Creative Writing Corner

Language Barriers

The language barriers that exist throughout the world and even around our own homes can be frustrating and can throw up huge obstacles toward understanding. There's also no lonelier feeling than being surrounded by people who don't speak your language; you can travel to a new place and easily find yourself without a hope of being understood by anyone you meet. The arrogance of some tourists, who expect others to speak their language, usually doesn't help the isolation and disconnection that can come from different languages.

I think all this is very fertile ground to be explored in fiction, and I've taken a stab at it recently. A story that ended up in my creative senior thesis, whose working title was "Language Barrier", was about a young woman in love with a man whose first language is French. Though his English is excellent, the girl feels isolated by a part of his life that she will always be excluded from -- his French family and childhood, the language he thinks and dreams in first, the language he will most probably teach their children so that she will be an outsider in the family unless she learns it.

Language really can be a significant barrier to understanding among people, but it doesn't have to be an un-crossable one. My main character attempts to find some way to find insight into her lover, and eventually manages to see some deeper sides of him that don't require language. They are isolated from each other at first, but through a few trials, learn to communicate. It may prove inspiring to you to think about language as a potential story catalyst. Who speaks different languages in your story, and who is unable to communicate with whom? What does it mean about the potential for very different characters to connect?

Photo of the Week

, originally uploaded by amaiak00.

This is an excellent shot to get you writing because of the amount of ambiguity and mystery concerned with what's happening in the shot. It's your choice to interpret this in a grim, cheerful, or other way.

Photo of the Week

, originally uploaded by De La Luz.

I'm not sure what's happening in this photo, but it manages to look both dynamic and mysterious. That's a hard balance to strike! Try writing something about it.

Photo of the Week

Calabogie Mist, originally uploaded by Younes B..

A terrific, haunting shot of wintery ice and trees here. Sometimes I do think winter shots are more conducive to inspiration than summery ones just because they can be so moody. Hope it gets you inspired!

Photo of the Week

5***** Stars Urbex Hotel, originally uploaded by Batram.

This urban, burnt-out setting is certainly evocative; there are a lot stories that could have taken place in this photograph. What do YOU want to write about it?

Photo of the Week

White, originally uploaded by Fr Antunes.

The stunning detail of this shot reminds me of that wonderful William Blake quotation, "...to see a world in a grain of sand/and heaven in a wild flower, / hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour..." Hopefully this will get you writing this week.

Mini-Post: Wordle of My Thesis

The craze that's circling my school right now is to make attractive, artsy-looking Wordles out of blocks of text. I made a Wordle of my entire senior thesis. It's interesting to see how large the names of my characters loom; but I'm also a bit pleased with other good, solid words that are recurring. Enjoy!

Imagine a Different Life

It's been a while since I suggested a writing exercise, but a good one occurred to me this week. It all started when I was thinking about how my parents, being French wine importers, have raised me and my sister in an environment that is rather saturated with wine. We were both encouraged to taste wine at a young age and taught to think of wine as the quintessential adult, mature drink. When partaken of responsibly of course, wine was simply the thing to drink once you became an adult. Any dinner party or social gathering wasn't complete without a good glass of wine. Then I contrasted that with the family of a friend's, which doesn't drink. I suddenly found it a little hard to imagine what this family drank at the dinner table and what a party might be like without the requisite wine discussion.

So this week, try to put either yourself or your character into a different life. What would happen if your character had been raised in a loving family instead of an abusive one? What if he had grown up in a different country, in a different religious tradition, or a different culture? What if he had grown up with parents of a completely different temperament and personality? This week, imagine a different life for your character and try to write about how he/she would have been different. It may change all of the choices he or she makes in your story, from what person to be with to what job to seek. If you imagine a life with more challenges and setbacks for your character, it could give your story the extra conflict it needs.

Photo of the Week

, originally uploaded by inverselive.

This photo has a strong sense of both character and place. There's a lot to describe, but it's just mysterious enough to let you run wild with your own ideas. Good luck!

Photo of the Week

Life in twenty-first century, originally uploaded by Lazyousuf.

I love the action of this photograph -- the hurried nature of the little bird, running briskly along with no time for the dramatic landscape behind. Does it inspire you this week?