Let’s Build A SILO
Ok, I don’t mean a literal silo, I mean a literary silo. In my never-ending quest to come up with new writing prompts, I came up with a thing called NAVA a few years ago. It stands for Noun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb. Then, the other night I came up with a new one I call SILO.
SILO stands for:
S—Subject:
This is the main character of the story.
I—Item:
This is the main prop in the story.
L—Location:
As it says, this is where the story takes place.
O—Objective:
This is the goal of the story, kind of like the moral or lesson to be learned.
So, let’s give it a try. Here are my very first posted SILOs. Have fun, and let me know if you come up with something creative, wonderful, or just plain odd because of these.
S—An injured football player
I—His father’s class ring
L—Florida
O—Wisdom
S—A farmer
I—A weathered barn
L—England
O—Stability
S—An old man
I—A stack of papers
L—The cellar
O—Spirituality
S—A corporate CEO
I—A skateboard
L—His old neighborhood
O—Playfulness
S—A dog breeder
I—An old address book
L—An attic
O—Prosperity
Let me know what you think about this exercise. If it goes over well, I’ll try and post a new list once a week. I’m trying to come up with some new ideas for around here, so I can post here more often. Of all the writing things I’ve done over the years, creating these prompts and giving them away for free has been the my favorite thing.
I think that your SILO concept is very important for writers. It might help writers to overcome writer’s block.
It is a help when you don’t have an idea of what to write about. With your SILO concept you don’t need an idea because your SILO constructs ideas, for you to write about. It is good for writer exercises, in classrooms. Are you planing to turn it into some type of book?
Their is a book called:
Make a Scene
that is a really good book to have.
Hey Darrell,
First of all, thank you. That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard in a very long time. And as for making this concept into a book, the thought really never even crossed my mind. Thanks again, hon.