::mslexia workshops::

Write on the Wild Side #17
a writing workshop with Margaret Wilkinson

THEME: 'HIT & RUN'

INTRODUCTION

Short prose and long poems

‘WE'RE well-grounded in a fine tradition of British crime writing ranging from Dorothy L Sayers and Ruth Rendell to John Grisham: but the models may lead us to choose a rather formulaic approach to the ‘hit and run’ theme.

The object of these exercises is to challenge methods we might be inclined to adopt. For prose writers there’s an exercise in economy, encouraging you to try the poet’s craft of brevity and intensity rather than opting for a plot-heavy whodunit. Poets – for whom the subject itself may present a new challenge – are urged to engage with the narrative of prose and extend to 40-50 lines.

EXERCISES

#1
For prose writers: a poetry exercise
The scene of the crime
Find a photograph of a place, an interior or exterior. It’s best if the image does not have anything apparently to do with crime and is not obviously menacing. Choose an ordinary visual, such as a magazine photograph, or a postcard.

Examine the evidence
Consider the photographic image as the scene of a crime. Construct a caption to accompany the visual using only 10 words. A good caption not only
identifies the picture – it suggests something more. Think of one that might appear in a tabloid. Aim for stark and mysterious. If you’re working in a writing group, pass your caption (without the visual) to another writer and get theirs (without their visual). Write on from the caption alone.

Write slow
See this scene through the criminal’s eyes. Start as late as possible. Try to describe the briefest period in time – a mere sliver – from the moment the criminal takes out the weapon to the moment he/she begins to wield it, for example. Find your moment – then write. You may actually need to decelerate your prose to achieve brevity, so follow the criminal in slow motion. Concentrate on observation, description and action rather than reflection or explanation. Explain nothing. Then add just one line, at the end or in the middle of your piece, that tells the reader exactly what’s happened and why.

Write up close
Retaining the photo, list everything you can see in it. Try to suggest the crime simply by compiling a list. Next choose one item on the list as representing the whole sordid event and describe it. Only the object, not the event, but try in your description to convey something dark. Then add one line to the middle or end of your piece, telling the reader how and why this object is significant.

Less is more
You may have already achieved a short sharp piece of prose by re-focusing your prose-writer’s eye on the moment, the object, the action. But if you want to stick with a more traditional narrative you may have to cut, cut, cut. Cutting is a terrific discipline.

Where to cut
The exercises emphasise showing over telling. Don’t show and tell. Frequently prose writers suggest something then ruin the subtlety by adding an explanatory telling voice: ‘Her hands shook as she opened the envelope. She was really nervous.’ Do you really need to tell us she was nervous? Let the reader do some detective work.
Other cutting techniques to try? Get rid of all the adjectives and adverbs. Or, make accidents happen by attempting to dispose of every other line.

Poets might adapt these exercises by describing the crime scene from the photograph then recounting a series of events as if retelling a dream – that is, without explanation or reflection – but using the language of a dream.

#2
For poets: a prose exercise
Restaurant menu approach: the narrative
Most crime needs a criminal, a motive and (possibly) a victim. Start off with a character – a farmer, a lover, a child. Add a motivation – revenge, attention, greed. Find an action that expresses that motivation. Keep it simple. Someone greedy might steal. Someone after revenge might kill. Mix and match from the following lists choosing two characters from column A (protagonist and antagonist – criminal and victim); a motivation from column B, and an action from column C.


A	B	C
Farmer	greed	steals
Child	attention	torches
Jilter lover	desire	kidnaps
Neighbour	jealousy	mugs
Birdwatcher	fear	poisons
Bride	grief	shoots
Miser	shame	knives
Tourist	paranoia	strangles
Stripper	excitement	smothers
Motorist	ambition	drowns
Builder	boredom	assaults
Priest	anger	runs over

Obstacles, obstacles
Obvious story lines begin to present themselves. In order to heighten the drama, look for obstacles to the main character (in this case the criminal) achieving his/her aims. For example: motivated by revenge a farmer wants to burn down a neighbour’s barn but cannot do so because it is full of young lambs. Maybe he/she burns the barn down anyway. Write a brief synopsis of the events – no more than a paragraph.
From this simple sequence of events choose a series of images (using all the senses) you can explore. For example: the weather that day; the sloshing can of petrol; the smell of hay; the bleating lambs; the farmer’s sore knees; a disputed fence; a felled tree; wire cutters.

More is more
Following a character and their actions (determined by motivation), putting an obstacle in the way, then finally describing an outcome – through images – is a way poets might try to engage with narrative. The story is hidden. It is expressed through ideas and images, through use of language, repetition, tone, texture.

Prose writers might imagine a prose narrative from the menu provided. Instead of seeing the story as a series of images, break it down to three simple sentences that describe in as few words as possible the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Think of each sentence as a newspaper headline ‘Farmers In Dispute’; ‘Barn Burns’; ‘Sheep in dramatic rescue’, then write on.