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Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726
Published by:
Pif, LLC
PMB 248
4820 Yelm Hwy SE
Suite B
Lacey, WA 98503-4903
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Two Truths and a Lie : Page 1, 2, 3
"The Best Secrets Dismantle Your Sense of Self"
Write down your biggest secret, the worst thing you have ever done or are most ashamed of. The purpose is not sadistic but to find a story of great personal relevance. Once you have your real story down, fictionalize the painful elements while retaining the emotion. If nothing else, this exercise forces writers to pick a story too compelling to set down once they’ve begun it. It teaches the importance of high stakes in fiction.
-exercise from Susan Magee, lead quote from Gordon Lish
"Free Write Your Perceptions"
This exercise can be done alone or in a group. Read the following aloud three times:
The five colors can blind.
The five tones deafen,
The five tastes cloy.
The race, the hunt, can drive men mad
And their booty leave them no peace.
Therefore a sensible man
Prefers the inner to the outer eye:
He has his yes, — he has his no.-Lao Tzu (translated by Witter Bynner)
Afterwards, concentrate on what you smell – only on what you smell – and record in free write style (in prose, poetry, nonsense, listing) your perceptions. Take about 2 to 3 minutes to write. Then concentrate on what you heard, again free writing your perceptions. Move then to taste, to touch, and last to sight. Afterwards, if you’re working in a group, share your work with the group. Consider in what way your writing was influenced by Lao Tzu’s words. Look carefully at your poem (and at each others’ poems), searching for echoes – in form, sound, meaning, figurative language – of Lao Tzu’s poem. This exercise allows room for the writer and yet insists that the writer be responsible to craft as well as to inspiration.
-exercise from Victoria Clausi
"Interview Your Character"
Interview the main character(s) of your story, and decide on one secret that only you know about the character – something that you don’t tell in the story but that informs it. A few interesting questions are: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done? Do you think you’re smart? Have you ever been attracted to a family member? Have you ever cheated on your taxes? Do you believe in God? What do you hope God will say to you when you die? What do you want to be in five years? Have you ever been arrested? What do you do to "numb out"? If you could tell your mother anything, what would it be? What is your favorite food? What is your favorite curse word? What is your biggest fear?
-exercise from Jen Bergmark with a combination
of her questions, Rick Moody’s, and mine
