Nostalgia

“Nostalgia is a seductive liar.”
 George Wildman Ball

Today's writing warm-up for my A to Z Challenge is N for Nostalgia.

It has to be said: everyone is partial to sentimentality. Even creatures with no soul, such as myself.

1. You come across your old childhood toy. Describe the toy in vivid detail (throw in the senses: touch, smell, hear, sight and - dare I say it - taste). Does it stir up positive/negative emotions? Does it remind you of other aspects of your childhood, such as old friends, or family members long since passed?

2. Sketch a mind-map using the key word as the nucleus, then branch out in whatever direction you please. You might find yourself going in completely unrelated paths (which I personally prefer). Do a five-minute freewrite incorporating as many (or few) branch words as you like. Here is my mind map (created using the SimpleMind app on my phone).

3. Choose one of the following sentence starts and freewrite for a few minutes, letting the words tumble out without a second thought:

• She always thinks the grass was greener...
• He wanted to go back to a simpler time...
• I couldn't believe she'd kept my teddy bear, after all these years, and after everything I'd done to her...

I find it best not to read my freewrites for at least a few days. Why not stuff them in a drawer and surprise yourself? It's blatant evidence that our minds work in mysterious ways. Plus, I defy you not to find an array of story seeds amongst your work.

Do you have any writing warm-ups you'd like to share?

Take care,
Catherine x

Note: All photo prompts in the A to Z Challenge 2013 are my own. Feel free to use/copy/share to your hearts content. Help yourself. :)  



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Nostalgia