1. Put Your 5 Senses to Work

A simple but effective way to generate fresh ideas from a single concept, idea or object is to describe or illustrate it using 5 senses -- sight, smell, touch, taste, sound.

For you to do: Generate 5 specific images or concrete examples (one example for each sense) for following:

- vindication (what's smell of vindication? how does it taste? how does it sound? what does it look like? how does it feel?) - hesitation - celebration

2. Take Advantage of Your Conflicts

Conflict is a part of life. It's also a source of creativity. You only need to look at yourself and examine your experiences to come up with ideas based on conflicts.

Staring at a blank screen or sheet of paper really doesn’t help. The best way to stimulate all your senses in one hit is to provide an inspirational space you can work with.

Lots of Feng Shui arrangements appear in western homes these days, and they’re great, but outside those four walls of your writing space, there is another world bursting with enlightenment and inspiration. Of course you may have to work at it a little, but hey, we all need some exercise sometimes!

Whether you have a balcony or a backyard, you can very simply build a natural living world to plunge into whenever you choose. If you have neither, consider renting a small patch of land or sharing a garden with someone.

Gardening conjures up all sorts of hard work images; tools, backache, blisters etc;. but it’s only as hard as you make it. Start small and design your garden on paper first. Decide where you want herbs, flowers - and even vegetables, if you have space and inclination!