Reading Lydia Davis always drops ideas for form and constraint straight into my Sunday brain. I’ve included a few below because each of them can be used as a model for writing, or for generating something in the same vein. All are excerpted from Lydia Davis’ Can’t and Won’t: Stories.

And here’s a link to “How I Read as Quickly as Possible Through My Back Issues of the TLS,” another story from this collection that makes a great have-at-it.

REVERSIBLE STORY: Use Davis’ reversible story as a model for your own doubling-over.

CAN’T AND WON’T: Write a brief paragraph about a contraction, or a set of contractions, where contracting led to consequences in an event. Even if the event was a misunderstanding. Even better.

THE LANGUAGE OF THINGS IN THE HOUSE: I’ve included the first page of this piece, and then excerpted some of the beautiful passages on languages which Davis intersperses between sounds. The juxtaposition, and the flagging with italics, is worthy studying. How do italics change the texture of the language in this particular piece?

Make an inventory of the language of things in your house. Sit down or go for a listening walk through each room. Then go back and write a few paragraphs on the story of origins for select sounds. Use italics. Experiment with diction and mythography (as opposed to Davis’ semantic focus).