In Chapter one Davidson and Fraser discuss defamiliarization, concrete versus abstract images, showing versus telling, improving, and keeping a journal. How has your journal already affected your writing or your perspective of writing (I find myself writing often and paying attention to the language I hear on the streets, in films, etc). In the past have you written each day or in small bursts? What does this say about your process or how you work? Do you thrive with the blank page or with a nudge? If you need a nudge, how do you think you could approach their concept of “improv”ing? Do you need prompts? (If you do, don’t worry; that’s temporary). Have you noticed trends or focuses in your writing (mine didn’t leave my childhood house for about a year). Why do you think poetry thrives on concrete language?
In Chapter two Davidson and Fraser detail form and formlessness, question and answer techniques, and expansion and contraction methods. Do you work better with the challenge of forms or the flexibility of formlessness? What do you prefer to read? Are you skilled with expansion or contraction? What do you need help with? Why is one or the other difficult for you? (I am much better at contracting than expanding. I prefer tight language and adding more is difficult). Have you tried the Q&A exercise? (I did, with Nick McRae in my 2060 class.) How might it help or hurt you? What other exercises could you use to spark your writing?
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