List of writing techniques

The literature on journalling and creative writing has generated various writing techniques to encourage self-discovery and self-expression for those who may wish to expand their techniques or address issues of writer's block.

• Alphapoems/alphalists: 26-item lists or poems in which each line or item begins with a different letter, from A through Z
• Captured moments: vignettes of life, vividly described
• Captions: pictures to be titled or explained in writing
• Catharsis: writing from within the midst of extreme emotion
• Character sketches: brief evocative descriptions of people
• Clippings: pictures or news stories saved to expand upon later
• Clustering: spatial "ball and stick" diagrams, similar to mind maps
• Daily topics: selecting a theme to address each day, often as an essay
• Dialogue: real, heard or imagined conversations between two or more characters
• Flashback: stepping back in time, from the current point in the story, to explain or give backstory.
• Figurative: written not to be interpreted literally, appeals to the imagination creating images and usually compares two things.
• Gratitude Journal: keeping track of things you're thankful for
• Guided imagery: meditation on a peaceful place, daydreaming on paper
• Lists: "dump and spill" lists exhausting details or variations on a theme
• Object writing: Providing as much detail about a given object or subject as possible
• Perspectives: looking at something from another point of view, person or object
• Ping-pong lists: paired lists to contrast two views, going back and forth as in table tennis
• Prompts: prepared quotes or aphorisms designed to encourage response
• Re-Ending word technique: inciting new language (IDeaS) from old--- see:
• Reflection: stand back to analyze one's own actions and reactions
• Rehearsal: practicing for difficult conversations or speeches
• [...] memories/complaints/experiences: reflecting on the unexplored or forbidden
• Springboards: "prompts" which inspire writing, as a springboard helps launch a gymnast
• Stream of consciousness: free-flowing narrative similar to James Joyce's style in Ulysses
• Steppingstones: Intensive Journal term for key points in a life journey
• Summarize: write a brief summary of a notebook, project or period in one's life
• Tables: organized grids to compare people or items on a point-by-point basis
• Time capsule: a brief collection of items designed to capture details of a particular moment for the future
• Time stretching: writing as if from many years in the future or in the past
• Timed writing: writing as fast as possible for a specified time, similar to a track sprint
• Unsent letters: writing letters to people which are never intended to be sent or read by them
• Visuals: striking images
• imagery: extremely detailed imagining of an event, with attention to all senses and specifics

References

Most of the original items on this list are from Tristine Rainer's 1978 book The New Diary.

• pouli

See also

• diary
• notetaking