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Wednesday 1 March 2017

Experimental writing

At writing group yesterday one of the ladies is taking a creative writing course. It might actually be a Masters, I can't remember but it's at a local university. Anyway, what she said really made us laugh. She has been studying experimental writing. She hates it. It's not her but her tutor is full of enthusiasm for it. She had to write a story with these elements. She was stuck and asked someone for advice. Just write anything, whatever comes into your head and makes you laugh she was told. So she did. She explained how she stuck some words in bold and left them in strange arrangements on the page any old way - no thought - and wrote random lines as they came to her. The whole story made us laugh it was so crazy. My final question as I pulled myself together was 'What about editing?' Her look prompted a 'Did you edit?' She said no. She sent it in as it was. Her tutor raved about it and gave her a good mark!

We thought about how long we spent editing our stories and poetry, taking out a word, putting it back, rearranging a sentence and changing punctuation. What we really need to do is write in the experimental way and give editing the heave-ho. Sorted!

None of us at the writing group can understand experimental writing. It's a bit like the pile of bricks, the unmade bed and various art pieces I look at and think a child did it.  Like my friend I could not write in this way except for a laugh, to (excuse my language) take the piss. While our group had the biggest laugh ever, this lady's tutor was taking it all very seriously.Takes all sorts, I guess. Anyone have thoughts or comments on experimental writing? Someone convince me it means something!

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