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Essay Prewriting Exercises: Stimulating the Creative Mind

By: Marriane Thomas

The art of narrative essay writing is one that is paved with scores of pitfalls. At the onset, it seems as if essay writing is an enough task to do, with not much effort needed to finish composing one. But as the writer attempts to put thoughts down into words, the presumption of a ‘simple task’ begins to fall apart – the writer does not know where and how to start.

It is for this reason that before writers set out to draft their narrative essay, they first engage in prewriting exercises that can fire up their creative juices and enable them to rise above a daunting challenge.

The great thing about prewriting exercises is that they are not only applicable for narrative essay, but to a host of other literary genres including non-fiction writing, short story writing and poetry, to name a few.

Journey through time
To write a narrative essay is to draw from one’s wellspring of experiences; pick one and immortalize it in prose.

As the writer looks back into his or her life experiences, there will surely be one instance that would stand out among the rest. More than the picture perfect moment, it is the emotions and the tale behind the story that is worth sharing with others and crystallizing in literature.

To journey through time is not just to look back to what had transpired, but also to remember who the players in the narrative were. This is where the essay slowly begins to unfold and slowly take flesh in the writer’s imagination.

Turn the mundane to something out of the ordinary
Most often than not, novice writers get so preoccupied with thinking of brilliant ideas for their narrative essay that at the end of they just end up with nothing. A pompous topic does not a great piece of writing make. Sometimes, the greatest piece of literature comes from the simplest of topics and the most ordinary of things.

The challenge is not for a writer to come up with a grandiose stringing of words. The true test in writing an essay is how to turn the most commonplace of events or ideas into something out the ordinary.
If a writer can weave a heartwarming tale with a scenario as simple a couple drinking coffee with a heavy downpour as a backdrop, then it’s a creative stimulation goal achieved.

Practice the free association of ideas
Let the mind wander and see how far it can take off from one topic onto the other. Free association, as a prewriting exercise, can fuel a conflagration of remarkable ideas.

To free associate is simply to let the mind stray and walk the writer to different paths. Where there was once a simple and specific idea to begin with, the power of the imagination takes hold and branches off to different topics until a web of interrelated thoughts, views, and concepts surface. From hereon, the writer simply chooses which aspects will be included and weed out the ideas that seem superfluous for the essay.

Write freely, with no holds barred
Free writing is the point where the delineation between prewriting and the actual composition of essays gradually begins to blur.
To write freely is to simply let all guards down and begin the chronicle of events. This is the instance where authors have the license to disregard the rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Writers simply jot down thoughts that would come into their mind and let their hearts take them to where they would want to be.

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A dedicated writer, Marianne Thomas is a graduate of Creative Writing at Ohio University and teaches essay writing to high school students. This bookworm is the epitome of an art lover. If she were to choose a period in time, Marianne would choose to live during the Renaissance, where the people aspire for art and humanism.

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