News Stories
I have a ring binder full of interesting stories I've found in my local newspaper, online news sites, the dailies etc. Even if an idea isn't immediately forthcoming, it's worth tucking these snippets away. You may not be assaulted with ideas for developing a story immediately, but at another time, you might. For instance, with a group of friends, I'm writing a poem a day for June. Yesterday's prompt was 'ritual'. I remembered a news article I'd saved about a cursing stone found in Scotland. That story was from May 2012.
Character Cards
With a pack of the small white cards you can buy from any stationery shop, jot down a word or words on each of them that will prompt you to build a character. These can range from the simple such as 'age' 'gender' and 'height' to 'hopes' 'scars' and 'last night'. Use each word as a leaping off point. Just choose three cards randomly to start. You may find that this is all you'll need and that many other features, attributes and information about the character's lifestyle will start to flow.
Object Cards
These are similar to character cards, but, you've guessed it, each one has an object written (or drawn) on them. Three of mine that I've picked out are 'ration book', 'William Blake print' and 'key to a boathouse'. What kind of story might that suggest? Perhaps choose one card and see what happens? These cards are handy if you're more interested in finding the story first, rather than the person (or otherwise!) that the story is about. I have about fifty of each set of cards, and every now and again make a few more.
Groups and daily prompts
As I've mentioned, I'm currently writing poems for June with a group of friends and fellow students. The thought of writing 30 new poems in such a short period of time was incredibly daunting! However, I've found that with the prompts the leader of the group provides it's been very easy to write. From the ten days so far, I think about half the poems have potential for development, the others being more on the nonsense side, great for stretching poetic muscles! So, if you can, join a group like this - or set one up yourself. In July, I'm going to be in another group where I'll be working on my next script. Daily prompts or daily goals are a great way to keep your inspiration flowing.
So, there we have it, just a few techniques I use to keep myself writing. Especially handy when you're on the wrong side of the creativity black hole, and feel you might never write anything again!
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