New Ideas for Writing

Recently I was talking to my husband about creative writing.  I have done some over the years, but most of my writing is instructional, or what you might call teaching.  Anyway, he encouraged me that it might be a good idea to expand more in that direction.  I'm not sure how it will work because it will be more challenging territory for me, but it has come to mind as I've been thinking about which direction to go with writing in the next year.  I know that the Lord wants us to increase our talents, not let them stagnate, so perhaps this is one way to do that.  [Illustration right - unknown. Edited.]

Another thought was that awhile back I found a blog where a lady posts a word/subject once a week and people who participate then write for five minutes on the subject.  I thought it was a good idea, but I was not willing to participate due to some of her requirements that she was asking so I decided against joining in.  However, it got me to thinking.

The outcome of all this is that I am thinking of starting a jar into which I can put ideas for writing - subjects, words, maybe even some quotes.  I also am thinking of using an online word and sentence generator to give me ideas.

Sometimes I get ideas for writing at times when it isn't very convenient to write, or even make extensive notes.  In case you didn't know it, ideas are as slippery as wet fish; they can be hard to hold onto.  If I could write something brief on a bit of paper and put it in a jar, maybe I could come back to it at a later time and develop it into something. [Illustration left - from a painting by Thomas Faed.]

I have also been collecting memes which I wanted to write about, so I may think of a way to incorporate those, though admittedly they would not be so much about creative writing and more about teaching again.

Overall, though, I'm not so much concerned about creative writing as expanding my writing in a productive way, and one that will honor the Lord.  It's sometimes hard to settle on one topic or idea for writing when one's mind can produce 12-15 in a relatively short period of time and they all seem worthwhile - at the time.  It is also hard to think of something to write about sometimes when I should be writing but I'm not in the mood to write what I "should" be writing - or what I think I should be writing.

So...I think that I am going to try the jar idea and see what happens.  It may not work out well, in which case I would simply dispense with it.  But, it might just prove to be something useful and challenging.  I haven't determined how often I would use it.  I think that would depend on how well it works out.

Added to this, I thought it might be interesting to ask my readers - that's you - to give some of your ideas for me - words, Bible verses, quotes, topics, etc.  I could include in my jar the ones that I felt were useful, interesting or a good challenge.  Of course, I reserve the right to make that decision since this is, after all, my blog. :-)

What do you think?  Do you have any ideas to contribute?  Please leave a comment.

If you like this idea please feel free to use it. :-)