EXERCISE ONE: MAKE “ME LISTS”

Keep lists that you refer back to at the start of writing days, like a repository of tailored prompts. Don’t elaborate on them—just get them down.

• your firsts / mosts / bests / worsts

  • (my most embarrassing moments, first time I met someone important to me, worst dates I’ve been on…)

• your obsessions (both concrete and abstract)

• your quirks

• themes / headlines / words you are drawn toward

• places significant to you

• questions without answers

EXERCISE TWO: DRAW MAPS

Consider significant physical spaces you might map out from memory. We aren’t after accuracy / scale; we are mining memories. (If mapping something resurfaces a memory or two, start a new list.)

Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Draw a map of your hometown. With stars, label places that were significant to you during certain phases of your life (i.e. middle school). Write a quick note of what happened there (“saw Mr. Kirkland out with Jen’s mom,” “learned how to skateboard”)

• Draw a floorpan of your childhood home or bedroom. Set a timer for 10 minutes and label as many things in a room as you can (pink lamp, see-through telephone, old copy of Jane Eyre).

• Draw a body map. Begin with a quick sketch of a human body. Label with stars places your body holds memories. (You might choose one star (“finger that broke during gymnastics in tenth grade” and write it as a scene.)

EXERCISE THREE: HOARD WORDS

Part One: Create lists of 10-12 ordinary words.

Part Two: Freewrite, pulling in a word from an old list one at a time until you’ve used them each in a separate sentence in the order they were listed. Let the words take your writing in weird, unexpected directions without changing the overall topic of your composition.

EXERCISE FOUR: USE A PHOTO

Print a photograph with people in it from your camera roll or copy one from an old album. Tape it into your notebook. As quickly as possible (without thinking), do one of the following:

• Jot down every memory, thought, and idea the photo brings to mind. If you are in the photo or took it yourself, try to recall where you were, how you felt, what you saw.

• Recreate a scene around the photograph, using dialogue, action, and setting.

• Describe a person in the photograph as if they were a character in your essay or memoir.