Wednesday, July 02, 2014
Are you listening?
When writing, do you pause and listen? I’m sure you listen
to your version of The Muse, but I’m talking about listening to sounds around
you?
Right now, for example, I’m writing at home. As I pause and
listen, I hear the whir of the ceiling fan, the hum of the refrigerator, the
occasional click of the heating element on the coffee pot.
Including sounds in writing can make our pieces more
authentic and more pleasing for our readers.
As a musician, I often hear rhythms in common sounds.
Car blinkers, for instance, beat a regular tempo. Hayden and I often sing or
rap to the blinks as we drive around. Makes the car ride much more fun!
I also love to listen to sounds in nature. We just bought
six outdoor chairs. This summer, Hayden and I have spent time outside in the
evenings having ‘conversations.’ After popsicles, we often talk about books we’re
reading for the summer reading program at the library.
She just read one about catching lightning bugs in a jar.
Last night, the glowing insects were our topic of conversation. She found a
couple of glass jars to house the bugs when we find them. I enjoyed listening
to the summer evening. I heard crickets, frogs, breezes, trucks chugging down
the road, and more.
I like to go a step further and attempt to identify places by
the sounds heard there. Do you? Did you come to our workshops at the Callahan
Branch Library or to The Sweet Spot? How would you describe the sounds at both
locations?
‘A Sound I’d Never
Heard Before’
I’ve been leafing through old journals, and I found this
piece from October, 2010. I wrote it based on the 10-minute writing prompt
listed above.
I wouldn’t call it a screech or a crash. It was more like caterwauling.
Was it human? Could technology make a sound like there? Probably!
I
decided I’d get out of bed and investigate. I reminded myself not to look at
the clock. I knew it was the middle of
the night, and I didn’t want to know what remnant of rest time remained. I’d already been up twice with my two-year-old
daughter.
I
heard the sound again as I stepped into the kitchen. The fridge? No, my husband
fixed the ice maker. Neighbors? No, it sounded too close to be coming from next
door or across the street. Could it be coming from my daughter’s room? I had made sure all
windows and doors were locked before going to bed.
“Aaaeeeiiiouuu.
Aaaeeeiiiiooouuu.” The sound kept repeating itself. In my dreamlike state, I
imagined all five vowels stringing themselves together to torment consonants. “Aaaeeeiiiooouuu.”
I
moved through the living room headed toward my dauther’s room. We had no cat, no dog, no bird, no hamster, no
ferret.
I
stepped into her dark room and heard measured breathing. She was okay, and she
was asleep.
“Aaaaeeeiiiooouuu.”
The
sound and I were about to meet. I flinched as my right big toe hit a block left
on the floor. I turned toward the toy bin. “Aaaaeeeeiiiooouu.” I heard it again, but it seemed softer.
I
fumbled through plastic cars and Tinker Toys, trying not to wake my daughter.
Then, I felt an old hand-held cassette tape recorder I had let my daughter play
with that day. With dying batteries, it played the last thing recorded on the
tape. It was my daughter’s voice repeatedly trying to say, “Meow!”
Writing questions
1.
How often do you include sounds in your writing?
Why or why not?
2.
When reading someone's writing, do you
enjoy experiencing sounds they include?
3.
What are your favorite and least favorite
sounds?
4.
What are your thoughts about silence?
Writing exercise
During your writing time this week, make a list of 5-10
sounds you hear. Try to include at least three of them in a short piece of
writing. Need a prompt? How about the one I used: a sound I’d never heard
before….
Please feel free to share your piece, your answers to the
above questions or your comments here on the blog or on our Facebook page.
Happy writing!
~Nancy
