repeat the exercise at a later time with another address. For now just choose an address as a heading for the work; choose it for the sake of the exercise.

• “Look” at the place in your mind. What do you see there? Go closer towards it. Do you have to turn to go inside? Which way do you turn, right or left? Keep moving towards it. What do you see now?
• Is there a color to this scene? Are there many colors?
• What do you hear? Do you hear music?
• Who’s there? Is anyone there? Does someone speak? What is said?
• Is there food? Can you smell it? Is someone cooking?
• Does anyone else come in? Is there talk? Record the talk as well as you can.
• Write for a few more minutes on anything you’ve already thought of, or a new image.