Many of my students ask me about writing prompts and writing exercises. I love writing prompts for those times when you feel a bit stuck. Last night in my class we talked about writing with your non-dominant hand and seeing what comes out of you. Have you tried that? I have also heard that this exercise gets you in touch with your inner child as well! One exercise that I do on a fairly consistent basis is one that I call word association. This is something that you can do anywhere and at any time. Just take out your notebook or journal and begin writing words. It is interesting to see what words just magically pop up in your head. These may be words that you associate with your childhood or how you are in the present. Here is an example of a word assocation exercise that I did in the past:
- promise, bagel, read, snuggle, hike, explore, blue, meditate, relax, angel, care, adore, laugh, tomatoes, farmers markets, Peet’s, share, father, regret, sadness, loss, dining, heartbeat, death, beautiful, dream, struggle, tears, reunion, massage, champagne, cafe, imagine, completion, one, toes, skin, Irish Coffee, oysters, joy, celebrate, cheese, taste, create, visualize, begin, fresh, new, packers, hedgehog, silly
As you can see from my exercise that you can just write whatever word pops into your subconsciousness! This is a fun exercise that really only takes minutes, but it is a good way to start your day off with writing!
