The Twelve Exercises of Christmas: 2

Gather together twenty bits of paper - index cards are perfect for this. Ideally they'd be divided between two different colours, ten of each, but not to worry if you can't manage this.

On each card of the first set write an abstract noun. (Abstract nouns are things you can't touch eg love, happiness, life.)

On each card of the second set write a concrete noun. (Concrete nouns are things you can touch eg chair, table, pen.)

Don't fret too much about choosing 'good' words, it's supposed to be fun. Shuffle each set of cards.

Select a card from the first set and one from the second so you end up with one abstract noun and one concrete noun. Now, put them together as a proverb - you can play around with the words if you like.

Let's suppose you got 'Life' and 'Chair'. Put together you might have....Life is like a rocking chair, if you stop rocking, everything stops. Or...Life is like a chair, it's easier if you have a cushion.

Work through the sets, shuffling every time you get bored. This is a good exercise to get you away from cliches.