Situate yourself in front of some kind of scene, indoors or out. Concentrate on the shapes that you see in front of you. Rather than naming the things that you see, name their shapes: triangle, rectangle, circle, square, oval, blob. Begin drawing the shapes as you see them. Spread them out on the page in the same way they are spread out in front of you. Write some … [Read more...] about The Shapes
Observation
A Tale of a Table
Find a table. They are everywhere--in houses and restaurants, on sidewalks and in parks, at work. You also have tables in your memory and in your imagination. Write a story, true or invented, that includes this table. You could write the history of this table in the world, or the history that a person has with this table. Your history, or someone else's. Write anything … [Read more...] about A Tale of a Table
For Example
Before you start writing, set up your page. Draw a line where the title will go and mark off some space for illustration. Then collect a half-dozen or so good words. A word is a good one when it jumps out at you for some reason. Maybe you think the spelling is odd. Maybe it reminds you of something. Maybe it's a word you don't know how to pronounce. Maybe it names something … [Read more...] about For Example
Your Ground
Before you begin to write, allow your mind to wander over the many different ways the word ground can pop up in everyday conversation. The word ground appears in many expressions. One can break, give, or stand ground. Things can be ground in, ground out, or run into the ground. There are groundswells, ground rules, and shifting grounds. Let your mind relax and repeat the … [Read more...] about Your Ground
Hats Everywhere
You don't have to mount much of a search to find a hat. On your head, in your pocket, under the couch. On someone else's head or in their pocket. Hats are everywhere. Write something that has a hat in it. A made-up story, or the real, true adventures of some intrepid hat that you have known. You could write about the social function of hats by asking yourself what certain … [Read more...] about Hats Everywhere