Something fun and revealing

Ooops!

Been away waaaaay too long. Sorry about that.

Let's try something fun and revealing.

Take out a sheet of paper. Number one through ten leaving a blank line between each number (room to write).

Time yourself for two minutes and answer the following question. Write as fast as you can. Use a sentence for each number, or a word, or a paragraph . . . but write fast! When you feel yourself getting stuck, force yourself to write something, even if it's something silly like, "I don't know what to write."



You can answer the question as a writer, an artist, photographer, musician, or whatever you spend a lot of time doing.

Ready? Set the timer for two minutes. Don't take any longer. Try to fill in every number.

Here's the question:

How do you feel about your writing (or art, or whatever?) right now?


When you have completed this assignment. Look at your answers. Did you fill in all ten questions? If so, good for you! You are in the creative mode. If you didn't, then you are still stuck in the edit mode, and that may (will) hamper your creativity and probably your sense of well-being. Try the assignment several times if you want.

Are your answers what you hoped they would be by now? Are they surprising?

Set this assignment aside. Keep it in a safe place for the next two weeks. Then do it again. Try it periodically, perhaps once a month.

In a couple of days, I'll give you a similar assignment and I'll share some of my student's answers. I think you'll be surprised at how much we can learn from this simple exercise.

Happy writing! or arting! or music-making! or whatever!