When I was a kid, I loved the cheesy free writing assignments teachers gave us. Whether it was the formulaic “I am….” poem or the silly “If you could be an animal, which one would you be and why?”, I was all over it. To sit and have a chance to—just me and my flimsy, school donated bluebook—was heaven. But, as I grew older, and learned about deadlines, revisions, revisions, and oh yeah, more revisions, it became too easy to forget that carefree, Emersonian lock-yourself-away-and-stare-at-flowers-feeling. So, recently, I sat down and thought of ways that would liven up the writing process, using my elementary school days for guidance. Sure beat old-fashioned brainstorming!

1. Paper Dolls

These days, there’s a computer game where girls can dress up their computerized barbie images with the click of a mouse. I prefer to do the old school version, or my take on it. I buy teen magazines (was very excited to see that BOP is still going strong) and flip through them for inspiration. They show me the latest teen looks, fads, clothes, and lingo, and I cut out favorite stars and mix and match to create a special look for my own characters.

2. Grab Bag

I always looked forward to holiday time when my elementary teachers asked us to bring in little goodies for a class grab bag. The same thing can be done as a free-writing activity. I toured my house and placed random items in a bag or a box (anything goes—from toilet paper rolls to key chains). Then, closed my eyes and picked one. Next step was to create a story for the chosen item (e.g. the empty key chain once had 3 keys on it, where are they now?) or use it to find out more about my characters or plot (e.g. how would my main character react to this key chain?).

3. Collage

I had classmates that went all out with these. They combined art mediums and textures and added fun, sparkly things. My collages, however, simply consisted of a few cut-out letters (think ransom note style), magazine or hand drawn pics, and maybe some felt randomly thrown in. They wouldn’t turn heads AT ALL. But, we’re just talking fun, right? No grades. So, I just go crazy. When I’m stuck on a book and want to justify my procrastinating, I take posterboard and cut out objects I think would fit with my plot: maybe a lipstick smudge of a color my MC would wear, maybe some cookie crumbs scattered in to signify a lunch or sleepover scene (oh, ok, fine I was eating cookies and they got stuck in the collage). I have writer friends who make scrapbook pages for their characters. I love this idea—if you’re a good scrapbooker. Unfortunately, I’m not, but maybe I’ll offer critiquing services as payment and have them make one for me.

4. Scattergories

This Milton Bradley game remains one of my favorites, but I don’t own it. This doesn’t stop me from playing it. I make a list of my own categories, pick a letter at random, then give myself a minute or two to fill in my list. This may not help my book, but it clears my brain when it can’t figure out how to proceed in a scene or gets my brain moving when it’s too sluggish to do much else. After a few rounds, I’m often ready to get back to whatever I’m working on at the moment.

5. M.A.S.H.

I remember playing this game during lunch or recess, giggling in a corner with my friends, hiding the papers behind book covers. I would divide the paper into sections, pick the type of homes I wished to have, the boys I wanted to marry, the cars I wanted, the career. Now that all those things are settled for me, I figure I’d give my characters a shot at what might be. I thought about my MCs’ motivations and created a M.A.S.H. game for each of them. What dwellings scream at them (a mansion? an apartment? maybe a shack for those free spirit types?)? Who’s their love interest (the jock? the geek?)? I also add my own categories to spice it up. Sometimes, I learn things about my characters I didn’t know before. And that changes everything.

Related posts:

1. Connect with Jennifer R. Hubbard: Keeping It Real
2. INCONVENIENT by Margie Gelbwasser
3. Connect with Leigh Brescia: Writing Supplies
4. Connect with Sarah Ockler: Sex in YA — Rating the Writing
5. Connect with Margie: Finding your inner teen