Writing Exercise 9: Playing with Sound

This writing exercise is invented so that you can have fun with the sounds of words.

 Stage 1.
Make a list of at least ten words whose sounds you like. Just think about the sounds. Don’t think about the meaning at all.
If you have a dictionary to hand, open it at random on any page and read aloud all the words on that page. Write down any whose sound you like. If you don’t have a dictionary choose the fourth letter of your name and spend a few minutes thinking of words beginning with that letter. Write down the ones whose sounds you like.

 Stage 2.
Write down five colours. What would each of them sound like if they had a sound attached. Describe each as if it were a sound.
Think of something you like wearing. If it got up and walked across the room, what would it sound like?
Give one sound to each of the months of the year.
What might darkness sound like? What might light sound like? 
What sounds do you associate with the arrival of Spring?

 Stage 3.
Gather all the notes you have made and re-read them. See if you can make a poem or story drawing on some of the words in some or all of your responses. Concentrate on the sound of what you have written.

 Stage 4.
Read what you have written aloud. Think about where you need pauses and spaces between the words. Concentrate on the sound first and then on the meaning. Write out what you have written indicating all the pauses and spaces. How long should each pause last?

 Keep editing what you have written for as long as you like or as long as you feel you need to. Keep enjoying the sounds of words.

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