The playful way to serious writing : an anything-can-happen workbook to inspire and delight

For anyone who has ever dreaded the blank page or struggled to find something to write and then agonized over how best to write it, or has simply found writing to be hard work, The Playful Way to Serious Writing breaks down common writing barriers and frees the writer within. Drawing on extensive experience in teaching creative writing and a lifetime of free artistic expression, Roberta Allen, novelist, short story writer, and author of Fast Fiction, has created a unique book of writing exercises packed with hundreds of verbal directives and visual cues. The key, Allen says, is ENERGY, "the force behind the words, the desire to bring forth something that has never before existed." Allen's ENERGY METHOD, which focuses creativity without interruption or that nagging inner critic, can be used for any type of creative effort at any level -- stories, novels, plays, memoirs, sketches, journals, and more. Attractive, engaging, funny, and free ranging, The Playful Way to Serious Writingis more than just a writing guide -- it is an endless sourcebook of ideas and a trusted creative companion.

For anyone who has ever dreaded the blank page or struggled to find something to write and then agonized over how best to write it, or has simply found writing to be hard work, The Playful Way to Serious Writing breaks down common writing barriers and frees the writer within. Drawing on extensive experience in teaching creative writing and a lifetime of free artistic expression, Roberta Allen, novelist, short story writer, and author of Fast Fiction, has created a unique book of writing exercises packed with hundreds of verbal directives and visual cues. The key, Allen says, is ENERGY, the force behind the words, the desire to bring forth something that has never before existed. Allen's ENERGY METHOD, which focuses creativity without interruption or that nagging inner critic, can be used for any type of creative effort at any level—stories, novels, plays, memoirs, sketches, journals, and more. Attractive, engaging, funny, and free ranging, The Playful Way to Serious Writingis more than just a writing guide—it is an endless sourcebook of ideas and a trusted creative companion.

Publishers Weekly

Were a creative writing professor and a kindergarten teacher to conspire on a writing guide, it might look something like The Playful Way to Serious Writing: An Anything-Can-Happen Workbook to Inspire and Delight. In a big font that looks remarkably like a school teacher's penmanship, Roberta Allen (Fast Fiction; The Dreaming Girl) espouses the ENERGY method of finding your inner voice; it is, she says, a way to break that shell of fear, bypass the inner voice that stops you and lose yourself like a child in the magic of creating. Suspension of cynicism is required, of course: write about what an FBI agent would think of your life, or choose a letter that has the most ENERGY and pen a story featuring words starting with that letter, and Allen is there to warmly cheer you along. (Sept.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Starting Out What is the ENERGY Method? How it works How to know when a word or image has ENERGY How to rebel How to use the exercises How to choose the exercises Splotches What is her secret? Pick a letter Why is she smiling? Six Figures Moments Looking Inward How far back can you go? Memories More memories Whose memory is it? False memories Still more memories Two sides of the story A safe place Objects not directly related Pick a fear More fears Still more fears What will happen here? Found objects Realizations Life-shaping events Found objects Woman sitting Decisions More decisions Still more decisions What does he want? Desires Dreams Imaginary dreams Looking Outward Pick a letter Who and where? Loose lines Three ways to explore characters or real people Ten ways to get a piece or project unstuck Pick a character Who have I left out? Who and where? Getting physical Minor mishaps Shades of gray Pick a problem More problems What is his problem? One or two? Solutions Mixed feelings Emotional states More emotional states A stranger Mirror monologue Mouth piece Eye piece Found objects Combination piece Hair piece What’s in the box? Is she “real”? How are they connected? Four silhouettes Who is she? One of three women Pick a name Before . . . After . . . Who is he? Where and who? Looking All Around Pick a place More places A real place Another real place Islands What was lost here? A primeval place Dream space Twenty-four figures More inspirations Pick two numbers What do they smell? What does she smell? A bad taste? Eavesdropping Sound piece Pick an action Pick an issue Pick an animal Pick a noun More lines Drawing lines Cryptic writing Looking Ahead Now what? How to run a Playful Way group Acknowledgments