Another writing exercise to get the juices flowing! This time we’ll explore five of our favourite words – these could be any word you like or whatever is rattling around inside your head at the moment. Try to choose words that are concrete rather than abstract, words that point to something real, not an idea. Then write for five minutes and include as many of these words as you can.

I picked: Dishevelled, Apple, Empty, Ravens, Fractal

“I’ve been feeling dishevelled recently, kind of coming apart at the seams. I’m unravelling, emptying out, clearing space for something new. Along come the ravens, out for a stroll on the wall out back. They work their way along, pecking at the bricks, investigating, looking for what? One raven jabs its beak at an apple core and it spins away to the ground below. The ravens provide the link, show the way across the abyss. They salvage and renew. Transformation, not death. Empty and be filled. All things flow in accordance with the patterns of life and death. Nothing is lost, all is useful in this fractal universe. You loop back round from decay into birth. A dead rat becomes alive with maggots and wriggles away across the ground to be reborn.”

Hmm, that came out darker than I thought it would. Plus, I broke my own rules by including ‘empty’ – it’s a bit abstract, the absence of something or ‘thingness’. It’s not a great piece of writing, but there are some vivid images: the ravens on the wall, and the apple spinning through space…

Your turn! Pick five of your favourite words and then write for five minutes and include as many of them as you can. Or you can use my words from above.

If you’re feeling brave, share the results in the comments below, or write it up on your blog and share the link. I look forward to reading them!

Image: Raven