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Writing Exercises

Plomeek Broth

Commander
Red Shirt
Does anyone know or use any good writing techniques or exercises to get the creative juices flowing when you are not inspired or getting ideas on your own in real life? I would appreciate any suggestions that I could try to obtain some good ideas and get the ball rolling. All I need is one seed to plant and then it has the ability to just grow from there as I start connecting dots and start living inside my bizzaro world noggin. :weep::biggrin::whistle:
 
One of my favorite techniques is to go through the dictionary, flip to random pages, and pick 3 words. It doesn't matter which ones--just stumble upon 3 words that interest you. And then start writing about them.
 
^^ At least he could hear the ocean.

I keep little notebooks and whenever I think of an idea or a title or a character name or a punchline or anything, I write it down. Then I occasionally flip through them randomly and pick out something that catches my eye. Of course since I have about a hundred WIPs (or is that WsIP?), I don't really do that very much.

Barring that, this page has some cute utilities.
 
If I'm feeling particularly unspired I'll either try listening to some music or watch a movie that makes me feel creative.

Classical music tends to work, Beethoven, Mozart or Brahms usually. Sometimes whole albums work, like Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, or Be Here Now by Oasis. Sometimes certain songs can just click something in my mind.

It's the same with movies, pretty much any Tarantino or Scorsese movie will work, Unforgiven or Walk the Line too among others.

I find its best not to just sit and try and force something either. Try and do something to distract the mind or go for a walk and I find something just comes naturally.
 
Does anyone know or use any good writing techniques or exercises to get the creative juices flowing when you are not inspired or getting ideas on your own in real life? I would appreciate any suggestions that I could try to obtain some good ideas and get the ball rolling. All I need is one seed to plant and then it has the ability to just grow from there as I start connecting dots and start living inside my bizzaro world noggin. :weep::biggrin::whistle:

It's funny, but--

I find that one of the main reasons for "writer's block" (i.e., going blank and having nothing to write) is, quite simply, being TENSE.

You'd be suprised how many story ideas have come to mind when I'm taking a hot shower....

At any rate--the key is relaxation.
 
^True. I find all my best ideas come to me when I'm in the shower, or driving somewhere. It's when my mind is completely focused on something else and I'm not thinking about the story at all.

I recall a few exercise they used to make us do in college. One was simply describing various scenes in terms of sense memory. Imagine various scenes or places, and simply describe what you (or your character) is thinking, seeing, hearing, feeling, etc. The scenes were things like a funeral, a day at the beach, a child in class, a person at the bus stop, etc. and you had to come up with it in 15 minutes or less.

I also found the standard "describe a room" one very useful. Describe a room, JUST the room, in such a way that it lets you know everything about the person who lives there

I always found it very useful and surprisingly inspiring.
 
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/

you you you make me think of this site but why... lists just a list language site is all but it is a list of lists randomly or more.

for example..symbolic story lines yes? ask at seventh sanctum and this is what you might get well not really it is all too too random for anyones real good if you will

-----------------------------------------
The action-packed story about fighter pilots where the characters map to angels.
The comedic buddy story where the chapters map to the four court cards of the Tarot (Kings-Queens-Knights-Pages).

The comedic story where major magical artifacts map to the twelve signs of the zodiac.

The crime story where the characters' deaths map to the thirty-two Kabbalistic paths of wisdom.

The dark story where the character relationships map to kinds of spices.

The dramatic high fantasy story where the major plot twists map to the seven colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV).

The dramatic occult story where the character evolution maps to the three dimensions (height-width-depth).

The dramatic story where the characters' deaths map to the three parts of the Fruedian personality (id-ego-superergo).

The epic story where the professions map to the pieces on a chess board.

The philosophical story where the major plot twists map to the four elementals (salamanders-sylphs-undines-gnomes).

The romantic story where the diseases map to the thirteen guests at the Last Supper.

The story about engineers where the characters map to the thirty-six righteous people (Tzadikim) of Jewish legend.

The story set in an apartment building where each apartment and its residents map to the seven astrological planets(Sun-Moon-Mercury-Venus-Mars-Jupiter-Saturn).

The story where the moral codes map to the twenty-four Norse Runes.

The story where the wonders of the world map to the four forces of Taoist internal alchemy (Void-Spirit-Vitality-Essence).

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OFF TOPIC: eviling = that is the act of being evil, so., good eviling. (woot)
 
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