While I’m still hip deep in trying to finalize the first SFD of The Secret Life of Raymond Ellison, still some twenty-five scenes or so from that lofty goal of lower-level-crap, I’m still making it to the twice-monthly writers’ group meetings.
One thing that I’m still getting to grips with is how many different roles fit into the notion of ‘being a writer.’ Leaving aside novel genres, like sci-fi and horror, and skipping over non-fiction, almost anything that involves putting words together to serve a rhetorical goal – or to simply entertain – it all qualifies.
Yesterday evening’s exercise was not one I would have chosen, but sometimes those are the more enlightening. I think it’s when we go outside of our normal range and do things we wouldn’t normally, our minds work in differently creative ways. Anyway, Renga is a sort of poetry game that stitches together five consecutive stanzas, written by different people in the group, that follow rules. The odd ones – the first, third, and last – are in haiku, that is five, seven and then five syllables. The even ones – the second and fourth – are wakis, that is two seven syllable lines.
Those are really only guidelines, unless someone insists on outright pedantry, and the only other rule is that the prompt for each stanza is the stanza preceding, except for the first, which has its own simple prompt. The end result is a poem whose stanzas all link together but in anything other than a deliberate form.
Here’s yesterdays, just for fun.
The wake of the swan
Ripples across the calm lake
Engines rip the peace
The lake creates a
Sense of anger released
The wind whips wildly
The ducks head quickly to shore
The weeds hide them silently
The sound of rain parading down roughly
The thunder and lightning raging and cracking
The bell rang so loud
But nobody heard it toll
The raindrops still fell
That last stanza was my contribution to the effort.
I hope you enjoy your week!
Categories: Uncategorized, Writing, Writing Exercises
Andrew Wellington 
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