Favorite Exercises to Improve Writing

Ren · Dec 26, 2008

I thought it might be fun to find out what everyone does for "practice" here at AW. Everyone please share your favorite writing exercises and tips. Here's something I did today:

Write or type a paragraph to a page out of a favorite book. Pick it apart and below it write down its good points, what it does for the reader, etc. Why is it there? Why were particular words chosen?

Then pick a section of your own work and go over it in the same way, looking to see if you made use of the same good things the other writer did. If not improve your writing, using the same tools where applicable.

lakotagirl · Dec 26, 2008

I posted this tip earlier in a different thread:

Go out and spend at least ten minutes observing someone. A stranger works better than someone you know because you get a fresh feel.

Take notes. Observe the person, the clothes, the mannerisms, the body language...

Come home and write the description. Practise. Practise. Practise.

You can work on settings and characters - but I never try to work on both at the same time. It really does make you better.

Hillary · Dec 26, 2008

Threads like these always make me think I'm doing something very, very wrong.

I do a grand total of two things: Read and write.

I've even asked a few "experts" and the advice boiled down to "Read, read, read, write, then read some more." Hmph.

I think I need to work on goal-directed behavior. Maybe get some flashcards or something.

C.H. Valentino · Dec 26, 2008

Hillary said:
I do a grand total of two things: Read and write.

Not a damn thing wrong with that; its all I do.

Editing, I suppose might go in there as something that forces us to get better, but truthfully- I've been in groups that make you write character sprints and scene painting....

It never helps. And it always leaves me blinking and wanting a cigarette.

LOL.

Red. Write. And read write some more. That's my vote.

Ren · Dec 26, 2008

I say, what works for me may not work for you and vice versa. For you exercises may do nothing, but I find them useful. ^^ Seems like all of writing works that way.

Essentially that's the point of this thread. I thought I might try some new things.

scarletpeaches · Dec 26, 2008

I suppose my 'warm up' is reading a lot, but that's something I've always done for fun anyway.

I don't believe in doing formal exercises. I'd rather learn how to write a book by...writing a book.

kuwisdelu · Dec 26, 2008

c.h valentino said:
And it always leaves me blinking and wanting a cigarette.

That's okay. My favorite exercise to make me a better writer is to roll a cigarette, have some scotch, and go out and try to do something I'll regret later.

IMO, nothing improves writing more than experience.

Mumut · Dec 26, 2008

I have too much writing to do, to have time for exercises. I wouldn't spend time trying to describe a stranger because I use description rarely in my work. I leave it to the readers to paint their own pictures unless a trait or characteristic is needed for the plot. But I do read. These days it is often looking over the work of members of writing groups I visit. Much is historical research. But I certainly don't have time for exercises.

smoothseas · Dec 26, 2008

kuwisdelu said:
IMO, nothing improves writing more than experience.

There's certainly truth in that; but I think that we also have to acquire and assimilate the necessary skill sets to disseminate what we’ve learned through said experience.

That’s where ‘exercising’ plays a roll.

Here on AW, there’s the Flash Fiction challenge every Sunday night at 21:00 EST. And a number of the genre-specific forums have exercises and challenges you can participate in.

It’s interesting to see, isn’t it, what others have to contribute?

seas, who prefers Remy to scotch

maestrowork · Dec 26, 2008

Here's one to help you write "cinematically":

- Watch a movie and pick a favorite scene

- WRITE the scene in your own words and try to create the same feel, pace, atmosphere, structure, sensory information, settings, etc. (don't confuse this with writing a screenplay, however -- here, we're focusing on prose)

Virector · Dec 26, 2008

kuwisdelu said:
IMO, nothing improves writing more than experience.

But you can gain writing experience through writing exercises, so in other words, writing exercises do improve your writing.

kuwisdelu · Dec 27, 2008

Virector said:
But you can gain writing experience through writing exercises, so in other words, writing exercises do improve your writing.

I meant experiences. As in things that happen to you. Unrelated to writing.

Writing experience and exercises help too.

Donkey · Dec 27, 2008

Learning what not to do is just as important as learning what to do.
The one 'exercise' that has most helped to improve my writing skills is critiquing other writer's material.

I spend some of my spare time on the SYW forums, reading/line-by-line editing/making suggestions to improve/offering overall impressions, etc.
I read the other writers crits as well.
I present writing of my own, with a request for critiques.
I'm no expert, but I can nearly always find mistakes with grammar/style/flow/presentation, etc, and in doing so, learn to avoid making the same gaffs.
It's a lot different than merely reading about which mistakes to avoid.

It may not seem like it's worth the time and energy to some, but it's been invaluable to me, as well as being helpful to others.

Willowmound · Dec 27, 2008

I find writing and editing my novel every day is excellent exercise.

brokenfingers · Dec 27, 2008

One thing that I use as an "exercise" and which I feel helps improve my writing is - write poetry.

The whole reason I first wrote poetry was to help improve my descriptive skills as well as become better able to transfer my emotions and observations to the reader.

To me, poetry is the art of many things combined:

The art of observation, observing those moments in life that mean something or evoke an emotion or convey a message.

The art of empathy, of understanding emotions - yours and others - and expressing them in a fashion that causes others to feel them also.

The art of vocabulary, choosing the right words to convey what you mean.

The art of brevity, trying to condense and focus your message into as few words as possible.

The art of description, trying to describe things, actions, events and emotions.

The art of sensitivity, opening yourself up to what is within you, breaking through the surface and going deep to that inner truth which all people can recognize.

I feel that there are so many ways it helps improve your writing. If you want to try an exercise in writing - try your hand at poetry.

NeuroFizz · Dec 27, 2008

Two things, but brokenfingers beat me to the first--write poetry.

The second--pay attention to life. Not just the big things, but the everyday things, the workaday things, the subtle things that make an experience a good one or a bad one, or even an indifferent one.

Ken · Dec 27, 2008

really don't practise. I mainly make improvements by revising what I've done and gradually setting the bar higher each year for what I classify as an acceptable story. At present I toss out lots of material, but am pretty confident in the small percentage of stuff I do wind up saving. Quality over quantity, as someone here just stated elsewhere ;-)

Ren · Dec 28, 2008

I'm honestly surprised how many replies this has gotten saying people don't do any practice exercises.

I expected most everyone would have something.

Willowmound · Dec 28, 2008

If your job is lifting timber, why on earth would you lift weights?

Favorite Exercises to Improve Writing

Ren

I'm not clever enough for this...

lakotagirl

Forgot what I was gonna say

Hillary

Neural Trailblazer

C.H. Valentino

Wording!

Ren

I'm not clever enough for this...

scarletpeaches

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Mumut

Well begun is half done...

smoothseas

Life sucks... Then ya die...

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Virector

The only one

kuwisdelu

Revolutionize the World

Donkey

Willowmound

Lightly salted

brokenfingers

Walkin' That Road

NeuroFizz

The grad students did it

Ken

Ren

I'm not clever enough for this...

Willowmound

Lightly salted