Writing Prompts: Exercises to get you writing

Somedays it's hard to know where to begin with writing. In today's blog, I focus on 3 exercises I use to get my creative juices flowing. These are all exercises I've picked up in various writing classes over the years.

1) Free Writing

This is a great, simple exercise. Take a blank page, and start writing - about anything. Don't allow your pen to leave the page, and keep writing, whatever is in your mind, whatever comes up. Even if you start with 'I don't know what to write', it's interesting to see how quickly this moves into more structured thoughts, ideas, and often into the seed of a story. I like to do this with music, and often find myself describing the movement of the music, then moving on to other ideas. I like classical music for this, as I would find lyrics distracting. But go with what works for you. It's a great way to simply get flowing, and overcome that hesitate when faced with a blank page.

2) Drawing

Find some crayons / coloured pencils and blank paper. Think of a moment from your childhood, and start to draw with  your non-dominant hand. (ie if you are right handed, draw with your left, and vice versa) Don't worry too much about your lack of artistic ability, but instead, focus on the memory, the sights the sounds, the tastes and remember the moment. You'll be amazed how much detail you remember as you draw. I sometimes find this helpful when I'm stuck in describing a scene.

3) Favourite objects

Look around you. Find something that you love. Look at it closely, and from afair. Describe it. Now, think about that item, and the story behind it. Remember when you bought it, or who gave it to you, how you felt. Now, see if you can use the object in a story.

I hope you find these exercises helpful.

Happy writing!