11 October 2021
Posted by Matt L.T. Smtih
Receptionists & Inky Voids - MAST Collective Blog #3
Today we are thinking about the space between spaces. The points between destinations. Today we are thinking about limbo. The liminal spaces. The hallways, the waiting rooms, the inky voids. We spend time writing or researching (which is just as valuable as writing itself - a writer laying their own groundwork) our own conceptions of limbo. What does limbo mean to us? What is limbo to the town that the collective are constructing together? How would a character or voice from our town react to limbo?
But what resides in limbo? What sits at the portals and gateways to new realms? You can’t see the dentist without first getting past the receptionist. Have you even made an appointment? Have you answered the questions three? No? Then you might be fat out of luck, friend.
Antosh starts talking us through the concept of a threshold guardian, a being, an entity, or even a space itself, that guards the threshold to a new destination. As examples Antosh gives us:
Tom Bombadil from The Hobbit / Lord of the Rings: A non-interventionist god who meets the heroes before they step into the difficulty of their adventure.
Cerberus: the ‘hound of hell’ that guards the gates to the Underworld, stopping any souls who might dare to escape.
The Four-Five-Six Laundry from Archer: Archer is a comedy spy series. In the series their base of operations hides behind a laundry which acts as a front, a secret elevator sitting behind the washing machines. A space can also be a threshold guardian.
Thinking of our limbo spaces, or drawing from the places we have constructed so far, Antosh challenges us to place a threshold guardian within them. Once we have a threshold guardian fleshed out, we are tasked with placing a sentence from either our threshold guardian, limbo spaces, or both, into the padlet to share with the rest of the collective. Once shared he gets us into a bit of collaboration and has us write in response to someone else’s line, encouraging us to take it in any direction we like!
I think all of us would quite appreciate a threshold guardian in our lives sometimes. Who would your threshold guardian be? A loyal K9 companion? Would you go live in the mountains across the other side of a treacherous rickety bridge that few dare to cross? My personal favourite is the “do not disturb” feature on my phone that ensures no spam calls will stop my writing rhythm on this day! I hope your writing today goes equally peacefully!
Archive
Junior & Young Writers – Week 10 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Final Showcase
Junior & Young Writers – Week 9 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Editing & Performance Tips
Junior & Young Writers – Week 8 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Cuteness
Time goes on by Tavinder Kaur New
Junior & Young Writers – Week 7 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Natural Solutions
Junior & Young Writers – Week 6 (Writers’ Inspiration) – The Language of Fruit and Veg
Junior & Young Writers – Week 5 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Adventures In Space
Tinklebobs and Bedraggled Angles
Junior & Young Writers – Week 4 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Our Environment
Fortune Tellers & Future Letters
Junior & Young Writers – Week 3 (Writers’ Inspiration) – Home
Young Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Junior Writers - Week 10 (The Art of Writing) – Final Week Showcase
Young Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Junior Writers – Week 9 (The Art of Writing) – Choose Your Own Adventure
Young Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Junior Writers – Week 8 (The Art of Writing) – Sequel Stories
Young Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Junior Writers – Week 7 (The Art of Writing) – Picture Prompts
Young Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers - Week 6 (The Art of Writing) - Script-writing & Dialogue
Junior Writers – Week 5 (The Art of Writing) – Poetry
Young Writers - Week 5 (The Art of Writing) - Poetry Potions
Edward The Martyr - A Competition!
Mood Boards and Postcards from Space
Young Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Junior Writers - Week 3 (The Art of Writing) - PLOT
Moomin Stories and Hollywood Pitches
Young Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
Junior Writers - Week 2 (The Art of Writing) - Genre & Setting
Prompts, Dialogues, and Cliché
Story Structure Part One: Exposition and Beyond...
Young Writers - Week 1 (The Art of Writing) - Character
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Young Writers - week 4 - Nature Writing [animals & wildlife]
Junior Writers - week 4 - Nature Writing [animals & wildlife]
Young Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
Junior Writers - week 3 - Nature Writing [trees/plants/flowers]
Young Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Junior Writers - week 2 - 'fractured fairy tales'
Young Writers - week 1 - 'from deep inside a forest'
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WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #6
Making pillows in a house full of feathers
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #5
Exploring home – a place, person, house
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #4
Stories From Our Streets at the Abbeyfield Wessex Society Reminiscence Session at Poole Library
What Do You Really Mean? Writing Dialogue for Scripts
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #3
Character Building & Murder Mysteries
Going inside – from a spark to a story
WORDCUP - Hounsdown Session #2
Maybe I Can Be Invisible After All... Monologues
Creative Writing: Fun Facts, Diverse Voices and Different Perspectives
Writing Competition - Stories From Our Streets
Stories From Our Streets Community Activity Pack
Thinking in-quiet, after the fire
Found Cities, Lost Objects: Women in the City Curated by Lubaina Himid CBE
Ekphrastic Jukebox - Writing to Music
ArtfulScribe LitFest Community Showcase 2023
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Writing to The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Mousetrap - Mayflower Young and Junior Writers Investigate Mystery!
Stories From Our Streets Launch!
Interview: In Conversation with Dr Victoria Leslie
The Missing Farmer/ Blackout Poetry & DADA
Exploring this wonderful World
Using props to create characters/ working as a writing room
Stories of the Dust and Character Questions
Storytelling and Escalation or Rising Action
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Notes on Intention for MAST Collective - Year 3 - Facilitation Focus
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SUPER MARIO AND POP CULTURE POEMS
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Intern Blog 4 - The Internship Journey
NEW DIRECTIONS, STARTING SMALL - THE ORWELL YOUTH PRIZE
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on workshop and transformations: frogs, lions, and the duck that becomes a larder...
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Intern Blog 1 - Finding a Voice
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UNHEARD VOICES: INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY, AND STORIES OF CONFLICT
