- think back on life events, personal experiences
- listen to yourself talk, what do you say?
- read things, think about how they were written, how do you react
- listen to the news, what makes you angry?  what interests you?
- try things you have already done in different ways
- look over the exercises we have done in class
- think about the day you just had
- use your friends' experiences
-think about your daydreams and visions
-look through old photographs
- talk to other people
-begin in the middle of an old story
-practice leads
-ask for a first line
- take a quote as a first line
-go somewhere (like MacDonald's, Dunkin Donuts or the cafe) and listen for a good quote-- write the story behind it.
- think about things that bother you
-think about your enemies
-think about strange people
-think about vacations, sporting events, horror fiction
-think about places you have lived or spent a lot of time, list everything you remember about them
- think about a particular year in your life, write everything you remember about it.
-free write-- write everything that comes into your head, look through what you have after ten minutes for possible topics.