Tuesday 19 April 2016

Reviving rant exercise

Summer term -- revving up? Or running out of steam? Or some of each? Here's some fuel and some news.

NEWS first: on my Paxton Publishing website I used to post a termly freebie extract exercise from Creative Writing the Matrix (or Quick Matrix in ebook). But that site has now morphed into a more pukka independent author-publisher website. It features the two Matrix books and the 9th May 2016 publication of The Extraordinary Dr Epstein paperback. click here to have a look. It's pretty, with photos of the Chiswick House and Gardens famous camellias and magical glass house. Gardener par excellence Joseph Paxton is my inspiration.

So... I will now put the termly freebie exercise extracts here on this blogsite. Starting with...

THE RANT
This is a short, energy-filled exercise that requires absolutely no preparation on your part. Have students list five pet peeves, things that really bug them, like people who litter, marketing phone calls etc. Or tell them to list household chores you loathe. Then direct students to choose one, and let rip in a rant, pen on paper (much more freeing than fingers on keyboard). Encourage them to be as wild and exaggerated as they like. If you wish, start them off: I can't stand people who... OR I really hate it when...  

What's the point? This is great fun for letting off steam. And when read out, good for laughter in class. There's a lot of power in the negative. The extremes could also be the basis for a neurotic, eccentric or weird character.

The Rant is exercise 36 in paperback and 38 in ebook; PS you can see lots more on Amazon's Look Inside feature here. The print book, with 116 exercises and lectures, is available only in the UK. The ebook, worldwide. Besides that, there are loads of exercises not in either book here in this blogsite. Just scroll down to the blog archive and call up Exercises on the Labels list. Have a good end-of-year and a happy creative summer. See you in September -- early enough for prepping.

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