Roy Peter Clark of The Poynter Institute uses this exercise to try to help writers to avoid the first level of creativity and move up to the next level, or, back down to a good straight version.
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Avoid First Level Creativity

Right now I'm working on an exercise to try to help writers avoid "First Level Creativity." In an attempt to escape conventional writing, the reporter will think of something "creative," perhaps in a lead or a headline. But the creative expression turns out to be the thing that most writers would think of right away.

The way I like to do this is with a fact sheet from a real but off-beat news story, and have everyone write five leads in five minutes. In this case, a 62-year-old man walking home for lunch falls in a ditch and is grabbed by an alligator.

Almost everyone writes a version of this lead:

"A 62-year-old St. Petersburg man was walking home for lunch, Tuesday, never realizing he'd soon become the main course."

Almost any version of this lead represents first level creativity. Until a writer writes: "Maybe to an alligator Robert Hudson tasted like chicken."

My plan is to gather more examples of first level creativity and use them to get writers to move up to the next level, or, back down to a good straight version.

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