Exploring the Writing Process
Today we had a class about the writing process, and how to properly explore our ideas and write down before we begin to judge and critique our own work. We did a few writing exercises such as writing about anything that pops into out head for 10 minutes. We then had to write about something we knew, like an experience or memory in as much detail as possible. We then had to write about a location that we hadn't visited before, which was more based on our imagination and what we could write that way. The final exercise was combining the experience that we experienced with the location we wrote about. For me I found it kind of difficult with the last task at first because I had chosen to write about my bad experience flying on a plane that nearly crashed, and my location was an old mystical library, which I found hard to combine. Eventually I decided that the library was being transported in a fantasy like airship flying through rough weather, which I somehow managed to make work.
We didn't get a chance to proof read or edit our work, we were just encouraged to write as much as we could. In the 3 lots of 10 minute working periods, these were the stories I managed to write:
The restless feeling of sitting still for 2 long hours. The interior of the plane was now very much familiar to my eyes. The cheap seats located down the back allowed you to look all the way down the corridor, the middle seat could barely see the mountain ranges as we began the descent. It had been bumpy the whole way from Auckland to Queenstown. An unexpected trip for bad reasons, I just wanted to get home. I felt so tired, my eyes were heavy and itchy, but I was on edge from the constant jostling and bumps of the plane, the constant whirring of the engines, the hushed chat of other passengers. I had been up since 5 in the morning, had been in a car for 5 hours. We were so close to landing and then it would be a 2 hour drive home. I could sleep, I wouldn’t have to worry anymore, and life would carry on. At least that’s what I remember thinking, but the weather had other plans. The pilots voice dinged through the intercom. It was gonna be a bit of a bumpy landing. The knot of fear in my stomach grew, but I just wanted to get on the ground. That’s when the swaying started. The plane lurched from side to side. You could feel the tension in the air growing as the chatter of the plane decreased. Everyone was looking out the windows as the mountains below grew closer and closer. The swaying increased and the plane began to drop. That terrible feeling in your stomache, that cold sweat felt unbearable. Please just let the plane land. It continues to grow worse. You can hear the worried whispers of the passengers around you. Mothers are trying to hush their crying children. It seems to go on for minutes as the plane continues to drop closer and closer to the mountains below. You’ve watched enough Air Crash Investigation to know how this could end. Trying to get the images of charred pieces of airplane scattered on the mountainside is hard enough when your travelling in a metal tube towards a tiny patch of concrete surrounded by mountains and winds upwards of 1oo kilometres an hour. The plane dives unexpectedly again, and the whirr of engines that almost managed to blend in with the background noise turns into a roar. I felt myself get pushed into the back of my seat as the engines were maxed by the pilot, and the plane began to ascend from the sharp jagged certified death of the mountains below. I think to myself how I never want to experience that again for the rest of my life. The silence of the plane then erupts with chatter from the other passenger. 2 hours of ignoring the people surrounding you can instantly be forgotten by the cause of one near death experience. The plane continues to climb and the topic comes up. Are we gonna have another go at it? Will they divert? Where are we going now?. At this point, the 1 hour 50 minute flight was approaching 2 and a half hours due to the terrible weather. and the passengers were becoming restless. As the ascend continued for what seemed like an eternity, the pilot spoke again over the intercom. He apologised for the aborted landing, and announced that we were going to try it one more time. The mood of the plane instantly soured as people looked concerned. This was not gonna be good. We were granted the hope of not being smashed into a mountainside, only to be forced to endure it once more.
In the centre of the room there happened to be a large futon, a comfy circular pillow around the size of a queen bed. Warm light streamed down upon it, creating a halo of light around the area. Its golden hue reminded you of sunlight but looking up you couldn’t seem to see the sky or any signs of the outside world. The air was warm and filled with dust, and in the large hall you were surrounded by tall shelves filled with a variety of Knick knacks, objects and books. These shelves reached slightly taller than your head, and stretched on in a radial like pattern, the centre of which being the red couch. You couldn’t seem to see the end of the shelves, as they stretched beyond the light coming from the centre, and the rest of the building was either dimly lit or hidden completely by shadows. Running your finger along the shelves revealed a thick layer of dust, but the objects and books were otherwise undamaged. A soft music seemed to play faintly through the air, but came from no particular direction, and was barely audible unless focused on. Looking upwards a dome roof loomed overhead, standing out of the direct light from the middle of the room allowed you to see faint beams of light shining through cracks in the red toned ceiling, in certain places vines had started to wind their way down to the library below. As you walk further down the row of shelves, your footsteps reverberated off the cobble stones underfoot.
The weather forecast hadn’t been good, but the fate of the ancient library was at risk in its current location, and the only window to get it removed was today. The airship had managed to make it off the ground and was sailing smoothly into the sky’s equivalent of a warzone. Standing inside of the dusty, but mainly intact great hall was a challenge in itself, But I did not envy the pilots, who had to stay above the roof area to steer the massive freight through the coming storm. The light that usually shone through the main skylight grew dimmer and dimmer as the cloud coverage increased. While usually you could look up and see the sky, now the only thing visible was the balloon of the airship, carrying the large building to its new location. I knew we had hit the first incoming wall of bad weather, as the floor began to sway underneath me, and the various trinkets made clangs and clinks as they bumped into each other. I stumbled, and not wanting to fall on the ground or be crushed by toppled bookshelves, decided to sit on the main rounded futon and hold on for dear life. The whirring of the engines could be heard at a distance far above me. Most likely hard at work to steer the ship away from the worst of the storm, and to keep the structure lifted high enough to not scrape the forests below, or perhaps the oceans. I was unsure of our current location, the library having no windows, and the now dim light from the roof only reaching so far. I didn’t want to risk bringing a lantern down here in case it happened to get knocked over during the transit, and starting a fire. It had the potential to destroy everything that countless people had worked so hard to obtain. The swaying continued, and the rock back and forth became somewhat normal after the turbulent weather continued for minutes. Looking around the room I could see movement along the bookshelves, but the gentle swaying did not worry me yet, as they were very bottom heavy, and all the shelf’s contents had been carefully strapped down prior to departure. The uneasiness in my stomach continued to grow. It would be nice to have a view of the outside world but having to stand out in the cold rain and gusty winds was not favourable. The dim light of the library was somewhat comforting, and despite the awful storm outside, the ancient building had managed to retain most of its heat. All the movement had managed to unsettle mush of the dust though, and particles could be seen floating through the air when caught by what little light managed to seep in from above. The library had been put on one of the newest and largest models of airship in the fleet, so I worried very little about the ship being able to transport the building, even though the domed roof and stretching shelves made it seem so grand and wonderful. Checking my pocket watch, I could just manage to make out the time. We were due to land in approximately 20 minutes, but it was likely that the poor weather had delayed as a great deal, plus being delayed with taking off was not likely to help in that regards.
We didn't get a chance to proof read or edit our work, we were just encouraged to write as much as we could. In the 3 lots of 10 minute working periods, these were the stories I managed to write:
The restless feeling of sitting still for 2 long hours. The interior of the plane was now very much familiar to my eyes. The cheap seats located down the back allowed you to look all the way down the corridor, the middle seat could barely see the mountain ranges as we began the descent. It had been bumpy the whole way from Auckland to Queenstown. An unexpected trip for bad reasons, I just wanted to get home. I felt so tired, my eyes were heavy and itchy, but I was on edge from the constant jostling and bumps of the plane, the constant whirring of the engines, the hushed chat of other passengers. I had been up since 5 in the morning, had been in a car for 5 hours. We were so close to landing and then it would be a 2 hour drive home. I could sleep, I wouldn’t have to worry anymore, and life would carry on. At least that’s what I remember thinking, but the weather had other plans. The pilots voice dinged through the intercom. It was gonna be a bit of a bumpy landing. The knot of fear in my stomach grew, but I just wanted to get on the ground. That’s when the swaying started. The plane lurched from side to side. You could feel the tension in the air growing as the chatter of the plane decreased. Everyone was looking out the windows as the mountains below grew closer and closer. The swaying increased and the plane began to drop. That terrible feeling in your stomache, that cold sweat felt unbearable. Please just let the plane land. It continues to grow worse. You can hear the worried whispers of the passengers around you. Mothers are trying to hush their crying children. It seems to go on for minutes as the plane continues to drop closer and closer to the mountains below. You’ve watched enough Air Crash Investigation to know how this could end. Trying to get the images of charred pieces of airplane scattered on the mountainside is hard enough when your travelling in a metal tube towards a tiny patch of concrete surrounded by mountains and winds upwards of 1oo kilometres an hour. The plane dives unexpectedly again, and the whirr of engines that almost managed to blend in with the background noise turns into a roar. I felt myself get pushed into the back of my seat as the engines were maxed by the pilot, and the plane began to ascend from the sharp jagged certified death of the mountains below. I think to myself how I never want to experience that again for the rest of my life. The silence of the plane then erupts with chatter from the other passenger. 2 hours of ignoring the people surrounding you can instantly be forgotten by the cause of one near death experience. The plane continues to climb and the topic comes up. Are we gonna have another go at it? Will they divert? Where are we going now?. At this point, the 1 hour 50 minute flight was approaching 2 and a half hours due to the terrible weather. and the passengers were becoming restless. As the ascend continued for what seemed like an eternity, the pilot spoke again over the intercom. He apologised for the aborted landing, and announced that we were going to try it one more time. The mood of the plane instantly soured as people looked concerned. This was not gonna be good. We were granted the hope of not being smashed into a mountainside, only to be forced to endure it once more.
In the centre of the room there happened to be a large futon, a comfy circular pillow around the size of a queen bed. Warm light streamed down upon it, creating a halo of light around the area. Its golden hue reminded you of sunlight but looking up you couldn’t seem to see the sky or any signs of the outside world. The air was warm and filled with dust, and in the large hall you were surrounded by tall shelves filled with a variety of Knick knacks, objects and books. These shelves reached slightly taller than your head, and stretched on in a radial like pattern, the centre of which being the red couch. You couldn’t seem to see the end of the shelves, as they stretched beyond the light coming from the centre, and the rest of the building was either dimly lit or hidden completely by shadows. Running your finger along the shelves revealed a thick layer of dust, but the objects and books were otherwise undamaged. A soft music seemed to play faintly through the air, but came from no particular direction, and was barely audible unless focused on. Looking upwards a dome roof loomed overhead, standing out of the direct light from the middle of the room allowed you to see faint beams of light shining through cracks in the red toned ceiling, in certain places vines had started to wind their way down to the library below. As you walk further down the row of shelves, your footsteps reverberated off the cobble stones underfoot.
The weather forecast hadn’t been good, but the fate of the ancient library was at risk in its current location, and the only window to get it removed was today. The airship had managed to make it off the ground and was sailing smoothly into the sky’s equivalent of a warzone. Standing inside of the dusty, but mainly intact great hall was a challenge in itself, But I did not envy the pilots, who had to stay above the roof area to steer the massive freight through the coming storm. The light that usually shone through the main skylight grew dimmer and dimmer as the cloud coverage increased. While usually you could look up and see the sky, now the only thing visible was the balloon of the airship, carrying the large building to its new location. I knew we had hit the first incoming wall of bad weather, as the floor began to sway underneath me, and the various trinkets made clangs and clinks as they bumped into each other. I stumbled, and not wanting to fall on the ground or be crushed by toppled bookshelves, decided to sit on the main rounded futon and hold on for dear life. The whirring of the engines could be heard at a distance far above me. Most likely hard at work to steer the ship away from the worst of the storm, and to keep the structure lifted high enough to not scrape the forests below, or perhaps the oceans. I was unsure of our current location, the library having no windows, and the now dim light from the roof only reaching so far. I didn’t want to risk bringing a lantern down here in case it happened to get knocked over during the transit, and starting a fire. It had the potential to destroy everything that countless people had worked so hard to obtain. The swaying continued, and the rock back and forth became somewhat normal after the turbulent weather continued for minutes. Looking around the room I could see movement along the bookshelves, but the gentle swaying did not worry me yet, as they were very bottom heavy, and all the shelf’s contents had been carefully strapped down prior to departure. The uneasiness in my stomach continued to grow. It would be nice to have a view of the outside world but having to stand out in the cold rain and gusty winds was not favourable. The dim light of the library was somewhat comforting, and despite the awful storm outside, the ancient building had managed to retain most of its heat. All the movement had managed to unsettle mush of the dust though, and particles could be seen floating through the air when caught by what little light managed to seep in from above. The library had been put on one of the newest and largest models of airship in the fleet, so I worried very little about the ship being able to transport the building, even though the domed roof and stretching shelves made it seem so grand and wonderful. Checking my pocket watch, I could just manage to make out the time. We were due to land in approximately 20 minutes, but it was likely that the poor weather had delayed as a great deal, plus being delayed with taking off was not likely to help in that regards.
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