Experimental Writing: Unlock Your Creativity
A course by Mara Pastor , Writer
Learn to write unique texts and poems by playing with word associations, original ideas, and the strikeout technique
Did you know it was possible to write without actually writing? By combining art supplies, colors, and the strikeout technique, you can bring new texts to life out of old ones. This form of visual poetry involves removing words from a text to craft a new piece that's full of surprises in a process that stimulates the imagination through word play.
In this online course, poet Mara Pastor shows you how to use this and many other experimental techniques to unlock your creativity. For the final project, compose a chapbook of original strikeout poems and discover where experimental writing can take you!
What will you learn in this online course?
13 lessons & 22 downloads
- 98% positive reviews (58)
- 2,159 students
- 13 lessons (1h 25m)
- 22 additional resources (8 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: Spanish, English
- Spanish · English · Portuguese · German · French · Italian · Polish · Dutch · Turkish · Romanian · Indonesian
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
What is this course's project?
Create a chapbook of original poems using the strikeout technique.
Projects by course students
Who is this online course for?
Anyone interested in poetry, visual art, collage, and word play for exploring their creativity.
Requirements and materials
To take this course, you just need art supplies or writing instruments, such as different colored markers or pencils, an old book, and a good dose of imagination.
Reviews
Mara Pastor
A course by Mara Pastor
Mara Pastor is a Puerto Rican poet, editor, and literature professor with a passion for words, as well as visual arts and collage. For her, poetry is like a linguistic playground, an open space to let her imagination run free and embrace the unexpected results.
She has published poetry books around the world with publishing houses like Punto de Partida, Cardboard House Press, and University of Arizona Press, and her poems have been featured in magazines such as World Literature Today. Her work has also earned her an Ambroggio Prize from the Academy of American Poets.
Content
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U1
Introduction
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Presentation
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Influences
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U2
Before Crossing Out
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The Writing of Poetry Crossed Out
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Visual Poem Concepts
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The Beauty of the Support
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The Poetic as a Process
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U3
The Erasure
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The Materials
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The Meaning that Emerges
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The Multisensory Elements
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The Linearity of the Poem
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U4
The Novelty
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Create Tile 1
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Create Tile 2
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Make a Blog
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FP
Final project
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Experimental Writing: Unlock Your Creativity
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What to expect from a Domestika course
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Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
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Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
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Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
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Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
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Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
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Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
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Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
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Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Blackout poetry is a literary technique where you take an existing text and cross out or erase words to reveal a new poetic and visual meaning. The process involves selecting a source text, blacking out parts, and creatively reinterpreting the content.
The course is aimed at people with intermediate knowledge of poetry or writing, but you don’t need to be an expert. Having an interest in literary and visual experimentation is recommended.
You’ll need books or texts to work on, pens, craft knives, fabrics, organic materials, various types of paper, and basic handmade bookbinding tools. Access to a computer is also recommended for digitizing and publishing your work.
You’ll learn blackout techniques, how to reinterpret texts, create visual poetry, select supports, integrate organic materials, do handmade bookbinding, and methods to publish and share your experimental works.
The course teaches you how to choose books based on themes, copyright status, paper texture, font size, and possibilities for reinterpretation, ensuring the material is perfect for poetic intervention.
Yes, the course includes strategies for publishing your blackout poetry with indie publishers, digital media, or your own platforms like blogs, incorporating multimedia and building a literary community.
You’ll explore blackout techniques using pens, craft knives, plastic stencils, applying textures with fabric, using organic materials, and combining visual and textual elements to create unique compositions.
me gusta mucho!!!!!
perfecto. thanks.
Mara Pastor es clara e inspiradora!
Corso fantastico, che mi ha aiutata a sviluppare la mia creatività e il mio intuito, consigliato!
Wonderful practical advice, very convenient, inspiring. Both for beginners and more advanced poets, like myself. Recommended!