"Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will." - George Bernard Shaw
It's true. Want to write creatively? It's all in the mind- pfft...
You sit alone, bored, checking your Tweet feed regularly and clicking the Facebook Home button enough times to ensure that popping noise drones on and on in your head for hours...and you wonder why you can't seem to "get creative"... GO OUTSIDE!
A little creative trigger of mine- colour! Yes, colour! We wake up, we shower, dress ourselves, eat breakfast, get on the bus, trapse into university/work/school looking sullen and glum from just a few hours' sleep and by 9am... already experiencing our first caffeine comedowns of the day...but in those few short hours of waking, have you taken just a few minutes to look around you and admire colour? I guarantee you haven't, and I'm certain you haven't thought about this until now...
The sun is shining through your window upon waking...do you undress the room with your eyes to adore the way in which the stream of sunlight has illuminated your walls, bedding, desk, table, chair, posters, canvas'...? The list goes on. No. I strongly believe you haven't. On that dreaded bus journey, did you think to look away from your iPod playlist for just one minute to admire the scenery? I'm not necessarily talking about the vivacious greens, warm browns and cool yellows of Autumn.... if you don't live in a quaint, rural village you're probably not going to see them- but even GREY is a colour...high-rise flats more your typical morning view? Or just a lot of road? Either way, the colours have a dramatic effect on your imagination...
In my experience, the transition period from night to day is inspiring. I sleep when everything is black...a colour; and I wake when every single coloured object in my bedroom is illuminated by the harsh brightness of the sun. I feel as though I am constantly surrounded by inspiration...to think, to write, and even to speak.
Here's a test:
Think of a colour- that's singular- just one.
Write down the first three things or feelings that you associate with this colour...
Think of the mood these things create- write it down.
...
Already, you have a mood you associate with the colour of your choice, and three possible subject topics to discuss. Seems pretty straight-forward and possibly a little patronising if you're the type of person who believes you're already "in the know" and more than capable of doing such a tedious exercise...but it does work.
My Process:
Colour: Orange
3 things/feelings associated with colour: a satsuma, the sun, warmth.
Overall mood: (is it just random? if so, what's wrong with that?) Satisfied/content.
My Free-Thought Exercise:
Rolling, rolling,
Spraying sweet juice all around
as it soaks up the warmth of the late afternoon,
as the scorching sun penetrates it's toughened skin,
as the children chase their picnic down
the hill
and still,
It leaks a precious nectar,
Staining the fresh meadow with it's sticky
Orange dribble,
Teasing the little mites as they giggle
as the soft blades of summer grass tickle the web between their toes;-
barefoot and free,
like balls from a cannon they shoot past other folk
dining Al Fresco with their families.
"Come, children!"
Their mother would shout when they had reached the bottom
of the hill,
and still,
they would chase until the blazing
orange ball of fire
in the sky
beat upon their backs,
tinging them with flecks of dark pinks and swelling their freckles and moles...
"Children, come!"
She would yell as beads of sweat formed
glistening, pearly jewels around her neck.
"There are plenty more satsumas in the basket!"
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