





Suffering from writer’s block? Locate your literary voice with 642 Things To Write About – a compilation of ideas to kick start aspiring authors into action

As I strolled around in Williamsburg the other day, I discovered a store that might be of great interest for all you book- and art-loving people out there. Brooklyn Art Library proved to be a treasure-chest of inspiring art and books and also the haunt of The Sketchbook Project: a global, crowd-sourced art project and an interactive travelling exhibition of handmade books. The aim is to offer everyone an opportunity to become part of the art and, at the same time, represent artists from around the world.

I chose not to become part of the Sketchbook Project, but I found a book that surely will keep the buyer busy from the day of the purchase. It is called 642 Things To Write About and is a compilation from the writer collective Grotto in San Francisco. They have put together 642 ideas on what aspiring authors could start writing about if their brain has a tendency to block ideas behind thick walls of performance anxiety.

Some ideas from the book: “Make a scene with a character exhibiting really bad behaviour”; “Set something on fire”; “Write a scene where the only spoken dialogue is 'Uh-huh', 'Urrr' and ‘Mhm’.” Or, “A storm destroys your uncle's shed and kills his six-year-old son. Describe the colour of the sky right before the storm hit.”

Big ideas: combat writer's block with this inspirational journal

My advice would be to try and fill the pages without thinking too much; just let the words come and see where they take you. Perhaps some of the simple little texts will eventually become a first step towards something bigger.

As Sean Connery says in Finding Forrester:

“No thinking – that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!”

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