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Writing can be a great way to express yourself, to get things out of your head and to pass the time. But writing can also be daunting: where to start? These exercises will help you get your pen to paper.
The aim is to get writing, to get ideas flowing and to get something down on paper. It can be junk! There are no expectations, no judgement, no criticism. It can be a personal experience, a creative piece, a poem, anything! It can be short, it can be long, or maybe one exercise won’t work for you and you’ll move on to the next.
If you’d like, you can do these exercises with others, and share what you’ve written after. Remember: no judgement and no criticism! The purpose of sharing is to see what others came up with, to see the variety of ways that people can respond and to perhaps be interested, intrigued or inspired by something that someone else has written. It’s also great to build confidence in yourself and your voice!
Exercise prompts!
Write a piece where all the action takes place in one defined space, such as a bedroom, a cinema or a park. It can be indoors or outdoors, but the action must stay within that one space.
Write a piece where the action takes place on a form of transport (a car, a train, a bus, a bike, a plane, a boat).
Write a piece that is about something you can hold in your hand, such as a toy, prized possession, food, piece of clothing,
a photo…
Describe a family member or friend or someone you know, but limit the number of words in the description to the age of each person. For example, your 51-year-old mother must be described in 51 words, your 23-year-old friend must be described in 23 words, your 14-year-old cousin must be described in 14 words. Don’t just write a list of words, but a description with sentences.
Write a piece where the action takes place over a specific length of time – one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year.
Write a piece where the first word is a question: Why...? What...? Who…? When…? How….? Where…? If…?
Write a piece where each sentence begins with a letter from your name.
Choose one thing in each of the following: a number between 1 and 100, a family member, a colour, an object you’d find in a kitchen, a place you’ve never been. Write them down at the top of your page. For example: 41, sister, red, plate, Perth. Now, use all these words in a piece of writing. It can be anything, a poem, a story, but it must include all the words!
Writing can be a great way to express yourself, to get things out of your head and to pass the time. But writing can also be daunting: where to start? These exercises will help you get your pen to paper.
The aim is to get writing, to get ideas flowing and to get something down on paper. It can be junk! There are no expectations, no judgement, no criticism. It can be a personal experience, a creative piece, a poem, anything! It can be short, it can be long, or maybe one exercise won’t work for you and you’ll move on to the next.
If you’d like, you can do these exercises with others, and share what you’ve written after. Remember: no judgement and no criticism! The purpose of sharing is to see what others came up with, to see the variety of ways that people can respond and to perhaps be interested, intrigued or inspired by something that someone else has written. It’s also great to build confidence in yourself and your voice!
Exercise prompts!
Write a piece where all the action takes place in one defined space, such as a bedroom, a cinema or a park. It can be indoors or outdoors, but the action must stay within that one space.
Write a piece where the action takes place on a form of transport (a car, a train, a bus, a bike, a plane, a boat).
Write a piece that is about something you can hold in your hand, such as a toy, prized possession, food, piece of clothing,
a photo…
Describe a family member or friend or someone you know, but limit the number of words in the description to the age of each person. For example, your 51-year-old mother must be described in 51 words, your 23-year-old friend must be described in 23 words, your 14-year-old cousin must be described in 14 words. Don’t just write a list of words, but a description with sentences.
Write a piece where the action takes place over a specific length of time – one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year.
Write a piece where the first word is a question: Why...? What...? Who…? When…? How….? Where…? If…?
Write a piece where each sentence begins with a letter from your name.
Choose one thing in each of the following: a number between 1 and 100, a family member, a colour, an object you’d find in a kitchen, a place you’ve never been. Write them down at the top of your page. For example: 41, sister, red, plate, Perth. Now, use all these words in a piece of writing. It can be anything, a poem, a story, but it must include all the words!
Oh how I can’t stand these nights alone
Wishing that i could just go home
Never thought this is where I’d be
Constantly dreaming of being free
A simple twist of turning key
A little click and the locks on me
I can’t say the way i feel
Surrounded by concrete and steel
I’ve crossed the line from mad to sane
A million times over and back again
No one hears my cries and desperate calls
They just echo off these dungeon walls
Should have known passing through the gate
That once inside I could not escape
Without you i dont think id find a way
To get through the struggles of everyday
When everything just seems so wrong
The thought of you keeps me strong
Whatever torture and heartache remains
Our love will break the chains.
You were never there to tuck me into bed
No, you were never there at night when I was scared
Mama, where were you when I needed you most
Mama tell me why all alone I had to cope
The other kids at school, well they all had a mum
The other kids, the other kids all had someone
I never had a close friend, one to call my own
Our faces are seen above uniforms of green,
We parade in this prison, all shaven clean.
"Another day in paradise", we sarcastically wink,
"We fake it till we make it", we tell our shrink.
We feel like stock on a bar-coded shelf,
Stored, then shifted between warehouses of wealth.
At the mercy of 'sirs';, kids with keys,
Who are half our age, who we need to please.
On our hilltop horizon, some silhouettes appear.
Marching black cattle, grazing on the clear.
A trinity of eagles, wind-surfing thermal waves,
They see both sides of the hill as slaves.
In our prison tents, we queue, single file,
But over the hill, you shop in the same style.
While we crave to return to your 'greener' side,
The eagles see a truth that we all try to hide.
You crave an idyllic pine tree sojourn,
But our star-lit escape costs more than you earn.
You crave spinning windmills where regal eagles reign,
We crave spinning steering wheels and aeroplanes.
You see this tent as Her Majesty's prison,
But the eagle's lens sees a symmetrical prism.
While we bemoan an injustice miscarriage,
You may bemoan a miserable marriage.
Why wallow my walls of incarceration,
Within bedroom walls – your divided nation.
Between each brick you add cement,
When you let the sun set while your heart resents.
We're unleashed when we reach the sentence full-stop.
While you're life-bound to shackles you cannot chop.
Our hill orates its' sermon on the mount,
When we're down, we gaze up at this wisdom fount.
Are you a slave to the debts that never forgive,
While our temporary tent gives us temporary reprieve.
Eagles see paradises, and prisons without bars,
On both sides of the hill, where there's no greener grass.
The voice is beautiful; my lungs fill with a relieved gasp.
I expected a prison sentence.
A feeling of chest tightening, breath weak, metal and voices.
A life of strip searches and beatings.
About Time Media acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands across Australia and particularly acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, traditional owners of the land on which About Time Media is based.
We acknowledge the continuing impacts of the criminal legal system on First Nations people, including disproportionate rates of incarceration and deaths in custody, which remain a national shame.
We pay deep respect to Elders past and present, and all families of those who have lost loved ones in prison.
© About Time Media Ltd.
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