Creative Writing Ideas

I discovered a real gem of a creative writing exercise,  inspired by Austin Kleon’s newspaper blackout poems. He takes a newspaper and blacks out  words with a marker that he doesn’t want, leaving a poem with the remaining words. Now my aim wasn’t really to write poems, I just wanted to get the creative juices flowing.

What I did was pick up a magazine and chose a random article (you can use whatever type of text you like). I would scan the article randomly stringing words together. I didn’t worry about it making sense, or being proper grammar. You don’t want to really think about it, but the words should relate somewhat in the style of a haiku or other type of poem. Again don’t really think about it too much because you will edit and refine it later. You want to go very quickly, and just take stuff off the top of your head. You need to do this to keep your left brain quiet. I did use one rule, and that was that the words had to go in order  that they were in the original  text. This made sure I would go quickly and kept me from jumping back and forth, which would cause me to think too consciously about what I was doing. I would make about two or three short sentences or phrases. I use the term sentences very loosely. When I was finished, I had a sort of poem, that could be used as is, as a writing prompt, or a subject for my art journal.

The amazing thing was that while I was not consciously trying to make sense, my subconscious was actually creating, and my results actually had several layers of meaning. I then would tweak them just a little and add or remove words, or just edit them briefly to make a little more sense. The main idea was already there. I’ll give you an example:

Somehow years of working had frozen them. Forgetting the meaning. Worn and faded they keep to themselves, while they lose the memories they never make.

This is about forgetting how to live. Forgetting to create, forgetting to pass things on. Losing memories of things you never took the time to experience. Forgetting what is most important and getting lost inside yourself. Also “all work and no play…” From start to finish, this one took me maybe two minutes. When I looked it over I was really surprised that it was this filled with meaning. It was a lot of fun. Try it out and see what you think. You might also want to check out Austin Kleon’s blog at austinkleon.com.  Happy Writing!

Here are some writing exercises to inspire you and broaden your perspective. Once you read them, you will probably come up with some of your own ideas, which is the point. The main goal is to use either use  different senses than you normally would to observe something, or  limit your observation of something to one sense only

1. Imagine you can’t taste and describe a food by the way it smells/feels.

2. Choose an object or a color and imagine how you could describe it to a blind person, such as how it feels, or the feelings it evokes.

3. Describe something using only one sense. For instance what does a pot of boiling water sound like? Or describe your favorite (or least favorite) smell; What does rain look like, smell like, feel like?

4. Using your description from #3, and elaborate by writing about how it makes you feel.

5. Go to a park, zoo, mall, etc. find a safe, comfportable spot to sit and close your eyes. For ten minutes just listen, then writie about everything you heard. Sensing

These writing prompts can be used for your classroom, as creative writing practice or just to jump start your brain. You can use them to write a paragraph or a whole story.

1. It had rained for ten days straight so far…
2. I had never seen a spider that looked so…
3. What would a country that you ran be like?
4. If you had a super power, what would it be?
5. I woke up this morning and the sky was orange because…
6.The house looked unlike any I had ever seen, it….
7. This was the first Christmas that we…
8. I opened my eyes to find three black cats staring at me from the foot of my bed. They were…
9. This was the weirdest weather we’ve ever had here. It…
10. Today was the best day ever! I…

Journals can be many things. They can be a way to document your life, serve as therapy/stress relief or be an outlet for creativity. Many people record daily events, pour out their feelings make art journals, or travel journals. There’s no right or wrong way to journal, and an endless supply of ways to use one. I’d like to begin this series with three ways to get you started on your journal, or get you to try something new.

Gaining Perspective: Each day (I’d recommend doing this for at least two or three weeks to get the true effect) write down the best and worst thing that happened. There’s always a best and worst part of every day. Even if it’s boring or seems all bad, the least bad thing would be your best item. After you do this for a little while you will see how it puts things in perspective for you.

Gratitude: Along the same lines write at least one thing you can be thankful for. On some days it might be really special and on others it can be something very simple such as “I’m thankful that today wasn’t worse.”, or “I’m thankful for the glass of fresh orange juice I had today.” There are NO RULES. Some days are really noteworthy and some aren’t but after several of these entries you will begin to look at things in a more positive light. I speak from experience I began doing this in really rough times when it seemed no hope was possible and while it can’t change everything, it helps enormously.

Art Journaling: While art journaling doesn’t always use writing, it is one of my favorites and it is too fun and creative not to include here. You don’t have to be an artist and no one has to see it but you.  Use any or all of the following methods. You can either work from how you’re feeling, base it on events of the day, or just be totally random.

1. You can draw, doodle or paint (combine all three)

2. Collage using magazines, photos, or small items you find during the course of your day (think of things like those little paper bands that Red Lobster uses on their napkins, cool matchbook covers, bits of colored tissue paper from gifts-stuff that represents what you did or where you’ve been)

You can add writing or not. It’s really fun, and I plan to do a post exclusively on art journals where I’ll share some pictures. It can be like a scrapbook, some doodles,  or maybe even turn into a serious work of art; but that’s not the point focus on the process, not the product. Enjoy!