Workshop at the Boston Public Library flipped my writing process upside down

I went to a free workshop last month at the Boston Public Library led by a local author named Mark. He had us write a scene starting with a single object, a rusty key, and build the story around it without planning ahead. That method got me out of my habit of overthinking every prompt and just letting the words flow. Has anyone else tried writing from a random object as a starting point?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly_gonzalez612d ago

That rusty key thing is smart, but the real trick is not picking something too obvious. If you grab a random object from your junk drawer, it forces your brain to work harder and come up with something weird. Most people would grab a key or a coin, but a bent paperclip or a dried up glue stick can lead to way more interesting places. The boring objects make you dig deeper to find a story, and that's where the good stuff hides.

taylorcarr2d ago

Oh wait, Holly, bent paperclips are actually pretty common too though (every office drawer has like fifty of them).