1 Choose one noun from the following list of twenty-six:
Apple, bear, crocodile, door, eagle, fear, garden, house, imp, jewellery, key, love, moon, navy, oil, present, queen, road, sun, tart, umbrella, vampire, whale, xylophone, you, zoo.
(For advanced players: you can simply plug your own word in, or make your own list to come back to, here. Maybe there’s a character, place or notion in a work in progress, or even an as-yet-unbegun idea that you’d like to explore.)
2. Write down a few simple things you know about what you’ve chosen. Include the word in your sentences. For example:
Apples grow on trees.
Eve was tempted by an apple in the Garden of Eden.
Apples are usually green or red.
Probably write a few more facts than that. Try for at least five. But try and keep them straightforward, for now.
3. Pick a second word from the list. Here’s the list again:
Apple, bear, crocodile, door, eagle, fear, garden, house, imp, jewellery, key, love, moon, navy, oil, present, queen, road, sun, tart, umbrella, vampire, whale, xylophone, you, zoo.
(For advanced players: maybe pick a second word that seems completely at odds from the first – or one that relates to it tangentially in a piece you’re already writing about. What less-than-obvious connections might you reveal, here?)
4. Yes – go ahead. Write a few simple things about the second thing too. For example:
Crocodiles are closely related to alligators.
Crocodiles have a devastating array of teeth.
Nobody believes in crocodile tears.
Again, try for at least five; and for now, resist the urge to expand on what you’re saying.
5. Here’s the magic: SWAP THEM!
Crocodiles grow on trees.
Apples are closely related to alligators.
Eve was tempted by a crocodile in the Garden of Eden…
…and so on.
6. Have you stumbled upon one or more ideas that intrigue you? Have you received a secret truth about the world? Is there a thought there just crying out for you to add to it?
7. Go on then. Get to work.
Wes Viola is a pen name of Wes White. Historically, Wes was the editor of the print zines ‘Cartilage’ and ‘Attack!!!!’ (both of which may yet return some day) and now he curates and edits a partially filthy blog called Wedding Ritual, and publishes writing in places just like this when he’s lucky. Along the way, he helped found Glastonbury Festival’s Emerging Talent Competition, became an Elder Bard of the town of the same name, and won the poetry prize at Wells Festival of Literature. You can delve more broadly, if not necessarily more deeply, at http://linktr.ee/wesviola