Back in the early 1900's, a technique was invented by the Surrealists of that time. It was very similar to that of Picture Consequences - which I'm sure at some time you've all played. I know I have. The techinique was given the name The Exquisite Corpse, for an obvious reason...as you will see!
A group of people are all given a sheet of paper.
On the very top they have to write 'The' and an adjective. Fold over the paper to hide the words, and pass it along to the person on the right.
Write a noun. Fold it over. Pass it on.
Write an adverb. Fold it over. Pass it on.
Write a verb. Fold it over. Pass it on.
Write 'The' and an adjective. Fold it and pass it.
Write a noun. Fold it and pass it.
Everyone reads out the sentence they've got.
The Surrealists first sentence read:
'The exquisite corpse will drink the new wine.'
Pretty cool. Huh?
So. That was the exercise my writers group did this month. We also decided to come up with a short story based on the sentences we ended up with!
My sentences are:
The smoky classroom noisily grazed the colourful candlestick.
&
The delicate carpet grumpily meandered the black underpass. (I like this one best.)
Give it a go. It's a fun way to spend a cold winter's night.
With a glass of wine of course!
Today's Word Count ~ 675 :)
Intersting device. I have a book called Exquisite corpse by Poppy Brite.
ReplyDeleteCharles ~ Is the book anything to do with the Surrealists technique?
ReplyDeleteHi Akasha, long time no see.
ReplyDeleteWe used to play this with our children and had loads of fun. Some real good lines came out of this game.
We did the same exercise years ago at the writer's group I used to attend. It was a good prompt for odd ideas.
ReplyDelete