Creative Writing: An Exercise

This piece was done during an editing exercise in one of the modules I've selected and thought that I'd get people's views on it and consider expanding it into a short novella or something of that sort. Please read it and give feedback. I welcome all comments.

In the midst of the woods it stood in defiance of nature's attempt to rule the land. Trees had fallen around it like a medieval barricade and plants had sprouted up around the building. From a distance, it would have appeared ordinary. From this proximity, the tired and weathered look was obvious.

A mix of green and brown moss grew on the shackled roof and leaves cluttered the drain pipe. There were two broken, dirtied windows and several planks of wood led to the door and into the darkness where stairs would have once existed. It was impossible to see how far the building stretched into the darkness, only the moonlight reflecting on the front gave an indication of its existence.

Inside, metal and rusted chains hung from the wooden beams and rustled as you walked past. Paint cans and tools were all over the floor. Noises came from every corners, corners that had been claimed by spiders years ago. Their webs clung to the walls like a trapped beast making its last stand. It was dark but spots of light shone through the broken window.

Someone came outside. His expression screamed anger and pain, eyes darting into the darkness like a predator. His first few steps were timid before an air of confidence surrounded him. As he stepped into the moonlight, he revealed his grotesque and misshapen form. His hands shook violently and his body swayed and hunched. Noises startled him, making his head dart this way and that.

He stood there for a few seconds as if waiting for something...someone...a sign. He moved cautiously at first and then rushed from the building, darting through the trees. His eyes were wide and he shouted his joy as he stood examining one of his traps.

A woman's body lay in the decay of leaves and soil, her chest pierced with an arrow. He lifted the corspe onto his back and pulled the bloodied arrow from her chest, revealing the fatal wound before he rushed to his shed once more.

The Importance of Music

All too often people ignore the cultural and social value of music. For most people, music is just a mode of expression. It's a means of procuring pleasure. I agree with that. Music is one of the most delightful developments of humankind and it brings pleasure to millions but music is so much more than pure pleasure. Music is like a drug and I'm addicted to it.

If we look through the ages, music has changed so much from the classical form of Beethoven, Wagner, Strauss and other important composers to the traditional operatic form that made 'Phantom of the Opera' famous and gave the Italians another reason to claim that their culture is of the highest pecking order. You can't disagree when it's done so much for the world.

Now, we have such variation in music that it seems wrong to judge people based on their musical tastes. I often hear people commenting on the value of one band over another, the frustration of one artist's music as opposed to another. This is not what music is about. Music is about freedom of expression and it is a right that we should be able to express ourselves through music.

I often discover new artists and I attempt to keep an open mind but I don't like all music forms. I will admit that I do judge some musics and have a preference to some artists to others but I am not going to force others to listen to that music. Some people like metal. Some people like pop. Some people like trance. That's good!

Would something replace music if it had not existed? Would literature have become more popular? Would there be some other form of expression, like art or design, be the favoured choice of people?

I don't know the answers to those questions but I do wonder what the world would be like without music. It gives us a reason to communicate and it is an excellent ice-breaker. Even if you don't like someone's music taste, you can talk to them about it. Not many people want to talk about the influence of Plato on modern thought or Ian McEwan's latest novel. Few people want to talk about architecture or art.

Music exists. Music is expression.

Remove yourself from the prejudice of judging other people for their music taste and embrace what is great about it. Opinion is one of the great dividers of this world: religion has damaged the world, don't let music do the same thing.