Cross Purposes
Anyone who has ever attended a writers’ workshop is probably familiar with the kind of exercise where three random words are chosen from a hat or a book and used as the basis for a narrative or poem. This exercise is a variation on that theme.
Take a crossword, any crossword. Whether it is quick and easy or slow and cryptic will depend on your taste in crosswords and level of crossword solving ability.
Solve three clues, and use the solutions to generate a piece of writing.
If you prefer, solve the whole crossword. Write a story, or a poem, which includes all of the solutions.
I myself often find that a crossword clue or solution reminds me of a line of poetry. With certain crosswords, the clue itself is a quotation that needs to be completed in order to find the solution. Why not take this line of poetry or this quotation as an epigraph, and use it as the theme for your deathless work of literature?
Solving a crossword sparks off ideas and leads you to make unusual word associations. Harness this mental activity to ignite your creativity.
Above all, whatever you do, just write.
Aoife Mac Manamon