1.  Sit in the writing circle.  Ask participants to clear their desks, relax, and have only paper and a  pencil or pen,

2.  Give these directions:
 

In the following exercise I'm going to ask you a series of questions to help you get ideas for writing.  Often, in response to these questions, people write in lines rather than in sentences and paragraphs.  Often people write poems.  In response to each question, you might write only a phrase or a single word on a line.

If  your writing is going along and you don't need the questions I' m asking, try to ignore them in your own way. The questions are meant to help you when you need a new idea, but you don't have to answer them.

A. Write as a title an address--somewhere you've lived or live now, where you've worked, gone to school, visited, or        vacationed.  Remember that an address might be the name of a city (Athens, Greece), or even a room #.  Write the         address at the top of your sheet.

B. "Look" at the place in your mind.  What do you see there? Go closer towards it.  Do you have to turn to       go inside? Do you turn right or left? What do you see now?

C. What do you hear?
 
D. Who's there? Is anyone there? Does someone speak? What is said?

E. Is there food? Can you smell it? Is someone cooking?
 
F. Is there a color to this scene? Many colors?
 
G. Does anyone else come in?    Is there talk?
 
H. What happens next?

I. Now write for a few more minutes on anything you've already thought of , or a new thought.

4. Process writing on composing-
    Let's write for a few minutes on how we did the writing we just did.  Did you make certain decisions? Did you change your mind about any of them?

5. Sharing with a partner-
Now read over what you've written.
Then turn to a partner and share anything you've written.
Partners should respond to each other's writing using active listening.

6. Process writing on sharing-
Write for another few minutes about the sharing with your partner, what you learned about your own or your partner's work, what you expect to do with your piece of writing, or anything else you may wish to write.

For the next session

From any of your writing today, choose something to develop into a piece of writing to share with your revision group.  It might be a poem, a story, or any other genre.

                                                                                Prepared by Thomasina LaGuardia

Based on the "Address" exercise created by Alan Devenish.