Day 152: Handwriting

Do you think you can tell a lot about a person from their handwriting? Today I wrote in a leaving card at work and I thought it was so interesting that every person who wrote in it had different handwriting. Surely every single person in the whole world has different handwriting! Wow, that makes my brain hurt just thinking about it.

Do you think you can tell if someone is creative by their handwriting? My writing is pretty swirly and whenever anyone sees it they say, 'Oh, look at your handwriting. You can tell your creative.'

Are they saying that because they know I am? Are they just being nice? Maybe what they really mean is, it's messy!

Maybe 'arty' people have swirly handwriting, but people who do fashion or music...surely they don't have swirly writing and I'd call them creative.

I am getting myself in a muddle now! It's something interesting to think about thought...Perhaps more interesting is the way computers force us all to write the same and take away our identities one bit at a time...
(I know, I know. I'm getting over excited now.)

What does your handwriting say about you...?

Day 151: Home sweet home...?

As you can see, I have put up a picture of a tea pot. I think it's pretty cool, but what do they people that own it think?

Who is it? When do they use it? Do they use it? What's their house like? How many people live there? Do they like the tea pot? Where do they live...?

Isn't it great how you can create a character, a life, a story out of just one picture, an object.

Try it yourself. If you don't like the tea pot, find your own object. Search 'front door' or 'duvet cover'. Why not try 'toilet seats'! Anything can get your imagination going and create ideas.

Don't you just love creative thinking...?

Day 150: Story makers

Yesterday I got the bus up to uni. Normally I get the uni bus (makes sense) but I decided to get the 'public' bus and walk up from where it drops you off.

I have a confession. I have always been quite fond of eaves dropping. Usually when I'm on the uni bus I don't bother 'cause all the conversations are the same, about uni work, going out, getting drunk etc. Bit boring really. I've been doing less of the eaves dropping because of this.

In fact yesterday, when I got on the 'public' bus, I wasn't even planning on eaves dropping, but as I was reading this women behind me was talking on the phone and I just couldn't ignore her.

Now, the interesting thing was, I didn't know what she looked like. I didn't notice her when I got on and I couldn't very well turn round and stare at her. She'd think I was weird. So, obviously I invented her face in my mind. As she talked in her incredibly posh British accent, I couldn't help but try and piece her life together.

This is what I got. I presumed the person she was talking to was her sister, who is the only person she can confide in (on a public bus for all to hear). Her father is impossible (perhaps in a home with early signs of dementia). She can't talk to her mother about anything because she'll tell it all to her father (so maybe he hasn't got dementia in a home, but he's just impossible.) Oh and she's a teacher, but hates her job, especially a student called Louise apparently. Daniel is okay though. But maybe they are her own children...

Who knows, eh!

The thing that fascinated me about this conversation was my own need to piece her story together, to create a story, a character...I totally had a picture in my mind of what this women was like and what she was going through, all from half a conversation heard on a bus!

So, today, I encourage you to do a bit of eaves dropping in a public place and see what stories you hear (or is it create?) I'll let you decide that one.

Happy creating...

Day 149: Ben Wilson, the chewing gum man...

I was SO excited when I saw this that I HAD to share it with you. It turns out there's a guy in London called Ben Wilson who goes along the street, finds an old piece of forgotten chewing gum and paints on it! Check out his masterpieces below:

What an incredible idea. It really gives a different slant to painting. I think it would be lovely to walk down the street and see a painted bit of gum on the street. Watch this video if you like what you see. Ben Wilson talks about how his art allows him to work outside and interact with his community, as well as work with what others throw away.

I don't know about you guys, but it makes me think about my own creative work and how I can make it new, fresh and reach out into my community. What could you do with your creativity? Where could you take you ideas?

Because of Ben Wilson, creativity is literally changing the streets of London. Now that's what I call creative thinking!

Day 148: Say what...?

Ok guys. I need your expert creative minds working on this one.

I invite you to fill in the speech bubbles for the picture below. What's going on? Be as creative as you like! What have YOU got to say?

Make up your own stories with pictures and have some fun doing it. See what pictures you can find?

Day 147: Barack Obama

Tomorrow I have to do a presentation. I've always hated presentations. It's not that I'm really bad at them, it's just that I get so nervous before hand. I shake and can't breath properly and my concentration slips...

I'm pretty sure you know what I mean. No one really likes presentations, do they? My teacher told us to look at Barack Obama's talks 'cause he's real good at public speaking. Do you recon he gets nervous?

The one I have to do tomorrow becomes all the more scary because I have read my own creative work out! Scary stuff. Being a writer is cool and all, but I didn't sign up for reading it out...in front of people!

Oh, and I HATE reading aloud.

Just writing this all down fills me with dread, but I wanted to tell you because, well, you've helped me out.

To make it a bit more bearable I have decided to read out one of my daily blog entries (Day 105 in fact). Putting my writing out into the world through my blog has become less scary as time's gone on, so I figure, why not share that with my class?

Basically, I want to say thank you. Thanks all of you who read my blog and leave comments and get inspired by what I write. It's ones of those creative things where I think, 'yep this is worth it.' And, I love it! I'm pretty sure that's what Obama thinks about his work anyway. Here's to hoping my presentation will go as well as his!

I hope you feel encouraged by this entry and enthused to go out there with your creative work. You never know who you might help, and who might help you in return.

Thanks again guys, you are ALL great!

Day 146: Plot vs. Character

Grr! Don't you just hate it when your creative work isn't going the way you want it too? Yesterday I spent an hour and a half working on a really important scene in my latest story and I missed out a REALLY important detail which affects the whole plot and I'm SO annoyed about it! I basically have to rewrite the whole section and I'm running out of time...aarrr!

Rant over, I promise.

What I really want to talk to you about is plot. Is it more important than character development or should the characters tell us (the writers) what should happen...?

My main character Holly has just stolen a laptop right, but the main point is that she accidentally steals a diary too, which is in the bag she uses to get the laptop out without people noticing. The diary will end up being really important to the rest of the story. So what did Holly do? Well, as I was writing it, I kinda forgot all that and she just put it up her hoody, NOT in a bag!

In some ways I think, well, that's the way Holly would have done it, but then where does that leave my story? Either way I have to work the diary into the story somehow.

Some people would tell me, 'stop being so stupid. Holly's not real, you created her, so tell her what to do.' But others would say, 'No, Holly has her own personality that you created and if that's the way she stole it, then that's what's true to her character.'

Tricky. That's what I would say.

What do you think? Do you think I should change it or keep it the same?  It's interesting to think about these things. The deeper you get into your creative process, the more intriguing it becomes. Don't you just love it!

Are you up for the challenge? Get into YOUR creative work and feel it taking over...