Week 3: Return from the magical world

Return from
the magical world

We started
off the writing workshop with our usual check-in. Everyone had to describe
their week as restaurants, and we had a diverse selection: a small, but busy
restaurant; a restaurant resembling Santa’s workshop; a restaurant full of
geometric shapes/modern art and bland food; a restaurant where everything is
eerily nice, such as too soft chairs and only slightly sour food.

Both groups
did Buzzy Bees, then a fun, fast-paced game of Disaster Chain, where the
writers had to free-write for two minutes about something utterly mundane,
until Frankie would give them a plot twist they then had to include in their
story, such as “gravity stops working” and “an animal speaks”.

We were
gifted with the brilliant line “no one will ever believe you,” spoken by a dog.

Properly
warmed up, both groups subsequently did a series of related exercises exploring
the concept “return from the magical world.”

First, they
had to come up with their own worlds, located on a scale between “virtuous” and
“wicked,” and “logical” and “nonsensical.” Afterwards, they identified a range
of side effects someone might have when coming back from said world. Finally,
the junior group interviewed each other about their worlds, then wrote a piece
about their main character visiting the other writer’s world; the young writers
wrote a scene about stepping in or out of their magical realm, paying close
attention to the senses.

We had many
compelling worlds:

·
Haimish:
A world of gnomes with “the smell of hot chocolate,” “pepper-mint grass” and
“lollipop trees.” Our world is sad in comparison, not the ideal place for a
gnome.

·
William:
This world is full of baboons and if your own baboon butt glows, they will
chase you. Coming back, our world is relatively void of baboons – but “hang on,
my butt is glowing again!”

·
Henry:
A wicked, nonsensical world in which everyone speaks backwards. When you come
back to our world, you struggle to not speak backwards.

·
Elsie:
A living nightmare, where it’s always dark, it’s impossible to fall asleep, you
feel cold and stiff, and you constantly feel watched. Once you come back, you
still hear screams in your head and you are scared of going back to sleep.

·
Catherine:
This nonsensical world exists entirely in people’s imagination and you lose
more control of your actions and ability to escape the more your mental health
deteriorates. If you leave, you’ll continue having visions of the world, our
world will seem less saturated, you’ll feel watched and you’ll long to go back,
having forgotten how bad it was.

·
Daisy:
You’re stuck in a dark room with scratch marks and the sound of water dripping,
industrial lights flickering. Every time you go through a door, the one behind
you disappears. To go back, you’ll have to swap your body with someone on Earth
and pretend to be them – afterwards, you’ll be able to communicate with them
through your thoughts.

·
Sonny:
This world is chaos, overrun with insects and a non-linear timeline. Everyone
and everything can disappear at any moment. If you leave the world, insects
will follow you and drag you back.

·
Eddy:
A world that appears blissful, with no crime – but humans have been digitally
placed there and their bodies are used by AI robots, who enter the world as
secret agents to ensure humans don’t discover the truth. Side effects include
lucid dreams, migraines and schizophrenia.

-Melissa

Frankie is passionate
about mental health awareness, especially how creative writing can help in
recovery, self-expression, and confidence building. She is a part-time English
Literature and Creative Writing student at The Open University in her final
year. As well as being a student, Frankie volunteers with a local charity,
Yellow Door, supporting victims of violence and hopes after university to
combine her creative experience with a therapeutic setting to help young people
who have experienced mental ill health.

Melissa is
a fantasy writer, SEO content writer, academic support worker, and writing workshop
facilitator assistant. She’s passionate about helping others through her
writing – and in supporting others to discover the joys of writing. Her creative
work explores themes of identity, community, and inner strength. You can find
her at: https://tangledtales.net/

Our blogs

Regular news and insight from our many poets, writers, educators and facilitators

Week 3: Return from the magical world