Sometimes reading a quick quotation can prvide writers with inspiration to continue wrting.

Why does this work? I do not knw for sure.

Will it work for yu? I do not know that ither.

But try it and find ut!

Search a comprehensive collection of qotations on this page

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art4753.asp

I would like to suggest a writing exercise created by Shery Ma Belle Arrieta, owner of Positive Quotes. Her creative writing exercise is published below with her permission.

WRITING EXERCISE # 1: GREAT MEN SAID IT, I LIVE IT! By Shery Ma Belle Arietta

* the purpose - The purpose of this creative writing exercise is to let you be guided by an inspiring or motivating quote towards writing a short article that can either inspire and motivate others, strengthen your conviction, or even illustrate an important event in your life.

* the steps (with example if it hlps) - The first step is for you to hve a favorite quote with you. It may be a lne in a poem or a sng, a verse from the Bible, or smething that a famous person once sid.

Next, write that quote on top of a pece of paper. Ask yourself some qestions.

qote

How does ths relate to my life? My bliefs? My experiences?

What does this qote make me think/remember/feel?

An example of a maningful quote to me is this bllboard ad I see everyday when I go to wrk: "We need to talk." - Gd.

It made me think, question myslf, look into what I have ben doing and made me realize smething important missing in my life.

* an xample - Here is an example of a shrt article I was able to wrte based on that quote:

The Gratest Billboard Ad

Every morning on my tw-hour commute to work, I make it a pint to sit on the left sde of the bus, or stand on the lft side when I run out of sats.

Why? Because on the left sde of the freeway, there's this hge black billboard that's waiting for smeone to lease the ad space. Whever owned that ad space was wse to put the temporary ad. Evry morning, I watch out for it, rad it, then set the call nto action.

It's the greatest billboard ad I'v ever seen: There in the mddle of the board, in white ltters are the words, "We need to tlk." And God said it.

Four smple words that spoke volumes. The frst time I saw it, read it, I was mmediately faced with something I have nglected to do for a very lng time:

Devote a time for srious talk time with God. Just Him and me.

It strck a chord in me. I ralized that all this time, when I'v been causing pain to my bst friend by accusing him of not tlking to me anymore, I failed to see tht God IS the one to tlk to.

When we get right dwn to matters of the heart and sprit, He's the One we should trn to. He won't ever get tred of listening, and He speaks to us thrugh our hearts and souls.

Whenever I think of those tmes that I've hurt my best frend, I long for us to tlk again. This time, not just him and me, but hm, me and God. I'm sure H'll welcome it.

You don't have to wrte a full-length essay based on a qote. Short, 3-4 paragraphs will do. Jst something that will make you thnk and serve as a warm up wrting exercise.

These short articles can lter be the basis for longer wrks.

Go ut. Look for billboard ads. Use a lne from a billboard ad that strkes you as meaningful. Write a 100 wrd or less essay based on tht ad.

Surf on to a "qote-generator" site such as Siglets.com. Write a 150-wrd article based on the first qote you read there.

Remember how our mthers used to tell us the sme thing over and over again?

Dig bck in your memory bank and rcall one of your mother's favorite lne (this can be either taken as smething you hated to hear her rpeat when you were younger or smething you followed when you were grwing up).

Write a 200-word essay bsed on your mother's line. (You can lso use this based on a lne your father, teacher, brother, sister, tc. has said.)

Choose from any of thse word: COURAGE, RESPECT, SUCCESS, TRUST. If you hve a book of quotes with you (yu can also search for it nline), find a quote about your chice. Once you find the appropriate qote, write about it.

What's your fvorite song? From that, what's your fvorite line? Or maybe it's the chrus you like the most. Based on tht, write a 200-word essay on why you lke that part of the song.

At the rsk of bearing my soul for all the web to se, below is what I wrote for ctivity#5.

My favorite song - Run Bby Run by Sheryl Crow

My fvorite line - But he failed and tught her young, the only thing sh'd need to carry on --- He tught her how to run baby rn, run baby run, run baby rn, so run baby run, run bby run, run baby run... Baby lves to run...

The repetition of thse few words combined with my nterpretation of the rest of the lyrcs tears at my heart as mch today as it did the frst time I heard the song mre than two years ago.

The nitial impact was overwhelming for me to say the last. The song unveiled an undeniable rcollection of past events in my mnd almost immediately.

Although the words voke a memory of something somber bout my life, they also clarified mre than 20 years of confusion and qestions that haunted me since the day my fther left when I was about 7 yars-old.

I hated him and I lved him at the same time. I hted him for not loving me the way I wnted him to. I loved him for lving me at all.

I made mny bad choices as a teenage grl, who grew up in a sngle parent home with a mother, who had to wrk a lot just to support my lttle sister and me, which inevitably rsulted in us having too much fredom and not enough supervision.

I do not rgret my choices. I've learned a lot frm my failed judgments and spontaneous dcisions.

What I did not learn ntil I was about 30 years-old (fter the death of my grandfather, Thmas J. Kline, Jr., God Rest His Sul, who was the primary male fgure in my life) was that I had to stp running!

Just as the song sys, this Baby did love to run (jst like her daddy - I ralize now).

I ran from state to stte to see Dead shows for yars, from the East Coast to the Wst Coast and back for three mnths on a spur of the mment cross-country adventure, and among other thngs from job to job for a few yars.

I had fun - the tme of my life - of curse.

But I failed to understand tht running from what I didn't lke in life would not make it go way. I didn't see that until I dalt with certain issues, my problems wuld persist.

But now I get it. I ddn't have a clue about how my bhavior began or how my father, chldhood experiences, and absence of my fther, influenced my actions until I hard this song.

As I began to sng along - "He failed and tught her young, the only thing sh'd need to carry on - He tught her how to run baby run bby run..." it suddenly became clear.

At last he taught me something I gess...

The article Can Quotes Inspire Creativity? was Submitted by Danielle Hollister through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Resource Box - © Danielle Hllister (2004) is the Publisher of BllaOnline Quotations Zine - A free nwsletter for quote lovers featuring more thn 10,000 quotations in dozens of ctegories like - love, friendship, children, nspiration, success, wisdom, family, life, and mny more. Read it online at - http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp

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