As novice writers, we are often advised to "write about what we know." Sounds like good advice, but what would that be? Who would want to read about our boring, little lives?
Here’s a writing exercise that might help.
Take a sheet of paper (or open to a clean page in your private journal), put your name at the top, and number 1 – 20 down the left side of the sheet. Skip lines, if you want, and use a second sheet.
Then without stopping (this will be difficult the first time you do this), name twenty nouns that describe you. If you need, use noun phrases (the noun is embedded in the phrase itself) to describe yourself.
Don’t worry about the order of these - just come up with twenty nouns that describe you.
Here is an example of my list:
When you have twenty, go back and prioritize them in the order you feel they should have been numbered. Then jot down notes next to each - feelings, anecdotes, memories, etc., that tell or describe why you are an expert in that category.
For example, though I would prefer to write about the wonderful life I share with the current husband, think of all the wisdom and woe I can wring from the two divorces. Oh, the stories I could tell!
Try this the next time you need to brainstorm ideas or you need to chisel away at the writer's block.
Here’s a writing exercise that might help.
Take a sheet of paper (or open to a clean page in your private journal), put your name at the top, and number 1 – 20 down the left side of the sheet. Skip lines, if you want, and use a second sheet.
Then without stopping (this will be difficult the first time you do this), name twenty nouns that describe you. If you need, use noun phrases (the noun is embedded in the phrase itself) to describe yourself.
Don’t worry about the order of these - just come up with twenty nouns that describe you.
Here is an example of my list:
1. Wife/Ex-wife
2. Mother/Step-mother
3. Grandmother
4. Daughter/Sister
5. Mother-in-law
6. Friend
7. Hispanic woman
8. Retired educator
9. Inactive licensed real estate agent
10. Published author of a newspaper personal column
11. Collector of way too many things
12. Boomer
13. Wannabe fiction writer
14. Christian
15. Republican
16. Movie buff
17. Child advocate
18. Cook
19. Diva
20. Anti-dieter
When you have twenty, go back and prioritize them in the order you feel they should have been numbered. Then jot down notes next to each - feelings, anecdotes, memories, etc., that tell or describe why you are an expert in that category.
For example, though I would prefer to write about the wonderful life I share with the current husband, think of all the wisdom and woe I can wring from the two divorces. Oh, the stories I could tell!
Try this the next time you need to brainstorm ideas or you need to chisel away at the writer's block.
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