List of writing techniques
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The literature on journalling and creative writing has generated various writing techniques to encourage self-discovery and self-expression for those who may wish to expand their techniques or address issues of writer's block.
This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
- Alphapoems/alphalists: 26-item lists or poems in which each line or item begins with a different letter, from A through Z
- Captured moments: vignettes of life, vividly described
- Captions: pictures to be titled or explained in writing
- Catharsis: writing from within the midst of extreme emotion
- Character sketches: brief evocative descriptions of people
- Clippings: pictures or news stories saved to expand upon later
- Clustering: spatial "ball and stick" diagrams, similar to mind maps
- Daily topics: selecting a theme to address each day, often as an essay
- Dialogue: real, heard or imagined conversations between two or more characters
- Gratitude Journal: keeping track of things you're thankful for
- Guided imagery: meditation on a peaceful place, daydreaming on paper
- Lists: "dump and spill" lists exhausting details or variations on a theme
- Object writing: providing as much detail about a given object or subject as possible
- Perspectives: looking at something from another point of view, person or object
- Ping-pong lists: paired lists to contrast two views, going back and forth as in table tennis
- Prompts: prepared quotes or aphorisms designed to encourage response
- Reflection: stand back to analyze one's own actions and reactions
- Rehearsal: practicing for difficult conversations or speeches
- Sexual memories/complaints/experiences: reflecting on the unexplored or forbidden
- Springboards: "prompts" which inspire writing, as a springboard helps launch a gymnast
- Stream of consciousness: free-flowing narrative similar to James Joyce's style in Ulysses
- Steppingstones: Intensive Journal term for key points in a life journey
- Summarize: write a brief summary of a notebook, project or period in one's life
- Tables: organized grids to compare people or items on a point-by-point basis
- Time capsule: a brief collection of items designed to capture details of a particular moment for the future
- Time stretching: writing as if from many years in the future or in the past
- Timed writing: writing as fast as possible for a specified time, similar to a track sprint
- Unsent letters: writing letters to people which are never intended to be sent or read by them
- Visuals: striking images
- Visualization: extremely detailed imagining of an event, with attention to all senses and specifics
[edit] References
Most of the original items on this list are from Tristine Rainer's 1978 book The New Diary.
