Object Writing in Public — Session 5: “Comb”
Hello. My name is Rishi Karri. I’m one half of the music group “Circa 17”.
In this series I am sharing the output of my object writing exercises. I learned this exercise from Pat Pattison’s book, Writing Better Lyrics.
Object writing is a 10 minute exercise where you choose a random object. You then use that object as a “leaping off” point to explore various memories and ideas. The goal is to incorporate all seven senses into your writing (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell, organic, motion). I often fall short of incorporating all 7 but I believe that practice will improve that. You are allowed to make typos, write incomplete sentences and completely change direction. The goal is to let your writing run free and incorporate the senses to bring the words to life.
I have found that object writing has helped me tremendously with my songwriting. Furthermore, doing this exercise has deepened my human experience by allowing me to be more tuned in to what my senses are encountering.
I encourage you to object write with this prompt and see what you come up with. The same prompt often generates vastly differing outputs from different people. Each person is a completely unique creature! It is for this reason that we each have distinct experiences and memories to draw from when we sit down to do an object writing exercise. If you want to, do the exercise now! Then share what you came up with in the comments if you are comfortable. Here’s what I came up with:
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Comb
Stop Time: 2:08
It’s been a while since I had longer hair. I remember the time clearly though. I was working at CNN at the time. Working on the 2020 election. My hair was an explosion of black curly frizz. It gave me a couple of inches of height. I couldn’t go too many places without someone commenting on it. My mom would comment that hair looked like a birds nest. That a comb would break if I tried to use one. My stepmom told me that I looked like an absent-minded professor. The type of professor who wanders around outside barefoot — letting the grass push up into the flats of his feet. I didn’t mind the latter description. I remember cutting it all off in one fell swoop. The barber told me that she felt like she sheared a sheep. I smile at those memories even now. There’s a warmth inside me that bubbles up as I show no one in particular the whites of my teeth. My heart feels like it’s stretching towards the sky. I feel relaxed and at ease. The tea I’m trying today is oolong tea. It’s got notes of honey and a slightly stronger flavor than the green tea I drank yesterday. I read that you can resteep it up to ten times! I’ve been enjoying tea these days. Drinking it calms me — the way watching fish in the ocean does. I don’t notice the calm right away but then suddenly I’m aware of it. The sound of a commercial interrupts my flowing typing as a man walks by with his phone on loud. A slight annoyance rises up but I release it before it grows larger and takes hold of me.
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Review
Did I stop at the 10 minute mark or did I go over?
- I stopped
Did I make any edits before posting?
- Nope!
Did I engage the below senses in my writing?
- Touch — Yes — “letting the grass push up into the flats of his feet”
- Organic — Yes — “a warmth inside me that bubbles up as I show no one in particular the whites of my teeth. My heart feels like it’s stretching towards the sky”
- Sight — Yes — “My hair was an explosion of black curly frizz”
- Taste — Yes — “It’s got notes of honey and a slightly stronger flavor than the green tea I drank yesterday”
- Sound — Yes — “The sound of a commercial interrupts my flowing typing as a man walks by with his phone on loud”
- Smell — No
- Motion — No
Thank you for engaging with this content! If you enjoyed it, please leave a few claps. Did you complete the exercise with this prompt? Are you willing to share? Please do so in the comments if so!
