Structure
- Intro
- Introductions around
- Expectations
- Generate zine, available for free as site/pdf, or for tips
- Lead with some haiku
- Go into what a haiku is (not just 5-7-5)
- Exercise 1:
- Show some images
- Attendees should pick two things they notice from each image, aim for a bit of contrast
- Write those two things on two lines, as much as they want
- Images and sensations vs metaphor
- Haiku as minimalist evocation of sensations using only images
- More appropriate structure:
- About 12 stressed syllables
- Two images
- Can include a volta, often relating to seasonal imagery
- Minimal language usage
- Concrete evocation
- Exercise 2:
- Turn those two images into a haiku
- Remember, doesn’t need to be 5-7-5, though don’t let that stop you
- Evocation in fiction
- When to use metaphor, when to use concrete evocation
- Utility of surprise
- Exercise 3:
- Leading with your haiku, write a short (<500) word scene in prose that turns this into a story
- Try to evoke the same sensations/moods that the haiku did
- What can fiction lend to haiku?
- Characters (in the loosest sense) within images
- Directionality between two images, maintaining tension within haiku form
- Exercise 4 (if there’s time):
- Take two images from your scene and turn them into a haiku
- Pay attention to what you gain and what you lose in terms of sensations
- What can you bring back to fiction?
- Suggest that you can start this series of exercises in the other direction (fiction -> haiku -> fiction) too
- Conclusion