Writing Workshop Series—Fall 2015 Presented by Pacific University’s Tutoring and Learning Center Eureka: Inventional Techniques and Games
Dr. Adam Pacton
TECHNIQUES
Freewriting
• Set a timer and write, write, write for the allotted time on a question or prompt (don’t you stop!).
• Try to cull ideas from the resulting text.
Looping/Loop Writing
• Work through an initial freewrite (see above).
• When finished, write the most important idea, question, or term at the top of a piece of paper—you will use
this as your next prompt.
• Work through another freewrite with the new prompt, and repeat the process 2-4 times (or as necessary).
Word Association
• Start with a central term or word and write it at the top of a page. Below that, write the first word that
comes to your mind.
• Look at the new word, and below that write the next word that comes to your mind.
• Try to get as many words down as you can, and see what’s at the very end in addition to how you moved
through the associations.
Mapping/Clustering
• In the center of a sheet of paper, write the central idea, question, or problem you are working on and circle
it.
• Draw a number of spokes (like a wheel) coming off the central circle, and try to think of related terms,
ideas, questions, or subquestions (you’re trying to get a bit more specific here), and draw circles around
each one.
• Repeat this process with each subcircle, trying to arrive at more specific ideas, questions, etc.
• The visual representation may help trigger certain ways of thinking, and the ability to continue getting more
and more specific can indicate more fecund areas of inquiry/work.
Topic Sentence Poetry
• In cases where you’re stuck mid-project, take out a sheet of paper, and write the first sentence of each
paragraph as if you were writing a poem (write the first one on top, below that write the second topic
sentence, etc.).
• This visual (and generic) remediation can help you see structure (or lack thereof), movement, and even
nascent ideas that can get lost in the body of a text.
NOTES ON USE
(1) Invention is an undecidable process; in other words, it’s not ever clear exactly what is going to happen at the end
of a particular exercise. In addition, invention is not something that happens only at the beginning of a writing
project (that’s why I like the term “invention” better than “brainstorming).
(2) Just like in…well… everything, hybridization tends to lead to strength and flexibility. Mix and match or
sequence inventional techniques to get your brain working in multiple directions.
(3) Different strategies work for different people and for the same people at different times. Experiment and play!