4.16.2013

Next Word - writercize #AtoZChallenge 3.14

Please note: writercize (a portmanteau of write and exercise with a z for ... a twist? fun? street cred?) is participating in the A to Z Challenge through the month of April with alphabetical writing prompts. I'm skipping the stories behind the prompts so you can spend more time practicing and less time reading! Please participate, and enjoy!

writercize: Next word is always a favorite around writercize. It is a free-association game where I give you a word, and you write the first thing that comes to mind, then the first thing that new word inspires, and so on and so forth until you are about five words in.

So, if I said nail, you might go with:

nail - polish - shoe - sock - puppet.

It's a very simple game to play to loosen up your brain cells. If you are feeling particularly brave, you may want to use the words to inspire a story, but don't feel bad leaving the words alone. It's like improv class for actors - just the exercise of instant results through free association helps get your mind in writing shape!

Here are five words for you to begin with. When you are done, you should have about 25 words - the five I gave you and four more free associated from each.

  • rain
  • bandage
  • India
  • nun
  • creature
(Today's words come from Creativity Games' random word generator.)

I love reading your comments and especially your writercize results, so please, drop me a line to let me know if this worked for you! Better yet, share your attempt with the world in your comment!
 
And, if you let me know you stopped by, I will be sure to pay you a visit as soon as I am able!

Click "read more" for writercizer sample response. 


writercizer sample response:

rain - drop - crevice - deep - thought

bandage - wrap - chicken - wings - flight

India - sari - forgive - forget - lose

nun - sister - lao tse - soul - mate

creature - unknown - anonymous - poet - artist

8 comments:

  1. Okay, here goes:
    rain - bow - tie - shoe - horn
    bandage - hurt - feelings - emotion - happy
    India - ink - pen - pigs - bacon
    nun - priest - church - building - blocks
    creature - animal - dog - bark - tree
    And that was fun. You could even decide that you had to use the last word or words in a story. But you wouldn't want to be thinking about that as you were trying to free associate, I guess!

    ReplyDelete

  2. rain - storm - thunder - lightning - strikes
    bandage - hurt - sore - blood - pain
    India - food - eat - drink - happy
    nun - Catholic - church - school - kids
    creature - monster - closets - clothes - shopping

    I feel like mine are pretty boring. Ha! But fun nonetheless :)

    I used this technique when I was in a writing contest with prompts. One word prompts are always so hard to get ideas for, but this does help.

    -Kristen
    http://www.kristenduvall.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rain - Drops, Umbrella, Boots, Thunder
    Bandage - Cut, Wound, Scar, Nurse, Doctor
    India - Food, People, Culture, Exotic
    Nun - Ruler, Penguin, Church, Pope
    Creature - Vampire, Werewolf, Monster, Movies
    Shawn at Reading Practice

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well... that was interesting.
    Rain - cloud, nine, district, alien
    Bandage - scar, lion, pride, protection
    India - colony, space, rebellion, military control
    Nun - pure, snow, drugs, hallucinations
    Creature - scary, hidden, monster, alien

    Yeah. I'm such a sci-fi geek!! Nice exercise!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My favorite was India-India ink-inkwell-wellspring-springtime-timeflies. . . I could go on and on--what fun!Pam at 2 Encourage

    ReplyDelete
  6. India - indian blogger - disha doshi - wilderness - passion... !! What fun

    Happy to connect. Do visit www.disha-doshi.blogspot.com I am following you via #AtoZChallenge

    ReplyDelete
  7. It sounds like an interesting . I will check it out.


    non fiction publicist

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your feedback and your writercize results! Please feel free to leave your website address at the end of your comment. I will delete spam, but welcome writers and bloggers to share their sites with the writercize community.