May 25, 2014  Prompt #25

For the next four Sundays, shapes will be our springboards. Today’s prompt helps you consider language more intricately and will perhaps move you to explore the origin of phrases. It encourages you to link images with people, actions or memories and build upon abstract ideas.

Ready to square off?

 

Instructions

1. For five minutes, jot down associations, phrases, and images that come to mind when you hear the word “square.”
2. Read over what you’ve written and circle a phrase or sentence that stands out for you.
3. Write that phrase on the top of a new sheet of paper.  Write for 15 minutes.

Further Writing

• Choose one of these phrases as your springboard: Square Meal. Square Dance. Fair and Square. Be There or Be Square. Times Square. Write for 15 minutes.
• Find a piece of grid paper (or download one here or here.) Write on it in a non-traditional way, for instance, spiraling in or spiraling out, or writing in chunks on separate parts of the paper.

Variations for Writing Groups

1. On individual index cards, each member writes down two phrases (one per card) with “square” in it. For example, Town Square. Square Deal. Hip to Be Square.
2. On a second set of cards, each member writes down two short descriptions (one per card) of a person. For example, “thin man with a cigarette,” “young woman with a John Deere baseball cap,” “grandmother who just finished swimming 20 laps.”
3. Keep the two sets of phrases in separate piles.
4. Each member chooses one card from each pile and uses the description of the person and the “square expression” together as their prompt. For instance, the thin man takes a drag on his cigarette and says, “It’s hip to be square.”  What comes next?

What did you think of this writing prompt? Share your thoughts.