A Use for the Old Magazines in the Garage

They're excellent flood absorbers, and they don't break if you happen to nudge them with your front bumper. Those ancient, mildewy pyramids of National Geographic are also a vertiable goldmine for a writer in need of a creative nudge. A photo, a map, or dare I say it, an actual article could be exactly what you're looking for.

It needn't be an entire story's worth of inspiration either. While teaching a creative writing course, I once brought in a glossy masterpiece that featured an old man in a dessert, standing beside a bullet-hole-riddled restaurant sign. I gave my students three minutes, and told them to write whatever came to mind. When the timer went, an accountant who had informed me that he "wasn't very creative" volunteered to read an impressive, page-long endeavour, complete with a plot, a main character and loads of atmosphere. His audience beamed with appreciation, and he looked stunned that all of those beautiful words had made their way from his brain to his pen.

Save the environment, and give your inner muse a much-needed massage. Revisit an old volume of your favourite magazine.