I’ve been writing about gardening regularly on this website for nearly fourteen years. Naturally, there are days when I sit down to write and my mind draws a blank. I keep stacks of ideas and notes next to my desk, but there are times when I am not in the mood to tackle any of those topics. On those days, I have a trick that I use to get my brain going.

Grow Write Guild Prompt #15: Generate a random writing topic using a photo from your image archive.

Here’s how this works. I keep my photos organized in dated folders on my computer. If you have a similar archive on your computer, go there now. If you only have one folder, jump ahead to that folder.

Close your eyes and scroll up and down through the folder. My mouse has a scroll wheel on top that allows me to scroll up and down easily. I use it to scroll erratically, which acts like the roll of a dice. If you don’t have a similar wheel you can just jump around a little.

Click on an image. Open it up and look at it. Write down the first thought that comes to mind. If the image doesn’t spark anything interesting try again until you land on one that does.

The Grow Write Guild is a creative writing club for people who love to garden. Everyone is welcome to participate! Click over to the Grow Write Guild FAQ to learn more about it.