Friday 9 August 2013

642 Things To Write About Book Review


I've got something a little bit different for you this morning; something I think might be of interest to the bloggers and creative writers among you. A review, of sorts, of a creative journal book.

I'm constantly looking for new ways to challenge and occupy myself. With most of my time confined to bed day after day, my life does tend to get quite repetitive, so I try to throw something different in to the mix every so often to keep myself on my toes.

So, for that reason, I was doing some research on Smash journals on Amazon last week, thinking about purchasing one, when something else caught my eye. It was a book called 642 Things To Write About .


642 Things To Write About is by The San Francisco Writers' Grotto, and is quite simply, a book filled with 642 writing prompts to spur your creativity and inspire you out of your writer's block. That's right, 642! Now you might be thinking, there's no way that there can possibly be that many original ideas to write about, but I can assure you, this book will prove you wrong.


This book has page after page of ideas to evoke the writer within. The book is the thickness of your average paperback, although the pages are much larger- so that's a lot of inspiration to play with!


Each page has one to four unique prompts to respond to, with either lined or blank paper beneath it to write your tale.

The ideas themselves are in a variety of different styles of creative writing, from fiction and memoirs to personal opinions, and challenges. If you enjoy creative writing, I'm confident you'll be inspired by many- if not all- of the prompts laid out in this book. The following photos show just a selection of them.


Here are just some of my favourites:

♥ Think of a person you despise. Now describe all the wonderful things about that person.
♥ Write your obituary.
♥ The thought of the first man to eat an oyster.
♥ Choose how you will die.
♥ Write an anonymous letter to a stranger detailing the things you've learnt about life.
♥ You realise you have inadvertently become a stalker.
♥ A piece of clothing you keep just for the memory.
♥ You wake up in an open field wearing an astronaut suit and lying on a surf board. What happened?
♥ Describe the sinking of Titanic from the point of view of the musicians playing in the ballroom...
♥ Write a story that ends with the line "And this is the room where it happened."

I've personally enjoyed creative writing for as long as I can remember, although it had been a couple of years since I last wrote any. I was intrigued and fascinated with the idea of this book, and I can happily say that this book didn't disappoint when it made it's way in to my hands. It's filled with ideas which have been provoking an endless stream of thoughts on to paper, and it's been encouraging me to think out of the box and break away from my usual style of writing for a while. I think this book is really fun to kick back with for a while each day, and I'm enjoying writing creatively again.

While the book is a fun creative writing journal, I believe that a lot of the prompts could be turned in to blog post themes, and others could easily be tweaked for blogging, too. There's are so many ideas that could be interpreted in any way you please to get you thinking outside of your comfort zone, and could easily be turned in to interesting blog content. So if you enjoy creative writing or are perhaps looking for some new ideas for your blog, I recommend you check out 642 Things To Write About.

I can't wait to work my way through my copy!

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23 comments

  1. ooooh that is amazing! I love how our imagination can be prompted, the X-rated Disney scenario is hilariously smutty!and the perception people have of us compared to what we are is all really interesting x

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    1. and thank you for your lovely support and comments on my blog (still can't get used to saying that!) xx

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    2. It's a great little book. It's interesting how a simple prompt can be all that's needed to spur our imaginations out of a writer's block, but it certainly works. I'm looking forward to answering the 'perception vs reality' one. x

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    3. You're very welcome, Sandra! It's lovely that I can now read your blog and see your lovely outfits! Your style is flawless :). It takes a while to get used to being a blogger! Haha x

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  2. Amazing book!!!!! love it!! I want one like that in Spanish
    I publised new post on my blog, you are welcome!!! http://theduchessbyanapizarro.blogspot.com.es/

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    1. It's a fantastic book. I wonder if they do it in other languages?

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  3. Wow! This book looks amazing, I know of someone who would love this to pieces. I may have to get her a copy, and one for myself! x

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    1. It's definitely a great gift for people who love creative writing, and I couldn't recommend it more! x

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  4. I like the look of this book.

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  5. This looks amazing! All the wants. x x

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    1. It's brilliant, Leah! It's great if you enjoy creative writing, and / or like to challenge yourself with new topics. I can see it being a great book for you! xx

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  6. Definitely going to have to be a payday treat!
    http://shemightbeloved.blogspot.co.uk/ xx

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    1. You should definitely treat yourself come payday!

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  7. Hear that noise? That's my wallet sobbing because of all the amazing stuff you've shared with us lately.

    This one went right to the wishlist, I'll definitely buy it next time I order from Amazon! :D

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    1. Haha! Sorry Nita's wallet! I'm glad you've been enjoying everything lately. It's a brilliant book, and they also have two books of this kind dedicated to drawing, if that's of interest to you? I'm thinking of picking them up next time I can afford to xx

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  8. I love this! Books like this are brilliant. I have a few of the Listography books and one called 'Can't Sleep Write Now' which sits next to my bed for when I can't sleep.
    I love writing and being creative but sometimes I do need a little nudge.

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    1. I agree! I have four of the Listography books myself, and I love them. They'll be great to look back on one day, and fun to fill out now. I've heard about 'Can't Sleep Write Now', and will probably buy one at some point. I know what you mean; I often lose my writing mojo.

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  9. that look so cool and great for doing something a little different xx

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    1. It is! It has some really different, interesting topics to think about xx

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  10. I love this concept.
    Definitely a great way to get your mind going.
    ESPECIALLY if you have been experiencing writers-block.
    I might have to go check this out.
    Thanks for posting!!!

    www.KurvayshusB.com

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    1. You're welcome! It's brilliant for getting your creativity going; it's helping my writer's block already. You should definitely check it out if you enjoy creative writing! I'm loving it so far :)

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  11. Then this is definitely the right book for you! It's a good way to get your creativity going, without having to write anything long and intimidating. Hmm, I don't know about that... I guess we'll see how it goes! xx

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I love reading all your lovely comments, so don't be afraid to leave me a comment or a question below! I'll do my best to reply ASAP!

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