An experiment in collaborative creativity
When I first started attending church, there was a little piece of theatre which took place each Sunday. At one minute before the service started the vestry door would open, and the preacher would emerge flanked on either side by the deacons who had been praying with him. It all added to the mystique of the preaching, and elevated the status of the preacher in the eyes of those who saw him emerge in such a dramatic fashion.
We have woven a mystique around writing too. An author is a person who closets him or herself away amidst a creatively chaotic pile of books and emerges later to general acclaim on publication day. Often authors contribute to the myth, treating the writing process as something which ought not to be seen before the moment of the ‘big reveal’. In some ways this is odd, since any author’s greatest desire is to share their ideas and creativity with a wider audience.
I am now embarking on the next stage of my fourth book Jonah: poet in extremis. In it I hope to rescue the story from the children’s Bibles to which it has been relegated, and to recapture its disturbing adult themes. To give you an idea of the kind of thing I mean, there is short excerpt at the end of this post. Will you join me in these final stages of writing? As I squeeze writing and polishing the book in around the other demands of a busy pastorate I could really use your help. I was challenged by a sermon on Sunday about the need to look to each other for support when we need it most.
If you would like to be part of this, then sign up to follow @MrScrimshaw on Twitter. On that account I will be tweeting regular updates on how the writing is going, and those things for which I would value particular prayer. The account won’t be used for anything else, and I shan’t clog up your feed with unnecessary updates. How about it?
Before you turn to the excerpt you might like to know about the name of the group:scrimshaw. In the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries whaling trips could often take up to four years. To while away the long periods of inactivity, many whalemen learnt to carve scrimshaws out of whale teeth, like the one pictured below. These men, known as scrimshanders, were highly skilled – and learnt the secret of creating beauty out of ugliness, and fashioning something worthwhile out of monotony. My particular creative journey is set to take four months, rather than four years- but I hope to create something of worth along the way.
‘With just an animal shriek of blind terror, half torn away by the vicious wind,the prophet, or whatever he was, was gone. The sea left no sign to mark his passing, just a clump of bubbles quickly swirled away. At once the savage wind dropped away and the huge waves died back, as if embarrassed to look on such cowardly inhumanity. A piece of torn rigging pattered, rather than slapped, on the shards of the mast. The hull, relieved to have sustained the onslaught, creaked with each rise and fall of the now gentle waves.’
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February 14, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Strawberries ‘n whales « Richard Littledale's Preacher's A – Z
[…] you’ve already joined the Scrimshaw group (details here) your company would be very welcome for the rest of the […]
March 27, 2012 at 11:59 am
Rev Rachel Wilson
I read ‘pattered’ as patterned (twice).. it’s an unusual word maybe?
and the number of commas is hard to take ..
so (just a suggestion!!!)
‘With just an animal shriek of blind terror half torn away by the vicious wind, the prophet was gone. The sea left no sign to mark his passing: just a clump of bubbles quickly swirling away. The savage wind dropped away and the huge waves died back, as if embarrassed to look on such cowardly inhumanity. A torn piece of rigging patted at the shards of the mast and the hull creaked gently with each rise and fall of the waves, relieved to have sustained the onslaught.’
Now this sort of thing is perhaps NOT what you meant by collaborating.. but if it is.. I like your concept very much and could maybe do this sort of creative suggesting/commenting in between the demands of my ministry. I like taking material and tweaking it.. I used to prepare plain English versions of exam questions for Deaf students and am interested in how things “read” (to the inner ear).
March 27, 2012 at 12:03 pm
preachersa2z
Rachel – thanks so much for taking the time to write this.Don’t be surprised if I come back to you…
March 27, 2012 at 12:03 pm
The loneliness of the Long Distance Writer « Richard Littledale's Preacher's A – Z
[…] of an ‘event’ from which I have no intention of departing early. As explained in a previous post, I am engaged in writing a book entitled: Jonah: poet in extremis. The book’s aim is to […]
May 20, 2012 at 7:31 am
A whale of a sermon « Richard Littledale's Preacher's A – Z
[…] reasons which my friend @MrsScrimshaw will explain (click here), I have been researching the life of Edward Taylor, Methodist preacher. Taylor was born in […]
June 1, 2012 at 11:40 am
Just 75 words « Richard Littledale's Preacher's A – Z
[…] Tomorrow I have a short story (75 words) appearing on Paragraph Planet – one of numerous ‘flash fiction’ sites available. These sites encourage people to write micro-fiction which can then be distributed on the web. I’m all for this, in that it encourages creativity. I’m all for it too, when 75 words seems a lot more attainable than the 20,000 I have yet to write on my next book. […]
July 7, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Freya Morris
Great writing that brought the moment to life. This is something we need more of- retelling. Looking forward to reading more. Happy to help if you need anyone.
July 7, 2012 at 8:12 pm
preachersa2z
Freya. Thanks so much for your lovely comment. Will drop you an email
July 27, 2012 at 1:30 pm
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Any help would be greatly appreciated!