THINGS THAT LIGHT MY MIND ON FIRE

Laini Taylor, author of Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer and owner of the blog Not for Robots offers a thorough and interesting description of her writing process. I always like to hear what others are doing and consider it for myself. She suggests a lot of different writing exercises that seemed like good catalysts for new ideas.
Laini says, "Think up things that light your mind on fire. Get into a freewriting mentality and start listing them. Let one thing lead to another. Items on the list can be single words or whole paragraphs or anything in between. If ideas start to click and you want to go off on a tangent, DO."

I was in a meeting this afternoon that made no sense to me as the new girl on the block so I decided to try out this exercise. Here's my list:

• New books with clean spines
• old shabby books covered in dust with faded pages that smell like mildew
• Pakistani rugs with golden, salmon and blue tones - faded with years of untold footsteps
• Cobblestone streets lined with busy cafes that smell like coffee, ham and cheese paninis and chocolate
• the smell of potting soil and geraniums
• the smell of rain in the air and the way a heavy down pour makes the air look dusty and out of focus
• blank stares on the faces of people taking public transportation
• fresh laundry hung out to dry
• vintage linens, needle point dish towels, faded floral patterns
• the sound of high heels walking down an empty cobblestone street
• the first day of a long-awaited vacation
• the way the ocean seems to heal a broken heart with repetition
• the golden tones that seem to ride the air during autumn
• pumpkins, squash, well stocked vegetable stands during harvest time
• warm sweaters when its snowing outside
• door knockers
• clear skin with freckles and moles