An Exercise in Imaginative Writing

I've never considered myself a fiction writer. My brain thinks in facts and things known. My imagination isn't very well developed, I guess. Or maybe, just because fiction writing is so hard for me, I've convinced myself that I can't do it. But every now and then I get the urge to be "creative" and the following writing exercise was a result of one of those creative binges. Want to try it?

Just for fun, draw lines on a sheet of paper to create six columns. Now, write one word at the top of each column. The words should be totally unrelated and the first thing that pops into your mind. Now, below the first word, list all the words you can think of that rhyme with that word. Proper nouns are acceptable. Do the same for the other five words.

Now comes the fun part.

Using each word, or a variation of it, at least once, create a story with the words. It doesn't have to make sense, but try to weave some semblance of logic into it. The idea is to WRITE, first off, and then to use your imagination. It's harder than you think, so it makes you use your brain, too. What more could you ask of a writing exercise?

Below is my list of words, yours can be any words you choose:

house
mouse
louse
grouse
rouse
souse
spouse

lift
gift
miffed
rift
sift

pedal
peddle
medal
meddle
pass
sass

glass
class
lass
mass

write
bite
flight
height
kite
light
might
night
rite
right
sight
tight

able
table
label
fable
gable
cable
Mabel

And here is my "story." Tell me what you think. But please be nice... I warned you that I'm not a fiction writer!

In a house sealed tight on a passable night, a lass named Mabel lost her medal for being the "Sassiest Writer" in town when she allowed her light to be hidden beneath a pedal. Mabel was light years ahead of her class in fables, labels and rites and had even written a short song during one particularly long and boring mass.

With insight and compassion, Mabel often wrote of rifts between miffed spouses, glass houses and flighty grouse. She never meddled in the cables received from others, nor did she succumb to the temptation to peddle her words while sharing a bite at the table with unsuspecting friends. However, she was known to occasionally sass a louse who flew kites in obstreperous heights near the sight where she lived.

One night, in her house, Mabel spotted a tiny gray mouse who, roused by her gift of Swiss cheese, decided to attempt to lift the cheese for himself. Although by might alone, the tiny mouse was unable to sift through the debris in Mabel's house to acquire the cheese, he used his able gift of sight, climbed the gable outside on this passable night, and with foresight took one large bite of the cheese.

Which action created a huge rift in his relationship with Mabel, who forthrightly clobbered him with her broom and threw his tiny body from the height of the gabled roof.

Above all, have fun! And good writing.

Article © 2005 Darlene "Dee" Bishop. All rights reserved worldwide.

Warning: include(http://darlenebishop.com/sidebar.html) [function.include]: failed to open stream: HTTP request failed! HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found in /home/darlene/public_html/articles/aeiiw.shtml on line 112

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://darlenebishop.com/sidebar.html' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/darlene/public_html/articles/aeiiw.shtml on line 112