How to Use Freeform Collage to Get Ideas for Articles

I've found since I've been freelance writing that sometimes my muse deserts me, and I have no idea what the heck to write about. This can be really upsetting because when you write for a living, not having anything to write about means no money, and no money means the bills don't get paid. Ack! That's not good!

I've found a technique that while a little off the wall does help me to get ideas for writing articles, and that is free form collage. The beauty of free form collage is that you probably have the items you need to do it laying around your home. All you need are a piece of paper, old magazines, and a glue stick. Even if you don't have these items laying around your home, getting them is fairly simply. Glue sticks and paper you can pick up at any office supply store, and old magazines can be found at any Goodwill, Value Village or other thrift store.

Once you have these items then you need to make a date with your muse. These will generally be those times that you feel you are blocked in your writing. Sometimes you have to woo your muse, and one way to do that is by playing with words and images. So, find a quiet place, put on some soothing music in the background, instrumental or music where you don't understand the words so you don't get distracted are best, and then look through your magazines. Look for images that speak to you, ones where you like the colors, or the picture reminds you of happy times, whatever. Don't worry about spending a lot of time picking pictures, just page through the magazines and choose whatever strikes your fancy and tear it out.

You should also look for words that stand out to you. Words can trigger ideas for articles too. While this may seem unusual, I've had situations where I've been out walking, see a word on a sign and it gives me an idea for an article.

So, once you have some pictures and words torn from the magazines then is the time really play with the words and images. Move them around the page in different formations to see what you can come up with. Maybe a picture of a house will give you the idea to write an article about home improvement and how to do it for less. Or perhaps a picture you pulled out of a father and child will give you the idea for writing an article about stay-at-home dads. The fact is free form collage can give you all sorts of ideas for articles, and it is a wonderful way to fill your idea well, as well as make a date with your muse.

It is up to you whether or not you want to secure the pictures and words on your paper permanently. I often just move the pictures and words around, add and subtract other pictures and words until I have a few ideas for articles without actually gluing them to the page. Some people like to make their collages permanent, I personally have done both. It is all up to you as to how you want to handle this aspect of your free form collaging.

An advantage to not gluing the images and words from your free form collage is that you can then use these same images and words again later. If you glue them to your page and make a permanent collage then of course you cannot use them again. But, old magazines are easy to come by in thrift stores or from friends, so it is easy to replace any images and words you do decide to turn into a permanent collage.

This is one way that I make a date with my muse to fill my idea well, and it works. Those that don't seek out new things to give them ideas are bound to find that they suffer from writer's block. I highly recommend free form collage to get ideas for your articles!