Time for exercise number two.
So far we've explored the concept of time from a very personal view point, your first memory, a defining moment in your life. But time is inclusive of the whole of humanity, in fact time is created by people. It is a very human idea and it is shared by every person on the planet. When major, global events occur, newsreaders often say 'the world stood still' to describe how the event is shared in the psychology of humans as a species. This shared knowledge is even more present with the advances in media and telecommunications. Assassinations, massive terrorist attacks, natural disasters all imprint themselves on individual time lines whilst being a part of something more collective, a shared history. But it's the descriptive elements that make history worth looking at, and it makes every event original, personal. Nobody can view what you have viewed, nobody else can interpret something the way that you do. Description is a brilliant tool for creating empathy in others, if you can describe something so that another person can see it vividly in their own minds,then you are able to share more effectively the common time line.
This exercise is in three short parts.
For this exercise I want you to think of a major event that 'shook the world'. Then remember where you were and what you were doing when this event took place. You can write in whatever style you wish, but I'd like you to have a clear separation between the three parts.
Part one:What were you doing before the event took place. Were you doing something hugely significant, getting married, doing a bungie jump? Or maybe just the ordinary pottering that we all do. Tell us what you were physically doing, what your main concerns with your own life were, what was happening in your world, who were you in love with. What were you thinking about.
part two
Now tell us what the event was, how did you react to it, immediately and later on, what were other people doing, was everyone like you? How did you feel. What tensions were present? How did it affect you physically?
Part three Now look at what was happening immediately after. Did it change you? Did it change your family? Your view points? Was it a catalyst for what happened next in your life? Did you feel a connection to others?
The only thing that I'd like to stipulate here is that these are descriptive pieces. I don't necessarily mean that everything has to have three words attached to present it to the reader, more that I want it to be as if you were trying to create a picture in someone else's head.
Hope you get something out of it.
wendy
