Image Copyright Larissa Kulik, 2013. Used under license from Shutterstock.com.

You can jump-start your writing by starting simply, with a single word and a playful perspective. Since one word leads to another, you can start with any word or term at all and begin playing.

You might choose a word or a phrase at random from a book or work with a random word generator or choose a quality to write about from my “Cultivating Creative Qualities” series. Once you choose a word, you can use it however you like. Try some of these ideas, or invent your own.

Free associate.

• What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you consider this word?
• What memories, dreams, emotions, images or ideas do you associate with it?
• Make a quick list of your associations.

Sound it out.

• It’s okay if you don’t know the meaning of the word. Give it your own definition—it can be anything you want, whatever it sounds like to you. Turn it into a person or an animal. Give it a life of its own. Or turn it into some other word that it sounds like and let this one word lead to one word after another.

Turn it into a question.

• Put a question mark at the end of the starter. Voilá, it’s a question, and it’s up to you to supply an answer. This is a great way to start a dialogue with yourself and the characters inside you.

Ask yourself some questions.

• What does this word mean to you?
• How is it revealing itself in your life or in this moment?
• What does this word ask of you?
• What does it offer?
• If this word were a person, who would it be?

Interview.

• To get better acquainted with this word, you might have fun asking it some questions, as if it were a person. What’s her nickname? What kinds of hobbies does he have? How many siblings? What does she like to eat? What’s his pet peeve? How does her garden grow?

Personify.

• Write about this word in first-person (“My name is All Ears and I’m a great listener; people laugh at me but they don’t realize how good I am at . . .”) or in third-person (“Alcazar is the wizard next door; he’s a little guy. . .”). Here’s a longer example: “If Persistence were a woman she would be a pioneer named Lucy. She would have thick arms and legs and a round belly. She would hike up her skirts to push the wagon through mud and not care who was looking. She would do everything necessary to cross the plains.”

Look it up.

• If you want to know more about this word, look it up in the dictionary. When you find a word that fascinates you, explore every nuance of its meaning. Build a poem or a story around it. That’s exactly what Eve Merriam did with the word “ululation.”

Make a physical expression.

• Draw a picture of this word.
• Sing it a song.
• Dance with it.
• Turn it into story, movie, or play.

Let it manifest however it will.

• Consider this word from time to time as you go through your days. Let it come up for you naturally. Let it surprise you. Feed it. Accept its gifts.

What’s your favorite way to play with words? How have these prompts worked for you?