As part of the Explore your Archives week, Ceredigion
Archives are running a response project asking people to respond the archives
in any creative way the choose.
Ceredigion Archives holds over 500 years of history in a
large room on the first floor of the library – if you haven’t visited already
then I can definitely recommend it. It’s a wonderful place packed with stories.
For a writer it is the equivalent of being a small child in a sweet shop.
People visit the archive for many reasons, predominantly
searching for information about their family, often trying to unearth the
family secret that a mother, grandmother, father has kept from them. Other
reasons include trying to find the history of a property they have purchased,
seeking advice on an old document they have found, working on a school or
university project, wanting to explore the history of a building that is
closing to commemorate it, or they have found the story of someone and wish to
find out more.
This is a workshop designed around my working process to
create and develop an idea.
Finding a way into a story at the archive is the starting
point of this – it is likely you will be quickly drawn to an idea and also very
likely you will find yourself distracted possibly in the distraction you will
find a potential idea. It’s a journey just go along with it and have fun.
I have set myself the challenge of finding five real
people, five places/ buildings, five periods of time and five imaginary
characters who enter the archive. I intend to use each of these points as
potential starting points and see what connects with me.
You can explore the archive catalogue on-line and also many
items have been posted to the archive blog.
http://www.archifdy-ceredigion.org.uk/index.php
Exercise 1
Sit yourself in the archive room and look about you. Think
about the years of history of Ceredigion that sit in boxes in the rooms. Think
about the people over the year who have given material to the archive, wanting
their family history stored and kept for future generations to look through.
Take a look at the books around you, collections of local history and how to
explore local history books. Take a look through the displays. The photographs
of the local men and women who died in the 1st and 2nd
World wars. Think about what you already know about Aberystwyth history,
buildings that have intrigued, people whose stories have been mentioned to you.
Make notes of any that come to mind. Do you have any particular interests or
hobbies that might be a starting point? Talk to the archivists and ask them to
tell you their favourite parts of the archive.
Take 10 minutes and just write as many words as possible
that come to mind, write as fast as you can and don’t really think about it.
Look about you – what words to you see. Write those down. Create a page filled
with random words that you think about in the archive. Think about textures,
sounds, colours, smells.
Exercise 2
Create five characters who enter the archive. Make these
characters varied in age etc. Try to create things in the answers that make
interesting opposition from the other characters
Write the name of the character, their age, are they male
or female, where in the country are they from, what do they want to find in the
archive, what five things are districting them as they look through the
archive, think of a secret they have, what do they want in life, what do they
need, what is stopping them from getting what they want or need.
Exercise 3
In this exercise we are looking to find 5 buildings and 5
real people of history.
Explore the on-line catalogue. Search for any buildings,
places or people that come to mind.
For me the names that come to mind are the buildings Kings
Hall (I was a student in 1990 when it was knocked down so I remember it and
have long been fascinated by the years of incredible events that took place
there), The Pier (another iconic building that fascinates me because of the
years of visitors and I love that the starlings have made their home beneath
it), Gogerddan (I live in Bow St and walk my dogs in the woods behind it),
Nanteos (another crumbling estate with a fascinating history made even more
fascinating by its new lease of life as a hotel) and Rummers Wine Bar (for many years a customer
but recently the revelation that it was once a theatre has become an obsession
for me).
Search for any people that come to mind and also that might
have emerged from the searches through places. Remember we are trying to find five
real people and five real buildings. For me, my fascination with the history of Gogerddan and Nanteos has drawn me to Margaret Powell, Rosa Powell (the mention in the catalogue of unhappy marriage and divorce makes it irresistible), Marjorie Pryse but I am also keen to find the people who worked in those houses so I want to continue to search for more names.
Once you have that list then ask for the boxes. This is the
magical part, boxes to explore, images to look at, handwriting of people who
lived many years ago, people’s thoughts, people’s interests.
It will lead you down other searches.
Exercise 4
What’s in the box?
The material in the archive is all in boxes. Material will
appear tied up in string with bows like presents. The very action of opening
notebooks knowing that it was written so many years ago and that many people
will have visited the archive through the years to look through it as you do
now is quite magical.
Type something random into the catalogue search and find a random box to ask to look through. It
could be a lost property list, it could be someone’s scrapbooks, it could be
lists of ships in the harbour, it could be planning permission drawings, parish
records. But every box offers inspiration, offers stories. Think of the person
who wrote it, think of the person who lost the property. Why did someone write
this? Who left it to the archive? Who has looked through this material before?
Now just write, write random sentences and words, just write anything that
comes to mind. Write dialogue. Write thoughts. Keep writing.
These exercises should results in the beginnings of many
potential stories that could be told. We will need to form these into
performance pieces. But more of that later for now just have fun finding
stories.
