Curing Writer's Block

Everybody gets it. It causes people to vacuum their houses or try to find the numerical value of pi. It has caused me to eat two packs of TicTacs in one sitting. But it is curable. The dreaded WRITER'S BLOCK. On Thursdays, I will dish out my medicine--a writing exercise for you to try. Maybe it will get your creative juices going. One writer once compared writing to playing a sport. There aren't too many athletes who don't stretch out or do drills before the game. Writing's no different. Your mind needs to warm up before the brilliance can begin.

Today isn't Thursday, it's Sunday, but I'm very excited about the workshop I just got back from. The speaker was the one and only Newbery-award winning Richard Peck. It was an amazing workshop that made me come back totally refreshed. It also gave me the power to think I MAY be able to cut some scenes from my latest novel.

So, this workshop was down south, way south--yes Champaign, IL. As I hid my computer in the hotel room, I wondered, what kind of conclusions does the maid service make about each of the hotel guests? They must see some weird stuff in the rooms. What do people bring with them on trips? My weirdest item, hmmm...maybe my candy bag: complete with 2 bags of Cadbury's Mini Eggs, a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and Sweettarts. Otherwise, I think I was a pretty normal guest.

So here's your first writing prompt: Pretend you're a hotel maid. Describe the room of a clown (male or female). Does he hang up his clothes? What is her wardrobe like? What does his suitcase look like? Does she have only one pair of clown shoes and actually wear flipflops on her off days? Post your answers if you like.