One of the writing structures I played with in the past is the 5 Things Essay. It was introduced to me by a Substack writer that I will not name. I took a “course” from here that basically ended up being non-existent for the year I paid for, and I am still a bit salty about it. She got sick, but just disappeared and didn’t follow up. The way she handled it was inappropriate and a lesson for me.
I was combing through old ideas while drafting yesterday and pulled up old 5 Things lists in my drive. I found it so satisfying to read that I want to incorporate this practice again.
The practice is simple:
write into 5 different topics each day. After a week (or self-designated time) reread and see what is there. Are there patterns? Sparkly sentences you love? Heat somewhere that makes you want to write more? Etc.
For me, the topics emerge from prompts, my readings, conversations, road signs, etc. Sometimes completely random or connected to what I was doing/thinking that day.
You don’t have to write more than a sentence for each thing either. You can make up all your own rules. You could simply write the list or one word that goes with each topic.
Have fun and keep writing!
These are the 5 Things I am Writing about Today:
Verbing Nouns - I have been fortunate enough to take several workshops by Tara Campbell. One of the books she wrote started with an exercise she used during the pandemic when she was having trouble writing. She made a pile of -ing verbs and put them in a jar and make a pile of nouns and then would write about them together. She used The City of….and then pulled the verb and noun. The city of screaming statues. The city of glaring chocolate, etc.
Just making the lists of the verbing nouns is super fun for me, but the next step is to take one and write a story with it. I prefer The Museum of…for my stem.Running
Ham
Wind
Fridays
Question:
Would you share a verb and a noun in the comments for me? I love the randomness of this word game with community!
Let me know if you try this technique!
A Little About Me:
Tammy L. Evans is a writer, teacher, and runner living in a tiny house on a peninsula with her husband and adventure cat. Her location device is her loud laugh. She is the creator of Tammy’s Trio course. Her fiction has been published in Gone Lawn, South Florida Journal, Five on the Fifth, Fiction Berlin Kitchen, and others.You can find her at @writertammy[IG] or https://tammyevans.substack.com/
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