By Blair H.
There's a plague sweeping our nation, folks.
It's called the plague of the Couch Potato and it
has probably showed up in your house at one point
or another. When we've got school and sports and
clubs to go to, it's no wonder when we get home
that we drop everything and just want to congeal
on the couch for a while. Those bursts of
laziness that we all experience are bad for us
not only physically, but also mentally. Too much
of the day, we're shutting off our brains and not
thinking critically and creatively. So here are
a few ways to keep your brain moving even when
all you want to do is relax!
Read a book! Studies have shown that your
brain on books is working hard, yet far less
scattered than when your brain is on Google or
watching tv. Books can give a great deal of
pleasure, but they can also get us to think
creatively and inspire us to create our own
stories. Instead of turning on the tv and
turning off your brain, pick up a book for an
hour today.
Read some stories and poems by your peers.
Reading other people's writing is a great way to
hone your own writing skills. Check out Teen
Ink's extensive fiction and poetry sections, or
visit other sites for teen writing. Or try submitting some
work of your own and getting feedback on it!
Do a lightning writing challenge. Do you
have what it takes to speedwrite? Sometimes
doing a quick writing exercise can help us work
through problems in our writing and get inspired.
Pick a word at random from a dictionary and make
it the first word in a sentence, then go from
there. Or Pick an object in your house - a
teapot, a deck of cards, an old set of keys -
and make it an important object in a new story.
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