Homework: Choose any of the assignments that apply, or design an exercise that will inspire your muse.
~Put a few manila folders somewhere handy, with labels like: Quotes, Characters For My Novel, Funny Things the Kids Said, Clippings That Made Me Think, Plots I'd Like to Thicken.
~Buy a package of ten small notebooks and pens (in the dollar aisle of Target) and stash them in places where you often get ideas.
~Every day for a week, write down and file three random thoughts, just to get you in the habit of using your notebooks and files.
~Place scissors and a red pen wherever you spend time reading. Clip or tear newspaper and magazine articles that provoke you, underline the passage you want to remember, and file them away.
Written Work: List ten things that get in the way of your writing. (My life is boring; my mom would be shocked; I don't know where to start; I don't have time, I have seven kids.) Go back and write a sentence about how to deal with each issue. Idea: "I have seven kids. I'll sit down with them during homework time and write a paragraph using their spelling words." "My mom would be shocked. I'll write my love story as if it happened to someone else." Now, use your ten sentences to write a mission statement called "I'm Going to Write, and Here's How."
Go for it—Write Away!
Notebooks/pens (Zebra F-402) purchased and appropriately stashed. I AM going to figure out how to use the voice memo on my phone because when I'm driving is when the ideas come. However, they stay in the car. I can never remember them later and since writing (while driving) is out of the question, I think I'll try talking to myself instead.
