Writer's Bag O' Tricks

Random Words & Six-Word Stories

A blank page can stop us dead in our tracks. So I've come up with a few little tricks to prime the pump and get the words flowing onto the page.

The first trick is to brainstorm a list of random words. Well, they aren't completely random. Think of a scene you're writing. For example, in my latest novel, Journey to Artemisia, my main character suffers from apocalyptic visions, so I brainstormed a list of words appropriate to an apocalyptic vision.

The second trick is to take those words and write six-word stories as a way of organizing the words so they are no longer random. What's a six-word story? The six-word story was created when someone dared Hemingway to write a story in six-words. He came up with this: "For Sale: Baby shoes, never used."

I found these exercises so effective that I ended up rewriting the scene with the apocalyptic vision without even intending to do so. I had brainstormed a list of words on Tuesday. I don't remember how long it took, but I made it my goal to just write a word and hit return until I got to the end of the page.

Then, as I was writing this blog, I stopped to look at my list and started forming the six-word sentences. Next thing I know, I'm rewriting the scene. I took a scene that was three paragraphs and nearly tripled it in size, which was good because before it was too short to have the emotional impact I wanted it to have.

This process can be used whether you're starting from scratch or rewriting. It's like wading into the pool when you're not ready to dive in, but once you're in, it's dolphin heaven.