Creativity Workshop

Creativity Workshop

"People have to go out of their minds before they come to their senses" - Timothy Leary

"There is only one trait that marks the writer.  He is always watching.  It's kind of trick of mind and he is born with it."  - Morley Callaghan

+ Get your right brain working.  Try music!

+Write a biography of yourself that does not say anything about your past, but instead uses similes and metaphors

+ Place random words in a bag and do a "Boombox" activity - pull words out of the bag and create a story using those words.  For example, words: Camaro, potato chips, onion.

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas.

                Word: "Shoe"

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas.  It uses shoes instead of tires.

                Word: "Cop car"

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas.  It uses shoes instead of tires, and is being chased by a cop car.

                Word: "Circus clown"

                A Chevy Camaro that smells like potato chips is driving down the road.  It runs on onions instead of gas. It uses shoes instead of tires and is being chased by a cop car with a circus clown hanging off the siren lights.

+Buy a cheap comic book or painting or picture and use that as a prompt to write the story behind it.

+Play pictionary - this is a great creativity booster

+Symphony - comeup with a list of characters, create a basic plot and write from the point of view of every character involved. 

+Pick up a random item and write the story behind it.

+Read "Title" by Greg Allen.  See a performance of it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9k5C_2Fob0

+ Create a poem using every clichè you can think of, but use each one differently then was intended

+ Write the same story in three different genres: horror, comedy, romance, drama, etc.

+Write the same story in three different ways: poem, short story, play

If anyone can finish the sentence, it is a clichè.

Clichès, idioms, and "word packages":

Wake up and smell the roses / coffee

Put the cherry on top

The icing on the cake

These boots are made for walking

The light at the end of the tunnel

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink

Butterflies in your stomach

It's just scratching the surface

Out like a lamp

The writing is on the wall

The place was crawling with cops

See the big picture

His life would never be the same

Put a cork in it

Finding a needle in a haystack

Time to pay the piper

Dive in head first

Have the upper hand

compare apples to oranges

the best means of defense is a good offense

Keep your friends close, your enemies closer

Never say never

You only live once

Hit it out of the park

Bringing home the bacon

No such thing as a free lunch

Think outside the box

Try some of these instead:

"You know what they say about horses and water"  "I felt like I'd eaten a bag (or a garden) of butterflies"

"His life would never be different"

"Never say never (Again)" "You only live twice" (James Bond)

"Think outside the bun"

"Nobody wants a free lunch"