Up: [[Image]] Related: [[Beams]] Created: 2023-03-12 Updated: 2026-02-10 [[Lynda Barry]] says that the best way to find a story is to start with an image. And the best way to find an image is to start with a word, either a noun or a gerund (ing word). Start by getting relaxed. Then take 90 seconds to write ten images that come to mind in response to a single word. The words can come from a list of images you're written from the day before, or from a word bag you've made up of slips of paper with individual words. This example of word bag ideas comes from Barry. There's no significance to the bullets other than making the list easier to read. ### Word Bag Ideas - first car, first job, childhood friend, toy, alcohol, jewelry, fight - ghost, waiting room, injection, dog, darkness, airport, stranger - hero, forgetting, shouting, short cuts, dressing up, poison, snake - neck, evidence, sunrise, keys, punishment, tattoos, maps - silence, departure, thumbprint, gardening, abandoned, blanket - scars, monkey, downhill, church, teeth, lunch room, music, speeches - stitches, eggs, rich, worn out, train, police, eating, do-over, birthdays - movies, ink, marshmallows ### Car Example Pretend you pulled from the word bag the words, “first car.” Picture that car in your mind’s eye. Then write the answers to the following questions, all in present tense, keeping your pen moving, and using the starter “I am…” - Where are you? - Are you in the car or out of the car? - If you are inside, which seat are you in? - What are you doing? - If you are out of the car, what part of it are you facing? - What time of day or night does it seem to be? - Who else is there? - Why are you there? - What season? - About how old are you? Now turn around inside the image - What’s in front of you? - What’s to your left? - What’s to your right? - What’s behind you? - What’s above your head? - What’s below your feet? > [!user] [[Lynda Barry]] in *What It Is*, pp. 144-145