I've followed Brent Heflin McHenry for a little bit and he always has insightful ways to spur the composition bug His recent post had a piece that he wrote using Common Tone Voice Leading wherein you keep as many notes as possible from a chord and move one or two with the music developing in a slow, often methodical pace. It's handy when you want to underscore stuff that is rather neutral and then want to add some acid but not change the texture. It's pretty cool and subtle.
I added my own version of his piece, using his staring voicing as my jumping in point. His makes a complete jump from bars 4 to 5 but is an excellent example as well.
