poetryclass - poetry workshop

In The Beginning

The Idea

The idea of this workshop is to deal with the blank page and a blank mind.

How do we get started?

We cannot always wait for inspiration to strike. In this workshop I teach the participants how to create your own inspiration.

The Result

Find the beginning of an idea for a poem or a story. Follow the thread of the idea through and end up with a poem or prose of your own.

How To Get There

I suggest that we approach the writing as a physical activity.

First of all we need to focus our mind and our attention. For example if you were going running, you would think about wearing comfortable clothes, the right shoes, where to run. You would start with a warm up and then go for the run.

So this workshop will be in three parts:

1. The Focus In
2. The Warm Up
3. The Main Part

What It Involves

For each part of the workshop I use music to help the participants relax, warm up, the emphasis is on the physical because this helps the mind relax and start doing what it does best if not under pressure, create thoughts and ideas.

1. The Focus In

We centre ourselves and think about where we are, i.e. the classroom, the hall. What we are going to do leaving all else outside the door.

The music in this part should be relaxing; it could be meditation, classical anything which will help to relax.

I make sure that everyone has his or her pens and paper for writing handy.

I tell everyone to sit comfortably or even lie around if we are in a school hall. With eyes closed I suggest that everyone trust me and just let the music take them wherever.

The music should last about two to three minutes, when it finishes I tell everyone to stay with their mood and write up to ten words, only words on their papers. It doesn't matter if they can only think of one or two or even none; they just have to try.

This is timed, not more than two minutes.

After the two minutes, I ask everyone to read out the words they have come up with. The idea of this part is to create a word bank. I encourage everyone to take any word they might like the sound of as they listen to each other. At this point it's important that we don't spend too much time dwelling on the words. This part has to be short and snappy.

2. The Warm Up

This is where the fun begins.

The music is a medley of lots of different sounds you can move to, if the participants feel relaxed enough with each other. I get them all to get up and do whatever moves they would like to do. People are always shy at first and by the end it's hard to get them to stop. Lots of fun.

The time is about 3 to 4 minutes.

Again at the end of this I get everyone to do more words, maybe they have remembered a place or a memory because of the music or because of the mood, whatever I tell them to grab the words off the tops of their heads and get them onto paper. They can even start putting down more than words, sentences are allowed.

This time I give them about 3-4 minutes to write what they want. At the end we go round the group again. This time people can take their time and tell us where the words are coming from.

At the end I tell them to think about the music, the rhythm, the repetition, all these things as they start to expand on what they have in their words.

3. The Main Part

By now everyone has started writing so the problem of the blank page is gone. I don't mind if people want to work in groups or on their own. We have a discussion about what they might write, poem or prose. I help them decide and then this is where they can have up to 15 minutes to find a space to sit in and write that poem or that story.

I wander about helping, listening until it's time to get back together.

For this sitting in a circle is great, encouraging the reader to stand up and perform is always good.

I get everyone to clap and comment if there is time.

Everyone has a poem, a prose, at least a beginning of what they might go on to write later.

key stage 2/3/4	· poetry lesson
Anjum Malik

Anjum Malik