1. “The Truth, The Half-Truth, and Anything but the Truth” Begin a story or scene with a sentence that starts with a truth, proceeds to a half-truth, and then moves on to a complete lie. “When I was twelve, my father died. My mother was heartbroken and ran away with the mailman. Now, every four months I get a post-card from Minneapolis.” (72) All true until the word heartbroken, and then everything else is a lie. -Monica Wood in Naming the World

2. Causing a Scene-from Debra Sparks in Naming the World Step 1: Imagine yourself as a character observing two People who are—for whatever reason—not where they are supposed to be. As an observer you are not participating in the scene, just watching. “Mistaken Identity”-Tony Hoagland http://dwitkowski.blogspot.com/2008/05/mistaken-identity-by-tony-hoagland.html

3. Write about this observation for one page.

4. Step 2: After writing for a page, focus on one aspect of the dress or appearance of one of the people you are observing. Write about that detail for half a page.

5. Step 3: When you are done, write one of these two phrases on your paper: “What I’ve never understood is…” or “What I’ve always wanted to know is…” Finish one of the two sentences and then continue writing for another half a page.

6. Step 5: When you’re done, start a sentence with the word “Now…” Finish the sentence as you return to the action of the story. Continue until you finish your scene.

7. How to use this? • You can leave this as a poem, turn it into a drama, or form a short story/novel from what you have started here!

8. The pleasantries of life… Step 1: Write about the nicest thing that has happened to you this week. YOU WILL BE SHARING THIS WITH ONE OTHER PERSON.

9. Step 2: Use your clocks and divide in to pairs. Step 3: Read your partner what you wrote down

10. Step 4: Trade what you have each written.

11. Step 5: Add conflict into the pleasant experience.*In this step, you are not “doing” something nasty or vindictive to your partner. You are using this as an inspiration for fiction, imagining where it will take you.