Post #215 – Memoir Writing – Matilda Butler
Writers: Make Use of Call and Response
Do you know about call and response?
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first.
I encountered a creative use of the musical concept through a group of artists in Corvallis, Oregon. Each year, the small group decides on an overall theme. This year it was Opposites. Next the group comes up with individual themes within the larger topic — New/Old, Light/Dark, Near/Far, Empty/Full, Open/Closed, In/Out, Tame/Wild. And finally each artist is given one of these pair of opposites as the inspiration and creates in her or his chosen medium. That’s the CALL.
A month later, when the pieces are completed, each member of the group gets one finished artwork to take to her or his studio and contemplate. What does the piece say? Not the original theme, but the piece itself? What is the artist’s RESPONSE? That response becomes the second artist’s inspiration to create. A month later the pieces are brought together and exhibited as a series of Calls and Responses.
Well, not quite. This year, the fifth time the group brought together their pieces, they decided to invite a small number of artist friends to also respond. The theme at that point became Opposites Attract Friends. All the pieces, including a video of a dance inspired by the artist who’s work in glass represented Light/Dark, were exhibited. The pieces continue to echo as individual Calls and Responses for the audience who visited the gallery.
Memoir Writing Prompt
If you are part of a writing group:
Writing Prompt #1:
#1(a) When your group is next together, discuss a common theme that might be fun or interesting to write about as your Call. Try a single word or phrase. This helps to leave it open to interpretation. The more detail you put into the theme, the less room it will allow for creativity.
#1(b) Then each person takes the theme and writes her own piece based on her unique inspiration. If your group has a joint writing time, use the Call for the exercise. Otherwise, let the Call result in pieces that are read at your next meeting.
#1(c) After reading your piece, pass it to the person on your right. She’ll write her own piece that is inspired not directly by the theme but by your piece. This becomes the Response to be read at the next meeting.
If you write on your own:
Writing Prompt #2:
#2(a) Rather than creating your own Call, look at your bookshelf. Scan the titles and find one that is evocative for you. Use the title as your Call. Write a piece based on the way the book’s title inspired you.
#2(b) Next open the book to the first page of the first chapter. Read it as if the author has written it as her initial piece based on a theme as expressed in her title.
#2(c) Take that first paragraph as if it has just been handed to you by the person on your left. Write a piece not based on the book’s title but the particular way the author opened to the book. Does it bring back memories to you? Does it cause a rush of emotions to surface? Whatever way you react to the first paragraph, write your own Response.
