Create An Ideas List
This exercise is best done one step at a time, without reading ahead. It is designed to access the subconscious, so for optimum results be spontaneous and don’t stop to think or question the process. The idea is to do the exercise quickly and without hesitation.
- Take a blank sheet of paper and divide it into two columns.
- Starting at the top of the left column, write the first word that comes into your mind.
- Write the next word you think of underneath your first word.
- Continue in this way, without thinking, without pause, as quickly as possible until you reach the bottom of the page.
- Go back to the first word you wrote, and in the right side column write a would-be title provoked by that word.
- Again, continue in this manner until you reach the bottom of the page, working as quickly as you can and without censoring what you write.
- Put down your pen, close your eyes, and sit quietly for a few moments.
- Read over your Words List (left column) and jot down on a separate piece of paper any words that may represent a theme on which you may like to write.
- Read your Titles List and make note of any of the titles that draw your attention.
- Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are these titles I would like to write?
- Is there something underneath any of these titles I would like to explore?
- Do any of these titles remind me of something, someone, an event..?
- Do I see a novel, short story, essay, poem, or memoir bursting from any of these titles?
- Everything you’ve written on your separate page forms the basis of your Ideas List. Re-organise these ideas into categories that suit your way of working and perhaps highlight those ideas that most spark your energy.
- Sign and date your list. (Sign and date everything, always!)
- If you are ready for a new writing challenge, you can jump right in and start working on one of these ideas.
- File the remainder (or all, if you’re not starting straight away) to use as future prompts.
- Continue to add new ideas as they arise… from wherever they may come!
This exercise relates to Writing Tip #14 and my Blog ~ Writer’s Block – Part B