Designed by Words Writers' Workshop

Photo (c) Designed by Words Writers' Workshop, 2012. Quoted lines from "Seven Bowls of Tea" by Lu Tong translated by Christopher Nelson, cited in www.sevencups.com

In honor of Chinese New Year, let’s savor the flavors of these two tea-related poems from the Tang and the Song dynasties. According to Cha Dao, a journal of tea and tea culture, tea and poetry are intricately connected in Chinese culture.

We love how soothing it is to prepare and drink tea, even more when translated as a poem. The first one is a popular excerpt from a longer poem written by the hermit and poet, Lu Tong, in gratitude for a gift of purple bamboo shoot tea given to him by Meng Jian Yi a local official during the Tang dynasty. Most of Lu Tong’s poetry celebrated the tea and tea ceremony.

Here is the “Seven Bowls of Tea” (translated by the poet Christopher Nelson, author of Blue House):

The first cup kisses away my thirst,
and my loneliness is quelled by the second.
The third gives insight worthy of ancient scrolls,
and the fourth exiles my troubles.
My body becomes lighter with the fifth,
and the sixth sends word from immortals.
But the seventh—oh the seventh cup—
if I drink you, a wind will hurry my wings
toward the sacred island. Continue reading →

Continuing our series on tips about writing when you’re busy: If you have a little bit more time and can’t handle a full-pledged writing project yet, here are two writing exercises you can work on over the weekend:

1 The Q&A
With yourself as the subject, come up with five to ten questions on a particular subject then answer them as if you were being interviewed. It’s a fun way to put your thoughts down in writing and record how you feel and think about topics relevant to your life.

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It can be in the realm of writing itself—books, literature, creative process, writing goals, favorite authors, etc.—or more personal as goals, love life, places to visit and why, etc. Imagine yourself as an interviewer and develop interesting questions and have fun (or be serious) writing your answers. You can reply in as little as one to three sentences or as long as you like (if you have time).

TIP: You can do this also when you’re developing character sketches for your novel or short story and you want to find out what motivates them, what they’re thinking, etc.

2 Wikipedia Plot
We use Wikipedia to look things up, especially when we’re pressed for time. This informative site is written by the public, for the public. Everything’s almost there (although our teachers and editors would prefer us to use other sources for our assignments).

For most of us, it serves as a jump-off point to deeper research because Wikipedia entries provide a general background (some with online citations or references!) and a bird’s eye view about a particular subject.

For this exercise, consider the entries for movies and TV shows, which contain comprehensive plots and character low-downs. Why not create your own little Wikipedia entry for your story, especially if you’re having trouble with the plot or with where your story is heading. Summarize what will happen in your story the way Wikipedia writes it—action-packed, informative, comprehensive but general, easy to read.

You can spend as a little over 30 minutes condensing things encyclopedia-style or hours plotting your story with the format of this site as your parameter or framework. Then when you feel you’re back on track and your story is beginning to shape, write your story down.

But just like the warnings by our teachers, your little Wikipedia writing exercise is not a substitute for actual hard work. Use it only when you want to explore your story and find out before hand where you want to take it.

And then find the time to really write.