Prepared by: Rebecca Marshall-Courtois
Posted on: March 17, 2002
Reposted on: April 13, 2003
Reposted on: June 5, 2005
Reposted on: June 25, 2006
This is a basic writing exercise, useful
to spark
inspiration.
Pick three or four words at random - open
a dictionary,
look through
a
newspaper, whatever. There are no restrictions on the words you may
use,
but if you have trouble choosing, I suggest picking one word
representing a
colour, one place name, and one physical object - pick the first word
that
comes to mind when you think of each category. So for example, I might
start with the words "brown, Paris, creamer". Once you have picked the
words, think about what those words mean to you, or what they might
mean to
a character. Then write a scene that uses those words, as meaningfully
as
possible.
Target length is 250-350 words.
Rebecca Marshall-Courtois's wrap-up
Posted on: April 20, 2003
Although I remained an outside observer
this week, I
truly enjoyed
the
opportunity to read both the submissions and critiques for this
exercise. I
intended to post my own submission, but my three words quickly
transformed
themselves into a three-thousand word story, signaling the end of a
two-month
case of writer's block. Since that day, I haven't stopped typing away
on my
keyboard, and it's left me little time for much else. But it's
WONDERFUL!
I invented this little game to stir my own
imagination
and use it
when I'm
short on ideas, and it warmed me to see that it's helped spark so many
ideas
for the members of this list. One other member even said that it cured
her
writer's block as well. Bravo!
A number of posts constituted great
beginnings that I
could easily
see being
fleshed out into full-length stories, and a few of you even succeeded
in
creating fine flash pieces. But the great variety of both words and
themes
that passed through my in-box was what impressed me the most. I not
only
learned a new word, but I was also impressed with your vivid
imaginations.
There's a lot of creativity flowing on this list, and it's always
amazing to
see what a few words picked at random can become.
Again, thank you for this opportunity.
Best of luck to
all of the
writers on
this list.
Rebecca Marshall-Courtois
.
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.