Coffee-break exercise: Planting

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22 May 2020
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This week's creative writing exercise is all about seeding something that will blossom into significance

For a couple of minutes, think about an overall theme you want to write about. Hunger, betrayal, friendship, siblings, trust – you decide.

For another couple of moments, think of ways that you might suggest this theme at the beginning of a work – in such a way that you are planting your idea quietly, but insistently, into a reader's head. Try to think of ways of doing this without drawing attention to it, but in a way that would make sense when the reader gets to the end.

For the next 15 minutes, begin a new piece of writing – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, script. See if you can plant the seeds of your theme.

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If this exercise has been effective for you, carry on with the piece of writing.

 

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