Creative Writing Workshop
Lesson 4: How to Think Like a Writer.
Creative Workout
Cluster Diagrams. Draw a shape (a box, oval, or circle) in the middle of a blank page and write a topic that interests you inside the box.
Draw branching lines from your topic, and as you think of subtopics, write them at the end of a branching line.
As each of the sub-topics suggest additional ideas, cluster them around the idea that spawned them. Continue branching off from topic to sub-topic until you have run out of ideas.
Write the sentence: “The cat stretched one gray paw, sinking his claws into ----------,” on a blank sheet of paper, fold the paper and set it aside for later.
Make a cluster diagram for a story or article you want to write. Use the four brainstorming rules as you branch the topics and sub-topics.
Return to the sentence you wrote on the piece of paper. Spend the next 10 minutes writing whatever comes to mind. “Don’t stop to think, worry, or edit and redraft your work. Your mind has been working on the problem of the cat ever since you wrote the words; now, the writing should come easily,” says Michael seidman, author of Taking the Elevator to Creativity.
What happened when you went back to the sentence, “The cat stretched . . .?
Bibliography
1. How to Write Fast (while writing well), David A. Fryxell, Writer’s Digest Books, 1992.
2. Strokes of Genius, David Lester, Reader’s Digest, June 1990.
3. Taking the Elevator to Creativity, Michael Seidman, Writer's Digest, July 1989, p. 22.
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