Tell a little bit about something. Anything at all. Write four or five lines. Then take a break. Read over what you wrote. Choose a word or phrase from the lines you’ve written. Write a little something about that. And take a break. Keep going. Try not to plan. If you do plan, ignore your plans. Use whatever word or phrase pops up from the page when you are ready to … [Read more...] about Stories Inside Stories
Creativity
Webs and Connections
Instead of writing sentences and paragraphs, you can write webs and connections. Write a word in the center of the page and draw a shape around it. Write down a word for one of the things this word reminds you of, draw a shape around that, and connect it to the first word. Draw in a third word that you can connect to one of the other two. Then a fourth word and a fifth, … [Read more...] about Webs and Connections
An Article of Clothing
Choose an article of clothing that you are wearing. It can be anything at all, as long as you are wearing it right now. Write about it in three different voices: A description of the clothing and your history together, from your perspective. The life story of the clothing from the clothing’s perspective. A speech or pep talk from the clothing telling you all … [Read more...] about An Article of Clothing
The Color of a Color
Take an inventory of your inner or outer world and make a list of objects that you find there. Make a second column beside the first, and write down the color of each object. Make a third column. In this one, write the name of a different object that is the exact same color as the corresponding object in the third column. Then write a scene or story that names some of the … [Read more...] about The Color of a Color
Boxes and Bridges
Write down a random sentence from the world around you or from your imagination. Draw a box around it. Choose a word from the boxed-in sentence you have written down and draw a box around that. Somewhere on the empty page, write a sentence or two about the word that you have chosen, and put all that in a box. Draw a line to connect the word in the box with the box that … [Read more...] about Boxes and Bridges