Release your imagination from the straitjacket of rationality
Have you ever felt like you were the hostage of your rational mind? It doesn’t like what it doesn’t know. It wants to explain everything, categorize and judge, force the richness of possibility into linear sense. Imaginative Storm writing teaches the rational mind to take a back seat and let the imagination take the lead.
In our book Write What You Don’t Know, we urge you to write with courage. Courageous writing takes many forms. You might dare to address difficult content. You might dare to be honest when social rules would have you lie. You might dare to explore the dark corners of your own psyche. And also—as Genevia Hendry does in this piece, written in 10 minutes in our Writing Prompt of the Week gathering on Zoom—you might dare to allow imaginative sense to take priority over rational sense and follow the mysterious trail of your imagination.
Blank Blaze
A wallowing will-o’-the-wisp
beckons in far-sighted splendor
sun-ward inspiration for a racket
of requiems, unfettered mahogany
melodies flaring in this sumptuous
ruin.
Let my bed crumble into organic
repetita, leaving me in heavenly hands
gasping and true: Languid marmadukes
in colors of faery flowers, turn Merlin
and me into forest fruits- A mere
shadow of an impression.
What was that thing? The world
to come on the ringing of a bell,
dangling from a cerebral chandelier:
inspiration for inverted roots. Massive
mycelium cradled like internal organs,
ripped from unseen honeycombed
depths now rising, embodied in a
cathedral of spires clad only
in gowns of ivory warfare.
Let the Imaginative Storm inspire you! You can find an archive of intriguing writing prompts on the Imaginative Storm Circle and on our YouTube channel, as well as daily prompts on Instagram @imaginativestorm).
Click here to order Write What You Don’t Know: 10 Steps to Writing with Confidence, Energy, and Flow by Allegra Huston and James Navé, founders of the Imaginative Storm method, or buy it from your favorite online retailer. It’s also available on Kindle and all other e-book platforms.
In spring 2023, the online video course, Write What You Don’t Know: Imaginative Storm Writer Training, will be available. Join our mailing list now for updates and a 25% discount.