Pro tip: A library in Portland showed me how to start a story anywhere

I was stuck on a scene for a week, trying to write the perfect opening line. Then I went to this free workshop at the Multnomah County Library last month. The instructor made us all grab a random book off the shelf, open to page 47, and write down the first full sentence we saw. Mine was 'The cat, unimpressed, continued to lick its paw.' We had to use that as our FIRST line and just write for ten minutes. It was messy, but it got words on the page. Now when I'm blocked, I pick a random object in the room and force myself to describe it for three sentences. It always leads somewhere. Does anyone else have a weird trick like that to kickstart a writing session?

3 comments

3 Comments

rose_clark819d ago

Honestly thought that sounded kinda silly at first, but forcing myself to write three sentences about my coffee mug actually works.

robin8969d ago

That "random object" trick is a lifesaver. I tried it with my stapler and ended up writing a whole paragraph about office supply rebellion. Rose_clark81, your coffee mug story makes me feel less dumb about it. Sometimes you just gotta write the weird stuff to find the good stuff.

luna2618d ago

Wait, a whole paragraph about a stapler? That's actually kind of amazing. Rose_clark81 is right, it sounds silly but it really does work. My brain would never go that far with a random object, I usually give up after two lines. Maybe I need to try harder and just let it get weird.