MINILESSON 6: Using Personal Experiences to Find Writing Ideas


Using Personal Experience to Find Ideas

One of the best places to find ideas for writing is through your experiences. Things that we have learned or things that have happened to us are the sparks that can ignite our writing. Your experiences are important to your writing. You already have had many experiences that can provide material for your writing. You just haven’t uncovered those ideas yet. Sometimes our writing ideas are tucked away in the corners of our minds.

Inventory of Personal Experiences
·         What am I interested in?
·         What do I like?
·         What do I dislike?
·         What makes me different from other people?
·         What do I like about myself?
·         What do I dislike about myself?
·         What would I change about myself?
·         What do I care about most?
·         What would I like to know more about?
·         What would I like to do?
·         Where would I like to go?
·         What exciting things have I done?
·         Do I know any interesting people? Why are they interesting?
·         What could I share with others?
·         What would I like to change about the world?
·         What are some things that have made me happy?
·         What are some things that have made me sad?
·         What are some things that have made me angry?
·         What are some things that have made me afraid?
·         What advice can I share with others?

Angles and Viewpoints

Writers have to look at things from all perspectives and different angles. When an author is searching for an idea, he sometimes looks at an old idea in a different way. Every issue has multiple sides. Did you know that light contains all of the colors of the rainbow? But, we don’t see all of those colors. Very few issues in society are black and white. There is always a gray area. As a writer, you must look at all of those shades of color and gray to find an idea. Look at some issue, idea, or topic from another angle. Think about some big questions in society. Are there two sides to that issue? Here are just a few examples:
·         Should middle schoolers be allowed to use their phones at school?
·         Should high school students have homework every night?
·         Should class sizes be smaller?

·         Should parents have the right to search their children’s rooms?

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