As a student in college you know that there are several other things that you could be doing other than trying to put together that 5 page paper the last night before its due. Your sitting there at midnight staring at a blinking cursure with nothing coming to mind wondering how your ever going to pull it together. Your friends are all out partying and having a good time, and you wish that you could be right there with them. All of a sudden an idea pops into your head, and you begin to write...
How to jumpstart your creative process and get started on your essay/story with Bright Eyes's song "A Scale, A Mirror and those Indifferent Clocks:"
(Read through the lyrics first stated below first)
Here is a scale, weigh it out
And you will find, easily
More than sufficient doubt
That these colors you see
Were picked in advance
By some careful hand
With an absolute concept of beauty
They are smeared and these blurs
Come in random order
To color the eyes of your former lovers
Hers were green like July
Except when she cried
They were red
Now I know a disease
That these doctors can't treat
You contract it the day
You accept all you see
Is a mirror and a mirror is all it can be
A reflection of something we're missing
And language just happened
It was never planned
And its inadequate to describe where I am
In the room of my house
Where the light has never been
Waiting for this day to end
And these clocks keep unwinding
And completely ignore
Everything that we hate or adore
Once the page of a calendar is turned it's no more
So tell me, then, what was it for?
Oh, tell me, what was it for?
One way to start the creative process that many students do not think about is "yes, go out and have a good time." Go out with your friends and do whatever comes to mind however, take a pen and paper with you." Although your parents would not recomend this if you have that paper to finish and times ticking down before its time to turn it in, let them know that this experience that you are having with your friends could help you get an "A" on this paper and become a better writer. It might take some reasuring, but I'm sure they are willing to give it a try. After all that convincing, and your out with your friends, talk to them about your paper and posible ideas. It helps to openly discuss fresh ideas you might have or your friends might have to help you get your creative juices flowing. They can give you feedback as to whether or not it is a good topic to go with and discuss with you all the possibilities on the elaboration process and different places you could go with your paper. Sometimes this is an easier way to construct the begining steps of research to find what you really want to write about, instead of staring at your "Google Search" that brought up millions of ideas that you could waste hours going through or just chosing one that you do not care about just to get it done. Talking with your friends can help you find a topic that you really care about, and can make the process more enjoyable for you.
Now time for the pen and paper I asked you to bring earlier. During your experience out write down several different ideas, adjectives, metephores, and so forth that come to mind. Write down descriptions of the different atmospheres around you, the attitutes of the surrounding people in those atmospheres, or anything that stands out to you. What are some of the sensuous details about these different things? It does not have to be complete sentences or full ideas, just anything that your mind deems interesting; it does not even have to relate to the paper. Jot it all down! This is the easiest way to "break out of the box" as many teachers ask you to do, and help you break out of your comfort zone because this is a new way to help create your paper.
Now when you get home take a risk with this paper, do not be afraid of shock. You are not who you think you are! What I mean by that is students always write to please their teachers, afraid of doing anything wrong, and it hinges their ability to write the way they want to. They can not break out of that box! They always research and regurgitate back what they read, just repeated in their own personal way. But this is not really what "personal" really is. Look at that paper and use it to develope your topic that your actually going to enjoy writing about; you have your own personal touch, your own personal experiences (Not those of others found on google.) They are all writen there right in front of you. Use your experiences as examples, your list of adjectives to help describe, others interactions to help with your character development. You have studied it now elaborate on it. You should have so many ideas coming to you that you do not even know where to start. Just begin writing, get it all down and worry about cleaning it up later. When you enjoy writting something and its not forced out, it makes your writting that much strogger and your teacher will enjoy reading something that you enjoyed to write.
Now go back and reread the lyric again and you will find the author's experiences all through it giving it that personal touch that a reader enjoys so much more. You now understand how the author got it to that point and can use this process to aid you in any future papers you may encounter. Now go get your creative juices flowing!
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