Writing Class Wednesday: Having Something to Say

I hear it all the time: "I'd like to write, but I don't have anything to say."

Sorry. I'm not buying it. Every life is made up of stories.
   
      Write about your childhood memories

• Your happiest or saddest memory 
• Something that once hurt you physically or mentally         
• A vacation with your family
• Your teachers and/or classmates
• Your experiences in the school cafeteria 
• Your first kiss/first love/first broken heart

      Write about things that scare you. For instance, some of the things that scare me are:          

•          Opening a curtain to find a face staring in at me from the other side of the window
•          Mice
•          Televangelists
•          A severed head

   


Write about the topic discussed in a conversation you had with someone

But, what if you don't want to write about anything personal? The world is full of stories, too. You live in the world. Look around. Listen. Pay attention.

     Write about a conversation you overheard while eavesdropping on someone else

•        Come on. Who are you fooling? I know you eavesdrop from time-to-time!

     Write about an unsolved mystery       

•         Who was Jack the Ripper?

     Ask yourself, "what if?" and write down wherever the answers take you      

•        What if I lived in that old house at the edge of this little town I drive through every summer?
•        What if I switched lives with that rich girl in my History class?
•        What if I woke up tomorrow and couldn't remember who I am or anything about my life?

Okay, what are you waiting for? Pick up a pen, grab a piece of paper, set a timer for 10 minutes, choose one of the above and start writing! Don't stop, even for a second, until the timer dings.