Here's a simple way to get your creativity flowing: If you can't think of a good first sentence, go to a coffee shop. Take a notepad and a pen or pencil. Take a laptop computer, if you're so blessed. As long as you have something to write with. Sit down nearby and listen to people talk.
For example, today, I heard two men talking. The older man wore jeans and a tweed suit jacket. He had graying hair and a yellow notepad, which he was not writing on. The younger man wore a nice white shirt, collared, with blue pinstripes. His hair was spiked up. On his left hand, he had a thick gold wedding band on his left finger.
The younger man said to the older man, "By July, I was using $12,000 a month."
Now what did he mean by that? He said it in earnest, clearly meaning to make some impression on the older man, although I can't say he did. So what was going on? Storytelling, obviously.
My first guess might have been drugs, but he seemed too clean-cut. No sickly pallor, no circles under his eyes. Of course, he could have been talking about a time before he was clean. Maybe he got his life together, got a wife, got a good degree and a fancy job that allowed him to buy those nice clothes.
Maybe, though, he was some kind of entrepreneur. Maybe he was using $12,000 worth of flour for his wife's cake shop. Or $12,000 worth of sheet metal for the roofing business he runs with his brother. The point being, I suppose, that not all drama is necessarily negative.
For example, today, I heard two men talking. The older man wore jeans and a tweed suit jacket. He had graying hair and a yellow notepad, which he was not writing on. The younger man wore a nice white shirt, collared, with blue pinstripes. His hair was spiked up. On his left hand, he had a thick gold wedding band on his left finger.
The younger man said to the older man, "By July, I was using $12,000 a month."
Now what did he mean by that? He said it in earnest, clearly meaning to make some impression on the older man, although I can't say he did. So what was going on? Storytelling, obviously.
My first guess might have been drugs, but he seemed too clean-cut. No sickly pallor, no circles under his eyes. Of course, he could have been talking about a time before he was clean. Maybe he got his life together, got a wife, got a good degree and a fancy job that allowed him to buy those nice clothes.
Maybe, though, he was some kind of entrepreneur. Maybe he was using $12,000 worth of flour for his wife's cake shop. Or $12,000 worth of sheet metal for the roofing business he runs with his brother. The point being, I suppose, that not all drama is necessarily negative.
Even if you're writing memoir or nonfiction, writing exercises can help you get the creative wheel spinning. Try this out the next time you want to write.
Writing Exercise:
Go to a coffee shop. Take a notepad and a pen or pencil. Take a laptop computer. As long as you have something to write with. Sit down nearby and listen to people talk. Choose three random sentences you overhear. They should be different from one another. Now, write a short-short (500 words) in which these three sentences appear. Do not form the story around the people in the coffee shop whom you originally heard say the sentences.
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