This post is here for you to upload up to 250 words - an excerpt - from something you've written. People might like to comment or respond (*note: please follow the rules, be respectful, and focus on what you enjoy about other peoples' writing, when you're responding). Rules: upload a max. of 250 words of your own writing.

You may have heard of automatic writing or "stream of consciousness". If you want to do it like the surrealist poets, write at speed, without stopping, without plotting or planning, without worrying if it's "good" or if it makes sense (in fact, the less sense - the more abstract and strange it is - the better). Just let your mind wander - let the words spill from your brain onto the page in whatever form they come. Example: "I don't know what to write so the cousins of the fourth temple made their appearance suddenly and the erstwhile pyramids scheming like the eponymous elephants licked and supped at the tertiary sector's best people who were stood with clipboards and fathoming the depths of their collective wisdom brought orange juice and sandwiches for all and sundry when the sun came up and the moons of other planets began to form on the horizon..." etc., etc. Now your turn! *Hint: if you don't know how to start, pick a line from the writing above, and use this as your beginning sentence; then whatever comes into your head after that is GOLD. Just keep writing! Rules: maximum 250 words.

One of our favourite exercises is the list poem. Simply pick a topic (like "love" or "shame" or "going out out") and then write a list poem, using "It is..." as the beginning of each sentence. Rules: every line starts with "It is..."; max. 12 lines - make it as visual and vibrant as you can! Example (chosen topic "Passion for the Planet"): Passion for the Planet It is stopping to pick up litter from the pavement It is waving a placard in protest It is feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Square It is cycling to work even when you’re hungover It is veganuary and vegbruary and It is Marching onwards It is going paperless It is creating a shrine in your room to Gaia It is…

Remember the game where you and your friends take turns to draw first a head, then a body, then some legs, then some feet, each time folding the page to hide the drawing from the next person? This is known as the "exquisite corpse". Here at A Write & a Pint, we're doing something similar, but with words. Rules: write a sentence, following on from the previous sentence here on the forum (30 words max.). Let's start with this: "The quiet man in the corner of the room suddenly screamed when he saw..." Now your turn - where does the story go next! (30 words max.)