Creative Writing Workshop

A local author was running a workshop on creative writing. It was immensely interesting and engaging.

Right at the beginning, the author spread out before us a number of paint chips, lots of colours, and each colour has a name.  We were asked to select a colour. The one I chose was 'endless shadow' - a soft grey.

The task was to allow the name, and the colour to inspire us. And we were asked to write down as many things, as quickly as possible.  

Several exercises later, I had come up with the start of a story about teenage Ciar (pronounced Keer).  Ciar's elderly dog dies and it's final breath it's spirit leaves the body and become visible - just. The spirit dog is no longer old, but  a curious mix of puppy and mature dog. It invites Ciar to follow, and this starts Ciar's adventure. The dog leads up the mountain side, into thick fog that regularly settles on the mountain. The journey through the mist into the into the land of the People,  the Shining Ones, Themselves.

There's so many cliches!  I've read many stories of teenagers discovering magic and that it lies within them. The spirit guide?! Using mist to travel between realities... And, the end of the story is Ciar doesn't return with the dog, having failed in the fairy quests, but they do return with a greater knowledge of themselves.

The story is set in the Isle of Man, and brings in references to Manx folk tales. Ciar is a red-head with white, white skin, a sprinkling of freckles and green eyes. Perhaps the only non-traditional part of the story is that Ciar is not given a sex nor gender. We just know them as an individual.  

I don't know if I wish to take this story any further given how many cliche boxes I have ticked. It might make a good exercise to complete it though - rather like working on scales and arpeggios when practising a musical instrument. Perhaps it might be a better idea to grab another paint chip and practise working on a story with fewer cliches.