Image Description: a close up picture of a headless-person wearing a leather jacket and holding a fishing rod. There is a river in the background.
During my stay in Wentworth, I did something I had never done before, I went fishing and I actually caught a fish (it was a carp, so we had to kill it; they’re essentially the fish equivalent of cane-toads). The environment was so different from the one I usually inhabit, so I thought “Hey! Why don’t write down some of it? That way I might improve my Descriptive Skills. Frankly, I’m terrible at describing stuff, however, I figured I would make a Writing Exercise out of the experience.
01. Picture Your Alpha Site (the place where you feel most comfortable and safe) and describe it:
Please Note: This does not have to be a real place, it can be completely imaginary or how you would like your current Alpha Site to look like
My Example: It’s a typical L-Shaped living room in your average suburban home, it’s got the usual things like couches, a TV and entertainment unit, dinner-table and chairs, two desks with desktop computers and it has two overflowing bookcases standing sentry at opposite sides of the room. However, there are a couple of things that make it a little different, like how there’s a fireplace and how none of the furniture matches. The house was previously a rental-property so the biscuit carpet has the occasional stain that makes me wonder “what was that?” and “Do I really want to know?”
02. Picture Your Zulu Site (a place that is the opposite of your Alpha Site) and describe it:
Please Note: Just like with your Alpha Site, this doesn’t have to be a real place, but it also doesn’t have to be the exact opposite of your Alpha Site or the worst place in the world, just different.
My Example: Wentworth Bushland – Red earth with low-lying scrub the colour of moss and smoke. There are white dead trees clawing towards the road like ancient hands. With the exception of the sporadic sighting of a herd of cattle or horses, there is no visible life in the blue bush, not even the blur of a cottontail rabbit.
This changes as soon as the river is within sight, the grass is green and lush, there is a constant canopy of bird-calls and 50 metres from the riverbank, two Wedge-tailed Eagles stand sentry in the dead arm of a tree.
The olive-green water, littered with leaves and bark, sparkles in the afternoon sun. Gum-trees crowd the riverbank like children, pushing and shoving to be the first one to receive dessert after dinner.
03. Is your Alpha Site the place where you like to write? Why or Why not?
My Answer: While I like to write while at my Alpha Site, it’s not the only place. I do a lot of my writing in libraries or in bed, just before I’m about to go to sleep of a night-time. If I go to a library to write, I have to take along my MP3 player and my headphones to listen to music, otherwise, I become hyper-aware of all the stupid little background noises and get distracted.
The problem with writing in bed, just before I go to sleep is that I have to finish what I’m doing; otherwise I will not be able to sleep. I have often stayed up until 3am in the morning, working on a blog-post, because I knew if I quit at 11pm, I’d just stay up all night thinking about it.
What about you guys? What are your writing habits? Please feel free to leave a description of your Alpha and Zulu Sites in the Comments Section or make a Blog-Post about it on your own Blog and leave me a link :D. I’d love to read them.
Ambiguous Pieces 