Yn Nor Workshop
By Vitora
Whenever
I’m looking through the Writer’s Digest Book Club catalogue or scrolling
through the library’s listing of writer’s books, I’m always a little
upset. Not because of a lack of
selection—there’s a heck of a lot more out there for writers than you might
think—or lack of quality—these books get pretty detailed, and some are even
ones I’d consider reading for pleasure—but because of the lack of activity
books. Books that detail, step by step,
exercises for generating ideas, characters, names, locations, everything.
And while
I don’t plan on adding to the few that are out there at any point in the near
future, I think I’ll make it a little easier on those who feel the same. Every month, expect a new activity in the Yn
Nor Workshop series to help you come up with interesting new scraps for your
writing life.
October—Freewriting
It is time to be random. It is time to do something that no one dares
to do when others are around—talk to yourself.
It is time to write about…
PUSHPINS!
Yes. Right after you read the paragraph following
this, set a timer for five minutes and start writing. About pushpins. I mean it, really.
Now, when I say to write about
pushpins, I don’t mean write about them for the whole entire time. If that’s what comes to mind as your fingers don’t
stop typing or dragging the pencil across the page, then fine; but if you start
out with pushpins and end up with elephants, it really doesn’t matter, as long
as you kept writing the entire time.
Just don’t stop, okay? Go.
~~~
Got that? Good.
Post it up on the
Golden Pen forums if you’re brave enough, in the topic discussing this
article. Otherwise, let’s move on to our
next topic. Write for five minutes about…
LOVE. Luff. Amor. However you want to say it.
Start and don’t stop. Go.
~~~
Heh, that may be a paragraph you
don’t want to post, but if you’re willing, go ahead. When you’re ready, go on to…
CHRISTMAS GIFTS.
Then…
LLAMAS.
Finally…
THE SUN.
~~~
Finished? Post what you’re willing, and then look at
the five paragraphs you’ve written (or more, depending on if you made paragraph
breaks or not). Put them together, mix
some stuff around, see what you get. You
may be very surprised—poems, stories, novels, humor articles, whatever…inspiration
may very well come with these completely unrelated topics I’ve given you.