1. Take the first line of your Facebook news feed as the first line of your story.
2. Take a piece you’ve written and re-write it from a different point of view or perspective–perhaps a different character’s take on the same action, or just first person instead of third or present tense instead of past.
3. Try an acrostic! Write a phrase vertically on your paper (for example, Year of the Monkey). Use the letters of the phrase as the first letters for each line of your story.
4. Write a story about an animal, real or imaginary.