Object writing:
This method focuses on your senses, by writing about an object but not focusing directly on it. There are a choice of seven total senses (smell, sight, sound, taste, touch, body and motion). By using these your writing is driven by free association, meaning that the object may only be a starting point. It often leads to writing about personal experience, causing the lyrics to become relatable. Object writing is most effective when timed. This helps to motivate you and prevents you from becoming bored of writing. It can also be split into sections (what, who, when and where). (Pattison, 2012)
I think this would be a good method to include in our workshop as it is done to a timescale and means we could easily fit it into a slot during one of the sessions.
My practice of this method:
I set a 5 minute timer when doing each of these examples, which I took from the challenges in the book. Below is what I came up with:
CRASH –
Speed. Sun blinds him. Careless and tired. Sudden heart stops. The orange blur. Crossroads. Summer heat stings. Pain searing. Snap of bones and metal. The crowd forms and blue lights flash. Screams and sobs fill the air. Shock surrounds. A broken family. The loss of a loved one. Uncertain death. therapy denied. anger, fury, yelling. Fear and overprotection. “Look before you cross!” “Be safe!”
BALLERINA –
Twirl! Again! Pada bu re! En pointe! Pirouette! The demand to look elegant. A swan, a princess, a doll. I am an actor, not just a dancer. My feet bleed. I get dizzy. Smiling through the pain. The stage is my home. I live for this. the fame and fortune is worth every ounce of pretty pink princess shielded pain. Little girls want to be me. The company calls me a Primadonna. I am needy but I dance like an angel so they let me stay. Hair scraped back, slick, tight. Makeup painted on with precision.
SIX IN THE MORNING –
Sunrise. My eyes are still open. They feel dry from lack of blinking. I stare and thoughts run wild. A bright lights stings my sight. A message. Regret filled and painful to read. Sweating, shaking, crying. Losing it all. Tick. Tock. Clock seems even slower. I should have been asleep. Suddenly exhausted. Then the alarm erupts. I roll my eyes, yawn and reach out to slap it. My gaze is still locked on the ceiling.
ON THE BUS –
A whoosh sounds as hydraulics push the doors open. I am greeted by a middle aged man, he smiles. Beep. my pass scans and I head toward a seat. Bodies surround me. On the left nowhee is empty. It is a sea of bodies. On the right a single grey leather clad seat remains. Step by steady calculated step, I reach it and collapse into it. Next to me, an elderly lady sits. Sadly she stares out of the window. he smell of home cooked meals and sweet perfume engulfs me. Reminding me of my grandmother. A strict and loving woman. My best friend. We would take the bus together twice a week. Tuesday to shop for food.
(Pattison, 2012)
The cut up method:
“In 1959… applied the montage technique to words on a page.”
“Brian copied out phrases from newspapers and magazines then took his scissors and cut these selections into pieces and rearranged the fragments at random.”
(Jones, 2015)
This method can be good for when you write songs that you like but could be improved on or for things such as diary entries. You cut out the lyrics or words that you would like to use and then arrange them into an order that you feel is best.
This method will not be good for our workshop as we don’t have things to cut up and it could be very time consuming but I think that I may try to use it in my own lyric writing.
Stream of consciousness exercise:
The life coach directory says, “Stream of consciousness writing is an exercise that involves you getting a notebook, picking up a pen and just writing. You ignore punctuation, style, grammar, format… anything that stops you from writing.” I really enjoy using this method because it helps me to get all of my ideas down on a page and eventually they start to make sense as lyrics or lyrical ideas. However, this exercise will not be effective during the workshop as it is time consuming and works differently for individual people.
(The benefits of stream of consciousness writing – Life Coach Directory, 2013)
Bibliography:
Jones, J., 2015. How David Bowie, Kurt Cobain & Thom Yorke Write Songs With William Burroughs’ Cut-Up Technique. [online] Open Culture. Available at: <http://www.openculture.com/2015/02/bowie-cut-up-technique.html> [Accessed 10 March 2020].
Pattison, P., 2012. Songwriting Without Boundaries. Cincinnati: Writers Digest Books.
YouTube. 2011. Cut-Ups William S. Burroughs. [online] Available at: <https://youtu.be/Rc2yU7OUMcI> [Accessed 10 March 2020].
Lifecoach-directory.org.uk. 2013. The Benefits Of Stream Of Consciousness Writing – Life Coach Directory. [online] Available at: <https://www.lifecoach-directory.org.uk/memberarticles/evoking-a-great-sense-of-release-the-benefits-of-stream-of-consciousness-writing> [Accessed 12 March 2020].