Heat: A Writing Exercise
Not too long ago, I watched Fahrenheit 451, which is based, of course, on Ray Bradbury’s novel of the same name. In the film, the duty of firemen is not to put out fires, but rather to start them. Specifically, they are charged with setting fire to books. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which a book’s pages begin to burn.
THE EXERCISE:
Write a story or poem in which an ordinary term (such as fireman) is turned on its head, taking on an entirely different meaning within the world of the story or poem.
