generate ideas for a story, writing homework help
- Start with a list – free write. Just list for two minutes things that come to your mind – ideas, people, places, events, whatever. Be sure to write for a full two minutes with no editing. The purpose is to go for quantity, not quality. Set timer or have a friend keep track for you.
- Read through your list and star the item you could say more about, the one that evokes the strongest emotional response from you, the one that makes you say – oh yeah, and a story begins in your head that starts something like, “I remember that. That was when . . .” Web that emerging idea. Begin with a center circle on the page and write in it your event, idea, etc. Then, draw lines that connect from that bubble to others, and in those bubbles write the words, phrases, ideas, settings, moments that connect to your central moment. Continue in this way until you have a page full of bubbles and lines that connect and interconnect.
- Begin a free write – just open up your mind to this idea you have developed and write what comes from it. Worry about spelling, organization, word choice, punctuation, etc. later. This is a time to spill it all out on the page – the dumping of raw idea into the keyboard. Upload all this when you finish.