Tracking the Single Shoe

Do you even wonder about single shoes and socks along the side of the road? How did they escape their mates? Who left them lonely on the highway?

We develop comfort zones in our writing. Once in a while, we need to delve and take risks to push boundaries. Once I published a story about a typewriter who ran away with a skateboard because of his frustrations with the computer age. Marianne Wiggins has written a book, Shadow Chaser, that combines memoir with fiction. She uses her own name for a character in one chapter.

Writers today search desperately for the next "genre." Writing grows when everyone experiments. Go for it! If you feel frustrated with a writing project, try a radical revision.

Read, "Lost in the Fun House" by John Barth: angol.btk.ppke.hu/kieg/lost_in_the_funhouse.doc

Take a look at characters in mythology. How would they do in today's world?

What if Socrates met Shakespeare and helped him rewrite "The Tempest"?

Take characters from your favorite books and have them play together.

Experiment with sounds of words on the page. Sing your writing.

Try writing in two languages at once - one word at a time. Does one language add to the other?

Write a story this way. Dialogue with an emotion. Create a character from an emotion and develop a persona.

Make up words and see how far you can take them.

Experiment with conflicting ideas.Try for color sounds and sights that taste a certain way.

Be silly!

Find humor in mysterious places.

If you do a freewrite, your mind will carry you into a variety of experiences. Start by writing an emotion across the top of the page. Then let your mind go. After 15 minutes, begin with the ending and write a story.

Play. Play. Play. If you find your internal editor invading your playground, write yourself out of the judgment.

Creative Write: Nurture your freedom to risk and choose one of the above for a fun write.