This is How N.B. Writes

Nili Barton works at an elementary school in Seattle, Washington. He started an after school creative writing club that is about to begin its second six-week session. At this point, Mr. Barton has twelve creative writing exercises that probably went over the heads of his fourth graders, but are perfect for you. Thus, he decided to compile and release the instructional chapbook, 12 Creative Writing Exercises That Probably Went Over The Heads Of My Fourth Graders But Are Perfect For You Volume 1. 12CWETPWOTHOMFGBAPFY is slated for release at the end of May.

Here's a bit of what can be found in the book...

Week 2: Every Idea Starts With a Word

  The philosopher Thomas Hobbes once said, “We cannot think about things, but only about the names of things.” What he meant is that we can’t even begin to think about something unless we have the words or names to explain that thing. We can’t think about a tree unless we all have a similar understanding of what a tree is, so the idea of the tree starts with the word tree. This might seem a little confusing, but what I’m trying to suggest is that words are building blocks for larger ideas, much like molecules are the building blocks for our bones, blood, brain, body and so forth. Without words, without molecules, there can be no ideas and no body.

  For this prompt I want you to open a dictionary and randomly select a word. Then use that word in a sentence. Open to a different page, randomly select a different word, and use that word in another sentence. After a couple sentences you will probably notice that you’re starting to form an idea. Either an idea for a story, or a poem, or just a new set of thoughts that never would have occurred to you if you didn’t start with those random words in the dictionary. Despite the fact that you’re picking words at random, the sentences you create probably won’t be as random. Your brain will start to create logical relationships from one sentence to the next. Continue picking out words and writing sentences until you feel as though you’ve generated a good idea. Then just roll with it. If you get stuck, open the dictionary back up and start again.