I read an interesting article in the New York Times from October 30, which we got yesterday because of the snow storm the week before. It is called The Lynda Barry School for Drawing Spirals, Confronting Demons, Learning to Sing, Being Terrified and Maybe Becoming A Capital-W Writer. Lynda Barry is the cartoonist and now a creativity guru.
Here are her instructions;
“Think back to early days. Write the first 10 images that come to mind when I say ‘Money.'”
And next, “Choose an image that has some kind of trouble attached to it.”
Trouble made me think about powerful black women like Maya Angelou or Oprah or Toni Morrison.The Color Purple. Lots of TROUBLE there.
She then asks questions to help them find detail: “Is it day or night in this image?” “What’s behind you?” “What’s beyond what’s behind you?”
I like this because it fills in the image with lots of physical detail – makes it immediate and hot. It gets writers into the tissue of themselves. Writing shouldn’t be theoretical. It should make you shiver and dance.
If I give you this word – hands – what are your images?
When I was studying geology it turned out a lot of experts from the early 19th century were “original thinkers,” they made stuff up. Same with the guys who were building the big dioramas in Natural History museums all over the place. They decided stuff for themselves. Africa’s too hot and dangerous, I guess. Even John Muir walked by Native plantings and didn’t see “agriculture” because the soil was unchanged and there were no visible rows.
The Devil Is in the details, and she walks among us, wherever we see her.
the beatles, hands across the water
hands cupping a skull
my brother punching me out, he has beautiful hands
kitten carried in their mother’s mouth – easier done with hands
planting a tree, digging with hands, in the sand, cupping water, closing a door