Here’s a creative exercise that some of you might enjoy. I first did this in a writing class at Radford University . It was taught by a really nice guy, Bill Brown, who also happened to be a really good poet.

Grab some paper and a pencil and draw the first place you can remember living as a child. Draw in as many details as you can. What was in your room? Who lived on each side of you? What was in the yard? Keep going, putting as many details in the drawing as you can.

When you’ve drawn in as much as you can remember, I’ll bet that you have at least one or two story ideas. Maybe it’s something that happened there, an attic that spooked you, or how you felt when your friend moved away.

Happy writing!