Creative Writing

 CREATIVE WRITING

Creative Writing

Maisarah bt Muhd Zamri (0335576)

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This post is only the exercises, because my lecturer suggested a different site to compile our assignments.

Click here for proper writing  -> Assignments

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Exercise 1 - Short story

We had to write a continuation of an existing short story. The short story was about a little girl, Myop, who went on a small adventure on her own and discovered a body on her way back home. The genre of the continuation is up to us and we can write about literally anything, but we must start the continuation with the ending line of the story, whish is "Myop laid down her flowers."

            Myop laid down her flowers. Her little fingers found their way to the rusting buttons that were barely attached to the strings of the overalls and clutched onto one of them and with force, she yanked it off of the worn piece of clothing. Feeling as if the flowers were a fair exchange for the button, the little girl headed home with skips in her steps, her new treasure securely kept in her pocket. Myop showed off to her mother what she had managed to scavenge during her adventure, flaunting the button like it was a gold coin. She showed so much fondness to the small item that her mother sewed it onto her favorite dress.

            Now, whenever she would put on the dress, a man so tall she could barely see his face who apparently was only visible to her would linger quietly around her. Although she couldn’t see his face, she could feel his stare. The man had never done anything nor spoken to her; merely watching with what could be nonexistent eyes. ‘A guardian angel looking out for her’, the naïve little girl thought. It was daunting at first, but having a large guardian angel made her little self feel safe. She wished she could ask her guardian angel what the red line that was starting to appear on her neck meant.

Explanation, bc I'm pretty sure this lil snippet is quite vague especially the second half: 

Myop found the body under a tree -- it was already decomposed, so she was non the wiser. The body's clothes hadn't yet gone, and the girl picked one of the buttons off the clothes and thought she should give something back in return, therefore making the exchange of her flowers for the button. Unbeknowns to her, this resulted in a little haunting by the spirit of the man whose button she kept. 

    The man died of hanging, and his body was left rotting away until his head detached from the body -- which is why Myop sees the man as "so tall she couldn't see his face" -- because he doesn't have a head. The little girl innocently thinks that the spirit was benevolent because it never does anything to her, but the red line that was starting to appear on her neck indicates the the spirit is slowly killing her the way he died.

Exercise 2.1 - Monologue

We were going to do a monologue and had to pick a persona. We were called on randomly during class and had to introduce ourselves as the character we've chosen and then answer questions asked by our peers, still posing as the character. I was one of the poor souls that got called on.

Noire: I’m Noire. I’ve recently joined a pirate crew and am now on a journey around the world. I’m not sure why these people decided they wanted me as part of their crew, but I took up their offer, because I wasn’t going to spend the remainder of my life in a cave. It’s been fun so far. I get to feed on enemy pirates who attack us so I don’t have to hold back when I drink their blood. Oh, right. I suppose I should mention that I’m what humans call a ‘vampire’.

Questions I received and answers I meant to gave (from what I can remember):

Do yo have a favorite type of blood?

= I prefer type O.

What was it like the first time you drank blood?

= I was born a vampire, I've been drinking blood since I could remember, so I really don't know how to answer this. It's like if I asked you, "how was your first time eating food?"

Why did you choose to become a pirate?

= Where I'm from, there aren't a lot of people, so I didn't have the luxury of drinking blood to my heart's content, since I would be killing them off too quickly and would eventually cause my own starvation. So when these pirates showed up and invited me into their crew, I thought, "What do I have to lose?"

(The answers here are more fleshed out because God forbid I speak properly in class.) 

Exercise 2.1 - Monologue prompt

We were given a list of prompts and were supposed to use the prompt line as either the opening or closing of our monologue. This monologue will only be a short one. I chose "Guess who came back?"

Guess who came back?

That asshole who tried to kill me last night. Can you believe it? He just wouldn’t let it go. It’s not like I sucked his friend dry; barely got anything from him. So what the hell does he want now? He comes in, hands ablaze, and goes on about how me trying to avoid starvation is wrong. Who on this Earth does he think he is to deny me the right to live?

Feedback: Apparently my character is a gangster now :') In my head Noire's a pretty chill vampire (but this particular monologue takes place when he was angry) but I guess the way I dressed and how I delivered my lines just came across as a street rat mugging an innocent passerby :''')

Exercise 3.1 - ( Haiku / Limerick )

We had to write either a haiku or a limerick referring to a movie of our choosing (amongst 5 listed movies) and I wrote two haikus taking inspiration from the movie "Ring."

1. Creepy video,
   A girl peeks out from a well—
   Shit, am I cursed now?
2. Watched the creepy tape
   She's climbing out the well now
   Guess I'll die next week.

Exercise 3.2 - Poems ( Visual / Acrostic )

This week we learnt about visual poetry and acrostic poems, so naturally we had to write one using the style of our own choosing (between the two). The subject matter depends on us. Obviously I went for the easier one and did an acrostic poem with the subject matter being my dumb cat.

An orange feline. 

Its fluffy tail swaying,

Shifty eyes scanning around.

Hissed as the tiny devil appeared,

And chaos ensued when the cockroach flew.

(Aisha is my cat's name)

Exercise 3.3 - Poems ( Sonnet / Ode )

So we were told to write an ode to something essential in our life. And if there's one thing that keeps me looking forward to life, it's the long running shounen anime by the name of "One Piece." I am a weeb, and I'm not ashamed. If you haven't a clue what One Piece is, then you might not fully understand the poem.

Ode to One Piece / Eiichiro Oda

A god-given treasure produced in Japan,

No one is allowed to question the genius of One Piece.

Literally the most important piece of literature known to man,

Naruto, Dragon Ball, and Pokemon have f*cking nothing on this masterpiece.

Slander this work of art and I’ll condemn you to hell

Because you don’t understand how essential this is to my existence;

Honestly, I’d sell my soul to Eiichiro Oda if I could.

I suppose at this point you can already tell

That the weekly updates really be testing my patience,

And when it’s up I’ll go f*cking nuts, as I should.

        Oda can make you leap with joy,

        Or he can make you cry.

        That one time he killed off a special boy,

        He left me wanting to die.

        Oda can write backstories that will pull on your heartstrings,

        He can illustrate depressing moments that will create a hole in your soul;

        Hell, he can make you bawl your eyes out over a f*cking ship.

        Oda’s magnum opus will make you feel so many things,

        So be prepared for you won’t be able to keep your emotions in control

        As we follow the future Pirate King on his adventurous trip. 

Notes:

* Eiichiro Oda is the author of One Piece

* 'Future Pirate King' is the main protagonist of the series

* 'Special boy' is my favorite character. I still breakdown whenever I see him on screen ;;;;; (he still appears in flashbacks)

** Would've written an ode all to him if I was creative enough ;;;

* I ain't joking when I say you'll cry over a ship. If you watch/read One Piece, ya know what I'm talking about

** I legit would've written so much more but I just can't come up with pretty words and rhymes

Exercise 3.4- Poems (Lyrical)

We went into our assigned groups and made a short lyrical poem. 

I had so many expectations

I lost my strength without knowing

My soul sinking without a clue

All these disappointments, what can I do?

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H6CUWsOPXA - music used)

Exercise 3.5 - Poems (Narrative)

Our lecturer provided a few images of recognizable figures (fictional and real) and we had to write a narrative poem about one figure of our choosing. One of the figures just happen to be Deadpool, my favorite Marvel character. So naturally I had to write about him.

He goes by the name Deadpool,

An experiment gone wrong, ended up being undying.

While his sarcasm might come off as cruel,

Disliking him is a lie I’m not buying.

        ‘Merc with a mouth’ is his nickname,

        For he never stops rambling.

        He’s still charming all the same,

        Even when his junk is out dangling.

If you opt to insult him instead,

The last thing you’ll see is the suit of black and red.

He’ll break the 4th wall and put a bullet in your head,

Or maybe he’ll cut you up and burn your parts in a shed.

Extra

This is a sonnet I wrote for the group assignment, but wasn't included in the anthology. The theme is reality bites. NGL, I'm kinda proud of this piece :) 

“Oldies”

You had never sat under the sunlight, 

Recalling when she was a skydiver.

Because that isn’t how you see her, right?

She’s just some regular ol’ grandmother. 

        You don’t care when he used to be a knight,

        Established from the great lands of Japan.

        Because that isn’t how you view him, right?

        He’s only seen as another old man. 

Never  bothered with what they were before,

Everything being brushed off as just rumors.

Who cares if they’ve flown planes or robbed a store,

To you they’re all just a bunch of boomers.

        Wouldn’t be long till you’re just like them, though,

        Because the next gen is waving hello.