Fear of Control

Welcome back for the seventeenth day of Writober. Today we’re exploring our third universal fear: loss of autonomy through fear of control.

Fear of control could mean many things: fear of losing control of oneself, fear of losing control to another, fear of being controlled physically or mentally. What other fear of control can you think of?

Rhetorical Device: Hyperbole

Hyperbole is the use of exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. It is also sometimes known as auxesis, the Greek word for “growth” or “increase.”

Fighting Fear of the Blank Page: For the last couple days we explored some of Kerouac’s beliefs and techniques.

Continue with Kerouac’s list: Come to the page like a true beatnik: First thought, best thought. Let it flow.

*Quick Note about links in this post: I am an amazon associate, so most of the links in my post will take you to amazon products. If you buy from these links, I will make some pennies which will help me pay for this site and my creative endeavors.

OctPoWriMo

Poetry Toolbox

These are quick exercises that I hope you’ll do every day. We will build on these exercises throughout the month.

Word list: Write down the first ten words you think of when you think of fear. Any words at all. Anything that comes to mind. Then choose your three favorite and say them aloud a few times until you hear the accented and unaccented syllables (if more than one syllable) and notice the duration of each syllable. (Inspired by Frances Mayes’ list of a hundred favorite words in The Discovery of Poetry)

I created this Excel Spreadsheet for you to use to collect and explore your fear words.

OctPoWriMo wordlist Download

2. Sensory Imagery: In your journal or a word processing file, fill in these lines as quickly as you can. Notice they are slightly different from last week. You may want to revisit one or two in more detail if you’re inspired and have time.

I didn’t see

I didn’t hear

I can’t carry

I didn’t smell

I wouldn’t follow

The dead end road

The frustration of

I can’t taste

The burn of

I witness

I touch but don’t feel

(Inspired by a week one exercise in the poetry chapter of The Portable MFA in Creative Writing)

3. More Sensory Imagery: Ask yourself sensory questions about fear of control.

4. Choose one poem to study all week: Read your chosen poem again. Read it aloud. Journal about your thoughts on the poem. Has your understanding changed in any way? Have new questions come up? Look up the poem online. Are there any interviews with the poet? Has anyone else written insights about the poem?

Poetry Building

Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration. How could you use grandiose claims to emphasize your point and evoke emotion?

Example poem: Today we’re looking at “I’m afraid of death” by Kathleen Ossip, copied here from poets.org for educational purposes.

“I’m afraid of death”

Kathleen Ossip

I’m afraid of death
because it inflates
the definition
of what a person
is, or love, until
they become the same,
love, the beloved,
immaterial.

I’m afraid of death
because it invents
a different kind of
time, a stopped clock
that can’t be reset,
only repurchased,
an antiquity.

I’m afraid of death,
the magician who
makes vanish and who
makes odd things appear
in odd places—your
name engraves itself
on a stranger’s chest
in letters of char.

What stands out to you in this poem? Would you consider these statements hyperbole?

Today’s prompt: Write a poem exploring the fear of control using hyperbole.

Form: If you’re looking for more of a challenge, write your poem an Ode to loss of control using hyperbole.

Writober Flash Fiction

Write a story with a beginning, middle, and end with conflict that leads to change in less than a thousand words (no minimal word count) inspired by one of the images in the Loss of Autonomy folder of the Writober 2024 Pinterest board. How does fear of control control your character?

NaNo Prep

There’s a section I really like in Novel Writing Blueprint Workbook: A Storyteller’s Journal by Jill Harris where she talks about creating movement in Act 2 of a four act outline. Over the next few days we’ll take a look at some of these ideas.

Once your MC has encountered the inciting incident and realized there’s no returning to how life was before, the MC needs to plan next steps. How does your MC plan? What does your MC discover needs to be done to reach his/her goal?

While planning, what skills does your MC realize s/he is lacking? How does s/he train? Does the trainer become an ally? An interesting character whose words can inspire in the final battle? Or someone who comes to the MC’s aid when all is lost?

Halloween Photography Challenge

Take a photograph that depicts control or fear of control and link to your photo in the chat.

Get Moving

Now that you’ve read all the prompts and have all these ideas running around in your head, it’s time for motion. Some suggestions:

Childhood Fun Circuit Training: Create stations of things we did as kids like jump rope, hula hoop, bouncy ball with handle, ankle skip ball, and juggling.