I've seen plenty of poor, idea-drained writers say, "HOW do I get ideas for what to WRITE?" It's a scourge on literary society, this inability to think of something to write about. Here is my recipe for a nightly brain-drain that will hopefully leave you with a great start:
1. Purchase small notebook and Sharpie marker.*
2. Place these objects on the floor or table next to your bed.
3. Each night, right before you turn out the lights, fill up one page in the notebook with whatever comes to mind.**
4. Once you have reached the end of a page, STOP.
5. Read what you have written every few weeks.
*The notebook must be small (I use a Steno pad) and the marker must have a regular size Sharpie tip or equivalent. The size of the marker will force you to write larger than usual, thus avoiding such cheating maneuvers as writing teensy tiny to fit more in. These limiting forces are in place so that you will write one page and only one page, and small pages at that! The idea is for this to be quick and painless, not a full-blown freewrite.
**Phrases on these pages do not have to connect, although some might run into others. Some nights I end up with near-complete poems or story ideas, while other nights yield disjointed babble. Nonetheless, what I stumble upon when I read it can be intriguing and often inspiring snippets of poetry.
It's important to write things down. You'll forget 99% of your writing ideas if you do otherwise.
Don't just write at night; if an idea strikes during the day, jot it down as soon as possible. As many ideas seem to pop into my mind during third period, my Chem notes are littered with scraps of poetry. The before-bed writing is intended to purge the mind of whatever gorgeous ideas may be lurking there, before said gorgeous ideas slide out of your ears and run away in the night.
Good luck!
Colleen
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