Brain Games | Shack's Comings and Goings

Mind training games: Complete the story

This week I thought I would continue the recent trend of creativity games that can be played with friends. Today’s game is not a journaling game per se, because there is no involvement of your creative journal whilst playing the game.

However, there is nothing to stop you making an entry in your journal afterwards to capture the best bits.

The game is a story telling game with very simple rules. Yet, despite being simple, these rules automatically build in frustration and social competition; a combination which makes it a very creative and rewarding game when played with like-minded companions.

Journal word games: Perpetual journal prompts

This game is in two parts. The first part takes a few minutes to do, once a week and the second part is done once a day for seven days and then repeats. Once you’re into the habit of playing this game, you should never need to subscribe to a daily journaling prompt program ever again.

The game lends itself to becoming a regular 20 minute journaling slot and part of your daily routine.

Mind training games: Finding physical similes

This week’s game is one of the really enjoyable, fun games that can fill any odd moment. If played in your journal by yourself, it makes for a satisfying diversion or it can be a pleasurable social game played amongst friends.
How to play. Look at your surroundings and for the items there identify other things that have similar physical characteristics.
In other words find physical similes of the original object.
Which is easy until you strech yourself into all the abstract possibilities.

Journaling word games: Tension in word pairs

This week’s word game has been taken from “Writing the Natural Way” by Gabriele Lusser Rico. The game explores tension between similar word pairs and is an ideal game for a fifteen minute break in your day.

Journaling word game; The simple complexity of oxymorons

“…Language, and its formation, is the logical-mind’s domain, whilst making sense of the paradoxes that are represented by oxymorons is our creative-mind’s speciality. In order to form these linguistic trinkets, we need to employ both parts of our minds, and in doing so, causes activity to cross the bridge (the corpus callosum) between our logical and creative minds. The increased activity across this bridge strengthens it further and develops our ability to enable cooperation between both parts of our mind…”

My (thing) is special because

This week’s game is a silly little journaling for creativity game that can be surprisingly powerful in its ability to provide insights into things that would elude you when considering them in a normal manner.

It is also a fun little game and if you are competitive then it can be compulsive if played against another writer/artist.

Mind training games: All about a stranger

This week’s game is a fun game that exercises your imagination in an amusing and useful way.
It can be played as a quick diversion whilst waiting for something or you could set out to play it as a relaxing and entertaining journaling date.
The game entails selecting one person in a crowd and building an imaginary life for him or her in your creative journal.

Journaling word game: Forming recurrence in sentences

“Recurrence” is a quick game of creating sentences that contain some form of recurring sound, structure or emotion; a game that is best played in your creative journal when you have five minutes to spare.
Recurrence is often used as a blunt instrument in speeches to impart strong emotions, and this is where we are most likely to recognise it.
However, it can also be used with far more delicacy and doing so can transform prose.

Journaling word games: Illuminating alliterations

This week’s journaling for creativity game is a fun exercise in combining word sounds by forming alliterations. The game can be played at any time, either as a quick mental exercise or as part of a longer diversion in your journal.
The game at first appears to be purely a linguistic exercise and therefore should be a left-brain, logical-mind, task. However, since the sound of the word is key to making the alliteration work, and since sound is processed in our artistic right-brain, our creative-mind, the game guides both logical and creative minds into working together.

Forming Portmanteaus to improve creativity

After last week’s more intense journaling for creativity game, this weeks journaling game is a relaxed quickie, one you can play at any time.

It is a simple game of mentally forming portmanteaus and recording the best ones in your creativity journal.

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