Poet Emmy Perez shared the following writing exercise on Corazón Bilingüe interview which aired Feb. 3, 2013:

Write down the name of three people you have thought of today.

Pick one of the names. You are going to write this person a letter. Begin by writing down everything you would not tell this person. You begin, for example with the words, “I would not tell you…” and continue with several lines (or paragraphs if writing prose). Repeat the words “I would not tell you…” followed by some additional lines.

Switch and begin to write down what you will tell. “But I would tell you…”

Emmy said, “The exercise can help you find out what you’re not writing about that maybe you should be writing about. The exercise does not have to be a letter at the end, but you may discover subject matter that you can turn into a poem or prose.”