Unfurling Ideas

Use literature to encourage the writing process and try this exercise.

Select a book of poetry, then take a sheet of paper and draw a line to make two columns. On the left write out words or one line phrases that attract you. On the right side respond to these glimpses. Go beyond them. Capture the sensory experiences of the text in sound, taste, texture and scent. What would you write instead? Where can you take these notions?


For a week, take the time to peruse a novel, non-fiction selection, newspaper or magazine article and an essay. Use the two column approach to mine for ideas.

By week's end you should have ideas to combine or enhance for your own writing.