Comments on: Writing Wednesday: 20 Great Prompts to Jump-Start Your Creativity

By: Paperblanks

Paperblanks — Mon, 27 Nov 2017 17:11:38 +0000

In reply to Adele. Hi Adele, Do you mean quote us? What type of blog post are you writing?

By: Adele

Adele — Sat, 25 Nov 2017 14:46:22 +0000

Wow! Thank yⲟu! I contіnuously needed to write on mу Ьlօg soething liкe that.

Can I implement a porrtion of you post to my site?

By: Paperblanks

Paperblanks — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 15:42:50 +0000

In reply to Stacey. That's a great idea! It's true that writer's block isn't the only sort of mental block we contend with. This sort of exercise can definitely help in decision making or improving your creative problem solving skills.

By: Stacey

Stacey — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 19:00:16 +0000

In reply to Paperblanks. Thanks for your kind reply. When I originally wrote my reply to the blog, I neglected to add one other thought: This is a technique that I used years ago for purposes other than writing. Every morning my hand would randomly select 4 words, and following the sentence construction, I was able to address almost any pesky, knotty problem, such as re-organizating closets and storage spaces, planning a week's menus, working on and around my "budget", et al. It has worked for me whenever I have felt stymied by a circumstance.

By: Paperblanks

Paperblanks — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 17:46:26 +0000

In reply to Stacey.

Hi Stacey,

Grabbing four words at random from the dictionary is an excellent idea for a prompt; definitely takes the “Three Elements Exercise” to the next level! Love the sentence that you came up with.
Thanks, as well, for expanding on some of the physiological issues behind writer’s block. Better understanding of what’s going on our brains is a helpful step in surpassing these sorts of obstacles.

Cheers,
The Paperblanks^® Team

By: Stacey

Stacey — Thu, 29 May 2014 21:10:49 +0000

Of the solutions to writer’s block presented above, I find “The Three Elements Exercise” to be the most engaging, and, for me, the most effective. It points to a factor that I think is at the core of what we call writer’s block, and that is that the mind, brain, and emotions “freeze”, a condition that sometimes occurs with computers. When one’s keystrokes are too rapid-fire, for example, the screen and sometimes the entire computer “freezes”. The solution is often simple, turn off the computer and restart it. In a sense, restarting the computer is similar to pressing a “reset” button so that the elements of the electrical device are repositioned and the appropriate contacts can once again work in sync.

Applying this metaphor to writing is the similar to saying that at minimum, the neurological connections are not functioning in sync, which for the brain means that some “connections” are “frozen” and therefore we are not “getting anything”. If connections are broken, then associations are negated, and nothing can transpire. A solution that has worked for me is similar to “The Three Elements Exercise”. What follows is akin to a “reset” button so that the mind, brain and emotions are once again in sync. However, instead of crafting the writing around 4 seemingly random elements of data, It is a matter of crafting 4 randomly selected words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs only) into one sentence, which has only one criteria, and that is, the sentence must make sense.

Example: I randomly selected4 words from a dictionary: [Motor – Kudos – Stroller – Condition] and crafted the following sentence: “The mother awarded kudos to her husband for improving the operating condition of her child’s stroller by installing a small motor that provide additional power on the long, steep hill outside her home.”