Creative Writing TopicsEnglish Writing Tips© Ugur Akinci Finding creative writing topics is an issue that confronts all creative writers on a daily basis. The difficulty to find a creative topic to write about is sometimes interpreted as having a “writer’s block.” Here are some methods and topics to help you move forward whenever you feel you’re getting stuck since you can’t find anything interesting to write about. Start with the PersonalThe best place to start from is everything that’s personal; everything that has happened to you in the past; the events that left their marks on you. Such events are charged with emotions and thus are easier to recall, to relive, and thus to write about. Consider these questions: When was the first time you saw the sea? What was your first reaction? Try to remember how it smelled and felt... Whom were you with? How was the weather? Do you remember the sounds and sensations of that moment? Try to write all the NOUNS that come to your mind as you're trying to recall that moment: sunscreen lotion, sand, salt, mustard, hotdog, sea gull, plastic bucket, mom, Sheila, Dodge, yellow, red, ants, steam, burning, etc. Ask the same questions and do the same for the first time when...
Recalling such incidents is usually enough to create a flood of sensations that if you immediately put down on paper (or screen) will turn into a live and breathing piece that would be shared and enjoyed by your readers. Try External PromptsAnother method to smash through such creative blocks is to use an external prompt. For example: Phone BookPick up a phone book and turn it to a random page. Read the first three names on that page and try to imagine those three individuals on a trip to a beach [or fill in your destination], and see if you can come up with what happens to them and how to trip ends. Exercise: Here are three names to start you off on a story thread: Ethel, Knutz, Jeremiah. Random Text GeneratorVisit a random text generator like http://barnyard.syr.edu/monkey.html We suggest you use the following values: “4” for depth and “1” for seed. Press the “Deliver Submission” button and generate a block of random text. Read this text and see if you are inspired to build something out of it. Sometimes you’d be surprised by the amazing creative flourishes that emerge out of nowhere when you are reading unusual text like that. Google TranslateWrite any sentence you like in English. Longer the sentence better it is. Then visit Google’s translation site at http://translate.google.com/ Translate your sentence from English to any language of your choice not once but three times in a row and back. Or try five times in a row and back and see what happens to your original English sentence. Here is an experiment: ORIGINAL: “Sometimes you’d be surprised by the amazing creative flourishes that emerge out of nowhere when you are reading unusual text like that.” 1) Translated to Basque, then to French, and then back to English: “Sometimes it requires further stunning creations that have been created out of nothing when, so strange when you read the text, I'd be surprised.” 2) Translated to Belorussian, then to Chinese, and then back to English: “Sometimes, you will be amazed at the creativity of the booming amazing to appear out of nowhere, when you read the text of the unusual.” Try your own sentences and your own translation sequences and see what you come up with in this fun exercise. If the muse is tugging at your lapel, sit down and start writing before the inspiration fades away. NOTE: This is an especially powerful fire-starter for poetry. Writing is freedom. When you write creatively, conjuring up new worlds from thin air, nobody and nothing can take that power and joy away from you. To your freedom and bliss! Return from “Creative Writing Topics” to HOW TO WRITE ANYTHING home page Have a Great Tip, Photo or Comment About This Topic?Do you have a great tip or photo about this? Something that you believe we should read or see? Contribute and share it today! |