Staring at the page vs. writing random things

There is no way I would be able to stare at the paper and hope I have an epiphany. I tried that on high school tests and it very rarely worked then. I usually start out just jotting stuff down on the piece of paper, then once I get an idea that I like and think I can expand, I flip the paper over and have a free-thought period where I jot down everything that comes to mind. For example: Horses Dressage Show Jumping 3 Day Eventing Training Police Gold Cup Racing Triple Crown Breeding Man Of War Secretariat I could go on but you get the idea...Just write down everything that comes to mind, and don't second guess yourself. Then look at your scribbled list of items and come up with some kind of cohesive group that you can connect.

Write. Put down anything that comes to mind, whether it seems sensible or not. Sooner or later you'll see something that turns your creativity on and you'll be off and writing on something worthwhile.

I talk to myself. I have a little digital recorder. Once I get through rambling on, I download it onto my computer and look to see if I said anything worth writing about.

I always just start writing whatever pops into my head and go from there. When I finally sift through all the rambling I find some of my best ideas.