The Only Way I Know How To Successfully

pull a story idea out of thin air is an exercise we used in my Introduction to Fiction Writing class last fall. The formula is to free-write for a complete three to five minutes. The best way to free-write effectively is to never pick up your pen from the page, never pause, and always, always be writing something even if your sentence reads "I do not know what to write, this sentence is so stupid I hate free-writing, damn you Stephanie." Do not bother yourself with grammar, punctuation, or sentence structure. In fact, most of my free-writing is a run-on sentence that goes on for at least a page or two.

Ready?

I'm going to set mine for 5 minutes.

7:54 pm:

Good words and sentences that showed up:

• the fastest roller-skater with my minnie mouse skates
• how to keep calm?
• a house with rules about dishes
• tattoo my body, tattoo my soul with my thoughts and love
• peace and quiet and crafts and solitude.
• top of the world and run-off pools
• glad i no longer write about wanting cigarettes.
• i want to travel and grow in my love and with my love.

...

7:59 pm


So, yeah, meaningless stuff, but out of the strange sentences, the second part of the exercise is to choose words or phrases and make a word web of all the words that you associate with the one(s) you chose. Think of it as mapping a web of your brain and thought processes. Don't bother with thinking if anyone else gets your association or if it makes no sense. This is your brain and these are your thoughts. Quit trying to be perfect.

I may choose a few sentences/words to build off of if I am not struck by anything I find.

roller-skater:
race
birthday parties
70's roller disco
strobe lights
loud music
fuzzy dice
skates
cheese sticks

tattoo:
bikers
old ladies
snakes
college
sleeves
quotes
mistakes
infections
mom
tribe
tribal tats
bros




things.