A CREATIVE SPACE FOR READERS OF THIS BLOG:
find inspiration…
leave a piece of writing…
read what others have written…
write something using one of the ideas I’ve discussed here…
share your own ideas for stimulating creativity…
have fun…
go wild!
Post your creations here:
Creative Bursts (Creations Inspired by the Creative Bursts)
Tiny Packages (Get Microcreative)
Pile on the Creativity (Writer’s Word Pile)
Be Unique (Writing in Unusual Formats)
Strangling My Muse 
Don’t just plot your essays: suss the narrative AND emotional arc of them. Often I reverse-outline early drafts: where is the point of conflict? The possible patches? The point of insight where the final solution’s revealed? The climax? The denouement? What’s the takeaway message? Is it universal?
Sometimes I’ll write my assessment on scraps of paper (action/emotion) and push ’em around the rug. Three- (well two-, really) dimensions help me escape the pixelated flatworlder headaches…
Great advice! And I love putting together scraps of paper/index cards like puzzle pieces. Holding my words in my hands gives me a visceral pleasure that will never be possible on a computer.
–Sandy
AW—now I WANT real sand and toys to play with. Lucky for me, I know where to find a lake and some sand–and hey, I can play with just my hands and whatever else is on the beach.
waves & grins~~~
I hope you went to that lake and built some sandcastles after writing this comment!
–Sandy
Hey, Sandy. Did you read that Lisa Romeo is willing to send out free writing prompts every day in January to her blog readers? Here’s the link: http://lisaromeo.blogspot.com/2010/01/january-gift-for-writers-nope-not-late.html
Thanks for mentioning this offer, Susan! I’ve just posted about it so other readers who don’t check out these comments will hear about it too.
–Sandy
If I planted my heart and watered it, a prickly-heart bush would grow.
Wow, intense! Thanks for sharing this.
~Sandy