Breaking into the page:
30 starters FROM JENI SMITH with an idea from David Morley
How about a five minute free write every day? Just take a word or phrase from the following list to break the blank page and nudge your thoughts:
Today I have mostly
Sometimes
Tell me
When I see
The best thing
On Saturday mornings
I want to say
Very often
My favourite
Deep down
When I am
I wonder
Underneath
Before I fall asleep
If I were
Do what David Morley recommends: that is, without looking, place you finger on the page of a book you have to hand. Take the word where your finger has landed and the two words on either side of it. That is your starting point.
The five words I started with, taken from a book about quilting, were ‘there were no rule, patterns…’ and they took me straight to something about my early teaching days in a way I had not thought of before.
The important thing about
I have been thinking
I remember
If I could stop
When I see
Already, today
If you ask me
I don’t like
This is just to say
I used to
Dear ..
Once upon a time
I am telling you
Whoop, whoop!
In between