Bare Bones Writing
The boy was walking through the forest.
It was late afternoon.
He needed to reach the village.
He heard a voice calling.
He went to investigate.
The light was fading.
He thought he saw a shadowy figure up ahead.
He walked deeper among the trees.
He felt nervous but curious.
He came to a small house in a clearing.
He went inside.
Rationale: Whenever we hear or read a sentence we conjure up a mental image that contains many more details than the sentence itself provides – this is the power of our imagination.
Activity 1: Read or show the first sentence to your group, then ask them to write down or discuss what they were imagining, in as much detail as possible – colours, sounds, scents, textures etc.
Activity 2: Continue by saying / reading the other sentences in the list. These suggest a vague narrative. Working in pairs or small groups, ask open questions of one person in each group – who, what, where, when, why, how – to open up the story line. The best frame of mind is to be 'relaxed yet alert', just noticing mental impressions that appear as responses to the questions.
Tip: Don't bombard the person visualising with questions. Allow time between each sentence for impressions to be gathered.
— Steve Bowkett.