Use this photo from Lost Property as writing inspiration. Start writing and write for 15 minutes, without censoring, pausing or editing. Post your writing or thoughts in the comments section.
Month: August 2015
Having fun improves your writing
Great article from Rachel Funk Heller on the excellent writer unboxed blog.
Rachel suggests that our writing can be improved if we are able to recreate the dreamlike state of mind more common in childhood play. She offers three strategies to facilitate this:
- Make time for a fun hobby
- Meditation
- Daydreaming
More details in the full article at writer unboxed. Click the link below:
Source: Creativity, Brain Waves, and Having More Fun
“Having fun improves your writing” – tweet that
I can relate to this article. My most sucessful writing comes about when I am able to enter a dreamlike state of mind where my writing seems to just happen.
Its not always possible but I’ve found that each of the following strategies can be helpful to enable this:
- A few moments of deep breathing
- 10 minutes of silence
- Visualisation – something calming
- Writing something simple – a list
- Writing how I feel. This can release some of the pre-writing anxiety I sometimes feel and calms me.
- Playing music, just before and during writing. Usually something without lyrics.
What have you found helpful as a preparation for writing? Share your ideas in the comments section
Writing prompt – new perspective
Take a look at your environment, inside, or outside. Focus your attention on one object or one aspect. Something specific. Try looking at it from a new angle, or thinking about it from a different perspective.
Make brief notes; whatever comes into your mind. Don’t censor, just write what comes.
Sit and read your notes then write something for 15 minutes. Don’t censor or edit, just let the writing come and see where it goes.
Please feel free to share your writing or your experience of this exercise in the comments section.
Writing prompt – storm
Make a three-minute list; whatever comes to mind when you look at the picture.
Read your list. Now write for 15 minutes. Don’t pause, edit or censor.
Feel free to share your writing or your experience of the exercise in the comments section.
Writing prompt
Pick two people from the photo.
Part 1
Answer these questions about each of them:
Question 1: Why are they distracted?
Question 2: When they see this photo ten years later, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Part 2
They meet for the first time on the way home from this event. Write about this, include plenty of dialogue.
Please feel free to share your writing or your experience of the exercise in the comments section.
Writing prompt – starting sentence
Choose a novel or a short story. Turn to the beginning. Write down the first sentence.
Now rewrite the sentence, changing something, anything. It could be a name, the point of view, one word, several words.
Using your new sentence as a starting point, write for 15 minutes. Try not to pause, censor or edit. Just see where it goes.
If you’d like to share your writing or your experience of this and other writing prompts, please do – in the comments section.
Writing prompt – noticing
Spend 10 minutes wandering around your home, or outside. Pay extra attention to what you see, hear and smell.
As soon as you can, write, in simple language, what you noticed.
Read what you have written.
Write something for 15 minutes.
If you’d like to share your writing or your experience of this and other writing prompts, please do – in the comments section.
Writing prompt – silence
Have your writing pen and paper ready.
Set a timer and sit quietly, doing nothing for ten minutes.
Don’t worry if there are any background sounds.
When the time is up, start writing immediately. Don’t censor or edit.
Write for 15 minutes.
Feel free to share your writing in the comments section
Writing prompt – found objects
Collect some objects when you’re next outside. Could be anything. A broken pen, a stone, a piece of unrecognizable plastic…
When you’re ready to write, pick one of these objects. Ask yourself, what is its story?
Write for 15 minutes. Try not to pause or edit.
If you’d like to share your writing please add it to the comments section.
Writing prompt – where have you been?
Select a pair of your shoes for this writing prompt.
Write a list: where have you been in those shoes? As many places as you can remember.
Read through your list.
Pick one place.
Write about it for 15 minutes.
If you want to share your writing in the comments section, it would be great to see how you get on.
writeandthrive 