Number method for writing melodies

I've been using this number method to help me write melodies. It's quite a useful method to use at any time, but it's particularly useful for generating further melodic ideas when I think of a song idea when I'm out and about, as it's quick and easy to use.

Say I have a new melody for a song -- or hook -- in my head. I run the melody through my head and then prepare to create the next line of melody. To do this, I write down a random number, say 705803, and read the number out in words:

Seven hundred and five thousand, eight hundred and three.

However, I don't read the number in a normal reading rhythm, I kind of 'fit' the number into the rhythm of the song and create a new melody as I go.

If I have pen and paper with me I can write lots of different numbers down -- ranging from numbers of a couple of digits right up to numbers in the millions -- but if I don't then I can just keep using the same number in a cycle:-

The approach I use when doing this is to "read" the number and then insert a pause - say from one to eight beats in length - and then read the number again in the manner described above. I've found that varying the number of beats in the pause sometimes forces me to use the number in different rhythmic and melodic ways.