THOUGHTS ABOUT WRITING: STRETCHING THE MIND

We're always told that before exercising that we should stretch. Which makes perfect sense, especially if you plan on going for a long run or lifting weights, etc. Really, it applies to any form of exercise. I remember when I took Karate as a teenager (I should get back into Karate, it is something that I enjoyed and did well.)how our Sensei made great emphasis on the need to stretch. The first thirty minutes of class consisted of nothing but stretching of one sort or another. Let's face it, whether we like it or not, stretching is an important part of exercise.
Is stretching any less important for the mind? Of course not, puzzles are great exercise for the brain, reading is an excellent mental calisthenic too. But what about exercises for writers. Me, personally, I like to listen to audio books in the car or on a Walkman when I'm doing my custodial gig. The only time I do not listen to an audio book is when I am driving somewhere to do my own creative writing. I do not want to be influenced by the author's style of the book I am listening to when I am about to work on my own stuff. It is easy for me to emulate an author's voice and not even be aware that I am doing it. When I'm writing book reviews or some journalism or essay piece that rule doesn't seem to apply. Besides listening to audio books, I read something every day, not just review books, but poetry, drama, fiction, philosophy...anything, even if I just dip into something for a few minutes, a piece here a piece there. I try very hard to to read something for me between book reviews, for example, I am now reading for me, Kraken by China Mieville, Piers Anthony's autobiographies, Bio of and Ogre and How Precious Was That While and few other things.
So where am I going with this?
My buddy the excellent and prolific writer Jake Sullivan told me that he is now doing a type of fiction exercise he calls Words from a Fool on his weebly website Jake Sullivan's Pen http://jakesullivanspen.weebly.com/the-lowdown.html Which if you think about it, the whole premise is nothing but stretching. Jake has provided a little disclaimer apologizing for the mistakes, whether they are spelling, grammar or otherwise because the idea is just to write to get the engines going. I dig that idea and asked him if he would mind if I created my own version. He told me to go for it.
Starting today, I am going to try to do what I'm going to call the Daily Improv
stretching man, total stretching. Where Jake is doing mostly fiction, I going to write whatever the hell comes to my stretching mind, be it poetry, fiction, drama, ideas or just a bunch of mumbo jumbo.
Stay tuned for my first Daily Improv