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| Attendants at the Creative Writing for Academics Workshop at Bournemouth
University. Some hold copies of the photograph from which they created a
story. |
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The most frequent advice from Kip Jones to
participants was “Flip it!”
“Flip it!”
–Kip Jones’ most frequent workshop advice
Recently,
27 academics, some from as far away as upstate New York and Dublin, gathered for
the
Their goal was two
days of experimentation with writing techniques to engender more creative
outputs in their academic writing.
The
conclusion of one participant reflected the sentiments of many:
"The Creative Writing for Academics
workshop turned out to be a great experience, more than expected!!"
and was promoted
thusly:
“This unique event isn’t a typical writing
retreat (with trees to hug and lots of time to ruminate), but a very active
experience with exercises, suggestions and supportive feedback on participants’
work…”
Instead of taking 30 minutes or more to
go round the room and let
everyone make an introduction (listing job titles,
universities,
theses topics, etc. ad
infinitum), Jones asked attendees to take
15 minutes and write their life story on a
postcard instead.
This is an exercise that comes directly from Michael Kimball’s
work, Michael
Kimball Writes Your Life Story (on a postcard).
Kimball is an American novelist whose writing Jones admires.
A few examples from Kimball’s postcard book were
shared
with the group. Each
participant then wrote her/his own life story
on a postcard; afterwards, some
of the attendants then shared
their stories with the group.
Jones then
explained tags, log lines and treatments—copywriting techniques used in
advertising and film-making.
The
Workshop as a Logline: Participants
were challenged to write their “Life on a postcard”,
they were introduced to
creating tags and log lines; homework was to write a poem based on a dream.
Next, they created a story from a photograph. Finally, they shared their
stories with others
who had used the same photo. (50 words)
Tag: “Artistic
types take their time … in an Italian trattoria.”
Participants
then had a go at creating tags and loglines for academic articles that they
brought with them.
This was an
exercise in using simple sentences, reducing content to its essence and
creating copy
that could be used in titles and the body of articles, in blogs
and on Twitter.
Jones
used a relaxed and open-ended process throughout the workshop. Francesca Cavallerio’s
extended feedback report
captures the essence of the responses of many to this approach to the workshop:
I enjoyed the freedom that came from writing
creatively, without prescriptions. Having no other goal than the story/poem
itself was intimidating initially, but then turned into an amazing experience.
I think (the workshop) allowed me to discover a few things about myself and the
way I write. Also, by listening to what others wrote, and realizing how many
different ways of writing exist, and how much I enjoyed each of them, gave me
an increased sense of freedom and possibility
I was expecting more “directions”, tips
on “how to use creative writing in academia”. But now that we are at the end of
the workshop, I think I can see why it was organised in this way. Yesterday, I would have said, “Yes, I
wanted to be guided more”. Today, I am actually very happy of the structure and
everything I learned, felt and experienced here. –Francesca Cavallerio, St.
Mary’s University, Twickenham.
The
last morning of the workshop consisted of reading some of the poems that were
written overnight.
Attendees then chose from amongst 11 black and white photographs. The brief was to write a story
about what the
photograph was about. The only instruction was that often a photograph could
represent
the moment between what led up to the event captured and what might
happen next. The group took
the rest of themorning to write the photo-based
1,000 word stories. After lunch, they assembled in
groups of three (each group
having chosen the same photo) andcompared stories and outcomes.
“I feel a sense of satisfaction in
having written a life-story postcard, a poem and a short story—all very
personal.” –Anne Quinney,
Bournemouth University
The
workshop was envisaged as a way to help academics with publishing in the wider
world of blogs
and online outlets, moving work to mixed media,
auto-ethnography, and even fiction, radio and film.
Jones gave ideas of the
kinds of blogs and even journals that are receptive to creative academic work.
He shared experiences with his own outputs and finding like-minded editors with
whom to work.
The
intellectual exchanges encouraged joint exploration on how academics can engage
with principles
and tools from the arts in order to
expand and extend their possibilities of dissemination of their work.
Concepts of
creativity itself evolved and were transformed by participants’ outlooks and
willingness
to engage with unfamiliar territory. These processes comprised a
‘facilitated learning’—in that
knowledge was gained as a secondary goal through
a process of developing new relationships.
This was achieved through individual
and small group problem-solving and self-examination,
grounded in personal past
experience and knowledge.
Recently, 27 academics, some from as far away as upstate New York and Dublin, gathered for the Creative Writing for Academics with Kip Jones
at Bournemouth University (BU). Their goal was two days of
experimentation with writing techniques to engender more creative
outputs in their academic writing.
The conclusion of one participant reflected the sentiments of many:
“The Creative Writing for Academics workshop turned out to be a great experience, more than expected!!”
The two-day workshop was organised by BU’s
Centre for Qualitative Research, and was promoted thusly:
“This unique event isn’t a typical writing retreat
(with trees to hug and lots of time to ruminate), but a very active
experience with exercises, suggestions and supportive feedback on
participants’ work…”
- See more at:
http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2016/02/25/flip-it-kip-jones-most-frequent-workshop-advice/#sthash.hR1DqZja.dpuf
Recently, 27 academics, some from as far away as upstate New York and Dublin, gathered for the Creative Writing for Academics with Kip Jones
at Bournemouth University (BU). Their goal was two days of
experimentation with writing techniques to engender more creative
outputs in their academic writing.
The conclusion of one participant reflected the sentiments of many:
“The Creative Writing for Academics workshop turned out to be a great experience, more than expected!!”
The two-day workshop was organised by BU’s
Centre for Qualitative Research, and was promoted thusly:
“This unique event isn’t a typical writing retreat
(with trees to hug and lots of time to ruminate), but a very active
experience with exercises, suggestions and supportive feedback on
participants’ work…”
- See more at:
http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2016/02/25/flip-it-kip-jones-most-frequent-workshop-advice/#sthash.hR1DqZja.dpuf
The
most frequent advice from Kip Jones to participants was “Flip it!”
“Flip it!” –Kip Jones’ most frequent workshop advice. - See more at:
http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2016/02/25/flip-it-kip-jones-most-frequent-workshop-advice/#sthash.hR1DqZja.dpuf
The
most frequent advice from Kip Jones to participants was “Flip it!”
“Flip it!” –Kip Jones’ most frequent workshop advice. - See more at:
http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2016/02/25/flip-it-kip-jones-most-frequent-workshop-advice/#sthash.hR1DqZja.dpuf
Attendants
at the Creative Writing for Academics Workshop at Bournemouth
University. Some hold copies of the photograph from which they created a
story. - See more at:
http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/2016/02/25/flip-it-kip-jones-most-frequent-workshop-advice/#sthash.hR1DqZja.dpuf
