Sunrise Classroom #2 (BLUE)

1. Was is it difficult to complete the above assignment (part two) without ‘explaining’ or telling the situation?

Yes. There were things that I had to stop myself interpreting. Like the man on the phone. He sounded so upbeat, and I was sure he was talking to his child, but they were my interpretations of what I heard, so it was more than just an observation of sound.

2. Did the exercise trigger your imagination, make you want to write about any of the characters you reported on?

Well, I kind of did - a little. I took the member of staff, who I thought looked like she really didn't want to be there and put a spin on it for the first part of the assignment. I don't travel much without my mini-beasts in tow, and this exercise reminded me how much I love people watching. It seems natural to me, to observe someone and build a back story for them. When my littlest is at pre-school a bit longer, I intend to visit some local coffee shops and get back into the habit of just watching the world. How incredibly thought provoking is the world around us? 'Very' is the answer, and I had a lot of fun rediscovering that fact!

3. Which of the 5 senses focused on in this lesson did you find easiest to use in your Part one of the assignment? Which is the toughest to add in a story?

Sight. It's as if I'm designed for data-capture in this way. Is everyone else the same? I almost have to stop looking and focus on listening. Sight is so dominant that it was almost too easy to not notice the rest without a concerted effort. It certainly made me think about whether I need to reassess my writing todate. Is it all visual, visual, visual? In which case, I need to appeal to some of the other senses. I found taste the hardest. I need to explore more multi-faceted ways of approaching the whole taste thing. If I write that something is 'chocolaty' how do I make that come alive more? Everyone knows what I mean by chocolate, but it's rather one-dimensional. I'm not used to thinking like this, so I'm looking forward to stretching my creative thinking in this area a little more.

4. Take a moment and look at a few of your pieces in your portfolio. Now that you've conditioned your mind to focus on sensory details, do you see any areas in your work where you might apply what you've learned in this lesson? Explain why or why not.

I think I've already answered this above. I need to think about being more rounded in my approach. Sight and sound flow quite easily. The remaining three need me to give them a bit more attention. The exercise on the train really helped me to concentrate on those weaker areas. Now, I just need to keep them in my mind when I'm writing my next creative endeavour.

Kx