Writing Exercise: An Anecdoted Topography of Chance

Sometimes the hardest part of writing is starting. There's so much pressure to come up with a good idea that you forget there are good ideas around you all the time.

In the coming months we’ll be sharing some of the exercises we use in our workshops to introduce new ways of finding inspiration in everyday life, and to relieve a bit of the pressure. 

This month, we have an exercise based on visual artist Daniel Spoerri's “An Anecdoted Topography of Chance”:

1. Pick a cluttered surface in your home

2. Catalogue every distinct item on the surface

3. Write 1-3 sentences on each

4. Pick the 5 most compelling items

5. Write a description of each item and the memories, scenes, or images they evoke—how you came to possess them, their use, history, associated stories, etc.

6. Let the tangents spill forth

Interested in more of this sort of thing? Sign up for a workshop or class and join a community of others to discuss and share your work!