I often do this activity with kids – turn a squiggle into a drawing – but this writing exercise takes that a step further. Close your eyes and draw some random lines, circles, loops, zigzags, or whatever, on a piece of paper, or using a paint program. Then, open your eyes and turn what you … Continue reading
A common writing exercise is to go somewhere – say a park – and write what you see, based on the five key senses – sight, smell, sound, taste, and texture. Sometimes I like to modify this exercise and instead write what I imagine – the stories of the lives of people sitting in the … Continue reading
Ghosts in stories tend to represent a single person – a child who died young or was killed, whose presence continues to haunt her family, the victims of a serial killer who haunt a house, a woman killed on a highway who scares passing drivers. For me, a non-believer in ghosts, I see these as … Continue reading
Last week in class, I watched my tiny kids turn pillows into castles, physically eat and swallow a “pizza” we made out of much spilt glue and coloured-in vegetables, and act out the animals of the masks they wore. I wish I had that amount of imagination, that much freedom in my mind to think … Continue reading
Often talking about or thinking about opposites has a similar psychological effect to telling people not to think about something (they won’t be able to help thinking about it). Here, I am suggesting you create (ie describe) a character that is the exact opposite of you-with all your complexity of faults, strengths, and strange habits. … Continue reading
Not only do cliches tend to reinforce the status quo and stereotypes, they are also pretty boring. Here is an exercise to practice doing without: 1) Chose a any word… eg love, old, sky.. 2) For the word, list the 6 most obvious associated words. Eg Love: romance, heart, couple, kiss, date .. Old: wrinkles, … Continue reading
Here are some beautiful first lines from some rebellious novels and stories, that you could use to try to write your own story. (Toni Morrison)They shoot the white girl first. (George Orwell)It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen (Alice Walker) You better not never tell nobody but God. … Continue reading
While without a doubt we often write for ourselves, our writing that we want to be read is speaking out to others with a message, fighting for a cause (even if that cause, in the case of conservatives, is to maintain the status quo). There is a lot of stuff out there about keeping your … Continue reading
What is creativity? Let’s do this exercise, then talk about it. Write a list of ten uses for a toothpick. Then, if you are working on a poem, article, story or even a drawing, write a list of ten alternate ways you could have done it, or ten alternate endings, or beginnings – whatever alternative … Continue reading
Novels always contain stories within their stories, and life works similarly. I believe that each person is a story, and that we interact and come together and collectively we create bigger, all encompassing stories. Understanding interconnectedness and understanding that no one’s suffering or victories exist in a vacuum can be liberating. Choose one of the … Continue reading
Having limited space or words can help us focus only on the most important things. When we say what we need to say in the most concise way possible, that writing often has more force. Its brevity leaves space for thought, in a way that long rants often don’t do (at least as well). Brainstorm … Continue reading
Fear of failure is one of the biggest obstacles to creativity, and to many worthy things such as standing up for oneself or for a cause. Yet making mistakes is part of the creative process: we usually need to get through about five bad ideas before our mind is open enough to a good, more … Continue reading
