Mix It Up--A Sweet, Simple Recipe to Break the Block (Inspired by Alison McGhee)

Alison McGhee, writing instructor and author of many wonderful novels including Shadow Baby (my favorite), once taught a very effective exercise in a writing class I attended. I've shared it before in these posts, but it continues to be an easy writer's-block-breaking recipe, so I wanted to pass it along again, in case any of you are experiencing March doldrums and need a lift.

My memory of the specifics is a little faint, so I'll give you the basics, and encouragement to let it morph to fit your writing needs.

I do remember there were three lists on the whiteboard: people, ages, and objects.

I like to keep a running list in my notebook or on my desktop for each, to use whenever I feel stuck or shy about a new scene. In the first, people, I might write "bus driver" and "server." The second list of different ages, I might write "13 year old," "2 year old," etc. The object list might include "vase," "jackknife," or whatever I happen to see across the room or the garden.

If you choose one item from each list, set a timer for 20 minutes, you can write a scene that might astonish you.

I went on, after that pivotal class, to expand the exercise. I still find it very effective for getting out of a writing rut.

Here's a version that has done well for many fellow writers.

Write a scene that takes place in one of these places:
in a bus stop shelter in downtown Minneapolis
at O'Hare's airport security
street-side cafe in Gordes, France
laundromat in Gillette, Wyoming
riverside picnic area

Where there's an argument about one of these objects:
penknife
silver coin
piece of sea glass
diaper
cell phone that doesn't work

And a character appears to change things who is either very young or very much older than you usually write.