Two of my favourite books on writing involve activities we all did at the craft table in elementary school, like doodling in Lynda Barry’s book, and snipping words and pictures out of magazines in Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge’s guide to writing poetry, Poemcrazy: Freeing your life with words.

I also have a thing for cover art, and this one draws me in every time I come across it. It’s a terrific image, that young woman in her black coat suspended mid-skip. And, what’s not to love about a book with subchapters called On a night picnic, Hi there stars, and Please don’t understand?

Throughout the book we are asked to collect word tickets – random words snipped out of magazines or newspapers and then mix them up like raffle tickets. One day, I came up with this:

Backyard, sock, lonely.

I liked the image of a lone sock in wide expanse of grass. I liked it so much I wrote it in my notebook “She was as lonely as a backyard sock” and then mixed up the words again. Working with words this way takes the pressure off staring at a blank screen, and feeling like our writing should always be perfect. This is play, and it’s fun. Writing poems and stories is supposed to be fun.

So, go ahead, grab those scissors and magazines and collect your own word tickets. I highly recommend you get the book. Have fun!