Luck of the Draw

I have been invited to conduct a session for the annual conference of the Story Circle Network (slated for February 2006 in Austin, TX). I have named the session "The Luck of the Draw," and I am going to share with participants a creative exercise to warm up mentally and physically for the task of writing.

First, you have to create a card deck. I've created a 52-card deck for memoir writing; you can create your own. Get blank cards (index cards will do)--as many cards as you want to have in your deck--and write a prompt on each one. The prompt can be a topic, a slogan, a situation, a fad... anything to awaken the muse and tickle your memory.

Here are several that a student came up with:

Write about ambition.
Write about a trip.
Write about a favorite car.
Write about kisses.
Write about a sport.

Okay, you get the idea.

Here are the rules of play:
Shuffle the deck and deal yourself a card, or spread the deck face down and choose a card.

You MUST write for at least 20 minutes on whatever topic you got. Be inventive. You can write about the topic itself or just mention it in passing. For example, if you drew the topic sports, you could write about your memories of playing a sport in your youth, or you could write about an athlete you admire, or you could write about someone you know being a bad sport about trying new things. The writing assignment should go wherever your mind takes you.

Next time you feel like you can't think of anything to write about, pull out your deck and try you luck.

No pressure. Just draw a card, and then write quickly and steadily for 20 minutes about whatever comes to mind.