exercise in creative writing

Writing Activities

105 Creative Writing Exercises To Get You Writing Again

You know that feeling when you just don’t feel like writing? Sometimes you can’t even get a word down on paper. It’s the most frustrating thing ever to a writer, especially when you’re working towards a deadline. The good news is that we have a list of 105 creative writing exercises to help you get motivated and start writing again!

What are creative writing exercises?

Creative writing exercises are short writing activities (normally around 10 minutes) designed to get you writing. The goal of these exercises is to give you the motivation to put words onto a blank paper. These words don’t need to be logical or meaningful, neither do they need to be grammatically correct or spelt correctly. The whole idea is to just get you writing something, anything. The end result of these quick creative writing exercises is normally a series of notes, bullet points or ramblings that you can, later on, use as inspiration for a bigger piece of writing such as a story or a poem.

Good creative writing exercises are short, quick and easy to complete. You shouldn’t need to think too much about your style of writing or how imaginative your notes are. Just write anything that comes to mind, and you’ll be on the road to improving your creative writing skills and beating writer’s block .

Use the generator below to get a random creative writing exercise idea:

List of 105+ Creative Writing Exercises

Here are over 105 creative writing exercises to give your brain a workout and help those creative juices flow again:

Set a timer for 60 seconds. Now write down as many words or phrases that come to mind at that moment.
Pick any colour you like. Now start your sentence with this colour. For example, Orange, the colour of my favourite top.
Open a book or dictionary on a random page. Pick a random word. You can close your eyes and slowly move your finger across the page. Now, write a paragraph with this random word in it. You can even use an online dictionary to get random words:

Create your own alphabet picture book or list. It can be A to Z of animals, food, monsters or anything else you like!
Using only the sense of smell, describe where you are right now.
Take a snack break. While eating your snack write down the exact taste of that food. The goal of this creative writing exercise is to make your readers savour this food as well.
Pick a random object in your room and write a short paragraph from its point of view. For example, how does your pencil feel? What if your lamp had feelings?
Describe your dream house. Where would you live one day? Is it huge or tiny?
Pick two different TV shows, movies or books that you like. Now swap the main character. What if Supergirl was in Twilight? What if SpongeBob SquarePants was in The Flash? Write a short scene using this character swap as inspiration.
What’s your favourite video game? Write at least 10 tips for playing this game.
Pick your favourite hobby or sport. Now pretend an alien has just landed on Earth and you need to teach it this hobby or sport. Write at least ten tips on how you would teach this alien.
Use a random image generator and write a paragraph about the first picture you see.

Write a letter to your favourite celebrity or character. What inspires you most about them? Can you think of a memorable moment where this person’s life affected yours? We have this helpful guide on writing a letter to your best friend for extra inspiration.
Write down at least 10 benefits of writing. This can help motivate you and beat writer’s block.
Complete this sentence in 10 different ways: Patrick waited for the school bus and…
Pick up a random book from your bookshelf and go to page 9. Find the ninth sentence on that page. Use this sentence as a story starter.
Create a character profile based on all the traits that you hate. It might help to list down all the traits first and then work on describing the character.
What is the scariest or most dangerous situation you have ever been in? Why was this situation scary? How did you cope at that moment?
Pretend that you’re a chat show host and you’re interviewing your favourite celebrity. Write down the script for this conversation.
Using extreme detail, write down what you have been doing for the past one hour today. Think about your thoughts, feelings and actions during this time.
Make a list of potential character names for your next story. You can use a fantasy name generator to help you.
Describe a futuristic setting. What do you think the world would look like in 100 years time?
Think about a recent argument you had with someone. Would you change anything about it? How would you resolve an argument in the future?
Describe a fantasy world. What kind of creatures live in this world? What is the climate like? What everyday challenges would a typical citizen of this world face? You can use this fantasy world name generator for inspiration.
At the flip of a switch, you turn into a dragon. What kind of dragon would you be? Describe your appearance, special abilities, likes and dislikes. You can use a dragon name generator to give yourself a cool dragon name.
Pick your favourite book or a famous story. Now change the point of view. For example, you could rewrite the fairytale , Cinderella. This time around, Prince Charming could be the main character. What do you think Prince Charming was doing, while Cinderella was cleaning the floors and getting ready for the ball?
Pick a random writing prompt and use it to write a short story. Check out this collection of over 300 writing prompts for kids to inspire you.
Write a shopping list for a famous character in history. Imagine if you were Albert Einstein’s assistant, what kind of things would he shop for on a weekly basis?
Create a fake advertisement poster for a random object that is near you right now. Your goal is to convince the reader to buy this object from you.
What is the worst (or most annoying) sound that you can imagine? Describe this sound in great detail, so your reader can understand the pain you feel when hearing this sound.
What is your favourite song at the moment? Pick one line from this song and describe a moment in your life that relates to this line.
You’re hosting an imaginary dinner party at your house. Create a list of people you would invite, and some party invites. Think about the theme of the dinner party, the food you will serve and entertainment for the evening.
You are waiting to see your dentist in the waiting room. Write down every thought you are having at this moment in time.
Make a list of your greatest fears. Try to think of at least three fears. Now write a short story about a character who is forced to confront one of these fears.
Create a ‘Wanted’ poster for a famous villain of your choice. Think about the crimes they have committed, and the reward you will give for having them caught.
Imagine you are a journalist for the ‘Imagine Forest Times’ newspaper. Your task is to get an exclusive interview with the most famous villain of all time. Pick a villain of your choice and interview them for your newspaper article. What questions would you ask them, and what would their responses be?
In a school playground, you see the school bully hurting a new kid. Write three short stories, one from each perspective in this scenario (The bully, the witness and the kid getting bullied).
You just won $10 million dollars. What would you spend this money on?
Pick a random animal, and research at least five interesting facts about this animal. Write a short story centred around one of these interesting facts.
Pick a global issue that you are passionate about. This could be climate change, black lives matters, women’s rights etc. Now create a campaign poster for this global issue.
Write an acrostic poem about an object near you right now (or even your own name). You could use a poetry idea generator to inspire you.
Imagine you are the head chef of a 5-star restaurant. Recently the business has slowed down. Your task is to come up with a brand-new menu to excite customers. Watch this video prompt on YouTube to inspire you.
What is your favourite food of all time? Imagine if this piece of food was alive, what would it say to you?
If life was one big musical, what would you be singing about right now? Write the lyrics of your song.
Create and describe the most ultimate villain of all time. What would their traits be? What would their past look like? Will they have any positive traits?
Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: Every time I look out of the window, I…
You have just made it into the local newspaper, but what for? Write down at least five potential newspaper headlines . Here’s an example, Local Boy Survives a Deadly Illness.
If you were a witch or a wizard, what would your specialist area be and why? You might want to use a Harry Potter name generator or a witch name generator for inspiration.
What is your favourite thing to do on a Saturday night? Write a short story centred around this activity.
Your main character has just received the following items: A highlighter, a red cap, a teddy bear and a fork. What would your character do with these items? Can you write a story using these items?
Create a timeline of your own life, from birth to this current moment. Think about the key events in your life, such as birthdays, graduations, weddings and so on. After you have done this, you can pick one key event from your life to write a story about.
Think of a famous book or movie you like. Rewrite a scene from this book or movie, where the main character is an outsider. They watch the key events play out, but have no role in the story. What would their actions be? How would they react?
Three very different characters have just won the lottery. Write a script for each character, as they reveal the big news to their best friend.
Write a day in the life story of three different characters. How does each character start their day? What do they do throughout the day? And how does their day end?
Write about the worst experience in your life so far. Think about a time when you were most upset or angry and describe it.
Imagine you’ve found a time machine in your house. What year would you travel to and why?
Describe your own superhero. Think about their appearance, special abilities and their superhero name. Will they have a secret identity? Who is their number one enemy?
What is your favourite country in the world? Research five fun facts about this country and use one to write a short story.
Set yourself at least three writing goals. This could be a good way to motivate yourself to write every day. For example, one goal might be to write at least 150 words a day.
Create a character description based on the one fact, three fiction rule. Think about one fact or truth about yourself. And then add in three fictional or fantasy elements. For example, your character could be the same age as you in real life, this is your one fact. And the three fictional elements could be they have the ability to fly, talk in over 100 different languages and have green skin.
Describe the perfect person. What traits would they have? Think about their appearance, their interests and their dislikes.
Keep a daily journal or diary. This is a great way to keep writing every day. There are lots of things you can write about in your journal, such as you can write about the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of your day. Think about anything that inspired you or anything that upset you, or just write anything that comes to mind at the moment.
Write a book review or a movie review. If you’re lost for inspiration, just watch a random movie or read any book that you can find. Then write a critical review on it. Think about the best parts of the book/movie and the worst parts. How would you improve the book or movie?
Write down a conversation between yourself. You can imagine talking to your younger self or future self (i.e. in 10 years’ time). What would you tell them? Are there any lessons you learned or warnings you need to give? Maybe you could talk about what your life is like now and compare it to their life?
Try writing some quick flash fiction stories . Flash fiction is normally around 500 words long, so try to stay within this limit.
Write a six-word story about something that happened to you today or yesterday. A six-word story is basically an entire story told in just six words. Take for example: “Another football game ruined by me.” or “A dog’s painting sold for millions.” – Six-word stories are similar to writing newspaper headlines. The goal is to summarise your story in just six words.
The most common monsters or creatures used in stories include vampires, werewolves , dragons, the bigfoot, sirens and the loch-ness monster. In a battle of intelligence, who do you think will win and why?
Think about an important event in your life that has happened so far, such as a birthday or the birth of a new sibling. Now using the 5 W’s and 1 H technique describe this event in great detail. The 5 W’s include: What, Who, Where, Why, When and the 1 H is: How. Ask yourself questions about the event, such as what exactly happened on that day? Who was there? Why was this event important? When and where did it happen? And finally, how did it make you feel?
Pretend to be someone else. Think about someone important in your life. Now put yourself into their shoes, and write a day in the life story about being them. What do you think they do on a daily basis? What situations would they encounter? How would they feel?
Complete this sentence in at least 10 different ways: I remember…
Write about your dream holiday. Where would you go? Who would you go with? And what kind of activities would you do?
Which one item in your house do you use the most? Is it the television, computer, mobile phone, the sofa or the microwave? Now write a story of how this item was invented. You might want to do some research online and use these ideas to build up your story.
In exactly 100 words, describe your bedroom. Try not to go over or under this word limit.
Make a top ten list of your favourite animals. Based on this list create your own animal fact file, where you provide fun facts about each animal in your list.
What is your favourite scene from a book or a movie? Write down this scene. Now rewrite the scene in a different genre, such as horror, comedy, drama etc.
Change the main character of a story you recently read into a villain. For example, you could take a popular fairytale such as Jack and the Beanstalk, but this time re-write the story to make Jack the villain of the tale.
Complete the following sentence in at least 10 different ways: Do you ever wonder…
What does your name mean? Research the meaning of your own name, or a name that interests you. Then use this as inspiration for your next story. For example, the name ‘Marty’ means “Servant Of Mars, God Of War”. This could make a good concept for a sci-fi story.
Make a list of three different types of heroes (or main characters) for potential future stories.
If someone gave you $10 dollars, what would you spend it on and why?
Describe the world’s most boring character in at least 100 words.
What is the biggest problem in the world today, and how can you help fix this issue?
Create your own travel brochure for your hometown. Think about why tourists might want to visit your hometown. What is your town’s history? What kind of activities can you do? You could even research some interesting facts.
Make a list of all your favourite moments or memories in your life. Now pick one to write a short story about.
Describe the scariest and ugliest monster you can imagine. You could even draw a picture of this monster with your description.
Write seven haikus, one for each colour of the rainbow. That’s red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
Imagine you are at the supermarket. Write down at least three funny scenarios that could happen to you at the supermarket. Use one for your next short story.
Imagine your main character is at home staring at a photograph. Write the saddest scene possible. Your goal is to make your reader cry when reading this scene.
What is happiness? In at least 150 words describe the feeling of happiness. You could use examples from your own life of when you felt happy.
Think of a recent nightmare you had and write down everything you can remember. Use this nightmare as inspiration for your next story.
Keep a dream journal. Every time you wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning you can quickly jot down things that you remember from your dreams. These notes can then be used as inspiration for a short story.
Your main character is having a really bad day. Describe this bad day and the series of events they experience. What’s the worst thing that could happen to your character?
You find a box on your doorstep. You open this box and see the most amazing thing ever. Describe this amazing thing to your readers.
Make a list of at least five possible settings or locations for future stories. Remember to describe each setting in detail.
Think of something new you recently learned. Write this down. Now write a short story where your main character also learns the same thing.
Describe the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen in your whole life. Your goal is to amaze your readers with its beauty.
Make a list of things that make you happy or cheer you up. Try to think of at least five ideas. Now imagine living in a world where all these things were banned or against the law. Use this as inspiration for your next story.
Would you rather be rich and alone or poor and very popular? Write a story based on the lives of these two characters.
Imagine your main character is a Librarian. Write down at least three dark secrets they might have. Remember, the best secrets are always unexpected.
There’s a history behind everything. Describe the history of your house. How and when was your house built? Think about the land it was built on and the people that may have lived here long before you.
Imagine that you are the king or queen of a beautiful kingdom. Describe your kingdom in great detail. What kind of rules would you have? Would you be a kind ruler or an evil ruler of the kingdom?
Make a wish list of at least three objects you wish you owned right now. Now use these three items in your next story. At least one of them must be the main prop in the story.
Using nothing but the sense of taste, describe a nice Sunday afternoon at your house. Remember you can’t use your other senses (i.e see, hear, smell or touch) in this description.
What’s the worst pain you felt in your life? Describe this pain in great detail, so your readers can also feel it.
If you were lost on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, what three must-have things would you pack and why?
Particpate in online writing challenges or contests. Here at Imagine Forest, we offer daily writing challenges with a new prompt added every day to inspire you. Check out our challenges section in the menu.

Do you have any more fun creative writing exercises to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Marty the wizard is the master of Imagine Forest. When he's not reading a ton of books or writing some of his own tales, he loves to be surrounded by the magical creatures that live in Imagine Forest. While living in his tree house he has devoted his time to helping children around the world with their writing skills and creativity.

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43 Creative writing exercises

A selection of fun creative writing exercises that can be completed solo, or with a group. Some are prompts to help inspire you to come up with story ideas, others focus on learning specific writing skills.

I run a Creative Writing Meetup for adults and teens in Montpellier or online every week. We start with a 5 to 20 minute exercise, followed by an hour and a half of silent writing, during which each participant focuses on their own project. Every exercise listed below has been run with the group and had any kinks ironed out. Where the exercises specify a number of people, if you have a larger group, simply split everyone up into smaller groups as appropriate.

The solo exercises are ideal to help stimulate your mind before working on a larger project, to overcome writer’s block, or as stand-alone prompts in their own right. If a solo exercise inspires you and you wish to use it with a larger group, give every member ten minutes to complete the exercise, then ask anyone who wishes to share their work to do so in groups of 3 or 4 afterwards.

Looking for something quick to fire your imagination? Check out these creative writing prompts for adults .

Writing Retreat in South France

A note on running exercises remotely

While you can enjoy the exercises solo, they are also designed for online writing groups using Zoom, WhatsApp, or Discord.

If you're running a group and follow a ' Shut Up and Write ' structure, I recommend connecting on WhatsApp (for example) first, doing the exercise together, sharing writing samples as needed. Next, write in silence for an hour and a half on your own projects, before reconnecting for a brief informal chat at the end. This works great with small remote groups and is a way to learn new techniques, gain online support, and have a productive session.

If you have a larger online group, it's worth looking into Zoom, as this has a feature called Breakout Rooms . Breakout Rooms let you split different writers into separate rooms, which is great for group activities. The free version of Zoom has a 40 minute limit, which can be restrictive, but Zoom Pro is well worth it if you're going to use it on a regular basis. In my experience, Zoom has a better connection than Facebook chat or WhatsApp.

A Letter From Your Character To You

Letter from fictional character to the author

Spend ten minutes writing a letter from a character in your novel to you , the author, explaining why you should write about them. This serves three purposes:

As you write, it helps you get into the mindset of the character. Ask yourself how they would language this letter and what they would consider important.
It's motivating to know that your character wants you to write about them.
If your goal is to publish a complete work of fiction one day, whether it be a novel, a play or a movie script, you will want to contact an agent or publisher. This helps you practice in an easy, safe way.

If you're doing this exercise with a group of teens or adults, and some of the group haven't already started working on their masterpiece, they can instead choose any fictional novel they love. Ask participants to imagine that a character within the book wrote to the author in the first place to ask them to write their story. How did they plead their case?

The Opening Sentence

The opening sentence has to grab the reader's attention and make them want to keep reading. Many authors achieve this by starting with an action scene. In modern literature, it's best to avoid starting with someone waking up, or a description of the weather. In this exercise the task is to write an opening sentence either to a book you're currently writing, or simply for an imaginary piece of literature. Here are some of my favourite opening sentences to get you going:

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

George Orwell , 1984

The Golem's life began in the hold of a steamship.

Helene Wecker , The Golem and the Djinni

All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Leo Tolstoy , Anna Karenina

It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance.

Diana Gabaldon , Outlander

You better not never tell nobody but God.

Alice Walker , The Color Purple

The cage was finished.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez , Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon

Imagine that you are living your life out of order: Lunch before breakfast, marriage before your first kiss.

Audrey Niffenegger , The Time Traveler's Wife

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Douglas Adams , The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

There are a plethora of ways you can start a book, however two ways that help engage the reader immediately are:

Set the scene in as few words as possible, so the reader immediately knows what's happening and wants to know what happens next. The scene must be original and create a vivid image in the reader's mind.
Surprise the reader with an unusual event or usual point of view.

Spend 5 minutes working on your own opening sentence, then share it with the other participants.

Make your protagonist act!

Exercise for 2 writers, or can be done solo.

According to John Gardner:

"Failure to recognise that the central character must act, not simply be acted upon, is the single most common mistake in the fiction of beginners."

Spend 5 minutes writing a scene where the protagonist is passive in a conversation with one other character. It could be that the other character says something dramatic, and the protagonist just listens, or it could be anything else of your choice!

Once the 5 minutes is up, swap papers with another writer. If you're using Zoom, or working online, send it to each other in a private chat. Now the other person spends 8 minutes rewriting the scene to make the protagonist as active as possible. This might include:

Read both scenes together. Which makes you want to keep on reading?

If you're doing this as a solo writing exercise, simply complete both parts yourself.

Showing the emotion this evokes.
Getting them to disagree with the other character.
Showing how they respond physically (whether it's as a physical manifestation of how they feel, or a dramatic gesture to make a point).

Overcoming writer's block

Are you staring at a blank page or stuck for any story ideas? This exercise will help anyone who's experiencing writer's block with a particular piece of writing. If this isn't you, that's great, others will value your input!

If anyone has a particular scene they're stuck with (a pool of blood on the floor they have no explanation for, a reason why the rich lady just walked into a particular pub, etc.) then at the start of the exercise everyone briefly describes their scenes (if working online with a large group, typing it into the chat might be best). Everyone then chooses one scene to use as a writing prompt to write a short story for 10-15 minutes.

Afterwards, split into small groups if necessary, and read out how you completed someone else's writing prompt. As everyone listens to everyone else's ideas, this can be a wonderful source of inspiration and also improves your writing. As an alternative solo exercise, try free writing. With free writing, simply write as quickly as you can on the topic without editing or censoring yourself - just let your creative juices flow. If you're not sure what happens next, brainstorm options on the page, jot down story ideas, or just put, "I don't know what happens next." Keep going and ideas will come.

Writing Character Arcs

There are several different types of character arc in a novel, the 3 most common being:

For this exercise choose either a positive or negative character arc. Spend 8 minutes writing a scene from the start of a novel, then 8 minutes writing a scene towards the end of a novel showing how the character has developed between the two points. Don't worry about including how the character has changed, you can leave that to the imagination.

The point here is to capture the essence of a character, as they will be the same, but show their development.

Positive - Where a character develops and grows during the novel. Perhaps they start unhappy or weak and end happy or powerful.
Negative - Where a character gets worse during a novel. Perhaps they become ill or give in to evil tendencies as the novel progresses.
Flat - In a flat character arc the character themself doesn't change much, however the world around them does. This could be overthrowing a great injustice, for example.

Sewing Seeds in Your Writing

In this exercise, we will look at how to sew seeds. No, not in your garden, but in your story. Seeds are the tiny hints and indicators that something is going on, which influence a reader's perceptions on an often unconscious level. They're important, as if you spring a surprise twist on your readers without any warning, it can seem unbelievable. Sew seeds that lead up to the event, so the twists and turns are still surprising, but make intuitive sense. Groups : Brainstorm major plot twists that might happen towards the end of the novel and share it in a Zoom chat, or on pieces of paper. Choose one twist each. Individuals : Choose one of the following plot twists: - Your friend is actually the secret son of the king. - Unreliable narrator - the narrator turns out to be villain. - The monster turns out to be the missing woman the narrator is seeking. - The man she is about to marry happens to already have a wife and three kids.

Write for ten minutes and give subtle hints as to what the plot twist is. This is an exercise in subtlety. Remember, when the twist occurs, it should still come as a surprise.

This is a fun writing activity for a small group. You’ve found a magic potion labelled ‘Cat Chat’ and when you drink it, you turn into whichever animal you’re thinking about; but there’s a problem, it also picks up on the brainwaves of other people near you!

Everyone writes down an animal in secret and then reveals it to the other writers. The spell will turn you into a creature that combines elements of all the animals. Each person then spends 5 minutes writing down what happens when they drink the potion.

After the 5 minutes is up, everyone shares their story with the other participants.

If you enjoy this exercise, then you may also want to check out our Fantasy and Sci-Fi writing prompts full of world building, magic, and character development prompts..

Joe Brainard wrote a novel called: I Remember It contains a collection of paragraphs all starting with “I remember”. This is the inspiration for this exercise, and if you’re stuck for what to write, is a great way to get the mental gears turning. Simply write “I remember” and continue with the first thing that pops into your head.

Spend 5 minutes writing a short collection of “I remember” stories.

Here are a couple of examples from Joe Brainard’s novel:

“I remember not understanding why people on the other side of the world didn't fall off.”

“I remember waking up somewhere once and there was a horse staring me in the face.”

Giving feedback to authors

If you're running a workshop for more experienced adult authors and have at least an hour, this is a good one to use. This is the longest exercise on this page, but I felt it important enough to include.

Give each author the option to bring a piece of their own work. This should be double spaced and a maximum of 3 pages long. If you're running a workshop where not everyone is likely to bring a manuscript, ask everyone who wants to bring one to print two copies each. If someone forgets but has a laptop with them, the reader can always use their laptop.

Print out a few copies and hand them around to everyone in the workshop of the guide on: 'How to give constructive feedback to writers'

Each author who brought a sample with them then gives them to one other person to review. They write their name on the manuscript in a certain colour pen, then add any comments to it before passing it to a second person who does the same (commenting on the comments if they agree or disagree).

Then allow 5 minutes for everyone to discuss the feedback they've received, ensuring they are giving constructive feedback.

The Five Senses

Painting by Giovanni Battista Manerius - The Five Senses

Choose a scene and write it for 5 minutes focusing on one sense, NOT sight. Choose between:

Hearing Taste Smell Touch

This can be internal as well as external (I heard my heartbeat thudding in my ears, or I smelt my own adrenaline).

After the 5 minutes stop and everyone reads it out loud to each other. Now write for another 5 minutes and continue the other person's story, but do NOT use sight OR the sense they used.

You can use any sense to communicate the essentials, just focus on creating emotions and conveying the story with the specific sense(s).

If you need some writing prompts, here are possible scenes that involve several senses:

Climbing through an exotic jungle
Having an argument that becomes a fight
A cat's morning
Talking to someone you're attracted to

Show don't tell

2 or 3 people

A lot of writing guides will advise you to, "Show, don't tell". What does this actually mean?

If you want to evoke an emotional reaction from your reader, showing them what is happening is a great way to do so. You can approach this in several ways:

Split up into pairs and each person writes down a short scene from a story where they "tell" it. After this, pass the description of the scene to your partner and they then have 5 minutes to rewrite it to "show" what happened. If there are an odd number of participants, make one group of three, with each person passing their scene clockwise, so everyone has a new scene to show. After the 5 minutes, for small groups everyone reads their new description to everyone else, or for large groups, each person just reads their new scene to their partner.

Avoid internal dialogue (thinking), instead have your protagonist interact with other people, or have a physical reaction to something that shows how s/he feels. Does their heart beat faster? Do they notice the smell of their own adrenaline? Do they step backwards, or lean forwards?
Instead of using an adjective like creepy, e.g. "Mary entered the creepy house", show why the house is creepy through description and in the way the protagonist responds - "The light streamed through the filthy skylight, highlighting the decomposing body of a rat resting on top of it. As Mary stepped inside, she felt a gust of freezing air brush past her. She turned, but there was nothing there..."

World building

World building is the art of conveying the magic of living in a different world, whether it's a spaceship, a medieval castle, a boat, or simply someone's living room. To master world building, it's not necessary to know every intricate detail, rather to convey the experience of what it would be like to live there.

Choose one of the above images as a prompt and spend 10 minutes writing a scene from the perspective of someone who is seeing it for the first time. Now, move your character six months forward and imagine they've spent the last six months living or working there. Write another scene (perhaps with an additional character) using the image as a background, with the events of the scene as the main action.

Click the above image for a close-up.

Gossiping about a character as if they're a friend.

Easy to gossip with friends about a character

Judy Blume says that she tells her family about her characters as if they’re real people.

Chris Claremont said, "For me, writing the 'X-Men' was easy - is easy. I know these people, they're my friends."

Today’s exercise has 2 parts. First, spend 5 minutes jotting down some facts about a character you’ve invented that might come up if you were telling your friends about them. Either choose a character in something you’ve already written, or invent one from scratch now.

Answer the questions:

What are they up to? How are they? What would you say if you were gossiping about them?

Then split up into groups of 4 to 6 writers. 2 volunteers from each group then role-play talking about their character as if they were a friend (perhaps another character in the story). The other participants will role-play a group of friends gossiping about the character behind their back and ask questions. If you don’t know the answer, invent it!

Degrees of Emotion Game

This is based on an acting game, to help actors understand how to perform with different degrees of emotion.

Ask everyone to write the following 4 emotions:

For groups of 5 or less, write down numbers starting with 1 and going up until everyone has a number, then give them out in order. For groups of 6 or more, divide groups into 3's, 4's or 5's.

Each person has to write a scene where the protagonist is alone and is only allowed to say a single word, e.g. "Banana". The writer with number 1 should write the scene with a very low level of the emotion (e.g. happiness), number 2 increases the intensity a bit and the highest number writes a scene with the most intense emotion you can possibly imagine.

Once each writer has written about happiness, rotate the numbers one or two spaces, then move onto anger, then fear, then sadness.

It can help to give everyone numbers showing the intensity of the emotions to write about at the start of the exercise, in which case you may wish to print either the Word or PDF file, then use the ones corresponding to 3, 4 or 5 writers.

Everyone shares their scene with the other course participants.

Three birds, one line

The first paragraph of a surprising number of best-selling novels serves multiple purposes. These are to:

Establish a goal
Set the scene
Develop a character

Nearly every chapter in a novel also serves all three purposes. Instead of establishing a goal though, the protagonist either moves towards it, or encounters an obstacle that hinders them from achieving it.

Some books manage to meet all three purposes with their opening lines, for example:

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

J.K. Rowling , Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

A little more than one hundred days into the fortieth year of her confinement, Dajeil Gelian was visited in her lonely tower overlooking the sea by an avatar of the great ship that was her home.

Iain M. Banks , Excession

"We should start back," Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.

George R.R. Martin , A Game of Thrones

For this exercise write a sentence or short paragraph that serves all three purposes. If you're already writing a novel, then see if you can do this for the first line in a chapter. If not, choose any combination from the following table:

Blind Date on Valentine's Day (Exercise for Adults)

In pairs one writer spends a minute or two describing a character they're writing about, or alternatively they can describe a celebrity or someone from a work of fiction. The next writer then describes their character.

The story is that these 2 characters (or in my case, person and alien, as I'm writing a sci-fi) have accidentally ended up on a blind date with each other. Perhaps the waiter seated them in the wrong location, perhaps it's an actual blind date, or perhaps they met in some other fashion the writers can determine.

Now spend 10 minutes discussing what happens next!

A Success (Works best for online groups)

This exercise works best for online groups, via Zoom, for example. The instructions to give are:

"In a few words describe a success in your life and what it felt like to achieve it. It can be a small victory or a large one."

Share a personal example of your own (mine was watching my homeschooled sons sing in an opera together).

"Once you have one (small or large), write it in the chat.

The writing exercise is then to choose someone else's victory to write about for 10 minutes, as if it was the end of your own book.

If you want to write for longer, imagine how that book would start. Write the first part of the book with the ending in mind."

This is great for reminding people of a success in their lives, and also helps everyone connect and discover something about each other.

Your dream holiday

You’re going on a dream holiday together, but always disagree with each other. To avoid conflict, rather than discuss what you want to do, you’ve decided that each of you will choose a different aspect of the holiday as follows:

Choose where you’ll be going – your favourite holiday destination.
Choose what your main fun activity will be on the holiday.
Decide what mode of travel you’ll use to get there.
If there’s a 4 th person, choose what you’ll eat on the holiday and what you’ll be wearing.

Decide who gets to choose what at random. Each of you then writes down your dream holiday destination/activity/travel/food & clothes in secret. Next spend 5 minutes discussing your dream holiday and add any other details you’d like to include, particularly if you’re passionate about doing something in real life.

Finally, everyone spends another 5 minutes writing down a description of the holiday, then shares it with the others.

A haiku is a traditional Japanese form of non-rhyming poetry whose short form makes it ideal for a simple writing exercise.

They are traditionally structured in 3 lines, where the first line is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables, and the third line is 5 syllables again. Haiku tend to focus on themes of nature and deep concepts that can be expressed simply.

A couple of examples:

A summer river being crossed how pleasing with sandals in my hands! Yosa Buson , a haiku master poet from the 18 th Century.

And one of mine:

When night-time arrives Stars come out, breaking the dark You can see the most

Martin Woods

Spend up to 10 minutes writing a haiku. If you get stuck with the 5-7-5 syllable rule, then don’t worry, the overall concept is more important!

See How to write a haiku for more details and examples.

Unlike a haiku, which is profound and sombre, a limerick is a light-hearted, fun rhyming verse.

Here are a couple of examples:

A wonderful bird is the pelican. His bill can hold more than his beli-can He can take in his beak Food enough for a week But I'm damned if I see how the heli-can.

Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1910

There was a young lady named Bright, Whose speed was far faster than light; She started one day In a relative way, And returned on the previous night.

Arthur Henry Reginald Buller in Punch, 1923

The 1 st , 2 nd and 5 th line all rhyme, as do the 3 rd and 4 th line. The overall number of syllables isn’t important, but the 3 rd and 4 th lines should be shorter than the others.

Typically, the 1 st line introduces the character, often with “There was”, or “There once was”. The rest of the verse tells their story.

Spend 10 minutes writing a limerick.

Time Travel - Child, Adult, Senior

Imagine that your future self as an old man/woman travels back in time to meet you, the adult you are today. Alternatively, you as a child travels forward in time to meet yourself as an adult. Or perhaps both happen, so the child you, adult you, and senior you are all together at the same time. In story form write down what happens next.

Participants then share their story with other writers either in small groups, or to the whole group.

Focus on faces

Solo exercise.

One challenge writers face is describing a character. A common mistake is to focus too much on the physical features, e.g. "She had brown eyes, curly brown hair and was five foot six inches tall."

The problem with this is it doesn't reveal anything about the character's personality, or the relationship between your protagonist and the character. Your reader is therefore likely to quickly forget what someone looks like. When describing characters, it's therefore best to:

Animate them - it's rare that someone's sitting for a portrait when your protagonist first meets them and whether they're talking or walking, it's likely that they're moving in some way.
Use metaphors or similes - comparing physical features to emotionally charged items conjures both an image and a sense of who someone is.
Involve your protagonist - if your protagonist is interacting with a character, make it personal. How does your protagonist view this person? Incorporate the description as part of the description.
Only give information your protagonist knows - they may know if someone is an adult, or a teenager, but they won't know that someone is 37 years old, for example.

Here are three examples of character descriptions that leave no doubt how the protagonist feels.

“If girls could spit venom, it'd be through their eyes.” S.D. Lawendowski, Snapped

"And Ronan was everything that was left: molten eyes and a smile made for war." Maggie Stiefvater, The Dream Thieves

"His mouth was such a post office of a mouth that he had a mechanical appearance of smiling." Charles Dickens

Spend 5 minutes writing a character introduction that is animated, uses metaphors or similes and involves your protagonist.

If working with a group, then form small groups of 3 or 4 and share your description with the rest of the group.

Onomatopeai, rhyme and alliteration

Today's session is all about sound.

Several authors recommend reading your writing out loud after you've written it to be sure it sounds natural. Philip Pullman even goes as far as to say:

"When I’m writing, I’m more conscious of the sound, actually, than the meaning. I know what the rhythm of the sentence is going to be before I know what the words are going to be in it."

For today's exercise, choose the name of a song and write for 10 minutes as if that's the title for a short story. Focus on how your writing sounds and aim to include at least one onomatopoeia, rhyme or alliteration. At the end of the 10 minutes, read it out loud to yourself, or to the group.

Alliterations

An alliteration example from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.

Onomatopoeias

Buzz, woof, quack, baa, crash, purr, beep, belch,...

The alphabet story - creating a story as a group

This is a novel way to write a story as a group, one word at a time. The first person starts the story that begins with any word starting with “A”, the next person continues the story with a word starting with “B”, and so on.

Keep going round until you have completed the alphabet. Ideally it will all be one sentence, but if you get stuck, start a new sentence. Don’t worry if it doesn’t make complete sense!

It can be tricky to remember the alphabet when under pressure, so you may wish to print it out a couple of times, so the storytellers can see it if they need to, this is particularly helpful if you have dyslexics in the group.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Here’s an example of an alphabet story:

A Band Can Dance Each Friday, Ghostly Hauntings In Jail Kill Lucky Men, Nobody Or Perhaps Quiet Rats, Still That Unifies Villains Who X-Ray Your Zebras.

As I mentioned, it doesn’t need to make sense!

A question or two

Small or large groups

The standard format in our group is a short writing exercise followed by an hour and a half of silent writing on our projects.

At one point I felt like we'd done a lot of small group exercises, and wanted to gain an insight into what everyone was working on, so we did the following exercise instead:

Go round the table and ask everyone to briefly talk about their writing. Each person then asks one or two yes/no questions.

Everyone responds either by raising their hand for 'yes' or shaking their heads for 'no'. You can also leap up and down to indicate a very strong 'yes'.

Questions can be about anything, and you can use them either to help guide your writing or to help find other people in the group who have similar interests.

Here are some random examples you might ask:

I want to write a romance novel and am considering setting it in Paris, a traditional romantic setting, or Liverpool which is a less obvious setting. Who thinks Liverpool would be best?
I need to know more about the life of a farmer. Has anyone got farming experience who I can interview in exchange for a drink?
My character gets fired and that night goes back to his office and steals 35 computers. Does that sound realistic as the premise of a story?

This works best when you give participants some advance notice, so they have time to think of a question.

Murder Mystery Game

Groups of 3 or 4

This exercise takes 20-30 minutes and allows participants to create a murder mystery outline together.

Phase 1 (3 minutes)

Split into groups of 3 or 4
Decide as a group where the murder occurs (e.g. the opera house, a bar, a casino)
Decide one person who will write the details of the victim and the murder itself. Everyone else writes the details of one suspect each.
The ‘victim author’ then invents a few extra details about the scene of the crime, who the victim was (a teenage punk, an adult opera singer, etc.) and the murder weapon and summarises this to the others.

Phase 2 (10 minutes)

Each person then writes a police report as if they are either describing the scene of the crime, or recording the notes from their interview with a single suspect:

Write the following:

1 line description of the victim.
When they were last seen by a group of witnesses (and what they were doing).
How the murder occurred in more detail based on the evidence available.

Write the following (from the perspective of the investigator):

1 line description of the suspect
What they said during the interview (including what they claim to have doing when the murder occurs).
A possible motivation (as determined by the police from other witnesses).

Phase 3 (5 minutes)

Each person reads out their police reports to the other members of their small group
As a group, decide who the murderer was and what actually happened

See more ideas on creating murder mystery party games

The obscure movie exercise

Pick a famous movie and spend 5 minutes writing a scene from it from an unusual perspective. Your aim is to achieve a balance between being too obscure and making it too obvious. Feel free to add internal dialogue.

At the end of the 5 minutes, everyone reads their movie scene to the others and all the other participants see if they can guess what the movie is.

How to hint at romantic feelings

Write a scene with two people in a group, where you hint that one is romantically interested in the other, but the feelings aren’t reciprocated.

The goal of this exercise is to practice subtlety. Imagine you are setting a scene for the future where the characters feelings will become more important. Choose a situation like a work conference, meeting with a group of friends, etc. How do you indicate how the characters feel without them saying it in words?

Some tips for hinting at romantic feelings:

Make the characters nervous and shy.
Your protagonist leans forward.
Asks deeper questions and listens intently.
Finds ways to be close together.
Mirrors their gestures.
Gives lots of compliments.
Makes eye contact, then looks away.
Other people seem invisible to your protagonist.

A novel idea

Take it in turns to tell everyone else about a current project you’re working on (a book, screenplay, short story, etc.)

The other writers then brainstorm ideas for related stories you could write, or directions your project could take. There are no right or wrong suggestions and the intention is to focus on big concepts, not little details.

This whole exercise takes around 15 minutes.

Creative writing prompts

Exercise for groups of 3-5

If you're in larger group, split up into groups of 3 or 4 people.

Everyone writes the first line of a story in the Zoom chat, or on paper. Other people can then choose this line as a writing prompt.

For this exercise:

Say who the protagonist is.
Reveal their motivation.
Introduce any other characters

Once everyone's written a prompt, each author chooses a prompt (preferably someone eles's, but it can be your own if you feel really inspired by it.) Then write for 10 minutes using this prompt. See if you can reveal who the protagonist is, what their motivation is (it can be a small motivation for a particular scene, it doesn't have to be a huge life goal), and introduce at least one new character.

Take turns reading out your stories to each other.

Write in the first person.
Have the protagonist interacting with an object or something in nature.
The challenge is to create intrigue that makes the reader want to know more with just a single line.

Creative story cards / dice

Cut up a piece of paper and write one word on each of the pieces of paper, as follows:

Give each participant a couple of pieces of paper at random. The first person says the first sentence of a story and they must use their first word as part of that sentence. The second person then continues the story and must include their word in it, and so on. Go round the group twice to complete the story.

You can also do this creative writing exercise with story dice, your own choice of words, or by asking participants to write random words down themselves, then shuffling all the cards together.

Alternative Christmas Story

Every Christmas adults tell kids stories about Santa Claus. In this exercise you write a Christmas story from an alternative dimension.

What if every Christmas Santa didn't fly around the world delivering presents on his sleigh pulled by reindeer? What if gnomes or aliens delivered the presents? Or perhaps it was the gnomes who are trying to emulate the humans? Or some other Christmas tradition entirely that we humans have never heard of!

Group writing exercise

If you're working with a group, give everyone a couple of minutes to write two possible themes for the new Christmas story. Each theme should be 5 words or less.

Shuffle the paper and distribute them at random. If you're working online, everyone types the themes into the Zoom or group chat. Each writer then spends 10 minutes writing a short story for children based on one of the two themes, or their own theme if they really want to.

If working alone, choose your own theme and spend 15 minutes writing a short story on it. See if you can create the magic of Christmas from another world!

Murder Mystery Mind Map

In a murder mystery story or courtroom drama, there's often conflicting information and lots of links between characters. A mind map is an ideal way to illustrate how everything ties together.

Split into groups of 3 or 4 people each and place a blank piece of A3 paper (double the size of A4) in the middle of each group. Discuss between you who the victim is and write their name in the middle of the piece of paper. Then brainstorm information about the murder, for example:

Feel free to expand out from any of these, e.g. to include more information on the different characters involved.

The idea is that everyone writes at the same time! Obviously, you can discuss ideas, but anyone can dive in and write their ideas on the mind map.

Who was the victim? (job, appearance, hobbies, etc.)
Who did the victim know?
What were their possible motivations?
What was the murder weapon?
What locations are significant to the plot?

New Year’s resolutions for a fictional character

If you’re writing a piece of fiction, ask yourself how your protagonist would react to an everyday situation. This can help you to gain a deeper insight into who they are.

One way to do this is to imagine what their New Year’s resolutions would be.

If completing this exercise with a group, limit it to 3 to 5 resolutions per person. If some participants are historical fiction or non-fiction writers, they instead pick a celebrity and either write what their resolutions will be, or what their resolutions should be, their choice.

Verb Noun Fiction Exercise (Inspired by Stephen King)

Stephen King said, "I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops."

He also said, "Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence. It never fails. Rocks explode. Jane transmits. Mountains float. These are all perfect sentences. Many such thoughts make little rational sense, but even the stranger ones (Plums deify!) have a kind of poetic weight that’s nice."

In this fiction writing exercise, start by brainstorming (either individually or collectively) seven verbs on seven different pieces of paper. Put those aside for later. Now brainstorm seven nouns. Randomly match the nouns and verbs so you have seven pairs. Choose a pair and write a piece of fiction for ten minutes. Avoid using any adverbs.

It’s the end of the world

It’s the end of the world! For 5 minutes either:

If working as a team, then after the 5 minutes is up each writer reads their description out to the other participants.

Describe how the world’s going to end, creating evocative images using similes or metaphors as you wish and tell the story from a global perspective, or
Describe how you spend your final day before the world is destroyed. Combine emotion and action to engage the reader.

7 Editing Exercises

For use after your first draft

I’ve listened to a lot of masterclasses on writing by successful authors and they all say variants of your first draft won’t be good and that’s fine. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman summarise it the best:

“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”

Terry Pratchett

“For me, it’s always been a process of trying to convince myself that what I’m doing in a first draft isn’t important. One way you get through the wall is by convincing yourself that it doesn’t matter. No one is ever going to see your first draft. Nobody cares about your first draft. And that’s the thing that you may be agonising over, but honestly, whatever you’re doing can be fixed… For now, just get the words out. Get the story down however you can get it down, then fix it.”

Neil Gaiman

Once you’ve written your first draft, it will need editing to develop the plot, enhance the characters, and improve each scene in a myriad of ways – small and large. These seven creative editing exercises are designed to help with this stage of the process.

The First Sentence

Read the first paragraph of the novel, in particular the first sentence. Does it launch the reader straight into the action? According to On Writing and Worldbuilding by Timothy Hickson, “The most persuasive opening lines are succinct, and not superfluous. To do this, it is often effective to limit it to a single central idea… This does not need to be the most important element, but it should be a central element that is interesting.” Ask yourself what element your opening sentence encapsulates and whether it’s the best one to capture your readers’ attention.

Consistency

Consistency is crucial in creative writing, whether it’s in relation to location, objects, or people.

It’s also crucial for personality, emotions and motivation.

Look at scenes where your protagonist makes an important decision. Are their motivations clear? Do any scenes force them to choose between two conflicting morals? If so, do you explore this? Do their emotions fit with what’s happened in previous scenes?

As you edit your manuscript, keep the characters’ personality, emotions and motivation in mind. If their behaviour is inconsistent, either edit it for consistency, or have someone comment on their strange behaviour or be surprised by it. Inconsistent behaviour can reveal that a character is keeping a secret, or is under stress, so characters don’t always need to be consistent. But when they’re not, there has to be a reason.

Show Don’t Tell One

This exercise is the first in The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass. It’s a writing guide with a plethora of editing exercises designed to help you reenergize your writing by thinking of what your character is feeling, and giving you the tools to make your reader feel something.

Select a moment in your story when your protagonist is moved, unsettled, or disturbed… Write down all the emotions inherent in this moment, both obvious and hidden.
Next, considering what he is feeling, write down how your protagonist can act out. What is the biggest thing your protagonist can do? What would be explosive, out of bounds, or offensive? What would be symbolic? … Go sideways, underneath, or ahead. How can your protagonist show us a feeling we don’t expect to see?
Finally, go back and delete all the emotions you wrote down at the beginning of this exercise. Let actions and spoken words do the work. Do they feel too big, dangerous, or over-the-top? Use them anyway. Others will tell you if you’ve gone too far, but more likely, you haven’t gone far enough.

Show Don’t Tell Two

Search for the following words in your book:

Whenever these words occur, ask yourself if you can demonstrate how your characters feel, rather than simply stating it. For each occasion, can you use physiological descriptors (a racing heart), actions (taking a step backwards) or dialogue to express what’s just happened instead? Will this enhance the scene and engage the reader more?

After The Action

Find a scene where your characters disagree – in particular a scene where your protagonist argues with friends or allies. What happens next?

It can be tempting to wrap up the action with a quick resolution. But what if a resentment lingers and mistrust builds? This creates a more interesting story arc and means a resolution can occur later, giving the character development a real dynamic.

Review how you resolve the action and see if you can stretch out the emotions for a more satisfying read.

Eliminating the Fluff

Ensure that the words used don’t detract from the enormity of the events your character is going through. Can you delete words like, “Quite”, “Little”, or “Rather”?

Of “Very” Florence King once wrote: “ 'Very' is the most useless word in the English language and can always come out. More than useless, it is treacherous because it invariably weakens what it is intended to strengthen .” Delete it, or replace the word after it with a stronger word, which makes “Very” redundant.

“That,” is another common word used in creative writing which can often be deleted. Read a sentence as is, then reread it as if you deleted, “That”. If the meaning is the same, delete it.

Chapter Endings

When talking about chapter endings, James Patterson said, “At the end, something has to propel you into the next chapter.”

Read how each of your chapters finish and ask yourself does it either:

End on a cliff hanger? (R.L. Stine likes to finish every chapter in this method).
End on a natural pause (for example, you’re changing point of view or location).

Review how you wrap up each of your chapters. Do you end at the best point in your story? Can you add anticipation to cliff hangers? Will you leave your readers wanting more?

How to run the writing exercises

The editing exercises are designed to be completed individually.

With the others, I've always run them as part of a creative writing group, where there's no teacher and we're all equal participants, therefore I keep any 'teaching' aspect to a minimum, preferring them to be prompts to generate ideas before everyone settles down to do the silent writing. We've recently gone online and if you run a group yourself, whether online or in person, you're welcome to use these exercises for free!

The times given are suggestions only and I normally get a feel for how everyone's doing when time's up and if it's obvious that everyone's still in the middle of a discussion, then I give them longer. Where one group's in the middle of a discussion, but everyone else has finished, I sometimes have a 'soft start' to the silent writing, and say, "We're about to start the hour and a half of silent writing now, but if you're in the middle of a discussion, feel free to finish it first".

This way everyone gets to complete the discussion, but no-one's waiting for ages. It's also important to emphasise that there's no wrong answers when being creative.

Still looking for more? Check out these creative writing prompts or our dedicated Sci-Fi and Fantasy creative writing prompts

If you've enjoyed these creative writing exercises, please share them on social media, or link to them from your blog.

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11 Creative Writing Exercises To Awaken Your Inner Author

I believe there’s a writer inside of all of us.

Even if you don’t think you write well, you do have something to say.

You have a story to tell, knowledge to impart , and experiences to share.

You’ve lived a full life that’s packed with observations and adventures, and you shouldn’t exit this Earth without chronicling them in some way.

Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, your life is the laboratory for creating a great book or story.

If you can talk, you can write — even if you need to brush up on grammar and spelling. You’ll naturally become a better writer the more you write.

You’ll learn how to organize ideas, make smooth transitions, and expand your vocabulary.

Reading also improves your writing, so if you have the tiniest desire to write well, read a wide variety of books in different genres.

You can accelerate your writing competence with some simple writing exercises.

Your inner creative muscle needs exertion to stay fit and strong — but writing exercises don’t need to be drudgery.

They can be fun and exciting as you see how much creative juice you have just waiting to be squeezed.

These creative exercises should be practiced without self-judgment, inner filters, or concern about what a reader might think.

The purpose is to allow your creative mind complete freedom to cut loose.

You don’t have to show these writing exercises to anyone if you don’t want to.

It’s a good weekly practice engage in writers exercises to what catches your imagination and awakens your inner author .

1. Answer 3 questions.

2. write a letter to your younger self., 3. use writing prompts., 4. write about your expertise. , 5. write a stream of consciousness page., 6. write a story told to you., 7. pretend to be someone else. , 8. write about something or someone who changed your life., 9. describe your surroundings., 10. pick a number., 11. describe a dream of yours — or the life of your dreams., what are creative writing exercises.

“Perfect” writers don’t exist. Even Ernest Hemingway and Alice Walker honed the craft right up to their waning days. Growth, improvement, and experimentation are the clarion calls of professional and aspiring scribes. And those who succeed put in the work.

That’s where creative writing exercises come in, as they’re designed to help you play with words in a non-judgmental environment.

Common “craft-sharpening” writing games and tools include:

Prompt prose
Timed freewriting
Stream-of-consciousness exercises
Vocabulary teasers / mad libs
Restricted writing (i.e., every sentence must start with a verb, certain words cannot be mentioned, et cetera)

Serious writers — and people serious about becoming better writers — are perpetually composing pieces that will never see the light of day. But just as a tennis player hits thousands of serves during practice sessions, writers scribe thousands of short language exercises. To continue the sports analogy: Writing exercises are the equivalent of an athlete stretching before a game or match.

Here are 11 creative writing exercises to get you started:

In this exercise, you’ll use three questions to stimulate creative thought. You can write these questions yourself, but I’ll give you some examples to show you what to do.

You want to answer the questions as quickly as you can, with whatever ideas pop into your mind.

Write as much or as little as you wish, but just allow the words to flow without pondering too much what you want to say.

Who just snuck out the back window?
What were they carrying?
Where were they going?
Who is Ethan?
Why is he crying?
What is he going to do about it?
Whose house is Julia leaving?
Why was she there?
Where is she going now?

In this exercise, you are writing to yourself at a younger age. It can be your childhood self or yourself just a few years back.

man at coffee house with laptop creative writing Exercises

You can offer advice, compassion, explanation, forgiveness, or praise.

Or you can simply recount an experience you had and how it impacted you as your adult self now.

Try to see this younger self as a real and separate person when you write the letter. This exercise helps you think about your reader as a real person with emotions — a person who can be moved and inspired by your writing.

Again, try not to overthink this exercise. Spend a few minutes deciding the core message of the letter, and then just start writing without filters.

A writing prompt is an idea that jumpstarts the writing process.

The prompt can be a short sentence, a paragraph, or even a picture, but the purpose is the same — to ignite your creativity so you’ll begin writing.

Writing prompts can help you when you feel stuck while writing your book.

If you take ten minutes to work on a writing prompt, you can go back to your book writing primed to get down to business. It stimulates ideas for a writer and releases the creative process.

Here are a few prompts you can use:

Think about something you know how to do well. It can be anything from washing the dishes to selling stocks.

Write a few paragraphs (or more if you wish) explaining some aspect of how to do what you do.

Assume your reader is completely ignorant about the subject.

This writing shouldn’t sound like a dry instruction manual. Try to write in a conversational style, as though you’re verbally explaining the process.

Break down the steps in a way that makes the reader understand exactly what to do, without using business jargon or buzzwords.

This is an easy and fun exercise. You want to write it in longhand rather than typing on your computer, as handwriting slows down the process and allows more time for your creative brain to do its work.

Grab a pen and blank pad and simply start writing. Write down whatever comes into your brain, no matter how nonsensical or disjointed.

man using quill to write creative writing Exercises

There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages — they are not high art. They are not even “writing.” They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only. Morning Pages provoke, clarify, comfort, cajole, prioritize and synchronize the day at hand. Do not over-think Morning Pages: just put three pages of anything on the page…and then do three more pages tomorrow.

In this exercise, you want to recount a story told to you by another person.

It can be a story one of your parents or grandparents shared about something that happened many years ago, or it can be a more recent event a friend or family member recounted.

Or you can tell a story you learned in school or through reading about a well-known person or event.

The story can be funny, sad, or educational — but it should be interesting, entertaining, or engaging in some way.

Whether your book is fiction or non-fiction, readers love stories. They enjoy relating to the lives and experiences of other people.

When you share stories in your writing, you humanize your writing and take your readers on a small journey.

In this exercise, you’ll practice writing from another person’s perspective. You can choose a person you know well, or you can write from the point of view of an imagined character.

Put yourself in this person’s shoes, see things through their eyes, and react the way they would react.

Choose one situation, encounter, or setting, and write what you see, hear, think, and feel about the scenario. Get inside of this person’s brain, and try to be as descriptive as possible.

You can write a paragraph or several pages if you’re inspired.

In this exercise, rather than telling the story of someone else or pretending to be another person, you want to share your story from your perspective.

Write about a person or event that has profoundly impacted you and changed your life.

Rather than simply recounting the situation, talk about how it made you feel, what your reactions were, and how you were changed on the inside as well as the outside.

Pour your heart into this writing. Remember, you don’t have to show it to anyone, so be completely vulnerable and real in this exercise.

How These Exercises Can Make You a Better Writer

At first explanation, writing exercises may sound a tad tedious. But people who do them improve by leaps and bounds.

For starters, it all comes down to the human brain’s wiring. In short, every thought and idea we have is conducted by electrical impulses that torpedo around our nervous systems. When we practice something, the associated “circuits” grow myelin, a biological cushion that protects nerves. The added shielding optimizes the relevant electrical paths, rendering them more efficient.

In other words: The more you do something, the better you’ll get. It doesn’t matter if you have an IQ of 80 or 180. Practice yields results. With writing, the more you do it, the better work you’ll produce.

Specifically, creative prose lessons also:

Keep your creativity muscles limber
Help exercise your vocabulary
Present opportunities to think about ideas and situations from different perspectives
Help writers workshop characters, plots, and ideas

Final Thoughts

No matter how experienced you are as a writer, you can always improve and tap deeper into the wellspring of your own creativity.

You can always learn new ways to express yourself and delight your reader.

View these writing exercises as a means to opening doors of insight and imagination and enjoy the process of becoming a better writer.

I believe there's a writer in all of us. Try these 11 creative writing exercises to see what catches your imagination and awakens your inner author. #writing #writingtips #writingcommunity #writingprompts #writinginspiration #author #amwriting #selfpublishing

25 Great Creative Writing Exercises To Awaken The Senses

January 23, 2023
Craft , Inspiration

I’ve written about the importance of sensory imagery in writing before, specifically for developing characters, in my blog: Use The Five Senses and Bring Your Characters to Life.

But it’s not just for developing your characters; sensory imagery is needed everywhere if you want your readers to engage with your story.

What is sensory imagery?

When we tell a story, we create a world in the reader’s mind, and by using specific, definite, and concrete details, we enable the reader to enter this new world.

A detail is definite and concrete when it appeals to the senses. It should be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched.

Whether you are writing non-fiction, fiction, poetry, or plays, getting in touch with your senses, and using imagery that relates to them, will serve you well.

Experience using sensory imagery.

This post aims to give you the experience of engaging with each sense and letting it take you somewhere unexpected. It’s all very well to understand the concept of using the senses and even be convinced that it’s important to include them in your writing. Still, until you’ve taken the time—10 minutes is all you need— to experience the nuances of each sense, you might not fully understand why using sensory imagery in your writing is essential and how it works.

How to start: Choose a writing prompt and write it at the top of your page. Set your timer for 10 minutes. Read the prompt and begin writing immediately, without thinking—follow the first thought and go wherever it takes you. No editing, no judging, just writing.

Keep your pen moving.

Don’t stop until the time is up.

Suspend judgment.

Be curious.

Tip: Write by hand. Writing by hand connects the brain and body and, I believe, the heart. It’s especially helpful in getting those first thoughts onto the page.

Remember: you can always write from the POV of one of your characters.

25 Great Sensory Writing Prompts.

The sense of smell.

More than any other sense, smell can connect us intimately to the past in a way our ideas cannot. A scent can initiate a flood of memories regardless of how unexpected or fleeting. A whiff of your mother’s perfume on an old sweater can catapult you to a long-forgotten memory of weekly drives to ballet class, the last kiss at bedtime, tears over a science project, or your wedding day.

Prompt 1. What’s the most unusual smell you’ve ever encountered?

Prompt 2. What’s the first scent you smell upon entering your home?

Prompt 3. What is the most dangerous smell you can think of?

Prompt 4. If you were holding your favorite stuffed animal from childhood, what would it smell like?

Prompt 5. Peel an orange, inhale the scent and write about the first memory that comes to mind.

For more on smell, read the blog How the Sense of Smell Can Enhance Your Writing .

The Sense of Touch

Touch is a basic human need, and it’s the first sense we develop upon entering this world and the last sense to go as we depart this world.

It is also one of the least used senses in writing, perhaps because it’s the most difficult to describe. But think about how often we confirm what we see by reaching out and touching. A reader can more easily engage with a character’s world if they can touch it. I’m using the word touch rather than feel because the term “feel” tends to lead us to emotions, and while that’s important, it’s not what we’re aiming for here.

Prompt 1. Write about the last time you touched wet .

Prompt 2. Write about something you want to touch but can’t or shouldn’t.

Prompt 3. Imagine you can describe a sculpture by how it feels as you run your hands over it.

Prompt 4. Write about the earliest touch you can remember.

Prompt 5. Write about something you can’t pass by without touching it.

For more on the sense of touch, read the blog How To Use The Sense Of Touch In Your Writing .

The Sense of Taste

Taste might be the least used sense in writing but think of all you can learn about your character through their tastebuds. The sense of taste and the act of tasting can be highly evocative, taking your reader from delight to disgust with a mere nibble.

Yes, it may be challenging to describe taste without using the senses for sight and smell, which are inherent in taste but challenge yourself to see where taste alone might take you.

Prompt 1. This exercise will prime you for the following four prompts Choose something you like to eat, a piece of fruit, a square of chocolate, and most anything will work. Sit quietly and take a few slow breaths. When you’re ready, take a bite or place the food item in yo r mouth and let it sit on your tongue. Take note of physical sensations, flavor, and sound. You may discover new sensations and ideas for enriching your descriptive details. Now, write a description of what you experienced.

Prompt 2. Write about your favorite childhood meal and how it might ta te today.

Prompt 3. Think of two of your favorite foods. Now write about how they might taste together.

Prompt 4. Write about the experience of tasting a foreign dish for the first time.

Prompt 5. Describe the taste of your favorite dessert without revealing what it is.

For more on the sense of taste, read the blog, How To Use The Sense Of Taste In Your Writing .

The Sense of Hearing

Second, to sight, hearing gives us a primary experience of the world we live in. Sounds enrich our environment; we depend on them to help u interpret, communicate with, and express the world around us.

While not as evocative as smell, familiar sounds can stir memories and transport us to another time and place. What more powerful tool could a writer ask for than auditory details that offer nuanced layers to a scene?

Prompt 1. What would it sound like if you amplified the sound of snow falling on the roof?

Prompt 2. Describe the sound of a family holiday dinner.

Prompt 3. Play a piece of your favorite music and write from the first image that appears in your mind.

Prompt 4. Sit quietly for 2-3 minutes until you can identify the sound that is the farthest away. Describe it without naming it and go wherever it takes you.

Prompt 5. What sound do you most like/dislike?

For more on the sense of hearing, read the blog How To Use The Sense Of Hearing In Your Writing .

The Sense of Sight

The sense of sight is the sense we use most often in writing.

If you’ve ever tried to describe something without referring to sight, you’ll know just how challenging that is to accomplish.

Perhaps this is because 70% of the body’s sense receptors cluster in the eyes, and it is mainly through seeing the world that we appraise and understand it.

A visual image can be a trigger for memory and emotion. A painting can take us back to a time in history replete with triumph or tragedy. A gesture captured in a photograph may symbolize love, loss, or confusion.

Remember, sight is not only for description and scene setting; showing how your characters see the world and how they feel about it will capture your readers’ attention.

Prompt 1. Describe your face as you might see it reflected in a pool of water.

Prompt 2. Describe someone who doesn’t know you are watching them.

Prompt 3. If anger were a creature, describe it.

Prompt 4. Describe your ideal writing place.

Prompt 5. Choose a painting and describe it without using the sense of sight Use every other sense.

For more on the sense of sight, read the blog How To Use The Sense Of Sight In Your Writing .

I hope you find these prompts useful—let me know how it goes.

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14 Creative Writing Exercises to Improve Your Writing

Allison Bressmer

Whether writing is a hobby or a career for you, developing consistent writing habits is key to becoming a better writer.

Blank pages are intimidating. Commit to writing every day to conquer that page and develop your writing skills and style.

By engaging in intentional writing exercises daily, you’ll hone your skills and develop a creative mindset.

These creative writing exercises will get you started immediately!

14 Best Writing Exercises to Try (For Beginners AND Pros)

How do you improve your writing skills, 1. practice freewriting.

To freewrite , set your fingers on your keyboard and start writing; don’t worry about mistakes. Your freewriting is for your eyes only and your goal is simply to get words on the page.

Stuck for a topic? Choose an object you can see—your coffee cup; your sofa; the beat-up (or not) car across the street.

Now, write about the object. You might describe it, tell a story about it, analyze its usefulness—anything is fine. Allow your stream of consciousness to flow and bring ideas to the surface.

The endgame of this writing exercise isn’t to produce great writing about boring objects; it’s to work your writing muscles.

As you search for ways to make these objects interesting, you’ll find unexpected ideas, word choices, and wordplays.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, calls freewriting exercises “Morning Pages” and advises all writers to practice freewriting every day, first thing in the morning, right after waking up.

2. Use Story Starters

Story starters or writing prompts are creative writing exercises that can help you escape a creative rut.

A writing prompt can be anything—a single sentence, a short paragraph, a word. You could even use the first line of a favorite book or newspaper article and take the story in a new direction.

Try building a story from one of these prompts:

I opened the window.
We disagreed.
“It was a pleasure to burn.” (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 )

There are many places to find story starters and writing prompts online, such as Daily Prompt .

3. Write a “Dear Younger Me” Letter

What would you like to say to yourself five, ten, 20, or 50 years ago? Go ahead and write a letter to that younger self!

Maybe you’ll offer advice or reassurance, relive a special moment with them, or tell them how you’ve changed, or haven’t, since you were “their” age.

Another option: imagine what someone else in your life would say to you at a particular time and write from that person’s perspective.

This activity is a great creative writing exercise and a way to tap into your emotions.

4. Do a Point of View (POV) Switch

Take a segment from a favorite book. Rewrite that segment from a different character’s point of view.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is written in third-person limited POV. A third-person narrator tells the story, but focuses on Harry’s thoughts and feelings.

In your rewrite, focus on Hermione’s POV. What does she see that Harry doesn’t? What is she feeling and thinking?

As you write, notice how the story changes. Chances are, it will take on a distinct form and tone and may inspire an idea for a new story of your own.

Or rewrite the segment from an entirely different point of view. If the original is told from first-person POV, recreate it with a third-person narrator.

Note what other changes you’ll have to make because of that switch.

Should you include more or less sensory detail ? Should you adjust what’s revealed about each character thinks or feels?

This writing exercise can help you determine what POV you like writing in best and demonstrate how a single story can be told in several ways.

5. Put Yourself in the Middle of the Action

Put yourse;f in the middle of the action

Take a story that resonates with you.

Rewrite the story as if you’re the main character.

Now that you’ve got eyes “inside” the story, can you expand on the details to make a situation more intense or to convey your feelings more fully? Can you think of ways to make the story more engaging?

As you generate ideas you’ll likely find a creative direction for a new story.

6. Eliminate Empty Words

Sentences contain working words and glue words. Working words tell your reader key information, convey emotions, and provide meaning. Glue words hold the working words together.

Streamline your phrasing to only use necessary glue words. Unnecessary glue words are empty words that clutter your sentences and slow your writing down.

There are, there is, there are, in, on, of, this, just are common glue words that can become empty.

In this sentence, “There are two birds sitting on the roof,” the only purpose of the words “there are” is to make the sentence complete. A better strategy is to use a stronger, more specific verb. For example, “Two birds perch on the roof” or “Two birds idle on the roof.”

ProWritingAid’s Sticky Sentences Report highlights sentences with too many glue words. With rephrasing and editing, you can streamline those sentences and keep your work moving fluently.

To practice, review a scene in your manuscript and restructure sentences to eliminate glue words.

Replace weak verbs with stronger ones and be economical with your word count. Don’t be afraid to cut; you can always go back and add details as needed.

You’ll find yourself choosing more precise words and constructing leaner, clearer sentences.

7. Outline Dialogue-Heavy Scenes

To create a natural back-and-forth exchange between characters, outline the dialogue in dialogue-heavy scenes first.

Don’t worry about writing descriptions, dialogue tags , or body language cues. Just write the basic dialogue.

Then, go back and evaluate what you need to add to express the characters’ tone, feelings, and personality more fully.

Tip: only use dialogue tags when the speaker’s identity isn’t clear. When they’re needed, it’s best to stick with said and asked . If the exchange needs intensity, add action beats—a telling glance or gesture to heighten the moment.

8. Replace Adjectives with Descriptions

Adjectives are powerful. However, they only tell what’s happening; they don’t give the reader an experience. In this sentence, the adjective tells us Peter’s feelings:

Watching the movie, Peter was scared!

Replacing this with a description allows the reader to experience fear along with Peter:

When the headless bleeding corpse slithered out from the box in the attic, Peter screamed and ducked behind the sofa!

Now you try.

Review your draft. Look for adjectives you can replace with descriptions.

Use sensory words so your reader can experience the smells, touches, sights, sounds, or tastes you describe.

ProWritingAid’s Sensory Report helps you balance sensory details by analyzing the emphasis you put on each sense. For example, in this sample, my writing has a heavy sight-emphasis.

The report measures 67% of the sensory words as appealing to sight, letting me know I might want to make adjustments and create a more balanced experience.

9. Blog Every Day

Blogging every day encourages regular writing habits and is great practice for any writer.

You can consult online resources for tips on how to find a blog topic or niche.

For example, you might decide to focus on food, on being a teacher, on being a millennial, on parenting, or on being a millennial who is a teacher and a parent!

Focus on a different aspect of that topic each day—even if you simply write a “Day in the Life of a _ _ _ _ _” series.

This limited focus provides a framework, but leaves plenty of room for creativity. Explore within that framework as you develop your voice and style.

For an extra challenge, limit the number of words you write. On slower days, the number will serve as a target. On days when ideas flow, it will help you ensure that each word matters.

10. Write a 500-Word Story

In the writing world, a 500-word story is an example of “ flash fiction. ”

Flash fiction includes all the elements of plot, conflict, and character development, but since it’s so short, every word counts.

Want to try? Write a fully formed story that includes these three words: rose, glass, forbid . Add no more than 497 additional words of your choice!

This exercise will help you focus on story structure, word choice, and powerful imagery.

11. Set a Captivating Mood

Readers should be intrigued by the story and drawn into the setting so they can feel for and with your characters. To make that happen, create a mood.

In Creating Short Fiction , Damon Knight suggests imagining you’re a character in a room. Describe what’s happening in that room and how the character sees, experiences, and responds to those surroundings.

Put the exercise into practice. Imagine an enemy from your past just called you, saying, “I’m outside your door.”

Now describe the space around you. Do everyday objects become potential weapons? Is the air heavy with dread or charged with fear or filled with fury?

12. Be Observant

Pay close attention to your own reality and the emotions you experience in response.

Let’s imagine you’re sitting on a beach. Engage your senses and observe your emotions.

What do you see, hear, taste, smell? What does it feel like to sit in the sun and sand?

Are you feeling excited? Tranquil? Contemplative? What’s triggering that emotion?

Perhaps the roaring waves make you feel small and insignificant—or invigorated! Maybe the ocean is quiet, and the small waves’ gentle rhythm soothes you,

Capture those details and feelings in a journal (or on your phone!). Later, write a scene based in that setting, using those captured details to create sensations and evoke emotions.

13. Practice Empathy

Being sensitive to the feelings of others and seeing the world through their eyes will help you create well-developed characters .

Imagine a mother struggling with a stroller and shopping bags on the bus. Her kids are loud, they press the stop button repeatedly, and she has to take a phone call. Passengers are obviously annoyed.

Write the scene from the mother’s perspective, considering her feelings and frustration. Does she notice the passengers’ anger? Who is calling her? Where is she trying to go?

This exercise also works when you make it personal, though it may be emotionally challenging.

Rewrite a part of your life from the perspective of someone you hold negative feelings about—an ex, an enemy, a boss. Consider their feelings and tell “their side.”

14. Group Writing Exercises

Groups can trigger creative writing ideas.

Give each member time to write one or two themes (one sentence each) for a holiday story.

Shuffle those submissions and redistribute them randomly.

For online groups, post the themes in chat and have everyone use the entry following their own.

Set a timer for ten minutes, during which each writer creates a story fitting their assigned theme.

Then, share your stories! Keep the exercise going with a story swap. Have a new author continue each narrative.

Stephen King once observed:

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

Reading and observing the work of other writers is essential to developing your skills, but isn’t enough on its own.

You must give your writing skills a workout—and these 14 creative writing exercises provide the perfect starting point.

You don’t have to work alone! Professional bloggers, novelists, copywriters, and other writers use ProWritingAid to receive personalized feedback on their work.

It’s a one-stop tool to help you evaluate, edit, and improve your writing. Try it out today.

Do you want to know how to build a world your readers won’t forget? Download this free book now:

World-Building 101: How to Construct an Unforgettable World for Your Fantasy or Sci-Fi Story!

This guide is for all the writers out there who want to construct an unforgettable world that your readers can’t help but get lost in, learn how to invent species, gods, monsters and more in our immersive guide..

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Allison Bressmer is a professor of freshman composition and critical reading at a community college and a freelance writer. If she isn’t writing or teaching, you’ll likely find her reading a book or listening to a podcast while happily sipping a semi-sweet iced tea or happy-houring with friends. She lives in New York with her family. Connect at linkedin.com/in/allisonbressmer.

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ThinkWritten

7 Creative Writing Exercises For Writers

Need a creative lift as a writer? Try these 7 creative writing exercises for writers to boost your writing skills.

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Has your creative well run dry? Are you struggling to find inspiration for your next written work? Creative writing exercises could be the answer.

Just like any other skill, the art and craft of writing will benefit from the frequent working and reworking of your practices and habits. Creativity exercises for writers could unlock that writer’s block that you have been struggling to overcome and spur you on to new and exciting creative directions.

What are Creative Writing Exercises?

Creative writing exercises can take on many forms and can mean different things to different people. However, certain elements are common to most examples of creative writing exercises.

They are often produced in short, intense bursts, for one thing, and they are often entirely improvised. Improvisation is one of the earmarks of the creative writing exercises employed by many writers.

One other factor that most creative writing exercises have in common is that they often encourage the exploration and expounding of familiar subject matters in novel ways.

Many classes and guides that focus solely on developing creative writing techniques involve adopting short and spontaneous approaches.

How often should writers practice creative writing exercises?

Regardless of what form a creative writing exercise takes, it is smart for writers to adopt these practices and incorporate them into their daily routines. The goal is to expand their writing skills and develop the ability to tell the same story in as many different ways as possible.

Start by writing a few lines once or twice a week, spending only a few minutes each session. Gradually increase the length of each session and how many times you sit down to write per week.

Eventually, you could work up to about ten minutes per session, performing these exercises several times throughout the week.

Here are 7 Creative Writing Exercises for Writers

If you feel like taking a break from a writing assignment or are between projects, you can try your hand at these creative writing exercises. They can also serve as inspiration for your next opus or strengthen your creative muscles.

1. Follow your stream of consciousness.

Many writers have become conditioned to feel a great deal of stress or worry about being confronted by a blank page. This exercise will help you address this fear head-on.

Get a piece of paper and start writing the first thing that comes to mind. Don’t even think about what you are writing or edit your thoughts. This type of writing is known as “free writing”. Author Julia Cameron referred to this as the “morning pages” in her award-winning book, The Artist’s Way .

2. Work with different points of view.

If you find yourself struggling with expressing yourself, try switching up your point of view. Take a chapter from your favorite book, or even just a scene if you want to start slow. Write everything that takes place from the point of view of another character. The goal here is to communicate the story in another way.

You could also vary this exercise by writing as if you are the main character by changing their point of view. If the story is written in the first person, try writing it from the third person. Be aware of the details that are omitted when you switch viewpoints. This frequently leads to an interesting new twist to the story.

3. Take advantage of writing prompts.

Writing prompts or story starters can be invaluable writing tools that could encourage you to explore unfamiliar but interesting creative directions. These are sentences or short passages that could serve as springboards for writing spontaneous stories.

We have many writing prompts lists here at ThinkWritten you can use for inspiration, including 365 Creative Writing Prompts , 42 Fantasy Prompts , and 101 Poetry Prompts .

4. Have a Conversation With Yourself

See what it’s like to write a letter or converse with yourself. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to have a conversation with your younger self, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.

You can choose any subject you want, from a significant social or political event or some words of wisdom to your younger version. Try to be as honest and as forthcoming as possible. The results might surprise you.

5. Try Writing Flash Fiction

Try to crank out a piece of flash fiction. As with other creative writing exercises, don’t spend too much time at it. Simply sit down in front of the computer or a piece of paper, and begin writing. Flash fiction doesn’t usually go beyond 500 words, so try to keep it short.

Note: It might be helpful to differentiate flash fiction from the freewriting exercise discussed earlier. While freewriting involves generating words and ideas in an unbridled stream of consciousness, flash fiction is more about writing within a set of guidelines. In this particular exercise, try incorporating structural elements such as plots, conflicts, and character development, all in the goal of developing a logical story arc.

6. Practice writing fake ads

Writing fake advertisements is another potentially useful exercise. Few tasks can flex your creative muscles than trying to sell a product, person, company, or idea. You don’t need a lot to get started either. All you have to do is to select a word at random from a magazine or newspaper and get started writing an ad for it.

It might help to write one ad in a more formal tone, similar to the classified ads published in newspapers. This exercise will train you in using a few words effectively to sell your subject. You can then write another ad in a style similar to that published in online marketplaces, which allow for longer text. In both exercises, try to convince your readers to purchase the product in as definitive terms as possible.

7. Rewrite someone else’s story

Consider adopting a story from someone else and making it your own. Unlike the exercise that involves writing a story from another point of view, this one involves telling the same story from the same viewpoint but using your own words.

It could be any story you want to write about, from something a family member told you about or an urban legend that has long made the rounds of your town.

Whichever story you choose, try to write it as if it happened to you. If certain details are missing–which is often the case with old stories–don’t hold back from adding your own touches. You could even take a well-known story and write it as if you were there when the events took place.

There are only a few of the creativity exercises for writers you can try. There are many more variations that you could use to help you get back into the pattern of writing creatively.

If you ever find yourself stuck and unsure of what your next step should be, consider taking some time off and working on some creative writing exercises instead. After some time, you might find yourself becoming more eager to get back into it and more inspired than ever.

Tell us what you think! Do you enjoy creative writing exercises? Do you have any additional ideas for ways writers can continue to build and work on their writing skills? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Eric Pangburn is a freelance writer who shares his best tips with other writers here at ThinkWritten. When not writing, he enjoys coaching basketball and spending time with his family.

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The article was inspirational but I wish that there was a place to show case our writing. I have written a novel and will love to have someone read and edit it.

Yeah, I agree.

✍️ Plot Development Writing Exercises

Curated with love by Reedsy

We found 15 plot development exercises that match your search 🔦 reset

Write a list of images you associate with your theme. Now do the same for each of your main characters. Keep these images in mind as a way to present your theme metaphorically through symbolic motifs.

Plot Development

Any questions.

There's one powerful motivator that led your reader to your book - curiosity. Our brain doesn't stop asking questions because it knows that's how it learns and evolves. Questions raise uncertainty. Unknowns. And if there's an unknown, then humans want to make it known. There will be a big question that drives your story, so take a couple of minutes to consider the mother-question that propels your book from beginning to end.Your manuscript also needs to be powered by lots of little questions. Your book will need a variety of whos, whens, whys, and wheres to keep your reader engaged. In fact, every scene in your book needs to have a question define it. It's what will keep your reader turning those pages. Review each of your scenes and identify the question/s hanging over it, because once you nail that, their mind will be asking the most important question of all - what happens next?

The Outsider

If you're working on a novel or short story, write a pivotal scene from an outside observer's perspective who has no role in the story.

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Pick a scene or passage you've written that you feel dissatisfied with. Take a short time - maybe 10 or 20 minutes - to read the passage as though it were someone else's work. Take a red pen and make notes in the margins. If you didn't know anything else about the story, where else could this scene go? Try to get a feel for how malleable the words and the story can be.

Lost The Plot?

How do you start a story - or get a story back on track? If you're feeling lost or blocked, try templating to get your plot on course.Here's what to do: bullet point your initiating incident, your rising action, your crisis, and your resolution for both your main plot and subplots. Make a table to see events running parallel, remembering subplots exist to enhance, complicate _ ultimately, compliment _ your main action. Listing like this highlights any irrelevancies, keeping your tale on track, and makes all you write intertwined and significant to your protagonist's journey. Plan out using this framework as your reference.

A New Chapter

Pick up one of your favorite novels. Open it to a random page. Whatever chapter you land on, rewrite it your own way. Take it in a totally different direction than how it actually plays out in the book.

Pride, Prejudice, and Zombies

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So began Seth Grahame-Smith's book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which (you guessed it) re-imagined Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in a world with zombies. Sometimes one big twist is all it takes to get you thinking about a story in a different way. How would the introduction of zombies shake things up in your world? How would it affect the relationships between your characters? How would it change priorities? Which parts of your world would stay the same, and which parts would be different? Detail this in a short story of 1,000-2,000 words.

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50 Fantastic Creative Writing Exercises

Good question.

Creative writing exercises are designed to teach a technique. They are highly specific, more specific than creative writing prompts, and much more specific than story generators.

Creative writing exercises for adults are not designed to lead the writer into crafting a full story, but are only designed to help them improve as a writer in a narrow, specific category of writing skills.

I’ve broken the exercises below into categories so you can choose what category of skill you’d like to practice. Can you guess which category in this list has the most prompts?

If you guessed characters, then you’re right. I think characters are the heart blood of every story, and that a majority of any writing prompts or writing exercises should focus on them.

But I also think any of these will help you create a narrative, and a plot, and help you generate all kinds of dialogue, whether for short stories or for novels. These writing exercises are pretty much guaranteed to improve your writing and eliminate writer’s block.

Also, if you’re a fledgling writer who needs help writing their novel, check out my comprehensive guide to novel writing.

Enjoy the five categories of writing exercises below, and happy writing!

1. Think of the most deafening sound you can imagine. Describe it in great detail, and have your character hear it for the first time at the start of a story.

2. Have a man cooking for a woman on a third date, and have her describe the aromas in such loving and extended detail that she realizes that she’s in love with him.

3. Pick a line from one of your favorite songs, and identify the main emotion. Now write a character who is feeling that emotion and hears the song. Try to describe the type of music in such a beautiful way that you will make the reader yearn to hear the song as well.

4. Have a character dine at a blind restaurant, a restaurant in pitch blackness where all the servers are blind, and describe for a full paragraph how the tablecloth, their clothing, and the hand of their dining partner feels different in the darkness.

5. Select a dish representative of a national cuisine, and have a character describe it in such detail that the reader salivates and the personality of the character is revealed.

7. Describe two characters having a wordless conversation, communicating only through gestures. Try to see how long you can keep the conversation going without any words spoken, but end it with one of them saying a single word, and the other one repeating the same word.

8. In a public place from the last vacation you took, have two characters arguing, but make it clear by the end of the argument that they’re not arguing about what they’re really upset about.

9. Write a scene composed mostly of dialogue with a child talking to a stranger. Your mission is to show the child as heartbreakingly cute. At the same time, avoid sentimentality.

10. Have two character have a conversation with only a single word, creating emphasis and context so that the word communicates different things each time it is spoken. The prime example of this is in the television show “The Wire,” where Jimmy and Bunk investigate a crime scene repeating only a single expletive.

11. Pick an object that is ugly, and create a character who finds it very beautiful. Have the character describe the object in a way that convinces the reader of its beauty. Now write a second version where you convince the reader (through describing the object alone) that the character is mentally unstable.

12. Write down five emotions on slips of paper and slip them into a hat. Now go outside and find a tree. Draw one emotion from the hat, and try to describe that tree from the perspective of a character feeling that emotion. (Don’t mention the emotion in your writing — try to describe the tree so the reader could guess the emotion).

13. Describe a character’s bedroom in such a way that it tells us about a person’s greatest fears and hopes.

14. Root through your desk drawer until you find a strange object, an object that would probably not be in other people’s drawers. Have a character who is devastated to find this object, and tell the story of why this object devastates them.

15. Go to an art-based Pinterest page and find your favorite piece of art. Now imagine a living room inspired by that flavor of artwork, and show the room after a husband and wife have had the worst fight of their marriage.

16. Pick a simple object like a vase, a broom, or a light bulb, and write a scene that makes the reader cry when they see the object.

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17. Make a list of the top five fears in your life. Write a character who is forced to confront one of those fears.

18. Write an entire page describing the exact emotions when you learned of a happy or calamitous event in your life. Now try to condense that page into a single searing sentence.

19. Think about a time in your life when you felt shame. Now write a character in a similar situation, trying to make it even more shameful.

20. Write a paragraph with a character struggle with two conflicting emotions simultaneously. For example, a character who learns of his father’s death and feels both satisfaction and pain.

21. Write a paragraph where a character starts in one emotional register, and through a process of thought, completely evolves into a different emotion.

Characters:

22. Create a minor character based upon someone you dislike. Now have your main character encounter them and feel sympathy and empathy for them despite their faults.

23. Have a kooky character tell a story inside a pre-established form: an instruction manual, traffic update, email exchange, weather report, text message.

24. Write about a character who does something they swore they would never do.

25. Have a character who has memorized something (the names of positions in the Kama Sutra, the entire book of Revelations) recite it while doing something completely at odds with what they’re reciting. For instance, bench pressing while reciting the emperors in a Chinese dynasty.

26. Write a paragraph where a character does a simple action, like turning on a light switch, and make the reader marvel at how strange and odd it truly is.

27. Have a couple fight while playing a board game. Have the fight be about something related to the board game: fighting about money, have them play monopoly. Fighting about politics, let them play chess.

28. Write about two characters angry at each other, but have both of them pretend the problems don’t exist. Instead, have them fight passive-aggressively, through small, snide comments.

29. Describe a character walking across an expanse field or lot and describe how he walks. The reader should perfectly understand his personality simply by the way you describe his walk.

30. Write a first-person POV of a character under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and try to make the prose as woozy and tipsy as the character.

31. Describe the first time that a character realizes he is not as smart as he thought.

32. Describe an hour in the life of a character who has recently lost their ability to do what they love most (a pianist who has severe arthritis; a runner who became a quadriplegic).

33. Write an argument where a husband or wife complains of a physical ailment, but their spouse refuses to believe it’s real.

34. Write a scene where a stranger stops your main character, saying that they know them, and insisting your main character is someone they are not. Describe exactly how this case of mistaken identity makes your character feel.

35. Describe a small personality trait about a person you love, and make the reader love them, too.

36. Write a personality-revealing scene with a character inside a public restroom. Do they press a thumb against the mirror to leave a subtle mark? Do they write a plea for help on the inside of the stall door? Do they brag about the size of what they’ve just dumped off?

37. Give your character an extremely unusual response to a national tragedy like a terrorist attack or natural disaster. Maybe have them be aware their response is unusual, and try to cloak it from others, or have them be completely unaware and display it without any self-consciousness.

38. Have one of your main characters come up with an idea for a comic book, and tell a close friend about the idea. What about this idea would surprise the friend, upsetting what he thought he knew about your main character? Also, what would the main character learn about himself from the comic book idea?

39. Think of an illness someone you love has suffered from. How does your character respond when someone close to them has this illness?

40. Have your main character invent an extremely offensive idea for a book, and show their personality faults through discussing it with others.

41. Have your character write down a list considering how to respond to their stalker.

42. Write a scene where a man hits on a woman, and although the woman acts repulsed and begs her friends to get him away from her, it becomes apparent that she likes the attention.

43. Write about a 20-something confronting his parents over their disapproval of his lifestyle.

44. Have your character write a funny to-do list about the steps to get a boyfriend or girlfriend.

45. Have a risk-adverse character stuck in a hostage situation with a risk-happy character.

46. For the next week, watch strangers carefully and take notes in your phone about any peculiar gestures or body language. Combine the three most interesting ones to describe a character as she goes grocery shopping.

47. Buy a package of the pills that expand into foam animals, and put a random one in a glass of warm water. Whatever it turns out to be, have that animal surprise your main character in a scene.

48. Have your character faced with a decision witness a rare, awe-inspiring event, and describe how it helps them make their decision.

49. Imagine if your character met for the first time his or her long-lost identical twin. What personality traits would they share and which ones would have changed because of their unique experiences?

50. If a character got burned by a hot pan, what type of strange reaction would they have that would reveal what they value most?

Once you’ve taken a stab at some of these exercises, I’d recommend you use them in your actual writing.

And for instruction on that, you need a guide to writing your novel .

That link will change your life and your novel. Click it now.

32 comments

John Fox, you have some excellent resources, and I thank you. I read your comments, then scrolled down to glance at the list of 50 exercises. The FIRST one, “loud noise’ is already in my head. My Hero is going to be side swiped in my Cozy. I was side swiped on a state highway here in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and, although the damage was minor, the sound of that big SUV “glancing” off my little car was SCARY!!! I once heard a fast-moving car REAR-END is stand-still car; that sound was something I’ll never forget. So, your exercise is very timely. THANK YOU!!!

This is a great list! Thanks!

You know what would be motivating? If we could turn these in to someone and get like a grade lol

I’ve been thinking a lot about “how to master writing,” and this is the first time that I found an article that makes it clear the difference between prompts and exercises. I fully agree with you. These are bound to make you a better writer if you focus on doing a variation of them daily.

An excellent list – thank you very much. I run a small writing group and we’ll be trying some.

Yes, thank you. I too run a small writing group and you got me out of a slump for tomorrow’s group!

yes,thank you . It’s good for improve your writing skills.

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What a lovely list! I am working on the final draft of my very first novel, and am constantly working at improving the final product. Your exercises are just what I need to kickstart my writing day. Thank you so very much.

Thank you very much When I turned50 I received my diploma from Children’s Institute in West Redding Ct I got my inspiration from being near water however now that I am in Oregon I have had a writing block thanks to your list my creative juices are flowing

I suppose I better have good punctuation, seeing this is about Writing. Thank you for this great list. I am the Chair of our small Writing group in Otorohanga and we start again last week of Feb. I have sent out a homework email, to write a A4 page of something exciting that has happened over the holiday break and they must read it out to the group with passion and excitement in their voices. That will get them out of their comfort zone!

A formidable yet inspiring list. Thank you very much for this. This is really very helpful. I am from India, and very new to writing and have started my first project, which I want to make it into a Novel. This has been very helpful and is very challenging too. Prompts look sissy when compared to this, frankly speaking. Thank you very much again.

Where can I get the answers for these?

There aren’t “answers.” You create responses to these exercises.

Thank you so much for the detailed suggestions focusing on HOW to put the WHAT into practice; really helpful & inspiring.

Just started rough drafting a story I’ve always wanted to write. Do you have any advice for someone writing their first real story? I’m having trouble starting it; I just want it to be perfect.

I consider this very helpful. Just started my journey as a creative writer, and will be coming back to this page to aid my daily writing goal.

I have always loved writing exercises and these are perfect practice for my competition. I have tried lots of different things that other websites have told me to try, but this by far is the most descriptive and helpful site that i have seen so far.

This is really a creative blog. An expert writer is an amateur who didn’t stop. I trust myself that a decent writer doesn’t actually should be advised anything but to keep at it. Keep it up!

I’ve always enjoyed writing from a little girl. Since I’ve been taking it a bit more seriously as does everybody else it seems; I’ve lost the fun and sponteneity. Until now…..this is a marvelous blog to get back the basic joy and freedom in writing. Or should that be of?:) These exercises are perfect to get the creative juices flowing again…..thank you:)

These are interesting exercises for writing.

These are fantastic! I started reading a really awesome book on creative writing but it just didn’t get any good or easy to follow exercises. So I found your site and having been having a lot of fun with these. Exactly what I was looking for, thank you!

creative and inspiring, thank you

I always wanted to have an exercise where a friend and I each wrote a random sentence and sent it to each other to write a short story from that beginning sentence, then exchange the stories for reading and/or critique. Maybe both writers start with the same sentence and see how different the stories turn out.

Thanks for these exercises. Some are really challenging. To truly tackle them I’m having to spend as long beforehand thinking “how the HECK am I going to do this?” as I do with ink on paper. Would be a great resource if other authors submitted their replies and thoughts about how they went about each exercise.

Start the conversation: submit one of yours.

I think I can use these to inspire my students.

Hi there. Thank you for posting this list- it’s great! Can I ask you to consider removing number 42 or perhaps changing it somewhat? I teach sex ed and every year am shocked by how many young people don’t understand issues around consent. Stories about woman who ‘say no but really mean yes’ are deeply unhelpful. Really appreciate your post but felt I had to ask. Thanks.

What’s wrong with the number 42?

It promulgates the belief that when a woman says no, she doesn’t mean it, potentially resulting in sexual assault.

I just make this list a part of my teaching in Creative Writing Classes. Very good list of ideas!

Thank you so much for posting this! I have used it to create a creative playwriting activity for my high school creative writing class–so much good stuff here for me to pick through and select for my kiddos that will allow them to shine and improve their knowledge of writing as a craft!

Every writer NEEDS this book.

It’s a guide to writing the pivotal moments of your novel.

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16 Best Writing Exercises To Improve Your Writing

Alana Chase

With over 10 years’ experience in editing and editorial team management, Alana serves as Eleven's Head of Editing, aiding editors in creating top-quality content and overseeing recruitment to ensure only the best of the best join Eleven’s ranks. A seasoned digital journalist and writer, Alana holds an MA in Creative Writing and is accomplished in spearheading content strategy at high-growth media startups.

Whether you’re an established professional or a wordsmith in the making, writing exercises are hugely beneficial.

In fact, as a professional writing agency, we’ve seen firsthand how writing exercises can help you master your craft and write with greater confidence.

That’s why we put together this list of our favorite and most effective exercises for writers.

Think of it like a full-body workout routine for your creative muscles. Different exercises target different skills, building them up and keeping them strong. Below, you’ll find writing exercises to break through writer’s block, boost your creativity, develop your voice, and master the fundamentals of writing — all while having fun. We’ve even included “Level Up” challenges to push your writing skills even further.

Before you get started

Here are some tips to help you get the most out of writing exercises:

Exercise during your “prime writing time,” before other writing tasks. This is when you’re most focused and productive — whether that’s the early morning, middle of the day, or late evening. You’ll harness your peak creativity and get a nice warm-up.
Write in a designated space. This can be anywhere you’d like — your bedroom or home office, a local café, or a park nearby. Having a designated space for writing makes it easier for your brain to switch into creative mode.
Set clear goals. Think about what you want to achieve and choose exercises accordingly. You might want to practice explaining complex topics in simple terms, for example, or using descriptive language.
Keep an open mind. These exercises are meant to push you out of your comfort zone. Stay open to unexpected ideas, go with the flow, and be comfortable with being un comfortable. Just as muscles grow through resistance, your skills will develop as you challenge yourself and try new things.
Don’t overexert yourself. You may be tempted to tackle multiple exercises at a time, but be careful to avoid burnout. If you're doing an exercise before paid work, it's important you don't use up all your energy. Take short breaks between exercises, and only do a few at a time.

Best exercises to improve your writing

Now, let’s enter the “Writer’s Gym” and explore 16 exercises to improve your writing.

1. Freewrite, then condense by half

How it works: Ignites creativity and strengthens concision and self-editing skills.

Pick any topic you like, set a five-minute timer, and write whatever comes to mind. Don’t stop until the timer goes off.

Once time’s up, read through your free-written text and reset the timer. Rewrite your text in half as many words, conveying the same message or theme.

Halve the text again. (E.g., 100 words → 50 words → 25 words.)

2. The noun + verb exercise

How it works: Provides a launchpad for new work and teaches simplicity in storytelling.

“Take any noun, put it with any verb, and you have a sentence. It never fails.” — Stephen King

Inspired by a quote from Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft , this exercise is simple but effective: Pair a random noun with a random verb to form a sentence. Then, use this to begin a new piece of writing.

Here’s an example:

• Marienne [noun] + panicked [verb] → Marienne panicked. She felt her heart beat hard, blood rushing to her face, as the detective approached her. Did he suspect she was guilty?

3. Use random words, prompts, or plots

How it works: Encourages creative thinking, expands your vocabulary, and improves your ability to overcome writer’s block.

One of the best ways to get your creative juices flowing is to use random words, prompts, or plots as a starting point.

Many writers do it — and one even got a Grammy-winning result! When music producer Rick Rubin was working with the band System of a Down on a song, they were stuck on lyrics. Rubin told lead singer Serj Tankian to grab a book off his bookshelf, open ‌it to a random page, and say the first phrase he saw. Tankian did, and the phrase became a key part of the band’s smash hit, “Chop Suey!”, which won a Grammy in 2002.

Here are a few of our favorite resources and generators for random words, prompts, and plots:

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day : Write a paragraph using the word of the day, or build an entire scene around it.
WordCounter’s Random Word Generator : Request a string of random words and create a custom list of the ones you like most. Then, incorporate all your chosen words into a new piece of writing.
Reedsy’s Plot Generator : Pick a genre — or let Reedsy choose one for you — and get details about a protagonist, secondary character, plot, and plot twist. Craft a short story using this information.
ChatGPT : Ask the AI tool, “Provide me a list of 5 random writing prompts.” See what it generates, and write in response to the most interesting one.
Squibler’s Random Prompt Generator : Generate a writing prompt, select how many minutes (3-60) or words (75-1,667) you want to spend writing, and write directly within Squibler. There’s even a “hardcore mode” that hides your text until you reach your time or word goal.

4. Adopt a new perspective

How it works: Expands your narrative range and lets you see your writing from other perspectives.

Write in a perspective you don’t usually use.

For example, if you usually write in the first person (using I/me/my pronouns), challenge yourself to write a scene or explain a topic in the second person instead (from the reader’s point of view, using you/your/yours pronouns).

Or, if you normally write in the first or second person, try writing in the third person, using he/her/they/it pronouns as a narrator separate from the text.

Take an excerpt from an article, paper, short story, or book you enjoy. Rewrite the text in a different perspective (e.g., first person → second person, third person → first person, etc.).

Rewrite paragraphs from one of your existing drafts from a different person’s perspective. For instance, if you originally shared your unique ideas in an academic paper, rework some paragraphs from the perspective of someone who disagrees with your stance.

5. Write a letter

How it works: Encourages clear, concise expression and gets you comfortable with more personable writing.

Select a person you’re familiar with — a friend, relative, or even your past self — and write them a letter. Tell them a story, explain your viewpoint on a topic, or share a recent experience. Limit yourself to a single page.

6. The “I remember…” exercise

How it works: Lets you access deeper emotions and personal experiences, which can make your writing more authentic.

We discovered this exercise through memoirist and novelist Dani Shapiro . She shared it after reading Joe Brainard’s memoir I Remember , in which every paragraph (usually a single sentence) begins with “I remember.”

In this exercise, you’ll mirror Brainard’s method: Begin with “I remember,” write a sentence, and then build off it with another sentence beginning with “I remember.”

“We discover what we know through what we write on the page,” Shapiro explains. “Every single time you do this exercise, it’ll come out differently.”

7. Write your dialogue like a script

How it works: Hones your ability to create distinct voices and teaches you good conversational flow.

Craft a conversation between two characters without using dialogue tags — e.g., “I said,” “James whispered,” “you answered,” etc. — as if you were writing a script.

Novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin recommends this as a solid approach to writing dialogue. He even uses this exercise with his writing students .

“Invent whatever you want. Write a speech for each [character]. … Make each speech sound different from the other so you can instantly know just from the words [who’s speaking],” Martin instructs. “If they all sound the same, you have a problem.”

Try this exercise with three (or more) characters in the conversation.

8. Constrain your word count

How it works: Promotes concision and clarity by encouraging you to choose your words wisely.

Embrace the art of microfiction by writing a complete story in under 500 words.

Repeat the exercise with a word count limit of 250.

ACraft a two-sentence horror story, inspired by the subreddit r/TwoSentenceHorror. (If horror isn’t your thing, write in any genre you like.)

Write a six-word story, like the famous one frequently (mis)attributed to Ernest Hemingway: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

9. The “ELI5” exercise

How it works: Strengthens clarity, improves your skills in expressing complex ideas simply, and encourages you to think of your audience.

“ELI5” stands for “Explain Like I’m 5” and comes from the subreddit of the same name . There, users explain facts and ideas as if they were speaking to a five-year-old — or, more practically, the average person.

For this exercise, take the ELI5 practice and apply it to your writing: Describe a concept, scene, or event in a way a layperson could understand. Follow the official ELI5 rules: “Avoid unexplained technical terms,” “don’t condescend,” and “keep it clear and simple.”

Do it in 100 words or fewer.

After you complete the exercise, ask ChatGPT to do the same. Compare its work to yours. Which is simpler and more concise?

10. Avoid adjectives and adverbs

How it works: Trains you to avoid writing “crutches” and use stronger nouns and verbs instead.

Create a scene, explain a topic, or describe an event without using any adjectives (words that describe nouns, like “ beautiful dress”) or adverbs (words that modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and sentences, like “sang loudly ”). Use strong verbs and nouns in their place.

For example:

“The moon was snow-white [adjective] and bright [adjective] against the inky [adjective] sky.” → “The moon glowed against the sky.”

“The cat ran [verb] quickly [adverb] into the house.” → “The cat darted into the house.”

Sci-fi author Ursula K. Le Guin recommends this exercise in her book Steering the Craft . “The point is to give a vivid description of a scene or an action using only verbs, nouns, pronouns, and articles,” she writes.

Try also to avoid expletive constructions — phrases that use “there,” “here,” or “it” followed by a form of the verb “to be,” such as “there were,” “here are,” and “it is.” Restructure your sentences with impactful verbs instead. For example: “There were hundreds of butterflies around us.” → “Hundreds of butterflies fluttered around us.”

11. Rewrite a Wikipedia article

How it works: Lets you practice adjusting tone and adapting writing for different audiences.

Wikipedia articles are pretty to the point — but they can also feel somewhat stiff or formal in tone. That makes them the perfect starting point for an exercise in adjusting tone.

Head to Wikipedia, click the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, and tap Random article . This will generate a completely random article. (You can keep clicking Random article until you land on one that interests you.)

Select a few paragraphs from the article and rewrite them in a friendly, casual tone. Think, “How would I describe this information to a friend?”

12. Complete the Proust Questionnaire

How it works: Fosters a deeper understanding of your narrator and your audience, which can help you write more authentically and better connect with readers.

French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust popularized the Proust Questionnaire after answering a series of questions in a parlor game called a “confession album.” The questionnaire is like a personality quiz, meant to reveal the answerer’s true nature. These days, it’s commonly used as an interview tool and writing exercise.

For a writing exercise, complete the Proust Questionnaire as your work's narrator (even if it’s you!) or target audience. This will leave you with a “character sketch” for your narrator or a “persona” for your audience.

You can find the Proust Questionnaire here .

13. Write mock advertisements

How it works: Sharpens your persuasive writing skills and lets you practice using different tones.

In this exercise, you’ll write two ads for a fictional product. Your goal is to persuade your reader to buy it. Think of your own imaginary product, or use an online product name generator if you get stuck.

First, write an ad that would appear in print, like in a magazine or newspaper. These charge per word for ads, so you’ll need to make every word count. Try limiting yourself to 100 words or fewer, and use a more direct, professional tone.

Next, create an ad that would be shared online, such as on social media. For this one, aim for 250 words maximum and use a friendlier, more relaxed tone.

14. Focus on a single sense

How it works: Develops your descriptive language skills and encourages you to make your writing more engaging.

Pick one of the five senses — smell, sight, taste, touch, or sound — and describe how you’re experiencing it in the moment. What can you smell, see, taste, feel, or hear? Spend five minutes freewriting, using as much detail as possible.

Write a paragraph or scene incorporating all five senses.

15. Start at the end

How it works: Improves your understanding of good writing structure, logical flow, and impactful introductions and conclusions.

In this exercise, you’ll write out of order, starting with the conclusion and working backward until you reach the introduction.

To begin, find a piece of writing — a blog article, news piece, research paper, short story, novel, etc. — and go to its ending. Copy its final paragraph. Think of how the text might have progressed to reach this conclusion. How did it begin? What unfolded along the way?

Then, reverse engineer the text in 10 paragraphs or fewer. Consider how each paragraph builds on the previous one and supports the argument or narrative.

16. Create a reverse outline

How it works: Refines your skills in structure, organization, and coherence and encourages you to critically evaluate your work.

You’ll need a finished draft to complete this exercise. Carefully read your draft and, on a new page, write a one-sentence summary of each paragraph. Then, turn your list of sentences into a bulleted or numbered list. Voilà — you have a reverse outline.

Next, read your outline and ask yourself, “Are my ideas well-organized? Do all my points relate to my main argument? Is there no repeated information?” Revisit your draft if you answer “no” to any of these questions.

Ask an AI tool like ChatGPT or Wordtune to create a reverse outline of your text. Then, compare it to your own. See if the AI’s interpretation of your writing matches what you’re actually trying to say. This will help you know how others might interpret your text and whether your writing is clear.

All writers can improve their skills with practice and dedication. By completing writing exercises, you can develop creativity and confidence in your craft — without it feeling like a chore.

We’ve shared our picks for the best writing exercises so you can start flexing your creative muscles today. Remember to write when you’re most productive, in a designated space, at a comfortable pace, and with an open mind.

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101 Creative Writing Exercises

If you’ve been searching for a goldmine concerning all-things-writing you need look no further.

Really, working through this book in what ever order will best serve your learning or practicing needs is certain to improve your skills. I love writing and participate in writing in one form or another almost every day. Yet, as I recently spent time working through just two different exercises as set forth in this book I learned new skills.

The author suggests that moving out of one’s comfort zone is a good way to improve skills and gain writing experience. At first I wondered why I would try something that I’ve believed would be too hard for me. My writing typically focuses on the here and now, facts and information. Yet, I took pen in hand (later went to the keyboard) and began the first exercise in the beginning section of Writing Fiction.

My first hesitant steps were soon overcome by the exhilaration I felt when I began to realize that my imagination was kicking in. I was beginning to see scenes in my mind which I could translate to paper. I was setting the scene for a fictional account which I could make “real” by continuing to follow the steps as laid out in this book.

As another part of my experiment I followed one of the prompts which was more suited to what I usually write about. Once again, I felt as if I had found gold. Ms. Donovan’s simple step by step system and suggested tactics do indeed serve to make the writing experience quite productive. With these easy to follow instructions and suggestions long time writers and beginners alike are given ways to improve their writing. Period.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who really wants to learn more about the art and science of writing.

This book could well be used as a course study…

“…for anyone who wants to try a hand at writing or to improve writing skills. The book is broken down into several topics including freewriting, journaling, fiction, storytelling, etc. Along with each topic discussed there is an exercise to complete. Great for anyone who wants a new twist on just about every type of writing there is.”

“I was researching books to use as a resource for an online creative writing resource that I teach, and I found this one to be most helpful. If I run the class again, I am considering adopting this as the primary text.”

Doing the exercises in this book made me enjoy writing again..

“I am working on my first novel and ran into some serious writers block. My story was going nowhere. I hated everything I wrote. I was going to give up and quit writing forever. 101 Creative Writing Exercises helped me get over my writers’ block.

The exercises gave me inspiration for my novel. I found the character freewriting to be very helpful. I could not find my characters voice. The solution freewriting exercise was also very helpful. This helped me work out key plot issues. Instead of sitting and staring at a blank computer screen and getting nowhere, I came up with ideas when I wrote with pen and paper.

I would recommend this book to any writer who has writers block and wants to give up writing.”

I was in a slump and couldn’t think of what to write about, so I purchased 101 Creative Writing Exercises.

“I found so many ideas there that I had trouble deciding which one to try first. So, what I’m working on now is as a result of one of the exercises in this book. I now have a way to come up with new writing ideas when writer’s block sticks its ugly head into my life again.”

101 Creative Writing Exercises only pushed me further in my writing journey.

“I look back to it from time to time, whenever I’m feeling a little dull in my ideas and it is always there to spark my mind and allow my brain and heart to work together to create something magical. If you’re looking for fun, thorough and honest writing advice, this is an awesome place to start! No regrets with this purchase!”

I really enjoyed 101 Creative Writing Exercises

“I read the book first and noted specific exercises that interested me. The practice work and discipline required for each activity carried over to other writing tasks including our writing group. Good for experienced or novice writers. In summary, it really is a writing coach and a lot of fun.”

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Welcome to Writing Exercises and Prompts.

This site provides (completely free) creative writing prompts and exercises to help you get started with creative writing and break through writing blocks - as well as some fun anagram vocabulary games.

Generate random story ideas, plots, subjects, scenarios, characters, first lines for stories and more. Did I mention it's all free? Have fun :-)

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This Fun Creative Writing Exercise Will Change Your Life

by Joe Bunting | 212 comments

Want to Become a Published Author? In 100 Day Book, you’ll finish your book guaranteed. Learn more and sign up here.

I'm sure this never happens to you, but there are times when I don't feel very creative. A few years ago we'd just had a new baby (our second), bought a house (our first), and were busy managing a thousand new details. I felt like I had nothing to give to my writing. And life hasn't slowed down any since then. All the busywork and bill paying leaves me feeling like all the creative juices are dried up.

But no matter how un-creative I'm feeling, there's one creative writing exercise that never fails to fire up my writing.

This Fun Creative Writing Exercise Will Change Your Life

Why We Need Creative Writing Exercises Like This

Over the last ten years, I've worked with thousands of writers, and in that time, I've there is one thing that stops more people from writing than anything else.

“This is so bad,” we think after one particularly difficult sentence. “Why would anyone read this? Why would I want to read this? I thought I was better than this. I thought I was talented. So why am I producing such crap?”

Sometimes, writers don't even allow themselves to go through this kind of painful monologue. Instead, they put off writing altogether, procrastinating until the very last minute, then whipping something together that may not be very good but at least it's done!

So while you can still use daily journal writing or creative writing prompts to jump start your writing process, the creative writing exercise I'm going to talk about in this post is designed specifically to combat that kind of perfectionism .

Where Does Perfectionism Come From?

Perfectionism begins with pride. “I'm so talented how could I not write the next great book? Bestseller? More like best book of the century.” (Full disclosure: this used to be me.)

Or, for the slightly less narcissistic, “I may not be the best, but I have the best idea . And what's more, I care the most.”

Unfortunately, this kind of pride doesn't survive “contact with the enemy”: the blank page.

I've watched so many writers be humiliated and completely demoralized by the process of writing.

“I never want to do this again,” they confess to me, usually when they're about two-thirds of the way through writing their first book. “Writing is horrible. Miserable. I'm horrible! Why did I ever think it was a good idea to write this? to write at all?!”

Neither of these two postures—pride and despair—are helpful if you want to create great work.

What's missing? What's the secret ingredient writing in a way that both displays your natural that is both an absolute joy to write and your best possible work?

The secret ingredient is PLAY.

That's right, the same thing that toddlers are so good at is the key to writing your best work.

This Writing Exercise Brings the Joy Back to Writing—Here's How

How do you play with writing?

Two words: modernist poetry . *

Pioneered by poets like Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot, modernist poetry often makes very little sense. In fact, it can sometimes even seem like gibberish, like a Rauschenberg lithograph .

And that's what makes it such a great exercise. Because it allows you to play with words in a way that the perfectionistic side of your brain won't be able to stop.

5 Steps to This Writing Exercise

I've broken it up into five steps so simple a two-year-old could follow them:

First, get out a blank page. Feel free to open a new document on your computer, get out a pen or a blank piece of paper, or even whip out your old-school typewriter (the preferred method!)
Next, write the first word that comes to your mind. When I did this exercise this morning, the first word I thought of was “Boom.” Why not?! So I wrote it down.
Then, the hard part: write another word. Why is this hard? Because for this exercise to work, the second word must be random and disconnected from the first. This will completely piss off that perfectionistic little writer in your head. Do it anyway!
After you write the second word, write a third, fourth, and so on. After a few words, you can start a new line. It doesn't matter where you break the line. Just do it when it feels right. And as you write, don't forget the most important step of all…
PLAY . When you do this exercise, write with the sounds of words in mind, not their meaning. Try out movie/historical/song/literary references, mashing them up with gibberish rhymes (e.g. “ Twain's hammersaw is bringing me low slow like a long bow “). Make up new words. Pay attention to the sounds of words. Try to come up with the most random noun you can. Then, put it next to a list of five verbs. DON'T use punctation (unless that sounds fun to you, of course).

* I'm of course using the term modernist poetry very loosely here. Good modernist poetry is about much more than random gibberish strung together.

Embarrassing Examples of My Own Attempts at This Exercise

To give you a sense of how your poems might look, and to hopefully give you much room to improve upon, here are two of my worst attempts at this exercise (for humor's sake, it's best to read these aloud in the sincerest voice you can muster):

Boom story Simple reason hides the only response to holiness tears and I'll love you I'll love you Asparagus dream tell me I'm happy Bromate the worn door Catalyst of evergreen I'll sing it all dusk Thiery weeps Allspice leaves Kroner folder brning Someday I'll participate in wishful thinking

Amazingly bad, right? Here's the next one (I actually like this one):

bloom you folly seeking pinwheeling song stealers float your lilly feelings youround a hold and follow the starring problem holder

Ready to write yours?

Why This Creative Writing Exercise Is Genius

When you finish—after ten lines or a hundred— read your poem out loud. You'll probably be surprised at how good it is!

That's why this exercise is so perfect. Because when you try to write badly, you free up your creativity and end up making surprising connections.

Sure, some of your lines will be horrible, embarrassing, and never to be read again. But others will be much better than you expected.

Finally, with your new playful spirit, you'll be able to go back to your work in progress with a new level of creativity.

How about you? Do you ever play with words? Share in the comments !

Ready to try out this creative writing exercise? Use steps above to write a modernist poem. Make sure to PLAY!

When you're finished with your poem, post it in practice box below and offer feedback to three other writers. (Come on, it can't be worse than mine!)

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Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

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212 Comments

Sounds like a great idea and definitely worth a try. I’ll be going to a writing retreat in June, so I’m printing this out to take with me. My goal will be to use this exercise to get the creative juices flowing. Thanks for the playful nudge!

Wow, Joe. Though new house and new baby are exciting additions, but are STRESSFUL (she says from experience).

Creepy sushi dancing Wisps of smoke prancing

Die, bastard, die! Comforter comforting me now

Wash adrift the sand Turning pages of my life

Sandals wanting time Laughter make it mine

Wanting more Wanting less Wanting…

This is good brain relief. I like your choices Marcy.

Thanks, Susan. You should try it. It was FUN!

Hahah, I love that you started with creepy sushi! What a random thought: wonderful! Yours is certainly more together than my little pieces I wrote, but I didn’t want to have to think too much longer. It’s the weekend lol

Glad you enjoyed it, Matt. I really did like creating this.

Interesting exercise. My perfectionist brain and definitely my English teacher brain are unsettled by the idea of it, but here goes:

Feathers stream Rockets spread unseen Lockets touching foes unbreaking Feathers spray and need Feed the blue buttons

Wow. That is terrible. Fun exercise though.

Hey, I think it’s great! I really liked the “rockets spread unseen.” Kinda creepy and majestic. 🙂

Thanks. I wouldn’t have thought of it that way, but glad you did 🙂 Thanks!

There could totally be a song for that one. Maybe a new Bruce Springsteen original?

I can hear it now!

Ha! This is great. Feed the blue buttons, but not the green ones, those pigs.

Haha! Thanks, Joe. Strange what comes out when you’re not thinking ahead.

Never tried this before, but it sounds like fun.

boast most helpful dope lean bean is really mean come down come around and be the day play as we may all the day nachos ate grouchos at the grill til morning light with fright in the night she wails while he’s in jail

This is FUN! Thanks

I LOVE that line–“nachos ate grouchos at the grill til morning light”

Players weep on trees Into the gilded forest eggs cry Maybe in the future planes will crawl If only I know when I die

Agonizing grapes pull a ward from the hen Please have the finish, each screams One tangle of empty forges after another Flip and fall to hell

Eight and every page of guards Death and door come to yield Of my apostles one hath died Never rise again

Open girth weighs the justice Golden feathers flim and glide Beguile the dragons in my ankles, And you will be the saint of pyres.

Forest justice ever black Into my heart slack and die Make sure the door is locked my friend The statue thief’s here.

Chinese bells tassels scarlet swaying winds on horseback in Mongolia Leather gauntlet falcons grip with strong talons Cheese drip curds steaming face bent good and hot On a cold winter night on the mountains Snow-covered steppes step back front door and look out to the horizon horses drive towards the mud and centre of our camp Girls wrestle in embroidered helmets on Lacquered heads black as silk satin and moth wings

I was listening to a documentary on medieval China while I wrote this. It’s scary to do this, but very interesting.

A wisp of memory Fading fast Tinges of red and orange Surrounding the evening Memory escaping Irrelevant now Nothing necessary Sustaining Pain Useless to my wellbeing Forget Move on Look at the flowers They don’t weep Yesterday Does not exist There is only My happy heart Free

Beautiful Open Bright Sad Free (i.e. I loved it!)

(Love your summary! Thanks)

mm, beautiful is right! i love how you have the single-word lines. powerful. wonderful to see a longing end in freedom!

Thanks Matt…

I loved the flow of it! Very nicely written!

Thank you Lisette!

Lifeboat don’t sink Speak louder dishwasher Don’t ignore the soap Once upon a time I lived in a treehouse By the sea In a boat Eating popcorn With my best friend’s sister After we met By the seashore Watching chickenwings dance Like chiropractors Eating mustaches I think I’m weirded out By this poem The end.

I love that chicken wingsdance!

This poem paints word pictures. (Smiling)

I’m glad it made you smile. 🙂

Joy, I loved it! I like having your name above your entries… It’s like titling every thing ‘Joy’! I especially like the line ‘speak louder dishwashwer’. What a neat personification you do there!

Thank you, Matt! I’m so glad it brightened your day. 🙂

Wind blown hair Sudden smells Dirt caked fingernails Keep the blood flowing Listen well all of you Faded days of youth Slowly crawling down my hands

Drops slither down the lines of them

The sidewalk will end The days do grow short The sun will someday set You better start running Nothing will keep your heart beating The terror of the inky blackness Slipping towards you Like a unseen hand Pulling towards the sky Silent breathing Eyes looking Holding on to something Anything that seems like hope Dropped from a hundred feet Slammed on top of the fear and anger

Of those looking for it Never to be found Whispers in your voice The voices try to speak

Lovely idea, tried doing this but end up with like freewriting exercise, not poetry. I wonder if I’m doing it right though, would someone mind to let me know?

As you can see, mine is more like a threads of words that sort of rhyme imperfectly together, I’m not sure if I’m doing this exercise right.

Should we rush the next word without 2nd thought like in brainstorming/freewriting, or should we take the time to ponder which next word that can describe the previous word & 2nd word must rhyme?

Is it ok if we have spelling errors, i.e. we make up some words along the way?

Thanks, this is my piece: boom clap boom boom pow fowl fowler spoiler lier spelling error rubbish gibberish nonsense random blank space getting better improve dance fun run hike trial fire hire never say never Justin Bieber tin dean jean man motivational speaker fooler fuller occupational redeem receipt resit deceive deceit damn realm delve elf power grip rip drip dip sip nim numb rum wine alcohol dollar dine sky high fly fry rye nice buy fine nine mine fine right cents sense make fake bake aiks ache cite poetry poem focus circus amazing Britney Spears songs

Hi Alisa 🙂 You’re definitely not doing it wrong! Art is, almost by definition, to be defined by the artist (that’s you 🙂 I’m guessing you were going for the rhyming and that the author’s mention of ‘sound’ guided you toward that specific type of sound/poetry. Well poetry doesn’t have to rhyme, certainly doesn’t have to have any lines working with each other…. but one beautiful thing is that it CAN!

The best part about this is that the rule is there are no rules. Needless to say you did it perfectly. I laughed out loud at this, “

Seems right to me. I think theepoint exercise gets the brain off the right wrong good bad wagon and allows for the revolving of the word flow wheels, creates writing momentum.

Thanks so much guys for the positive enforcement, was pretty fearful actually that I’m doing this wrong, especially after I’ve read many other writers’ comment on this page which seem like poetry to me.

spaghetti soon twitches forknife held below knight night gnight long vacuous overwhelming consistency contstantly spaghetti but that is that how too yearn is rending still

vacuum space unrelated frequency dulled roar riptide rush bloated watermelon belly crying infants smiling sadness empty full long the two fight

hug me hurt me hide me rid me of the actions of the past the ones so now long forgotten belkin summit of faith radioplate maneuver fan running walking stillness complete grain texture paper thin neighbors credit cards fight plastic battles are the swimming seagulls

sleep yellow over long side ways dream a dream facesfacesfacesfaces who questions keep chanting smoke signals carrier pidgeons wood pidgeon harry potter sunrise sunsets full to empty nevermore ravenclaw harry potter slytherin dauntless teen fiction rests above elbows not betwixt

brains are concrete solidly cementing gray matter into dark matter elmer’s legends trip the nation glue that murdered many factionless fathers forget daughterless mothers highlighted on paper numbers alone

notetaking has never neared the precipice starbucks mcdonalds Disney world songs of the weekend amazing handsome always faith window clotheshanger lightpole crosschair living lives left of lines leaving lines write of lies

Wonderful images Matt – “brains are concrete…..” love this.

Thank you Jeanne!

“notetaking has never neared the precipice.” Not sure what it means, but love the sound of it. Great images throughout.

thanks Tom! i have no idea either. of course, as an english teacher you and i could likely come up with something for it. eg. there has never been enough note taking; notetaking is only as good as the bottom of the mountain… etc

lol, thanks again Tom, you’ve become faithful at commenting on my non-make-sensory posts!

Spaghetti sounds good right now… Great job Matt!

haha, right?!

it’s not that late, and it sounds real good to me too :)) thanks for the comment, lisette!

Anytime! It could never be too late for spaghetti!

Better not let any psychologists get a look at this free-association writing we’re doing here – they could have a field day!

Here’s a snippet of mine – what it reveals of my inner demons, I have no idea:

Fuchsia correct killing thyme Sun son jumping giants handle fun Haricot wimples forget-me-nots queen rapier juniper lungs Yesterday warrior bungle contemporary sweat linguine

However, having done that (and a few more lines of equal gibberish), some of the words resonated and I wrote an actual poem – not normally my thing at all. Here it is:

Celebrity cooks, killing thyme, Randy writers, striving to rhyme. Fossilised footballers, can’t keep them down, Rejected representatives, doing nothing but frown. My box is just full Of these unwanted folk. Won’t somebody tell them They’re nowt but a joke?

I loved both of these poems Alex! In the first I especially enjoyed all the crazy nouns. Haricots? Wimples? Juniper lungs? Awesome.

And the second is almost just as crazy! Representatives and footballers in your inbox? Great image! These were lots of fun, Alex. Great job!

For clarity, Joe, where I come from “box” means “television” …

Alex, I so enjoyed hearing your thought process during the writing, and then also enjoy the writing. Thanks for sharing!

Those were both very enjoyable poems! That was great! Thanks for sharing!

Interesting explanation,

Spices, are the most common flavore used to give the recipes a good taste

ninja use nunchaku whack the baby whack Bruce Lee write a song sing sing sing on stage rap swim fly dragon in the pond fly fly up with balloons land shaolin master punch matrix blue red laptop iphone smash medicine pills poets ted choose give up fly disappear forrest musics guitar horses flowers bill gates wheat weed whip whisky michael jackson fly fly fly fly

Ooh, I like this….

Cane Shut up curl

Keep try hop run

Jury Jig try dig

Methos fin help learn love

Delve done truck hug

mushroom bathroom in a line mask violate stop came in time grab grapple free sew line slow feverish tinkering mess all over feet globe car shadows blank squeeze fan top red bump in the road cemetery almost done pancakes shuffle indentation

Firstly get away guitar laying down fluent strings play pencilled drawings in graphite where it weeps the songbird relents ongoing tide in long ago fields of green someday wishful thinking may happen

This brought a smile to my face….

This is beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

when I wrote down my ongoing may happens, I was thinking it was a long month! with a bunch of things happening in May… and it’s not over yet!!! 🙂 great minds think alike!!!

Ripples sunlight rocking across time forgetting wisdom teeth falling out left and right and interdormand rushing giants planting tin cans frequent sighs undeserved highs racking up moments laughing hate spinning monumental focus pointless and proud

Rollercoaster Dreams I’m beaming at the seams.

Moving quickly at the speed of light I’m crawling out of my skin with fright.

People screaming, I hear My turn is getting near.

Do I actually want to ride? There’s no where to hide.

I take a seat in the rear Everything is becoming clear.

We take off with a jerk Maybe closing my eyes will work

to keep me from getting sick Maybe that’s the trick

My stomach turns My heart burns

http://www.shesallsmiles.com

To free write and simultaneously rhyme is no mean feat. I am envious of your ability! Wow!

Oh! I love roller coasters, so I especially liked reading this! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

Now that’s marvellous for a quick writing exercise!

What a good peice of writing, I wish I have the same ability of writing.

Would be a great Rap song!

Cute piece!

I’m beaming at the seams!?! This is gorgeous!

I want to steal juniper lungs and sandals wanting time… After just putting the words that popped up down, I wanted to then use them within a line, so did it really quick to stop my conscious brain having any of the fun! It has made me want to go back to poetry after years away…..

Credible, cheerful, possible cream

Cauliflower people, treading mice

Like flowers popping tears tear in soulful

Cake will play because foe

Archipelago chant swear carry notice

The archipelago of my fractured mind

Gives chant to each spiralled thought

I swear I will sin again

Carry the panniers of hope

Until I notice the emptiness.

This is harder than it seems trees shoot out light beams its rays cause puss to ooze from ears and eyes multicolored tears soon begin to fall easy to say not to do brain filters raise defeat and letters emerge from holes galore

Okay yea this was weird and maybe not right so I’m off to the kitchen to fetch a bite. May attempt this later I might, but it will be well into this night.

Cool! multicolored tears soon begin to fall, trees shoot out light beams. I don’t think there is a right way to do this exercise. You write what comes to mind and cool/ weird things start happening. 🙂

yea my editor was fighting me all the way.

This remembers me of the last scene of Frank, with the song I Love You All. He creates the song based on loose phrases about the place he is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOt6ppIBOd4

Pace Breathing rapidly Tongue twisted around silk Silently contemplating Ifs and ands? Forever is temporary Tonight will change forever Night falls, dawn cracks Missions are possible.

Writing gibberish is a wonderful way to loosen up the old writing muscles. I have been doing this for years. I call these exercises “SOUPS” (like a minestrone of words 🙂

Here’s a ‘soup’ I prepared earlier:

I have hooks for ears. A fox for breath. I am alive but not for much longer. Passion over, I followed the posts, but lost her in Hades. The last words she spoke tore at my soul and were consumed in flames. I have tesserae eyes.

And here’s one I just did. (So much fun!)

How the red fruit became a violent blue. Cause and effect. Holodecks and bears. There’s a fly buzzing around my antlers. Drinking heavy water by the container ship full.

(Preface – This was ridiculously fun…)

Sisyphus expels fiction

Portable headstones rumbling nowhere

Fused opinions laugh at sweat

Mangle Josephine and Scarlet and Rastafarian hats

(Not even sure if that is a word, I continue)

Rain doesn’t come here

Snow doesn’t come here

Pacifists don’t come here

Snaggletooth and mulberries are frowned upon

over there though their new wall and

attempt at visibility works

Voo doo doll paves the way

So this is how this works?

First shots. Not a dunk or lay up

Hula hoop falls down the hips

Too many EL Fudge cookies

leave her belly trapezoidal

I’m not sure if this was what it was supposed to be, but what the heck. Here it is:

Wings darkness glow beauty

Eyes hear broken staccatos

Brainless batteries contain wealth

Eat hearts oil and sadness

Pray stay with contrite expectations

I can’t save me, why save you?

Breathe a breath, save yourself

Talk up to the sky, Sing to the clouds,

You are alone, we are alone, let me be

Hold a chainsaw gently against a pine tree

Keep a cigarette between the teeth, but don’t blow

Thoughts a whirling, don’t slow down, keep thinking

No regrets but no life as well

Don’t fail, don’t trust

Printers lay out a formal foundation

Of ink splattered on a page, rhythm to it

Like bongos, tambourines, a circus of stupidity

Why the formality? Just breathe.

Ok, I doo’d it. I tried to disconnect just write random words. The app I used has a Hemingway mode which will NOT let me go back and correct. So here it is in the raw:

fabulous bang twins supperbanner moon mistriss cold laubchlaunch cart bicycle haeart hart fart fifteen minutes foervroforever as arghhhh terry telephone wizards stupid magic radar neck crackle creakle arthritis ouch ouch ouchouch age apain in the ass still random arrggghhh fifte en minutes!!!! ocoffee coffeecake telephone terry newspaper crossword kids running on the street raining rain falling umbrellas red and blkblue morning gratgrey drizzle falling people walking coffee holding starbusks and caribou barns and noble refugee writing nonsesnenonsense geern of spring why do I keep connecting words!!!! I’m a sentence pig that should be green of spring random words hah blue whit umbrella pblue cap pink shirt white pants black man pololder cell phgone smartphone everine on a phone

This is fun, I’m curious what app you use for the Hemingway mode? Do you like it or does it tend to just force more editing after the fact?

draftin.com

This was gold! Thanks for tuning us into this part of the brain again. I had some rhymes and even a made up word that I had to write down. Some of my words were more connected than I realized after close examination. I think I’ll do it again and keep trying for more and more obscure nouns and verbs. Very fun.

Here’s my first attempt:

Buzz fuzz no flibbery slippery to trees knees acid foreign plastic pom Dom cray lips bend send Growl fowl my Galaxy bar forage skip tip mandible crime time yes Fall

Plenty of rhymes and certainly some connections. Fun connections too! My favorite line is “growl fowl my galaxy bar’

I decided to give mine a title. Very fun exercise. Writed

Hat hormonster tea says That is yours ill elcaire Crane frejuices hotdog on Very long train blank your eye Free fee to honk poink grr Grass hit shovel to joy Little carber yet kinger Questest am I

HA! I feel like I’m reading a combination of Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss! I enjoyed how you verbified the word hotdog – as in the “crane frejuices hotdog on”. so many wonderfully unique and made up words, as well as not being constrained by grammar: “Questest am I”

Thanks! It was very fun!

After first draft, I felt happy. I added some connecting words.

Cormorant Languishing on the rocks I watch from the theater of trees carrier, freer, flier

beyond, a boat on the foam, full of hope, stable before, a blue jay, sneaky, to the wren feeder, pecking, tipping, flapping to stay afloat.

I get to Barnes and Nobles and realize that there most likely will not be a prompt today from Joe, new baby and all. So I said why not do Fridays again. So I did. I have no idea what this is but it was fun, which I think is the whole point.

I am a sentence pig. I grovel in words. I wallow in phrases. I show fields of green using appositives where paragraphs are ecstacy. I long for chapters. I pray for a novella Oh my what would I give for a novel. A tome of sci-fi, of memories of west Texas, of a curmudgeon just mumbling on a keyboard.

Well, there sort of was! But I’m glad you wrote this instead. This is publishable Gary! The first line and last two lines are especially wonderful.

A very creative piece with a lovely touch of humor.

Beautiful and such talent in this!

Wow! This is such an intriguing metaphor. I love it!

I loved this exercise…it felt great not to criticize the words I wrote…freeing…thank you!

Trees avenue go Paper pens and doors Wooden leaves swing Flowers sign loudly Anger rises Mad men scream Wishes take turns Mashed potatoes scream, cream and laugh Head full of noise Make it right, write

I’m pretty good at being random so here I go ….

random atom batman cat living loosely bill need a boosty can’t fathom random matter rather ponder infinite father you know, y’all, this random thinking has my inner brain’s eyes a-blinking tac namtab mota modnar line one backwards written makes even less sense this is only a test of my inner randomness but random it is scary it is i think i thunk i thought it was kind of fun but book seems long way off still

Fireworks miss you the forever paper friendly happy I’ll make the move rain oil painting tell me story earthquake end new house cucumber fence Gerber thinking crazy daisy patio fan

and glue smile together sunshine hides at hard rock flirty guitar stage tony danza

ongoing may happens

Heather Guidry

Carefully crafted canvas, smeared by my own hand, as I tried to perfect the image.

Beacon of light, luminous thought. Darkness tamped down.

I think this ended up being more cohesive than random…random words do come to mind once in a while though, and I make note of any interesting ones if I come across them (in order to use it later on).

——————-

Uncertain eyes look to yonder Over the gleaming horizon of sparkling grays and blacks. No whites. Just in between – the uncertainty of color.

Managing stark cold hands, Voices linger behind bedridden backs, Calling “Up! Up!” Back to who we are.

The dark suits hang on dressers, Image of the callback days of loose shirts, Untucked and fondly wrinkled. Memories of play.

The uncertainty of color persists.

Harboring Lost Thoughts By Kiki Stamatiou a. k. a. Joanna Maharis

The doormat brings with it it’s own excuses For harboring lost thoughts Of my vengeance.

Forever embraced by the hallow deeds Of raspberries filled with scornful melodies Inside their core, their bitterness stings My tongue with a sourness overcome By vicious melodies bombarding my Mind so listlessly.

I’m melting in the sun so filled with It’s buttery decree. I’m left dancing outside like a mundane Archer taking aim against vicious levities Of the outright political game.

I’m embalmed with the crucifix burning My flesh with starved convictions. I’m famished by the powers withholding me And feeding me to the hungry sharks Swarming around my cage.

I’m lost in a watery grave Where only the sadistic survive The maze of the harpoon. Dying carp freeze in the ice. I’m withholding my heart Until tomorrows spring.

For I’ve learned to dance in the snow When the burrow brings forth it’s own song. Let the rich melodies pour out of your Grave, and bring me into the hourly tides.

I’m ever floating across the lake of your Misery. Allow me to bring my party hats, so I can Topple over you mind with the fruitfulness Of lush shrubbery with all their essence.

I’m driven by the fires burning up my soul With evergreens throbbing against my heart. For they bleed out the grail pouring forth Unto you, my friend.

If only you’ll learn to hobble once you’ve Been stung on the foot by a bee.

I create my own task master. For it is none other than me. I’m left standing there holding your Heart on a pole.

I’m ready to consume the vilest taste Of your herbs, if only you’ll sedate me So I no longer have to feel the pain Of your leaving me behind.

I’m drifting in the foulest pools Of consciousness when the melody Stops breathing. I’m the delft parted across the sea Of the fires.

I long to be cast aside by the nets Holding me prisoner to the night, But the song they choose to play Is the feverish hours of the stars Blinking their light into my eyes.

I’m gone overboard, because I lost My grip on life. I’m sailing across the sea with no one To guide me to you.

How can I bring for the misery unto You when you’ve left me nothing but The hollow log I sleep in on a cold night.

The waters thirst for survival in the grave Of your rite, but I’m left winded after Trying to tread on water for so long a tide.

I’m sifted by the breathing fire coming From your nostrils when the harpoons Engage themselves in the shark meat Ready to be pounced upon.

I’m the grave holding myself prisoner To you. For I know nothing else better than To sing of the wisest miser ever created By the Creator himself.

I’m strong, but I’m fragile all At the same time.

Help these seeds grow you left Planted in my heart. For they torture me at night with Their bite. I’m helpless in the darkness when Striving to breath in wicked breaths Of fire. Every time the rain goes away,

You take a piece of my sight with you.

Each day passing by me, I’m overcome With the hunger to seize your wild heart, And devour it’s passion with my tired spirit. Bring me back into the lion’s den So my song will continue to be heard.

Let me be the one who lets you into the Coasting plight of this miracle dancing Before us. For the captor is none of than the waves Crashing upon our heads when disease Of the soul echoes on in the realms of the dead.

Time stands still Until it can tip no more And then the days move on Until you lips bleed lore The birds hone down their beaks And the water is low The boats begin to leak With what failed to show I hope with all kindness Genuity and trust That we lack what makes us better That is Until we know what we have lost Because with pride comes the end And as they say The end is the beginning It’s only in the new start Can we begin to see meaning

Fickle beans tasty trophy Force winds and rings tomorrow Gentle sabbath soaring greenly Froth and spirits sending dreams of chairs and inspiration Karma subtle and sorcery bright as foggy lenses Crime and candy dabble in forts of cheesecloth and dandelions Bear crawls for when it has none

Thanks for the idea. It was a lot of fun!

This was a lot of fun! Hippo java maps connects

My boom excites telephones

Rapidly energize terribly memorized

Backpack table cama pillow candles little tables

Life stipe’s the dog and kidnaps the night

Relentless stripes remarkable marbles scattered

Where is the man That purposely punched pilots Of spoiled roses And oscar cigarettes

From the steps he fell Fluffy clouds float Don’t look him in the eye It’s the devil in a goat

Frolic in the fields The sweater astrewn Dream catchers above Still wondering about the man in blue.

(Yeah random and fun exercise)

Busted bread gulls gaping gushing Gucci over moonbeans Muppets bruising, black buckets belting, bucketing, melting, Droplets pelting, pelts, Cigarettes high, rise of smoke of fabric blokes Muscles choke, mice pedal, broke, Wrappers soak Wrap me up, warm, torn, tongue worn and eyes sore, Fingers of lore, written in pores, shivers delivers Knuckles raw on wooden doors.

Sloshed and moshed and fever caboshed Rick Rack, thistle, high jack, delve, dig, seethe, heave Wrist watch, moss, laden toast Butter creamed and curdled and hurdled at strangers On bikes Come in Be gone Be sworn this is yours Its ours – our seething mess, our rubber ringworm test Of time.

Culture gone forgotten Who what am I Where do I come from Here, there, I cannot be from everywhere Lost in a line Pen investigates Discover insight, delightful I am Content with me

Practice moon green deliverance when I loved full but empty I thought I knew, I knew what I thought signing sounds on the wind christmas, crackling flowers druzy quartz sleep grey is silver a song isn’t a voice love is in crisp leaves in autumn smell pain and loss red, blue and purple veins sing a song of merry and bright scream shadows and lust revenge and deception and outrage meditation out of a void experience touch and sound walking children forest dark blues gasping for love remembering you remembering us.

Love killer season pie Melon dew drop Hug me lemon pink dye Books rob heart man Warmth in the blue snowflake Stars drown in lake boat Shy girl dress up dress out Dark sunlight blue sky

Catheter betrayal Why bottle bowl spritz spoon Long bright breezy Simple calm sound Magazine in the trash Water never drunk Purple towel, folded, untrusted Never betrayed Like he had I trusted him in the bed And not the towel But the towel never betrayed He did

Food is food. And I am I. Phones are cool. See eye to eye. Don’t you know how good it feels. To finally be as free as a bee. Love is hate and hate is sorrow. Yolo my friends so be okay. Piglets are weird and so are bowties. But don’t be afraid, my sick little fry. Yolo my friend, you don’t know what it’s like to be me. I am a fry, and so are you, bee. Okay okay where should i go if ye who wanders, Not to far from thee. I am pretty cool, not gonna lie. Omg um yeah cool. Love is food and food is love and i am asparagus. Cheese cheese wonderful cheese to yee who wanders… I’m not really a twat just it’s complicated, okay? Life is stars and stars are life yasss queen work okay Tyler oakley is stupid and kinda is not a queen So is joey and shane and grade I should be a teacher cuz im cool and i grammar right Piglets are dumb No they’re not What am i saying Okay okay i’m okay Fault in our stars is actually a good movie Wattpad is awesome

I long to no longer long. I long to chase my shadow I long for that moment when the sun takes its light and the shadow becomes one with darkness. I long to stand in darkness, panting and laughing at the absurdity of my chase.

life fleeting ships red burning winter’s deep asparagus peel back the layers while finding the bird’s song pinecones a layer of dust she breathes until dawn shining on your back my heart crumpled i pander to your soul the most esoteric fragments of my fingertips radiate and suddenly we are one

Huglesnort prediction elevation anger redevelopment spitfire unadorned clickity-clack barn meadow racer acclimation result thinking adhd motherhood replace learn become Aldrenation replicated meshining verbiage dumper

whisper down the swallowing stream, aloft from the earth, sea green angelic melodies, no desire for the smothering day, nauseating glimmers of a sense of feeling, but there is no more there is no more

Okay, I gave this a try. Here is what I came up with:

Singing a rain of showers Holding the clovers Wishing upon the jar Look the seeds are brining Fool heart incontent Slam slimming silliness Shapes come by hard Shall we ride now pard Hope do not despair Poop on the stairs

LOL Okay, I’m done.

That was fun. I might try this daily to get the juices flowing. Thanks Joe

Holes always look to never Emptiness knows no more clever On life’s machine I lever So pull no more punches And ties no more sever Never say ever Today is much better Present gifts push tomorrows buttons So no loving all of a sudden Butchers chop no muttons Or see self esteem plunging The pen is an extension of my hand So stretch your arms out do it dance to life’s music or die in life’s silence sight.

I was really skeptical for some reason when starting this exercise. I was doubting myself and the process, but something happened to me once I got going and this is what I came up with. There are definitely some crap lines, but true to what Joe claims, there are also some keepers!

Lust crust stuck to my nose. A seed planted where wild things grow. Now I have no room to breath. Rub elbows while desires seethe.

Polarity creates a daunting rift. Between extremes I seek, I sift. Close my eyes and there I find. The alleyway that is my mind.

Wedged between a corner store. And failing rotten tavern door. Graffiti art laments the day. That all we see should turn to grey.

Hypodermic desperation. Apathetic consternation. Should I share my deepest thoughts? With the naked body I’m draped across.

Rejection looms beyond the mist. Savagery consumes our tryst. Explosive climax from both ends. Meets the middle spectrum trends.

Morning brings mundane expressions. Forgotten by the twilight lessons. Of what to do when passions raw. Begin to rip, and tear, and gnaw.

Thanks! That was fun!

Here it is: fast taken long yellow road funny laughter dog takes a wheel of cheese boom goes the cat in winter wintery gloomy sad and desperate final dinner sees broadcast trucking along in the winter snow capped feelings it’s all allowed it’s all aloud cheese strings of death scary and morbid spooky and wrongly written bitten apple snow and white

I stumbled upon this post two years later, but thought I’d join in the creativity. Arriving fashionably late to the party…

Miraculous Ezra writes now And never did he whistfully boast Loud cymbals dampen darkness Lulled by sweet melancholy trees Torn amber flickers in kerosine Forgotten resorts listless in new days Harpoons by night Enslaved carvings hangers of folly Miracle girl Paisley lover Blinded and languid forever mine Shells and shambles balloon or fray Liquid ignition and lusty eyes Pooling careening cereal magic Employing adoring your bickering teeth Pliable queens of utmost sincerity Important or pleasurable it matters not Sandy hearts quake and shudder in time

Me foolish window was astonished Right poster under my keyboard tried to be sympathy Pen afterward might seek another coaster Hello if my chair help me to kick the wire off vegetable sicks coal sky

FUCK PERFECTIONISM words trickle ever so light sounds seem sharper tonight emotions cutting edges thank God for freedom long walks nighttime stories laughter the world moves slowly in the distance i see a perfect stranger in front of me she wears nothing but black with a devious smile & ready to attack eyes as sharp as daggers but a laugh so beautiful it puts my french horn to shame she walks with pride in every step, taking her time soaking in her surroundings gratitude is an action word and to be breathing today is more than I deserve

what are your interpretations? i’m interested

Ton bam landfill mining on a truck Unsure what the jar has struck On the grass a settle petal We sat lavishing flowers in sight To old and young, They all played In songs of mass and greed We stood like pires Eating the way for those saddened In the dormant spaces of their lives Unlucky and solemn Truth be told we aren’t the saints That paper sent us through disdain

Random, chair, purple, millenium falcon, buzz, silver Double, fingers, contact, nod, blank, empty, crack, Jump, tweet, snore, light, cat, breath, duplo, criss-cross Applesauce, orange, wood, song, island, coaster, basket, Egg, video, stupid, dumb, nonsense, soda, dim, car, morning, Awake, early, email, thoughts, tasks, day, ahead, drudge Time, scared, moron, promising?, not, dictionary, web, blog, feather, Kettle, knife, bowl, lunchbox, time, slow, poor, worthy, light switch Ceiling, floor, table, rug, avoid, tray, card, lego, figure, television, Books, breathing, silly, impossible, another avenue, keep, trying?, Exercise, practice, hi-low, plug, outlet, moving, awake, resolve, Undecided, laundry, dust, webbing, sad, afraid, anxious, inferior, Awful, no use, boring, coffee, progress, no, banana, wii, hat, Swallow, fingernails, click, snap, bulb, roar, big, engine, fast, Dawn, light, street lamp, trees, branches, dark, binoculars, Slow, view, pop, nothing, inhale, exhale, move, suddenly, Time, a.m., what, meaning, tires, pavement, stop sign, Text, edit, white, black, housecoat, feet, decision, waste, Possible, not, last, minute, keep, forward, sometime, Expression, money, job, administrate, look, busy, nothing,

Pain and failure easy to come difficult to go it’s just a phase, really?

Coldplay- hope and kindness generosity and love music happiness, calmness

crazy ideas implementation overpowering fear negative to positive long lost dreams.

words, words, words time not enough lost in transition waiting to be found

curious minds to care or not to care here or there now or later to create or not don’t know

New excersize for me, but what fun. Cant say mine makes a bit of sense, but here it is:

Running through the leaves Hyper on my life Hoping past hoping that pain will be Put to rest Open wide Feel free Slide in home Cheaters tea

It seems difficult, yet you must face it, feels likes it never going to end, but you have to get to the end to prove that, when it looks too long, all you need to do is to walk all the way to see how short it actually is… Such is life, we must learn to overcome our fears daily; be rest assured that every unpleasant situation will definitely end, and walk confidently through every daunting and challenging experiences to see how helpful they have been. I think that’s what I’m going to do…. I’ll keep overcoming the fears, enjoying the process, and celebrating the fulfillment of my writings so that someday, I’ll look back and be amazed at how much I have written in a short time….. I hope I’ve been able to walk through these few lines to show that my writings can become better.

So after my Physics lesson I wrote this for fun..

Your soul was embedded within every particle of my being Thus with a kiss my body caught alight From one phase to another my bonds broke Until I was one with the air

You lifted me up

Drifting aimlessly, until you breathed me in slowly I flowed inside of you, through every inch of you Until you were consumed by me

I brought you life

Full I fell in well of will But There is alot n lots thrill.

I love this exercise: it’s fun and it greatly helped with my creative slump. I had a go at it. Here are my results (warning: contains swearing (hope I’m not breaking any rules).

Watch out for the smack attack; making a jam.

If you’re in first class, I’ll put some glass in your ass.

Vroom vroom bam, doing the jam slam.

I’ll beat you till you spew faecal; coming out like treacle.

Gonna end this poem like I did your dick.

Don’t forget this brutality; my formality is a fatality.

Next time I’ll beat you with a stick. (damn right that was sick).

Atop my tower Gazing in despair at all my hands wrought. I strove to raise a better order. Slowed by hubris of the oligarchy. Heads rolled as I pressed on, the weak cowed into place. Behind my back they plot my fall. I am betrayed by all, and I betray all.

All I want Is to shout Really loud Because I’m so mad and sad Since I was bit by a turtle when I was a young lad Make me clap See me slap That ugly turtle face It’s such a disgrace messing up that place

… well this was fun.(Ps. I love animals I swear, it’s like my hand wrote on its own)

I thought this was really good. You seem to have a flair for poetry.

proud victorious free

Soaring high above trees

Beady eyes watchful frilly

It was fun to be silly

the treasure of sound by dancing trees from the swinging wind

the treasure of smell by dropping water from the falling rain

the treasure of taste by refreshing life from the rising sun

the treasure of sight by coloring sky from the varying lights

the treasure of smell by blossoming petals from the growing flora

Post modern poem

Sketch elephant shoe

Badoom badoom baddom

Jukebox millionare

Becky with the guitar hair

And suddenly, I’m soaring

Poop boop and cute

You’re raining and your snoring

Gravy pad thai pouring

Luke warm Jonathon cold

Badoop badoop badoop.

Spirit rider Pickle in syrup Jump out of your skin Pull the rope to freedom Roar like the sister wind Waves of emotion Perfectionism sucks….

Chewy Furry boy Big boy Bad boy Loveable boy Playful boy Handsome boy He’s my boy Loves to look outside at the pretty birds, Wonder what he would do if he were to ever catch one? Headbutting, bread kneading little boy Fat boy, furry boy, does he know how much I love him? Chewy is my handsome, loveable, furry CAT

Eerie palms swinging in the northern breeze Endless summer leaves are playing to the wind The relatively of relatives just brings me in this awful place of hill where sun does not shine either on your door or mine I still hope that the city dream would tell me to sing But I can’t do the party animal I can sing all the genres of dreams Let me do this for you

She was standing over there , chewing her gum , when the old man stumbled on his face on a rainy day , and she sarcastically started to laugh louder, louder and louder , and merly she was trying to help him , what a sorrow to be such sarcastic and regretful at the same time , the man was barley looking at her with eyes full of shame .

So I take a random word. Then write another word disconnected. And then just let it go. Sounds really good. just clarifying.

Emeralds form in my heart Rubies and rainbows show in the dark Crazy molasses engraved in my skin Elevated munchkins makes it harder to kin

Justice prevails, to you I love to hail I am a woman and you are a male Courageous enough to show that I care This is goodbye, get out of my dare

Baby diapers are Fuel for cars Carnation corsage for her Hotrod partner Swimming is fun for Cats who like to skate Honorable mentions for Meticulous wheels Of happiness outfitting Our highways

Thank you for this. I’ve been wanting to write but don’t really know what to write and where to begin. This was an enjoyable way to begin though. Here is my very first attempt with this exercise:

Surging pain for the demented brain Never underestimate the fate of the absurd Words have meaning but why do I care Follies of life and static despair Where is the bag of time wasted When do we trade this agenda for mourning Laugh and you shall see The tears that run through me For I can’t believe anymore I had faith but realized it was fruitless Time can heal but I still remain rootless Fly in the breeze to separate thoughts Grounded for life until I take flight Energize your procrastination to delay the inevitable Chaos ensues we are the idols of temptation

That is amazing

liked the last two sentences

Energize your procrastination to delay the inevitable. Wow great!

Wow!!! This is really great! Your choice of words is inspiring! (It makes way more sense than mine!)

What a nice exercise, I like how random it is. The results are terrible though 😀

mirror is a random word stars and rainbow windows the wet dogs sleep maroon Mr Swish is waterbottlishly pale I like to be sad sometimes is never as good as trees the lasagne contains the summer and Brutus runs as top speed drummer cats wail in narrow alleyways I like words radish radish softly blood when cavernous halls sing piano and the taste of iron my key hole is black chocolate leaves verbs are missing Jesus is not here today my mind spins spoons running time out of setting stage work and French class under the weapon shot Kenmare ink blood navy feather table blue glue sandwich green ocean cold my door is open splashing No! out of tune like the big fish and the past and the future we are laughing laughing still

Jeopardy, what’s this word A lot to think about this torn world He wouldn’t even talk to me A new topic to envy

Wishing upon my diaries I never went fishing with such families Climbing stories and craving lamenities Leverage powers of beauty custodies

I am a woman, or maybe just a girl Crying in depth for when I twirl With sentiments of a wiggly ride Slowing down with a sudden pride

Louminous hearts so bright as to see to jolt is to wander, an unending tavern While darkness hold to what it is told Lies the secret where truth never gets old

Shall I perish? How bout today? How bout tomorrow? Tired as the dog who journeyed restless Chasing the devil who stole sight nevertheless

Allow the highness to judge you of what you are Or what you could have done to save someone drowning

Its u and me today. But not tomorrow.

I do this fun exercise now and then whenever i didnt have the motivation to contine my WIP or there werent just any ideas coming up.

Reading my peoms, I sound smart ass to myself. It’s like reading something very fine and well thought – “Wow, those words are deep!” – but really there’s not much of an effort put there.

It really was fun and helpful.

Thanks, Joe

Spring like morning Dust like wind Feel your mind Wander within Think about The emptiness inside You will find nothing within.

Broken wings, like a strangling theme.

Wanting to be green, In a deserted dream.

The wings that I wear, Were once white and fair.

Now stained with despair, they look dark and glare.

Rubbing the stains, To get them off.

I end up realizing, My hands are also stained dark.

I love this idea and the freedom it brings. Here is what I strung together.

Maine bears eat ice cream From the hands of children To see if they will cry They lick it sweet and Suddenly find The tree and rope to hang it by The furry feet of mothers fretting Will keep us busy and fight for meaning in the night

Crazy but fun! Thanks Joe.

This is such a fun poem! Main, bears, and icecream? Oh my!

Boldly the endless nighttime waits

For tricking tears and synapse connections

Stop fearing It longs to hold you

To free you from your body’s

Fleshy envelope Break apart

Shatter in the glass and be free Darkness passes.

It feels so mysterious. I love the flow of this poem. Thanks for sharing!

I might have missed the point of this exercise by taking so long, but here’s what I wrote.

demolition garden fate a residue keeps its promise some people are far under sea I imagine their tents are ragged live to starve when she eats the fire bowly poley nobody likes me sad that sailboats aren’t more popular what a waste now, people don’t care salvo codec lips eat the rose thyme we live in a deceitful world where presidents are from TV where poetry sucks and the ends justify the means never say always, it always is never right so say the sunken swollen sorry sallow sot air at the mountaintop is thin but the sun can be beautiful on the clouds he with he and she with me how many hidden sets they give to them when their own did that with him and me she didn’t even reply to those dark deeds boat in the fog she leapt off as always, nobody cares air is filled with water matter is filled with me suck it and the morning and the evening were the twenty-first day.

I spent way too much time making it unexpected, but it sure was fun!

Apple. Alms. Rib cage nuns fall in the Dark of day looking for a way Today a heart thaws and hurts raw World blurs feel so small A doll on a staircase childhood memories like sand in my hand Words burns towards nothing low blow Angry frothing doe eyed Cocoa dark Honey in the night Rib cage tight pretty sight Mage bites a knife Circus call backstage brawl Crawl away skin bright tonight Black and blue and purple too White elephant fly high die specify Ivory burst sorts retorts shorts Reaching his knees these people Stones and moans groans in pain Worthless street rat in a fancy shy hat die in glory tell his story ain’t an allegory remembered by none no friends till the ends funeral flowers every hours sours his name sins weigh a ton everyone cries lies say they won’t forget about that I have my doubts. Someone shouts in the back Golden boy rusted never suspected Him of this sin never let it Rejected motivations dissected Like a frog in biology class That was never kissed missed So close to last year’s Christmas Laughs burn the tongue so young Last laugh worth frothing nothing If nobody to share it with.

Love board it happens Phone rings now Can marker paper love Water flowing randomly We are present We are absent Could I be that Picture flowers Girl getting moving dancing crying Where do you go Am I funny or am I not Is it real or is it not

Hello simmering thinking Eye arises clicks sees Silent tears no fear Heart strong quiet warrior stone Black white words shine fight conquer Breathe die live Bell rings toxic fume Mystical ramblings and foes Fantasy reality illusion. Dreams.

Kitten Birmingham fossils share Brimming torture fairly there Wither so the bees dew frown Spinning fruit from wayward cow socks and parrots collide until Fevers surging writing well Cancel pain from yonder square Fancy prancy all the daywear

This is a great idea for starters like me. Thank you.

Roar ocean loud You powerful prudent proud Dusk towards fire She goes nowhere Leaves burning astray I’ll love you today Tomorrow stars will play Dark fading day Fairies sing lilac tears I’ll wait years

Flower: of mine planted in the Ground: To grow and stretch and Beach: itself in a truly fine Wood: That aromatic substance is not Amiss: To a fresh pressed garment sprayed with Starch: A garment that sits up around the neck and chaffs the Chin:

I’ve got a terrible cold right now and my head doesn’t feel quite right, but I thought I may as well give this a go. It was very fun once I got into it! Here is my first one, not really sure where it all came from but I suppose that’s the point!

Stumbling tumbling with yet dawn lawn on shallow peaks some yet speak but some yet don’t humbling lounges spiraling peaks Who might Shoe might Shulamite miss With wide brass buttons and a harrowing kiss close quarters

“Shoe might Shulamite miss”

LOVE it! Are we talking Abishag here?

Exercise #3 The lights are out. The coffee has been drunk. The phone is ringing, The computer is on. The dog is snoring and so is the cat. The paper came The news was checked There’s a desire for dreams.

No great imagination here!

I love the passive voice here: “The news was checked”

So, here is something that I managed to write, using your prompt and my brain working with no expectations whatsoever :D.

Bridge monologue news anchor Lies and tries the fifth Heavy headset rumbling Pantless actor’s face Words blasphemy roll Fear the enemy no 1 Danger we all face Heartless jerk in mic Eyes empty on the cup Thoughts on a coffee sip News anchor sitting up Weather forecast amiss Raining lies wash away Truth in it’s making Realise the bridge monologue Of the puppets and a puppetier Strings and strands Pulled by the fifth king

Delightful smiles Optimistic Non-stop fun Take a break Wipe the few that escape Overwhelmed Rest your mind Replenish energies Youthful spirit Ignite a flame Make the most of the day Funny jokes Incessant laughter Never breaking Every day the same game

excellent is word you want to hear from people for you Pakistan is my lovely country: Mirror can describe you face not your personality, attitude, behavior and inner soul:

I don’t really know what does this means but I enjoy it:

Make it top Stop Evil drops Crops and the bots I care Bear the pain Cain ain’t rain Main system Get together Love it better Leave the mice Spaghetti Leave it I can’t Bear the pain You should know For you Closed

When I awake, I see the light And if I don’t, then it is night Too much tv is bad for the mind Just spot the difference Then you will find Love is blind But so am I Like a diamond In the sky I wrote this poem for you Because the internet told me to.

I wrote this in Messenger and immediately sent this to my sister. Ahhh well.

In a dark forest far far away from the truth. A deadly husband waits alone for his wife. Alone, and drunk in despair, dream terrors at night are his companions. And now the end is coming soon. Everything he wanted for his life was to receive some love, but now it is too late, all too late, all is doomed.

… A little disturbing but really fun to write!

Stop drop tired

blop glop ayer

what is that

this is so bad

crude brood

read and brood

tense happy angry and sad

all the reaction when I read

will they be there when you read

My violena major upgrade senior quality Ten thousand hore radishes eating popcorn why must I beg I shall not go to the zoo with monsoon rain brian burger main chimpzoobam chichichinese why must I be the source of misery misery alli oop Arcana my cana chi cana everybody jutsu ray say ray gun rain May scary play of course the dang blang demented as a hoodlum I acquire a plan tum Jump off the cow Into my arms You dog

Thanks a ton! this was amazing and fun! I always wanted to write something of this style and finally i got to know the mantra. here is something that I wrote just in five minutes. Thanks to you.

sound of the soul loud and clear shines so bright in the dark sky never blame it for your actions close you eyes and feel the sensation try not to tame it free bird flies high so does the soul far from the destination but closer to the realization breathe in breath out let the peace be all yours

I feel like I should print this and read it again from time to time.

I did this one a couple of days ago foe similar reasons(i felt stuck but wanted to keep on writting) I am at the edge waiting I know i must jump I want to jump But I pause There’s rocks down there My bones will shatter There’s water down there My lungs will falter But there’s also grass And a whole new life Maybe I wont die Maybe it wont hurt to crash I wanna jump I’m gonna do it So Help me god Faith as my fuel I can do it I’m doing it I jump

***** I enjoyed writting it. It felt like describing a dream.

Thanks, Mr Bunting! This exercise is fun indeed. It took a decade for my next ‘poem’. I’m weird at it, so here it is. 🙂

unserious this, please logger dee, logger done twisty legger gum lettuce risen, damage dome fractions munchies calleth sie Zed makes weatherly weasels in to the suncorn megadeers and teenage tentacles to whiperdone and tiny bababas riped with abstract peopees how is the glue Hank achieved? bristing breaching broth reacus propelled pud-ding liberation fungae, clouds of joy champion of life is tot pocket oh, the last escape! jurney knocked china ware spacege cracks inself wieseldorf a bee an a, a c through tyne enterprise euny pewney cow need a shrinky sauce brutalized canvas steer globe around is fear or is ith, dearling tooz? cangashnouze statues work pensil hack up underdust cut off the deal me a ninja skill

Greetings to all from Slovenia!

Grand new start Beautiful beginning Sunrise so peaceful Ready to work Writing at best Looking forward at the rest Same spirit of fluency Guided at best

Straining night Wine before dawn Cat goddess is the only oath Book stacks are craving for fire Peony blossoms yet nobody cares Illusion you saw Weaknesses I sought Fade away In the songs of white birds You are here, my darling, Wander in the wild

Lesson #3 writing practice assignment #2 “modernist poetry”

compare final plans with initial brainstorm prepare night fight right, is it delight? brisk frisk makes fakes angri-nervy singing ringing hinging binging etiquet music in my ears famous woodwind quartet there are no saints here, only strange and queer people from the steeple, who wait for the second shoe drop that gat Looey, watch out! it’s gone kablooey lotta hooey if you ask me take your “poem” and climb up a tree distract compact and also retract I break I bend here lies the end

Reworked this and I like it better.

Lesson #3 writing practice assignment #2 “modernist poetry” version #2

compare final plans with initial brainstorm prepare for night fight, am I gormless or gorm? brisk frisk makes fakes angri-nervy singing ringing hinging binging topsy-turvey music in my ears famous woodsy wind quartet beef steak and kidney pie, finger bowls and pretty etiquette there are no saints here, only stranges with not-a-clue-ish people from the steeple, waiting for the second shoe-ish to drop that gat Looey, watch out! it’s all gone kablooey if you ask me it’s a lot of hooey take this “poem” and stare at a fractal distract compact and also retractal I break, and broken I bend here lies welcome, this is the end

This poem is for my daughter who’s always curious with everything

Hovering into the screen Wide eyes, feelings melting into one Dawdling like a cat purring in the ground Screaming, gnarling feisty feline Up she rose, up she goes Totally immersed into the pooling water of depth How was she to know when the music stops? How was she to know when all things would last? She’s just there, staring, sitting into the bewilderedness She’s just there, feeling the tick of the clock of eagerness Now and then, the bell will rang But she would not bear the raging sound Alas! The time has come to an end! And then she stood again She prowled into me with eyes like diamonds Snuggly, relaxingly came into my embrace As I slowly uttered these words as I say “ What do you have been dreaming my dear?” “ Come here my darling” “ Let’s venture forth and sail”

smooch pooch when coffee quivers write out of sight down deep delving sleep hope for now unturning turn twist toasting tumble flip and sigh. Sleep short sweet shiver sleep soon surest shout ships and skips come shooting through a starless sky, bible black, and blue.

My love Your not alone Running in the the uphill battle I will be silent Till the day I die Take me somewhere nice Bring me the horizon Seize the day I see star My chemical romance Leave me blind My love I’d like to write a love letter in your arms I hate you, I love you I don’t want you Just give me a reason A war inside my head Broken open I’m yours Yet I’m still broken holding-on

Sanity Chaos Dreams Living life in what seems Spiraling up then down again Always moving never proving

Ive told that little girl before When you grow up this will be no more But here I am yet again Drowning Swimming oops..Suffering I promised her on many nights Those thieves would never steal her light I need to fix this make it right I promised her we would always fight.

I really don’t know what i came up with..!! 😀 may be a mordern rap. Here comes my first attemp.

Shape the wire practice at office

Door with the write privilege is the politics of the car

auto made of cabbage taking charge meet the idea of mid-brain

avengers of the scent shop is the pickup

app that chirp fan could walk cloth sing, spoon flap

motor of fish rain bike was a fraud

[bump horn] Sun just honked

Font that wireframe zoom at the article

contestant can check smile with smule

run for the missed ad be like a snail in Facebook

Phew said Phil from boomerang

He blew a thrill so slang

Confused so full of twang

Bulbous frills swing till I sang

So many pills in my hand

Crazy in love til I’m mad

To show how much good to the bad

Filled with surprise till I hang

Dead from the ceiling fan

That was fun!!

Muten gelingen traute Versagen

zeig nicht genügend

Sinn sinnieren transzendental

tausend brillieren versanden zum Ziel

ohne ein Leuchten Paläste und Schwärme

Sanftmut verwundbar zertreten im Staub

Großes gebären Brombeeren nur Mut

Taglicht gesendet rasch kräftezermürbend frömmelnd vergleichen

plaudern zum Troste Rüschen gereichen

…well, it’s German, my second try, but I certainly had fun and I loved most to play with the sounds – the most incredible words flowed out of me, interestingly many quite oldfashioned words that I never use in my day-to-day language. Wonderful! I take it as a beautiful wordfinder and certainly as a good practice whenever creativity seems to be sleeping 😉 Thank you!

Just amazing! is all I can say!!! this method relaxes that internal ‘perfectionist’– completely sacks it really. I kind of like my rendition…sort of poetic:

Picking Up Down It goes Where up your nose Silly as it seems to be Why ask what happened to me

Tip toe in the dawn tulips A blip goes blop and ends in slop Why whistle when the wind wildly wings where No one sings

Purple dermis does a do for you Far away it scatched and sizzled Sinking Rising over the rainbow Far Far Away working while we wink

This tis tarry til tall tail tell Signs sickly sink sound Down dares deeply distressed Crossword carries Carmel convenience

I think this exercise was great fun! Here’s one I came up with

Cant handle the night Hope is a nightmare Dressed in leather and steel Lace and taffeta laugh at the night Boots stomp on the moon Sheep smell the fear of the farmer

#1 hoorah lets get there somewhere to get free and have a bit of coffee and shall not have to pay the fee for everything there is free free

#2 waves of the sea always in motion they are always at work is everyones’s notion when there is a storm they are at commotion when you find that you are stuck up in emotions peace to the heart is what we get on observing the waves devotion

wire put fire truth pour lyre soar drier (i had to work so hard to not write higher over here) mere crier sheer liar pasty admire hasty prier

Foam scared blue Love you too Don’t dive in Love is mean Floor jump sky Feet can fly Disconnected My heart has fainted I wish it was worth it I wish I was worth it

What do you think? I have mixed feelings about it

Halo on high Silver stag midnight woods Time slows Bittersweet snowflakes hang Mutual missing Longing stinging wind Howl under night’s cowl

Wow. Reading all the poems here and then looking at mine= definitely not motivating 😉 I’m going to post it anyway though…

Fall candy sweaters Makes me laugh With sadness Pencils destroy me Coffee an addiction Of despairing minds Paper is linked with Letters and words unmanageable Glasses of kindness Fill my heart with joy Speakers speak with perfectionism Destroy me When people stoop Or slouch and bend So stand straighter

I dream as I lay From last night’s play I wore armor That feels warmer To fight the enemy And win for my army I shout in victory That has become history

this was a terrible one

I blink aim and target With knife that made me feel joy As clear as death Dad claim bed Shout stop gloom Laid slain in clean mid marsh Shave hand and claim bold Chomp stop and dance

Awesome exercise, perfectionism is definitely a force to contend with.

Mind tool freak teak speak geek Hello computer find me where you roam Ventually you step through the foam of life and home Recover not what you once knew but what you will Whereto are the masters of the abyss End of new comes strength and resilience Btw this is was supposed to be gibberish Foiled again damn creative mind

Here’s my poem using random words:

Folly fools eat forest leaves Lyrical leaves fall gushing blur confusing watchers Birds tweet longingly to distant hills Falling wings soar endlessly Fragile features form in tree tops amongst the clouds Dropping tender tears onto branches Sip my nectar slowly

Here is my try at it: Telephone mushroom giveaway morning eagle closet green danger value rose entry speeding blank tube window future whispering hidden modern trembles plastic jokesters parables onion storm demanding eternity venues zero mixtures nibbling honesty general spanning blowing thrust inclement product

Nothing could be more embarrassing than this one. But it’s fun, life is better when you’re laughing.

Water in Mumbai, Happiness sensation. Awkward moments! Formed creative bonds Made artistic expressions Experience art and architecture Different bond with passion A joyful trip captured. Work hard and travel, Wellness through satisfaction. Enjoying writing having fun! Forget limits and recapitulate childhood, Free as an infant, could go to everyone in the neighborhood.

Let me start by saying the last word of every line was the random word. Except for the last line, the last line is the name of the poem. And this is probably dumb sounding but it’s more of a KIDS’ poem, so it’s supposed to be weird and maybe funny. I don’t even know if it counts as a poem because the last word of every line doesn’t rhyme, but whatever. It’s more like a bunch of incomplete sentences… Well, here goes: UNFORTUNATE Heard Biscuit, my dog, Biscuit had my shirt. I had bed-head, Had slept in my closet. Ran into the sink, Last night at the skating rink. Got home on the bus, Sat on a pencil. Broke a mirror, And a doorknob. Tripped on a bouncy ball, Lost a yo-yo. Can’t watch TV. Popped some balloons. Found dirty headphones. My dog ripped a pillow, He tore up the grass, Messed up the rocks, Then chewed my sock, Ripped the head off my doll, Crashed my model airplane. But when he sits on the chair, I know I’m not totally, Unfortunate.

It’s true; it is a fun exercise! Here are the words I wrote down, and I did a bit of straightening up to them:

Ghouls smile to girls Like wolves they twitter Whitewashed curtains Behind wreaths and dolls

But teenage games Have copious spice Like a box of ginger and flowers Crumbs and cables Goad ghosts

But we worn-out tires Hair stiff split flat crooked and parted Await the amorphous death Bright as the moon

I enjoyed the exercise! Thank you for posting! Here’s my first attempt . . .

Bum with rum Tantalize your mind Bust a move, not original, but worthy of movement Sound-ra-la Post much sound waves, talk a lot Be free, run far – don’t get caught Smile with style and hitch it Beyond my dreams, I live Trees and stars Black as night, right as rain, clearly not original but descriptive Abate do not rate Something inside squirms Bringing the A back A time line stopped and reset Refresh to start over Again with the A Stoic empathy Brave beyond fear Sympathy sucks, love is real

I don’t know exactly why most of these things popped into my head. But they did. So here you go. Enjoy!

Apples! They shall rue the day For morning comes after night Red blood shall rein true For the night is young And we shall bogey to our hearts content Cease and desist all intrusions! For it takes only two to tango And one more to be rude Yay verily! For the day is short Shorter than expected Because it’s like that And that’s the way it is Pity the fool who’s never watched the A-team Ed Sheeran should be King of Westeros Spoiler Alert! This life weird Annotations are key Antonio Banderas is lord Shut the gates! Let’s do this! Logang for life Thank you #Pleased

Holy shower devours hours Mannequin brains strain until they fade Believable bars of sand can afflict the conscious Markers of grain make gains upon the day Optimist birds float upon dandelions of smoke Golden spires of ancient dust reflect unjust days

This exercise is amazing! Here’s my poem. Pineapple chair doodles peanut Can flair mixed poodle rut Dinosaurs weep Tiddlywinks sleep Day draws long of noodles or cuts Freckle Pickle Fun Page flip harness his slip Face diet checkers whiz hip Munch lid ponder Wide-eyes wander Doorknob squishes priss lip Peace Crease Run

I wrote this in the comments section. The starting of each line is the word I came up with. Then I fleshed out with minimal thought. Wonderful exercise thank you!

pain is inevitable life is complicated with hopeless promises curry stimulates the senses painting yellow stars in the brain strife fuels courage fueling greatness peel the skin of perfectionism and expose the priceless flaws foam bleeds white cuddling bubbles and picturesque mirage brain fiends optimum success but the line above average houses gold fight the fear of failure white knight throwing worded spears village like happiness no technology just you and the greenery procrastination insidiously creeps up on you, quick stop while your ahead vacuum your mind of negative thoughts barely stop and you’ll be a perfect writer!

duck boomerang never laughing

macabre brain riot

question volume tomb belonging

boom zoom doom and gloom

square leaping sawing bouncing boinging

quitting smoking in the morning

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How to Describe Exercise in Writing: The Art of Expression

My name is Debbie, and I am passionate about developing a love for the written word and planting a seed that will grow into a powerful voice that can inspire many.

Have‍ you ever been captivated by the ⁢description of⁤ a vigorous dance⁣ or the intense workout routine of a fictional character? The ‌art of describing exercise in writing holds the ability to transport readers into the realm of physical exertion and awaken their senses. Whether you’re a budding writer looking⁤ to add depth to your⁣ action scenes or simply a fitness enthusiast seeking new ways to express the exhilaration of a workout, understanding the various facets of this⁢ art form is crucial. In this article, we will explore the intricacies of describing exercise in writing, unlocking the potential to inspire, motivate, and engage readers on a whole new ‍level. So, ⁤dust off your keyboard and join us on ‍this journey into the captivating ‍world of the written word and physical⁣ movement.

Differentiating‌ Exercise Styles: From Cardio to Strength Training

Conveying‌ the physical sensations of exercise, techniques for describing exercise movements with clarity, the importance of capturing⁤ the ⁣emotional⁣ experience⁣ of exercise, enhancing descriptions through metaphors and vivid⁣ language, translating‍ exercise intensity levels ⁤into words, using descriptive phrases ‍to depict exercise routines, 1. ⁣energetic cardio blast, 2. zenful yoga flow, overcoming challenges in describing exercise: tips and strategies, frequently asked questions, future outlook.

When it comes to fitness, there are a multitude of exercise styles to choose from, each offering unique benefits and targeting different aspects of our physical well-being. Understanding the differences between cardio⁣ and strength training is essential for ⁣creating a comprehensive workout routine that suits your goals and preferences.

Cardiovascular exercises:

Cardio exercises primarily‌ focus on getting your heart rate up and‌ improving your cardiovascular endurance.
These exercises include activities such as running, jogging, cycling, swimming, and high-intensity‍ interval training (HIIT).
Cardio workouts help⁣ burn calories, improve lung⁢ capacity, lower the risk of heart disease, and increase overall stamina.
They are great for weight⁣ loss and enhancing your overall cardiovascular ⁤fitness.

Strength training exercises:

Strength training exercises aim to⁢ build ⁣and⁤ strengthen your muscles.
These exercises‌ typically involve lifting weights, using resistance bands, or using your body weight for resistance.
Strength training helps increase⁤ muscle mass, enhance bone density, ‍improve‍ joint mobility, and boost metabolism.
They are beneficial for improving⁢ overall strength, posture, and preventing injury.

By⁣ incorporating both cardio⁣ and strength training into your fitness routine, you can achieve a well-rounded workout experience. Remember, the key is⁢ finding the right balance that suits your body and goals. So lace up those running shoes or grab those dumbbells – the world of exercise is yours to explore!

When it comes to exercise, the body⁢ experiences a wide range of physical sensations that can leave you feeling both invigorated and fatigued. These sensations⁤ are proof that your ⁤body is working hard and adapting⁣ to ‌the demands you place upon it. Let’s explore some of these sensations that you may experience during your workout sessions:

Increased heart rate: ‌ As you engage ⁤in physical activity, your⁤ heart beats ⁢faster to supply oxygen-rich blood ⁣to⁢ your muscles. This increased heart rate is a sign that your cardiovascular system is working efficiently.
Rise in body temperature: While ⁣exercising, your body generates heat, causing your core temperature to rise. This is a normal response as your body ⁢burns calories and begins to sweat, helping you cool down.
Endorphin release: You may feel a surge of endorphins during and after exercising. These natural chemicals produced‌ by your brain can create a feeling of euphoria ‍and contribute to the “runner’s⁤ high” sensation.

Additionally, exercise may also bring about physical ⁢sensations related to fatigue and muscular exertion:

Muscle soreness: Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)‌ is⁢ a common sensation after engaging in intense⁣ or unfamiliar ‍exercise.⁣ It is characterized by ‌a dull‍ ache in the muscles, which typically subsides within a few days.
Shortness ‌of breath: As your body demands‌ more oxygen during an intense ‍workout, you ⁢may⁣ experience shortness of breath. This is your body’s way of ensuring it gets sufficient oxygen to fuel your efforts.
Increased perspiration: Sweating is your body’s mechanism to regulate temperature. During exercise, you may notice an‍ increase in perspiration as your body tries to cool itself down.

Techniques for Describing Exercise Movements with Clarity

When⁢ it comes to describing exercise movements, clarity is key to ensuring that individuals perform the ‍exercises correctly and⁢ maximize their workout ⁢potential. Here are some techniques ⁤to help you clearly explain exercise movements:

1. Break it down: Start by breaking down the movement into ⁣its ⁢key components. Identify the starting position, the movement itself, and the ending position. Breaking ⁢it down ⁢into smaller steps makes it⁣ easier for individuals to understand.

2. Use descriptive⁢ language: Paint a vivid picture with your words. Use descriptive language to clearly communicate not only the⁤ action ‍but also the engagement⁤ of specific muscles and body parts.‍ For example, instead ⁣of⁢ saying “lift the weight up,” you can say “grasp the weight firmly in your palm and lift it towards your chest, engaging your biceps.”

Enhancing your workout by capturing⁣ the emotional ⁤experience

Exercise is not just about physical fitness; ⁤it is a holistic ‌experience that encompasses‍ the mind, body, ‌and soul.⁤ Often overlooked, capturing the emotional aspect of exercise is crucial for maximizing the benefits and ⁣achieving a sense of overall⁤ well-being. Here’s why understanding and embracing the ‍emotional side of your workouts‌ is key to reaching your‍ fitness goals:

Motivation and inspiration: By acknowledging and tapping into your emotional experience, ⁢you ⁢can harness powerful motivation and‌ inspiration to push⁢ through challenging workouts. Remembering the joy you felt achieving a ⁤personal best or the satisfaction of conquering a fitness milestone can serve as a constant reminder of ⁢what you are capable of.
Stress reduction: Exercise has long been ⁤touted for its stress-relieving benefits, and capturing the emotional experience amplifies those effects. Whether⁢ it’s the ‍release of endorphins or the sense‍ of satisfaction and accomplishment, being ⁣in touch with your emotions during exercise ⁣can significantly alleviate daily stress, allowing you to leave each workout ‌feeling rejuvenated.
Increased self-awareness: ⁤ Paying⁣ attention to your emotions while exercising can lead to a deeper understanding of your mind-body connection. This heightened self-awareness allows you to recognize the impact your thoughts and emotions have on ⁣your physical performance, helping you make necessary adjustments and improvements.

Don’t let the emotional side of exercise go unnoticed. Rather than solely focusing on calories burned or muscle gains, take the time to acknowledge and embrace your emotional journey throughout each workout. ‍By doing so, you will unlock a new level of fulfillment and satisfaction in your fitness routine, ultimately ‍leading to ⁣a more well-rounded and rewarding⁢ exercise experience.

Enhancing Descriptions through Metaphors and Vivid Language

When it comes to describing something, using metaphors and⁢ vivid language can add a whole new dimension to your writing. Metaphors allow you to make comparisons and draw connections between two seemingly unrelated things , ⁢giving your description depth and injecting it with creativity. By likening one thing to another,⁢ you can convey complex emotions, sensations,⁢ or concepts in a way that is relatable ‌and visually ‍compelling.

To enhance your descriptions, consider incorporating vivid‌ language that‌ appeals to the senses. Instead of simply stating that⁣ a room is clean, you could say that it ‌sparkles like a⁣ polished diamond, instantly painting a clear picture in the ⁢reader’s mind. Using⁣ colorful adjectives, such as radiant, vibrant, or velvety, ‌can infuse your descriptions with life and make them more engaging. Additionally, incorporating sensory details like the scent of freshly cut grass or the sound of crashing waves ⁣can transport readers into your world and make your descriptions more immersive.

Translating Exercise‍ Intensity Levels into⁣ Words

When it comes to describing exercise intensity levels, it can ‌sometimes be challenging to put them into ⁣words. However, understanding these levels is crucial for setting fitness goals and tracking progress. To help you navigate this, we’ve created a guide‌ to help translate exercise intensity levels into words, making it easier for you to‌ communicate and⁣ understand your workout⁢ routine.

Intensity levels can be described using ‍different words, such as:

Low: This level signifies a light and⁤ comfortable workout, where you can easily maintain a conversation.
Moderate: Moderate intensity means you’re working hard enough to break ⁤a sweat and slightly increase your breathing rate. You can still carry on a conversation, but it might be a bit more challenging.
High: This level indicates a vigorous workout that leaves you breathing heavily, unable to hold a conversation easily. You’ll likely⁣ break a sweat quickly and feel challenged throughout.
Maximum: ⁤Maximum intensity represents an all-out effort where you’re pushing your limits. Breathing becomes rapid and labored, and ⁣it’s nearly ⁣impossible to talk.

It’s important to ‌note⁤ that everyone’s fitness level is different, so what may⁢ feel moderate for one person could be challenging for ‌another. Monitoring your heart rate can also be helpful in determining⁣ your exercise intensity level. Regardless, understanding and using these words can help you communicate and track your progress with more‍ accuracy, ensuring an effective and enjoyable workout routine.

Using Descriptive Phrases to Depict Exercise Routines

When it⁣ comes ‌to describing exercise routines,⁢ using ⁣descriptive phrases can ⁤bring them to life and make them more‌ engaging. These phrases can vividly portray the intensity, variety, and overall experience of different workouts. By utilizing descriptive language, you can paint a picture in the reader’s mind and motivate them to try out these routines themselves.

Pump up your heart rate with this high-energy⁢ cardio routine ⁤that will leave you feeling invigorated. Picture yourself drenched in sweat as‍ you jump, kick, and ‍move your body to the beat of the music. This heart-pounding workout will get your blood ‌flowing, boost your endurance, and torch those‌ calories, all while having a blast. So get ‍ready to unleash your inner dancer‌ and feel the burn!

Escape the ⁣hustle and bustle ‍of everyday life with this serene⁢ yoga flow⁢ that will leave you feeling centered and balanced. Picture yourself in a peaceful setting, surrounded by nature, as you move through a sequence of gentle poses. With ‍each ‍inhale and exhale, you’ll ⁤feel‌ a deep sense of relaxation and tranquility‌ washing over you. This yoga routine is perfect for melting away stress, improving flexibility, and finding inner peace.

Overcoming Challenges in ⁢Describing Exercise: Tips and Strategies

Describing exercise can sometimes be a daunting task, especially when trying ⁢to ⁣convey the intricacies and nuances of physical movements. However, with the right tips and strategies, you can overcome these challenges and effectively communicate the essence of various exercise routines to your audience.

1. Use vivid and descriptive language: Paint⁤ a picture with your words by using vibrant adjectives and adverbs to convey ⁢the intensity, speed, ‌or grace of different exercises. For example, instead of simply saying “do lunges,” you can describe them as “performing wide, graceful strides forward, one leg at a time,⁢ while maintaining ⁢an upright posture.”

2. Break it down step by step: Complex exercises can often feel overwhelming to describe, so breaking them down ‌into smaller, more manageable steps is a fantastic strategy. This allows your audience to grasp each movement individually and then put them together for a complete picture. ⁣Make use of bullet points or ⁤numbered ‍lists to detail each⁤ step, providing clear instructions that are easy to follow.

Q: Why is it ⁢important⁤ to describe ⁤exercise ⁢in writing? A: Describing exercise in writing is important because it allows the reader to visualize and understand the physical activity. It can inspire ‌and motivate others to engage in exercise or provide insights into the⁤ benefits and techniques involved.

Q: How can I effectively ⁣describe exercise in‌ writing? A: To⁤ effectively describe exercise in writing, it’s crucial to focus on the sensory details. Include vivid descriptions ⁤of how the body moves, the physical ⁣sensations experienced during the exercise, and the overall impact on the individual’s well-being.

Q: Are there specific words or phrases‍ that⁣ can⁣ enhance the description of exercise? A: Absolutely! Including specific action verbs ⁣such as “sprint,” “jump,” or ‌”stretch” can add dynamism to your writing. Furthermore, adjectives like “energetic,” “exhilarating,” or “invigorating” ‍can convey the intensity ‍and excitement of the exercise.

Q: Should I include technical terms when describing exercise in writing? A: While it’s essential to strike a ‍balance, it’s generally advised to minimize technical jargon, especially if your‍ intended audience ⁣is not familiar⁢ with ⁤specific exercise terminology. However, including essential terms and providing simple explanations can ⁢add credibility and educate ⁤the reader.

Q: How ⁣can I convey‍ the positive effects of exercise through writing? A: To convey the positive effects of exercise, focus on the before-and-after scenario. Describe how⁤ exercise boosts energy levels, relieves stress, improves mood, enhances strength, and promotes overall well-being. Personal anecdotes or⁢ testimonials can also be powerful in illustrating the transformative impact of exercise.

Q: ⁤Can you provide an example of effectively describing⁢ exercise⁢ in writing? A: Certainly! Here’s an example: “As I laced up‍ my running shoes, I felt a surge of excitement fill my body. With each stride, I could feel my muscles awakening, propelling ⁣me forward like a well-oiled machine. The wind played with ⁣my hair, and the rhythmic pounding of my ‌footsteps‍ was music to my ears. Running through the lush green park , ⁤I could sense my⁢ worries drifting away, replaced by a sense of clarity and renewed energy.”

Q: How long should the description of ⁤exercise be? A: ⁣The length of the description is subjective and depends on the overall context and purpose of your writing. A few well-crafted sentences‌ might be ⁤sufficient in some cases, while others⁣ may benefit from a lengthier and more ⁤detailed description. ⁣It’s important to strike a ‍balance to maintain the reader’s interest and keep the writing engaging.

Q: Is it more effective to describe exercise from a personal perspective? A: Describing exercise from a personal⁤ perspective can be highly effective in engaging the reader. Sharing your own ‍experiences, emotions, and the impact exercise has had on your life can make‍ the description relatable and authentic. However, depending on the context, it ⁢may also be necessary to generalize the description to make it applicable to a broader audience.

Q:⁤ Any tips‍ for incorporating exercise description into a larger piece of writing? A: ⁤When incorporating exercise descriptions into a larger piece of writing, ensure that the description seamlessly integrates into the overall flow of the piece. Use transitional phrases to link the exercise description to the ⁣surrounding content. Additionally, maintain consistency⁤ in style and tone throughout the ‍entire writing to ensure a ⁣cohesive and engaging read.‌

In conclusion, mastering the art of describing exercise in writing is essential for effectively‌ communicating movement and engaging readers.

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Creative Writing Program Marks Three Decades of Growth, Diversity

Black and white photo shows old American seaside town with title 'Barely South Review'

By Luisa A. Igloria

2024: a milestone year which marks the 30 th anniversary of Old Dominion University’s MFA Creative Writing Program. Its origins can be said to go back to April 1978, when the English Department’s (now Professor Emeritus, retired) Phil Raisor organized the first “Poetry Jam,” in collaboration with Pulitzer prize-winning poet W.D. Snodgrass (then a visiting poet at ODU). Raisor describes this period as “ a heady time .” Not many realize that from 1978 to 1994, ODU was also the home of AWP (the Association of Writers and Writing Programs) until it moved to George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

The two-day celebration that was “Poetry Jam” has evolved into the annual ODU Literary Festival, a week-long affair at the beginning of October bringing writers of local, national, and international reputation to campus. The ODU Literary Festival is among the longest continuously running literary festivals nationwide. It has featured Rita Dove, Maxine Hong Kingston, Susan Sontag, Edward Albee, John McPhee, Tim O’Brien, Joy Harjo, Dorothy Allison, Billy Collins, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sabina Murray, Jane Hirshfield, Brian Turner, S.A. Cosby, Nicole Sealey, Franny Choi, Ross Gay, Adrian Matejka, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Ilya Kaminsky, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, Jose Olivarez, and Ocean Vuong, among a roster of other luminaries. MFA alumni who have gone on to publish books have also regularly been invited to read.

From an initial cohort of 12 students and three creative writing professors, ODU’s MFA Creative Writing Program has grown to anywhere between 25 to 33 talented students per year. Currently they work with a five-member core faculty (Kent Wascom, John McManus, and Jane Alberdeston in fiction; and Luisa A. Igloria and Marianne L. Chan in poetry). Award-winning writers who made up part of original teaching faculty along with Raisor (but are now also either retired or relocated) are legends in their own right—Toi Derricotte, Tony Ardizzone, Janet Peery, Scott Cairns, Sheri Reynolds, Tim Seibles, and Michael Pearson. Other faculty that ODU’s MFA Creative Writing Program was privileged to briefly have in its ranks include Molly McCully Brown and Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley.

"What we’ve also found to be consistently true is how collegial this program is — with a lively and supportive cohort, and friendships that last beyond time spent here." — Luisa A. Igloria, Louis I. Jaffe Endowed Professor & University Professor of English and Creative Writing at Old Dominion University

Our student body is diverse — from all over the country as well as from closer by. Over the last ten years, we’ve also seen an increase in the number of international students who are drawn to what our program has to offer: an exciting three-year curriculum of workshops, literature, literary publishing, and critical studies; as well as opportunities to teach in the classroom, tutor in the University’s Writing Center, coordinate the student reading series and the Writers in Community outreach program, and produce the student-led literary journal Barely South Review . The third year gives our students more time to immerse themselves in the completion of a book-ready creative thesis. And our students’ successes have been nothing but amazing. They’ve published with some of the best (many while still in the program), won important prizes, moved into tenured academic positions, and been published in global languages. What we’ve also found to be consistently true is how collegial this program is — with a lively and supportive cohort, and friendships that last beyond time spent here.

Our themed studio workshops are now offered as hybrid/cross genre experiences. My colleagues teach workshops in horror, speculative and experimental fiction, poetry of place, poetry and the archive — these give our students so many more options for honing their skills. And we continue to explore ways to collaborate with other programs and units of the university. One of my cornerstone projects during my term as 20 th Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth was the creation of a Virginia Poets Database, which is not only supported by the University through the Perry Library’s Digital Commons, but also by the MFA Program in the form of an assistantship for one of our students. With the awareness of ODU’s new integration with Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and its impact on other programs, I was inspired to design and pilot a new 700-level seminar on “Writing the Body Fantastic: Exploring Metaphors of Human Corporeality.” In the fall of 2024, I look forward to a themed graduate workshop on “Writing (in) the Anthropocene,” where my students and I will explore the subject of climate precarity and how we can respond in our own work.

Even as the University and wider community go through shifts and change through time, the MFA program has grown with resilience and grace. Once, during the six years (2009-15) that I directed the MFA Program, a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) university-wide review amended the guidelines for what kind of graduate student would be allowed to teach classes (only those who had already earned 18 or more graduate credits). Thus, two of our first-year MFA students at that time had to be given another assignment for their Teaching Assistantships. I thought of AWP’s hallmarks of an effective MFA program , which lists the provision of editorial and publishing experience to its students through an affiliated magazine or press — and immediately sought department and upper administration support for creating a literary journal. This is what led to the creation of our biannual Barely South Review in 2009.

In 2010, HuffPost and Poets & Writers listed us among “ The Top 25 Underrated Creative Writing MFA Programs ” (better underrated than overrated, right?) — and while our MFA Creative Writing Program might be smaller than others, we do grow good writers here. When I joined the faculty in 1998, I was excited by the high caliber of both faculty and students. Twenty-five years later, I remain just as if not more excited, and look forward to all the that awaits us in our continued growth.

This essay was originally published in the Spring 2024 edition of Barely South Review , ODU’s student-led literary journal. The University’s growing MFA in Creative Writing program connects students with a seven-member creative writing faculty in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

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Sacrifice Zone: A Wild, Wonderful, and Honest Zine of West Virginia

Sacrifice zone zine wvu mfa creative writing matthew powney

Zines are making a comeback in the creative writing world.

If you open Etsy on your web browser and simply type “zine” in the search bar, you’ll discover a wonderland of beautifully crafted, pocket-sized art/writing made by genuine artists and creatives. A zine exists for any niche interest now: ranging from fanzines about the 90s TV show Frasier, to literary analyses on the cross-cultural implications of fan fiction in the literary world, to carefully curated handbooks for thrift shopping, among so many others. Chances are, if you’ve ever browsed an indie bookstore or explored a local art fair, you’ve probably come across a zine in the wild!

And if you’ve never heard of a “zine” before, you might be wondering what exactly this art form is. As defined by Purdue University, “A zine (pronounced ZEEN) is short for ‘fanzine’ and is usually a small-batch, independently published work that circulates less than 1,000 copies. Anyone can be a zinester (aka ‘someone who creates a zine’), and most people make zines for the love of creating rather than for seeking a profit. In general, a zine is a pamphlet-like publication that can include text, images, artwork, found objects, or any other creative material that helps to express the author's message” ( Purdue ).

Matt Powney, a recent graduate of West Virginia University’s MFA program in the Poetry track, has spent the last year designing and creating a zine of his own making with his partner, Kay, aptly titled Sacrifice Zone . As a creative with a deep respect for the honest nature of writing, and the importance of producing work that deconstructs the extractive nature of corporate, economical culture in West Virginia society today, producing a zine tailored to Matt’s own interests seemed like the natural way to share his work with others.

After purchasing a copy of the first issue of Sacrifice Zone in fall 2023, I knew that Matt had found a metaphorical creative goldmine for himself. The collage artwork within the first issue of Sacrifice Zone features a fractured urban/rural landscape of our West Virginia that has been literally and metaphorically gutted by Big Pharma, corporate greed, incarceration, and predatory coal companies. The kaleidoscope-esque imagery is haunting and powerful, and pairs beautifully with the crisp poetry and painfully tender creative nonfiction on the page. I had the pleasure of learning more about Sacrifice Zone from Matt in the following Q&A:

You talk a lot about your intention for creating Sacrifice Zone in the first installment, and what it means to you and your readers – would you care to share any more insight about your intention for creating this zine, and what you hope to get out of it with each installment?

Mostly, I just hope to create some level of community and discussion about prison in Appalachia, and making art in Appalachia. I just want to give people a voice and platform for their art. Both Appalachians in general and people in prison are a silenced group of people, so the more amplification they can get, the better in my eyes. My main goal for this zine is to undo stereotypes, and sharing stories is a great way to do that.

Sacrifice Zone seems like a really collaborative project! How did you go about choosing pieces for the zine, arranging them in the order they’re in, as well as the art/images that were used in the zine? Did you and Kay work together in the making of Sacrifice Zone?

Sacrifice Zone is a collaborative project. I relied on a lot of friends and mentors to have this project come together. For this first installment, I just asked a bunch of my friends for submissions - people from all over Appalachia, with different relationships to the prison system. I got the inspiration for the art and for the general vibe of the zine from Thomas Martin’s zine , Martha Stewart Mixtapes, which Kay contributes to regularly. Their zine feels alive. It is what I wanted for Sacrifice Zone, so naturally, it became a model of what I wanted the zine to look like. Knowing that Thomas uses collage art from Martha Stewart Magazine to make Martha Stewart’s Mixtapes, I started thinking about what I could use for our magazine and realized I’d thrifted stacks of the perfect magazine already - old copies of Wonderful West Virginia.

As for selection of the specific art we used, Kay and I spent an evening going through all of the magazines and matching them to our submissions. We had a lot of fun doing it, and found images we loved that weren’t right for this issue that we are excited to use for future volumes.

You mentioned that Thomas Martin, a previous MFA student, was an influence for Sacrifice Zone . Are there any other zines or forms of media that inspired you to create your zine?

Yes! I read Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration around the time I began working on this project. It is a book of art made by people in prison. It was also a huge inspiration. One of the poems I included in the zine, also called “Marking Time,” was inspired by this book.

Do you have an idea of what themes you want to cover in future installments for the zine?

Right now, we are open to any art that fits the project. Maybe in the future, we will think about themed volumes, but right now, we’d like to make as many connections as we can.

Do you have a current submission window for the next installment of Sacrifice Zone ? Or a future pub date?

I have already received some submissions for the next installment and am still open to receiving more. We are hoping to put another one out in May, but with Kay and my first child due in early May, there could be some delay. [As of this blog post, Matt and Kay are officially parents!]

How can people purchase this zine and future zines in the series, and for how much?

Right now, I am personally selling copies. The easiest way would be to contact the instagram page, @sacrifice.zone , and a copy can be mailed to you. In the future, we hope to have an online store and to sell them through local vendors.

If you want to support Matt Powney and Sacrifice Zone , you can stay up to date by following the zine’s official Instagram page: @sacrifice.zone

Stay tuned for more news, events, and happenings among WVU’s Creative Writing program!

Poetry Is For Everyone: Students Display Their Creative Writing at Rogers Free Library

As part of their Creative Writing Studio class, RWU students from diverse academic disciplines are sharing their poems with the public through the end of May.

Professor Renee Soto stands on the steps in front of the Rogers Free Library with a Creative Writing student on each side of her

BRISTOL, R.I. – A dozen Creative Writing majors and minors are currently displaying their poetry at the Rogers Free Library in downtown Bristol, R.I., in what they are calling a “Wandering Magazine,” an installation that is open to the public.

The project began after Ann Kathrin Weldy, Adult Programming & Outreach Coordinator at the library, asked Renee Soto, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at RWU, if her students wanted to share their work with the library for National Poetry Month in April. Soto said she brought the idea to the students in her Poetry Studio course and a dozen volunteered to participate. The installation was originally scheduled to run until the end of April, but it proved so popular, library staff are keeping it up through the end of May.

“Projects such as this enrich the library and the community in myriad ways. I’m impressed by the creative spirit of the poetry students, and it’s valuable for them to have a platform where their work can be discovered and seen. It’s a real joy to witness patrons and passersby stop to read their words and be inspired,” Weldy said. “We always look forward to collaborating with the amazing students and faculty of Roger Williams University. The university is a treasure in Bristol.”

As part of the installation, each student submitted one poem that they were proud of, which library staff hung on the walls in the foyer entryway and throughout the building for library patrons to read as they browse for books. Soto explained that there were no restrictions on the content or style of the poetry submissions, leaving the choice entirely up to the students. Though some of the students may have been inspired by prompts given in class, it was ultimately their decision which poem they wanted to submit, leading to a diverse array of work.

“The Creative Writing Studio classes are exciting because they are spaces where students emphasize making their own work, and that’s the most important thing for them as artists,” said Soto. “The focus is on developing, reviewing, revising, and – in many ways – recreating work so that it’s ready for an audience. This is perfect because this (installation) at Rogers Free Library is a publication they can put on their résumés.”

Soto noted that she was surprised by how many students in her class weren’t Creative Writing or English Literature majors; some are studying Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, History, and Psychology. “They are just taking it for fun,” she said. “Poetry really is for everyone. It’s incredible.”

Sophomore Lourdes Rodriguez stands in the Rogers Free Library next to her poem "Parasol" which is displayed on the wall

Sophomore Lourdes Rodriguez, a Computer Science major with a minor in Creative Writing from Woonsocket, R.I., shared that the inspiration for her poem, “Parasol,” came from a moment in class when her professor said the word during a lecture. “It was so weird to me because Spanish is my first language. He said it, and I was sitting in class and my mind was just blown. From there, my brain was like, ‘wait, I gotta write, I gotta write.’” Rodriguez said that her poems are typically more emotional, but for this project she wanted to challenge herself to write something out of her comfort zone. That challenge produced a poem that was more whimsical and playful in nature. It is also her first poem – of many, Rodriguez hopes – to include Spanish words and phrases. “I'm just really proud of this piece,” she said.

When Rodriguez started at RWU, she first majored in Journalism but then switched to Computer Science. Not wanting to let go of writing, she said she decided to incorporate her passion into a minor. Now deciding whether to go into coding for mobile apps or software development, she knows that writing will always be part of her life. “It would be great to get published in the future or even just keep writing my poems and short stories for myself,” she said.

sophomore A. Lee stands next to their poem at Rogers Free Library

For sophomore A. Lee, an English Literature and Creative Writing double major from Acton, Mass., the inspiration for their poem came from a prompt that Soto brought to the class, which they tweaked to suit their needs, they said. Their poem, titled “An Assortment of Nonsensical Meeting Places,” was inspired by their time at summer camp growing up but more specifically by the memories they share with their partner. “We have a lot of really fun, really strange memories that I wanted to capture,” said Lee. Snapshots include a moment where Lee got a nosebleed while hiking the Appalachian Mountains, in which the only solution was to shove tampons up their nose, as well as a six-day biking trip. “It's a nostalgia-heavy piece, where I am sort of reflecting on all the fun times we had together,” they said.

For both Lee and Rodriguez, this is the first time either of them has shared their writing in such a public format. The Wandering Magazine helped boost Lee’s confidence as a writer, they said, sharing that they would love to publish a collection of their own work one day.

“It’s nerve-wracking, but it means a lot,” Rodriguez said.

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Residents & Fellows
Researchers

Celebrating Health Profession Students' Poetry, Prose, and Visual Arts

Program for Humanities in Medicine 2024 Health Professions Creative Writing and Art Contest Awards Ceremony

Lenique Huggins - First place in Art category

Created by MD student Hang Nguyen. Second place in Art category

WInston Trope - Honorable Mention in Art category

Zeynep Inanoglu - Honorable Mention in Art category

2024 PHM Health Professions Creative Writing and Art Contest Award Ceremony - Student Winners

Winning artwork

Black Motherhood in Medicine

Created by MD student Lenique Huggins. First place in Art category

These Small Things

These are the titles of the poetry, prose, and visual artworks that received first-place in the annual Yale School of Medicine (YSM) Program for Humanities in Medicine (PHM) Health Professions Students' Creative Writing & Art Contest. On May 2, the student winners were celebrated at a gathering where they shared and often provided context for their creations. A supportive and appreciative audience applauded enthusiastically after each presentation.

Professor and PHM Director Anna Reisman, MD, welcomed everyone to the celebration, sharing that the contest began more than two decades ago. It originally was a poetry and prose contest just for medical students; the family of Marguerite Rush Lerner, MD, established and endowed the contest to honor her. Lerner was a dermatologist at YSM, as well as a children’s book author. (Lerner’s husband, Aaron Lerner, MD, PhD, was the first chair of Yale’s Department of Dermatology, and two of their four sons, Ethan Lerner, MD, PhD ‘82 and Michael Lerner, MD ’81, attended YSM.) Reisman explained that several years ago the contest expanded to include visual arts, and also students from across the health profession schools and programs—MD, MD-PhD, Physician Associate, Physician Assistant Online, Nursing, and Public Health.

This year, almost 100 students participated in the contest. MD student winners receive the Marguerite Rush-Lerner prize; the other Yale health professions students receive the Program for Humanities in Medicine prize. See the list of winners under "Related Links."

While second-year MD student Lenique Huggins had been thinking about creating Black Motherhood in Medicine for a few months, it only took two evenings to do so, once she began.

She explains that the inspiration for the piece started in her first week of medical school, when she learned that the maternal mortality rate for Black mothers is 2.6 more than non-Hispanic white mothers. “As a young Black woman, this statistic especially pained me and my close friends.” Additionally, she says that in classes throughout the year, she was part of formal and informal discussions about being a mother in medicine. “I heard from classmates across racial backgrounds about their real fears of balancing pregnancy with their medical training and pregnancy complications among medical professionals.” That led her to begin to think about “my intersection as a future Black mother in medicine and the challenges I may face because of these identities. Now, as a second-year student, I created a piece that captures something I have thought much about these past two years.”

Huggins grew up in a Caribbean household close to art and culture from all over the world. “I’ve always been surrounded by music, dance, storytelling, and visual art, and my family hosted international students throughout my childhood. I started playing the piano at age three, and have been singing, dancing, and doodling for as long as I can remember.” However, it was not until she was an undergraduate at Duke University and participated in community service that she “began to understand the therapeutic value of art.”

Through her involvement in different programs at that time, including Families Moving Forward, a shelter for families without homes, and Reflections, a weekly art program for adults with dementia at Duke Nasher Museum, Huggins says, “I saw how encouraging self-expression could bring peace during uncertain times, reduce stress, and empower communities. When I went through a rough time in my sophomore year, I found myself using painting for a lot of healing.”

Huggins continues, “I will continue practicing art. It’s a self-care practice that helps me combat burnout and show up better for patients who need me.”

Class of 2025 MD student Hang Nguyen started painting at age 11, when her family immigrated to America from Vietnam. She explains, “I did not speak English at the time, so art was a vessel through which I could communicate my tumultuous adolescent mind.”

Currently, she paints often and says her favorite subject is “surreal, tranquil, and, occasionally, liminal landscapes, such as a classroom at midnight, an overgrown, abandoned church, and a long corridor that leads nowhere. For me, these landscapes represent a longing for a space that exists tranquilly, where one can be one's true self.”

Nguyen painted Submerged specifically for this contest; “In other words, this contest inspired me to look inward and reflect on — instead of simply overcome and move forward from — the challenges that I have encountered in medical school.” Through the work she wanted “to convey the various feelings that I experienced while studying for board exams using motifs that are near and dear to me like water and fish in a surreal, tranquil, and liminal ambience.” She painted it during time dedicated to Step 1, over the course of a week, working on it for an hour to two at night.

Hunger , On Chinese Medicine , and On the First Day of Anatomy Lab

First-year Physician Associate (PA) student Kelly Dunn was honored with three prizes: A tie for first place in prose for Hunger , a tie for second place in poetry for On Chinese Medicine , and honorable mention in prose for On the First Day of Anatomy Lab , each of which she shared with the audience. While Dunn, who “always considered the humanities to be a part of my life,” has been an avid reader and artist for as long as she can remember, she did not start writing until the COVID-19 pandemic. She says she mostly wrote nonfiction, and only semi-frequently, “whenever something momentous transpired, or I suddenly felt called to it,” explaining, “so much of my love and appreciation for writing comes from the fact that it’s a medium to better articulate an experience through. Having something so fresh and felt so acutely is a wonderful impetus to begin writing.”

The contest was one of Dunn’s first times writing poetry, “I’ve always been intimidated by it. Learning the different poetic forms and metric lines, as well as how to be economical with my words, seems like something I’ll never be able to achieve.” She continued, “I’m grateful for this contest for giving me an opportunity to try”

For Dunn, writing in PA school has been “incredibly helpful processing all that has happened. Every day I vacillate between feelings of immense wonder, humility, and gratitude— and these words in themselves don’t even do the moments I’ve witnessed justice.”

Acknowledgements

Reisman thanked PHM Manager Karen Kolb for her work coordinating the contest, and the 16 YSM faculty and staff members who served as judges:

Aba Black, MD, MHS, Anne Merritt, MD, MS, Terry Dagradi, Sarah Cross, MD, Lorence Gutterman, MD, Melissa Grafe, PhD, Randi Hutter-Epstein, MD, MPH, Kenneth Morford, MD, Sharon Ostfeld-Johns, MD, Vincent Quagliarello, MD, Lisa Sanders, MD, Nora Segar, MD, Elizabeth Marhoffer, MD, Rita Rienzo MMSC, PA-C, Sharon Chekijian, MD, PhH, and Cynthia McNamara, MD.

Featured in this article

Aba Black, MD, MHS
Sharon Anoush Chekijian, MD, MPH
Sarah Cross, MD
Terry Dagradi
Randi Epstein
Melissa Grafe, PhD
Lorence Gutterman, MD
Lenique Huggins
Karen P Kolb
Elizabeth Marhoffer, MD
Cynthia Frary McNamara, MD, FACP
Anne Merritt, MD, MS
Kenneth Morford, MD, FASAM
Hang Nguyen
Sharon Ostfeld-Johns, MD, IBCLC
Vincent Quagliarello, MD
Anna Reisman, MD
Rita Rienzo, MMSc, PA-C
Lisa Sanders, MD, FACP
Nora Segar, MD