Creative Writing 101

cat-mic

I was in a meeting last week and we were previewing a new creative writing course.

In a demonstration of the power of the mind to make connections where none exist, the instructor grabbed four words from thin air…

  1. Armor
  2. Cat
  3. Microphone
  4. Foreplay

Our instruction was to take 2 minutes and write, being sure to use all 4 words.

I had Shortcut Blogging (our former name) on my mind. This is what I came up with:

Creating content is a dance that many feel can only be done when the mood strikes, as if you need some foreplay. The armor of resistance keeps you from your pen, your pad, your keyboard and your mouse. That mouse chases every distraction on your screen like it’s a cat after a string.

Have you ever tried a microphone?”

It’s kind of a neat trick. But, I’m not sure it would work every time unless you already knew what you were going to write about. For example, if I hadn’t been thinking about Shortcut Blogging, I’m not sure what would have popped out of my brain, or how useful it would have been to me.

We use a tried and true outlining exercise. It helps you develop a solid list of the topics that you want to blog about.

We don’t need a list of random words to get you to write, because we just plug you in with an interviewer who asks you about those topics. Let the words flow.

OK…now, it’s your turn. Use the same words. Give yourself 2 minutes. Enter your results in the comments below.