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What's the best writing exercise you've ever done?

oneblindmouse

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One of the exercises I found most helpful was writing a scene purely with dialogue between three characters. First, I drew up their three very different characters and what point each one was trying to make. Then I wrote the words they said, then I added the body language, and finally the description. It was fun.
 

KBUpdikeJr

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one of the best writing devices I encountered amounts to
contemplation,
lack of self reflection / concern
to perfect creative selfless intent in manifesting
word.

Love is fearless,
a simple emotion apart from pride,
non impulsive,
elevated states of love may induce creative hallucinations.
Living in love when writing seems to encourage automatic professional quality material.

Free form role playing was another useful device to me as an author,
the utilization of character diversity to study newness
to explore beyond the reaches of my own psyche
what may be.
 

Singcali

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One of the best things that happened to me was getting so pissed and having nowhere to go. The only way to let go was to get a piece of paper and just write. I did so without thinking and that eventually led to my story.

I think letting your inner-self free is a good exercise to help cultivate a habit. Creative writing exercise. Letting go is the best thing you can do, freeing up your fears and expectations.

C. J. Thibeaux
 
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prairie

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This is my own exercise, but maybe I picked it up from somewhere or someone else and I don't recall, LOL. I take a piece of paper, and I write down the topic and put a circle around it. Then, I brainstorm about the topic and write down all the words or phrases that come to mind which could possibly connect with it. It's like a flow chart with all the words emanating out from the circle. Hope that makes sense.
 

JDlugosz

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It was not intended as an exercise in writing, but I was drawn into a pre-Internet online forum. It was initially associated with writers and editors at the magazine I had submitted to, but it became filled with articulate and creative people. We had discussions. These were not quick back-and-forth things, but required well thought out points to make, doing research in many cases (remember, pre-Internet!) and making your case well in the medium. Well, not every thread was on that level; but the casual ones had a high level of literate style too. I eventually found out that there were many, many more active lurkers than members I engaged with. We were being read for entertainment! I imagined it must be like a fusion of PBS documentaries and screwball comedy like Faulty Towers.

Anyway, I had learned the right way to write an essay in high school and went through it again first semester of college. But there's no substitute for experience. Write a well-structured essay several times a day for a year, and you get good at it. I realized that I knew how to organize such an essay intuitively as I was formulating my responses (arguments, criticism, etc.) in the same way.

(Spelling, OTOH, not so much. I still thank them for indulging me so I could use all the words I know, unlike many school teachers where I had to limit my vocabulary to words I was pretty sure I could spell. Spelling came a few years later with word processors that did live spell check.)
 

Adirahalcyon

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It had to do with getting to know my characters because I felt like they all sounded the same. So it was to write fanfiction, in a way, about my characters. How they'd react in some specific circumstances, about their past events e.t.c. It really helped me to get to know them and feel like they're real people.
 

Poetical Gore

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Proof reading while doing jumping jacks in front of the two way tv in the morning.
 

Roughdragon

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There was one I picked up from another forum, and that was to write from the perspective of a person in a specific year going about everyday life. For example, a person going about life in the year 2400 would be completely different from a person going about life in the year 1960. I found this to be really helpful in terms of writing in different perspectives, and it can be extended to writing in different places instead of time periods.
 

Fullon_v4.0

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I like writing a "chapter" about literally anything. When I say chapter, I mean 2-4 pages of an event that could easily be the beginning, middle or end of a story. Even if it amounts to someone picking their teeth or an epic space battle, it at least got me to use the creative side of my brain.
 

JinxKing

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Short bursts of free-writing, without a doubt. The first thing I do every time I start a new Scrivener file or WIP is create a new document within it called 'bits' and whenever I find myself lagging on the story or dragging my feet about writing, I flip over to my bits folder and just free-write whatever comes to me at the moment. I like using Pinterest images as prompts too. At some point during my editing process I tend to skim my bits folder for the best pieces and integrate them into the novel wherever they fit. Sometimes I end up writing entire scenes or chapters there and some of my favorite parts of my books grow naturally from that.

I think most writing block or lack of inspiration comes from us trying to chain ourselves down, so even going off the planned path for a minute or two and letting whatever comes come, can be really refreshing and inspiring.

As far as productivity itself goes, the best thing I've ever put into practice is using the Tomato Timer lmao...I'm kind of in love with it.
 

ancon

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it has helped me, i think it has anyway, to read what i've written, and try to really boil down a paragraph or scene or chapter into a few words, or even one word. sometimes that word(s) is not 'she is scared' or 'he is finding himself' or 'the monster is outside the door' or whatever, the word will be this is 'boring' or dragging, etc, and that paragraph or page or pages then are deleted or at least improved, hopefully. boiling it down to things like growing, dying, helping, suffering, healing, killing, saving, crying, screaming, smiling, etc. can help focus a scene and add depth at the same time. like a character can be growing but dying, healing but suffering, crying but smiling, etc.
 
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butterfly_effect

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The thing I do is write and then leave it for 2/3 days and go through it and continue writing. Then I usually give it to my instructor to read it and he gives me feedback so then I proceed. However, I am looking for an interesting way to practice more, because my creativity is lacking. I tried writing random topics in a bowl, mixing them and then try to write something each they for whichever I pick. Feel free to suggest more!
 

David R

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I finally had a breakthrough when I looked at writing like Michaelangelo sculpting David. You start out with a giant block of marble, and you take some big chunks out of it. Nobody can tell what it is yet, but you know you want to make a man and keep cutting and polishing the rock. Slowly but surely "you uncover David," and it is evident to everyone else. When I tried to write in a way that wholly uncovered my story on the first draft, I got nowhere, but when I just banged out the first draft knowing it would not look like much on the first cut, I succeeded.
 

TheFabulist

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I've got a couple of stories out of imagining the relationship between two people I see in a public space, like a cafe, a doctor's waiting room or waiting for a train.
 

indianroads

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One professor had us describe rooms / places we were in. The first day of class: Describe this room; not just its size and shape, but more importantly how does it feel to be here? Include smells, sounds, and your feelings. You have 10 minutes, then we'll go around the room and read aloud.

I play a similar game as I ride my motorcycle. How would I describe this smell, or the feeling of the air against my skin?
 

valleycs

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My favorite is the Ernest Hemingway one: Write a story in six words. Such as his:

For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.

It really helps you understand how important word choice is.
 

Wil10thewisp

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I think this would help. not much of an exercise but it does help with the bottleneck overflow:


Hey hows it going here. I'm Alison. And I have a tip for all you writers out there weather you have writers block or what I like to call 'bottleneck overflow' which is basically all these ideas for stories from massive epics to basic short stories come surging through your mind like a tidal wave and just when you have your pen put it to paper...there are so many ideas that you can't even put one of them down. Or... the idea vanishes. We've all had that. I've had that.


Well here I have a tip to help you. And it's helped me a lot as well.


First...you start off with none otherthan (shows off notebook and a pen) a pen and paper. Now here's thebest part of this...is that this involves only a pen and paper. Nosmartphone or computer, I mean you can if that's the only thingavailable to you but for now lets start off with a pen...and a paper.


Ok, now that you have step one out of your way here comes step two. And this is the more interesting part...write a sentence. It can be any sentence but I just want you to write a sentence. Anything at all. Here's my example:


My name is Alison.


There, straightforward. This is strictly an example. You could have written about hot dogsfor all I care.


Now step three: writeanother sentence. Again, It doesn't matter if its cohesive or not. The point is to write a sentence after that next sentence. Let melead you off:


My name is Alison. This is a sentence.


Now this sentence should dowith the previous one. But it doesn't have to. You could have onesentence about hot dogs. Your next sentence could be about how youlike chimpanzees. The point is to make another sentence.


Now onto step four: write another sentence. I know that sounds repetitive but hear me out.Write another sentence after the next one. Like I said before it doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't have to be cohesive. The point is that there should be three sentences. One after the other. On your sheet of paper.
For example:


My name is Alison. Thisis a sentence. You should be writing.


Now I had this idea while tutoring. Now that we have our three sentences. One after the other. Here is where things get interesting. We move onto step five. what is step five? It's quite simple: what I want you to do now is put parenthesis before your first sentence and at the end of your last sentence.


“My name is Alison. This is a sentence. You should be writing.”


Now that we have your first opening. Now I want you to fill in the blanks. Who, what, where,when, why, and how of this quote.

Who is saying this? How is he/she saying this? Is it a teacher talking to students? Is it some homeless person rambling on the sidewalk. If it's a teacher are there students? How are the students taking this? When does this take place? Is it the final period or the first period of school? Is it even a school? Is this in a garage or a bombed out shelter? Does this place have chairs? Is this high school or middle school? Does the place reek of axe body spray and teen angst. Is this an adult classroom with people who are just learning how to read and write for the first time. How does this sound to the people around the person speaking? Are they engaged? Or do they ignore him? If they ignore him then why is your character even speaking. He's obviously speaking. Or is he? Maybe he's reading a line in a textbook that doesn't make any sense and he's just trying to figure it out by saying it out loud.


My point being is that youkeep your pen moving forward. Filling in the blanks and painting apicture around your three sentences.


Here's another tip: if your stuck, or think “my god this is a stupid line” LEAVE IT IN! Or MAKE IT STUPIDER. Don't touch it. Work around it. Make it funny. Make it worse. The point is not to edit. The point is to tell a story. The point is to fill in that page.


Observe:




“My name is Alison. This is a sentence. You should be writing.” Mr.Smith said with a flush as he spat the words out like a belch.
Mr.Smith's classroom smelled like cabbages and broccoli as the new kidfarted in the back of the classroom, letting the miasma suffocate theroom. The twenty other students kept focusing on more important thislike Memes and twitter to even care about their mentally handicapEnglish teacher. Who cares about sentences while a man in Denmarkgave cunnilingus a turtle. One of the students, a Mormon boy namedClark was confused by the reference until another classmate explainedit to him. Clark vomited on the floor as the image rushed throughhis head and finally onto the floor. Gary, upon witnessing Clarkunleash yesterdays deliciousness upon the tiled floor, decided it wasupon him to perform the same gesture as he bellowed a concoction ofcola, jin, cotton candy, and anal pudding right into his open desk,spraying his books in the retched stuff. Of course he wasn't much ofa drinker, he was a lightweight to say the least. So when the emptybottle of jin was soaked, he simply decided on ditching it and sayingit wasn't his.
The onlyperson not completely grossed out by the two was the girl at the farcorner of the room who watched with an almost erotic glee as the twostudents lost their lunch. This was also the same reason why all thekids who weren't desperate enough pretended like she didn't existed. No one talked to her. And no one wanted to talk to her. And onceshe opened her mouth, anyone who wasn't into whatever she was intosimply silently backed away and walked the opposite direction towhere she was. This only made things worse as predators tend to playwith their prey before killing them.
And sothe professor decided it was best to simply place down his book andpick up a baseball bat to smite the non believers in front of him. First it had to be Tom because...why not. The polished wood struckhis cranium with a uniformed snapping of gods fingers right besidehis ears. And after Tom was out of the picture, it was time forGlenn's turn. She was a brat. And that was all he needed to know. And it was a one, two, three hit score as she fell down upon herrump, picking up her teeth from the floor. Her father was a dentist,so Mr. Smith payed her sobs no mind. And then came Charles...andCharles to put it in more safer terms...wasn't quite having it.
And withthat the entire class watched in wonder as the age old question of'how far can you shove a baseball bat down a man's throat' wasanswered. After all, Charles thought, anything was possible withWD-40 and a little elbow grease.
And thenthe bell rang. And everyone picked up their bags and left. All wasright with the world.
That was until the gunshot rang out from the hallway...


And thatis how you fill up a page. Then comes the more difficult part,writing another page and another after that. Well, assuming you havea notebook and not just a simple piece of paper on hand, I amassuming that you have at least five blank writable pages and enoughgraphite/ink to continue working. If not, find some.
 
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Always Newbie

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Have you tried mind mapping? The exercise you described sounds similar to it.
As for me the best I've done for boosting my writing skills was finding perfect time regime. That includes not only when to write, but also improving my sleeping habits. Check, maybe there are better options to spend 24 hours than to sleep whole night.
 

Denevius

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I have a feeling I won’t change my mind on this later. But the best writing exercises I’ve done after two and a half decades of doing writing exercises are: 1) Write the first three lines of the narrative; 2) Write the first 200 words of the narrative.

There’s a lot of great writing exercises, but so far, nothing I’ve done compares to the effectiveness of developing a strong story as these two.
 

Will Rogers

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The best exercise I've ever done is a plotting exercise. It helped me write a couple of strong plots with little to no filler. I was encouraged to write out my entire story in short sentences using BUT and THEREFORE. Doing this makes sure that there's a causal link between each scene (or even each action, as in the example below) in your book.

For example...
Dean was going to be late for dinner,
Therefore he took a shortcut through Farmer Jackson's field
But Farmer Jackson's prize bull was in the field and started chasing Dean,
Therefore Dean ran,
But the bull ran faster
Therefore Dean realised it was fruitless to flee
Therefore he looked around for a weapon...


Of course, there will always be times when something happens that isn't directly caused by anything in your book (e.g. if your inciting incident is a meteor strike, your protagonist may have had nothing to do with causing that). In my experience, as long as you can connect most of the major happenings in this way, that's a good way to ensure your story isn't full of unnecessary padding.
 
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It was an assignment given in the second English course I had to take while in college. I had to write about something, and I forgot how the topic was chosen.

However, I wrote a paper about why women want to be parents/bear children and the things single mothers aspire to acheive. It was more along the lines of being geared towards single mothers and their way of thinking. I know I had to revise it like three or four times (part of the assignment, so everyone had to do it). When I finsihed the class, I let my mother read it, and she broke down into tears for like fifteen minutes. I guess it was spot on - a home run sort of speak!
 

RookieWriter

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I know a lot of people here have taken creative writing courses or found writing exercises elsewhere. Have you ever done a really good one? Maybe even one that changed your relationship with the written word? I'm looking for a few good ones to try out. Thanks.

Free writing. But that is the only one I have ever used.