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Old 11-08-2005, 01:43 AM   #1
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Lightbulb Silly (but effective) creativity booster

I found this an effective way to prevent writer's block.
It takes a bit of work before you can start, but I promise you, it's worth it. I was a regular to the block, untill I found this (unorigingal) method:

1) make a lot of little paper tags (any size you like, I use 1,5x3cm)
2) start writing words on the tags (1 word per tag)
3) throw them into a jar or a pretty box (with a lid)
4) now comes the most important part: set your rules. Before you pick some tags out of the container, you'll have to determine how many words and how many lines you can use. Also, determine whether you can use both plural/singular of the word, or just what is written on the tag and so on. This sounds silly, it's very important to the exercise, though. By limiting your options, you'll have to think harder to get out of it, so you get more creative.
5) after you set the rules, pull out as many words as you planned and write the set amount of lines with them. Try to make it as coherent as possible. You'll get some funny pieces, with a storyline underneath that you might want to use.

The fun never stops, because you can add words to your jar anytime. I'd suggest you start out with easy (and often occuring) nouns, semantic groups (nouns which meanings have something in common, ex. chair, table, closet...) etc.
Wish you lots of fun and creative moments! Regards,
Pam
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Old 11-10-2005, 06:05 AM   #2
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Great Idea! Sounds like something you'd forget fairly easily though. Do you use this often yourself?

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Old 11-10-2005, 09:52 AM   #3
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Hehe... a very creative idea indeed. Thanks for sharing.
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Old 11-10-2005, 10:05 AM   #4
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Yeah, I've used it when I had a really bad case of the block. And I got cured ! It's a good way to jumpstart your creativity.
Just pull out 10 words and try to put them into 5 lines coherently. This is actually a lot easier than you'd think, bacause of the way your brain works. As you read (whether it are full sentences or just words), your brain automatically looks for the relationship between them. Throw in your own writer's creativity, and before you know it, you've got a story! Now, most of these 'Five-Tenners' (that's what I call them ) are probably useless ideas, but as you're writing, you come up with bigger and better ideas, and before you know, you're finally writing that piece you were stuck with in the first place.
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