QuickWrite of the Day #25: What place is this, anyway?

"Writing can be used as a vehicle to express ourselves as we negotiate the journey through our lives” (Gallagher, 2011: p. 24)

Today’s QuickWrite of the Day:

Russian writer Anton Chekhov once gave this advice about writing: “Don’t tell me the moon is shining, show me the glint of light on broken glass.” In other words, show your reader what’s happening, don’t tell! 

 Joyce Sutphen seems to have taken his advice in her poem ‘Things I Know’, part of which is shown below:

In this poem, the sights, smells, sounds and feelings of farm life are described, but not once does the poet say the speaker of the poem is on a farm. Instead, she lets her descriptions paint a picture in readers’ minds. 

With this in mind, choose a room or space in your house, or another place that is special to you.  Describe:

• What it looks like

• What it smells like

• What it feels like

• Anything you might taste 

• What it feels like 

Don’t give away the name of the room/place or give clues that are too obvious!  

Have a go at writing a ‘Things I know’ poem, a riddle or a paragraph that describes what it’s like to be in that place. Optional: read out loud to someone to see if they can guess the room or place you have written about!

Want more QuickWrite topics? Check out the slide deck here, or see it in presentation mode on our Resources page.

Happy writing!