Sensible Writing Exercises

Ah, the senses: sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. How do these things relate at all to writing exercises?

We delight in the pleasures of the senses, but infusing writing with sensory stimulation is not an easy task. It takes a deft and creative writer to forge written images that trigger a reader’s senses.

So, why bother? Why attempt writing exercises that involve sensual triggers?

Well, when you engage your readers’ senses, your work becomes more compelling and more memorable. Some scientists say that smell is the strongest of the senses in terms of memorability. So, if you get your readers to experience scents, you’ll have them hooked.

These writing exercises are designed to help you write with more sense. Below, you’ll find a series of short writing exercises that culminate with creating a written piece that is peppered with sensory stimuli:

Prepare

• Start with a sheet of paper divided into five columns. If you prefer to do writing exercises like this on your computer, you can use Excel or Word or some other program.
• Label the columns: eyes, ears, mouth, hands, and nose.
• Spend a few minutes populating the columns with words and phrases that reflect the correlating senses. For example, in the smell column, you might write chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, a blooming rose, or the cat’s litter box. Be as descriptive as possible and avoid using only stimuli that please or entice; add a few that are unpleasant for balance.

Review

• Review your list carefully, testing each item on your list to see how it affects you. When you read something like throbbing base coming from the car in the next lane, can you feel the boom?
• As you go through your list, cross out anything that doesn’t engage your senses.
• Highlight those items that really affect you – when you can feel the soft slick fabric of silk or hear the sound of a quiet breeze rustling dried and fallen leaves, you’re being affected.

The Writing Exercises

• Try writing one sentence for each of the five senses. Make sure it’s a complete sentence, and try to generate a sentence that evokes a scene. In other words “The roses smell nice,” won’t cut it. Try for something like: “She bent down slowly, beckoned by the rose’s sweet perfume and dazzling red hue.”
• Next, try to do what I did in the sample sentence above. Combine two or more senses into a single, complete sentence. When you read it back, does your nose tingle? Do you see bright colors in your mind? Can you hear the sound that you tried to evoke?
• Finally, write a brief essay, poem, or short story in 500 words or less, and be sure to stimulate each of the five senses in the piece. As a bonus, you can work in the sixth sense as well.

Tips

• Need some ideas? Start by choosing a setting, such as an event, where it’s likely all fives senses would be stimulated. For example, at a wedding, there will be the scent of fresh flowers, the taste of a wedding cake, and the sound of “Here Comes the Bride.” Other likely events include concerts, parties, meetings, vacations, and – try this one – cleaning day.
• If you get stuck, refer to your brainstorm list or practice sentences and use that material for inspiration.
• Try not to make it too obvious. A reader shouldn’t be able to notice that you’re triggering all their senses, so be sure it flows naturally.

The purpose of writing exercises is to have fun while challenging yourself. If you try these, feel free to post what you’ve written in the comments.

If you have any favorite writing exercises of your own, feel free to share them in the comments.

And keep on writing sensibly!

Writing Exercises in Rhythm

Have you ever read a poem, story, or article that lacked rhythm? If a piece is lifeless, despite the fact that it uses vivid imagery, clear and expressive language, and a sympathetic voice, there’s a good chance that it’s off-beat in terms of musicality.

A well-written piece in any genre has cadence. This means the sentences vary in length as do the individual words. To achieve musicality in a written work, a writer must be aware of syllables and stresses. The overall result is a written piece that sings, and makes the reader’s imagination dance.

Today’s writing exercises encourage you to pay closer attention to the rhythm in your writing. If you can infuse your work with a bit of musicality, you can make your readers want to dance through your pages.

Writing Exercises in Rhythm for Readability

These two writing exercises will help you generate written material that has rhythm. Try these and you’ll find that your work becomes more readable when it has a beat backing it up.

The first exercise is systematic, and asks you to go through a piece of writing intentionally checking it for rhythm. The second approach is a bit looser, and only requires that you listen to your writing and try to determine its musicality by ear.

Complete both of these writing exercises or just try one.

The Systematic Approach

Select a short piece or an excerpt from something you’ve written, or are working on (under 250 words). This could be a couple of paragraphs from your novel in progress, or a short story you wrote for school. It can be an essay, a poem, news or magazine article, even straight copy from your website.

Draw a line down the center of a sheet of paper. Label the right side WORDS and the left side SENTENCES. The words column will show the number of syllables for each word and the sentences column will show the number of syllables for each sentence.

Now, go through the piece and count the syllables. In the left hand column enter a number for each word, representing the syllables. In the right hand column, enter the number of syllables for each sentence. When you’re done, the left hand column should be considerably longer.

Example

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

WORDS | SENTENCES
1 ………………11
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
1

Not a very rhythmic sentence. When working with several sentence, you want to see great variations in the sentence syllables. Within each sentence, the syllabic count of the words should also vary between one and four syllables.

This is a very systematic approach to evaluating the rhythm of your writing.

The Creative Approach

If you’d rather not deal with numbers, then try this:

Read a piece aloud, tapping along as you do so. You can tap your pen against the surface of your desk, or you can get really fancy and pull out an instrument such as a tambourine or bongo drum. You could even improvise with a wooden spoon and a couple of pots and pans. Bang out the syllables as you read the piece aloud, hitting harder on syllables that warrant greater emphasis.

Example

The quick brown fox jumps o-ver the la-zy dog. (Emphasis on bold syllables)

That’s how I read it anyway. By reading your piece aloud in this manner, you’ll notice quickly where your it is lacking in terms of rhythm.

How Did it Work for You?

If you decide to give one or both of these writing exercises a shot, come back and discuss what you learned. Or, try writing a piece from scratch that is rhythmic and melodic. Share an excerpt or share your thoughts in the comments.

If you have writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post.

Writing Exercises: Freewriting

One of the most valuable writing exercises I learned in college was freewriting.

When you sit down with a pen and paper and let words flow freely, amazing things can happen.

At first, it’s a bit of a struggle, but if you stick with it, you will produce some gems. The trick is to get out of the way, and let your subconscious take over. Most writing exercises ask you to think. This one requires you do anything but that.

This is not like other writing exercises because freewriting is also a tool that you can use to generate written material for a variety of projects. It will also help you clear your head or tap into your deeper thoughts.

Writing Exercises and Train of Thought

The first few times I tried freewriting, I botched it. I would describe everything I’d done that day, or jot down my thoughts on a particular subject in a random, messy way. Finally, in one of my creative writing classes, I got to hear some examples of freewriting and something clicked. Freewriting is not about train of thought, it’s about stream of consciousness, and there’s a big difference.

Here is an example of one of my early attempts at freewriting, from January, 1999. This was just one of the many writing exercises I did in college under the creative writing program:

I set the microwave timer for 30 minutes so that I wouldn’t write for too long – although I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt if I did. Usually I do freewrites in a journal. I have a tendency to reflect on the current events of my personal life during a freewrite.

Train of thought writing exercises are pretty coherent. For the most part, it makes sense, as you can see in the example above. The technique involves writing on a particular subject, or working with a concrete topic. This can be useful in many ways, but it won’t tap into your deeper creativity the way freewriting will.

I use train of thought for clearing my mind, or to prepare for writing a nonfiction piece as a brainstorming method to churn out all the information I have in my head. But when I’m looking for poetic images or vivid characters, freewriting will do a much better job.

Writing Exercises and Stream of Consciousness

By February, 1999, I had a much better grasp on freewriting:

in moonshine eyelet lace a rhapsody of liquors dancing off light reflected in the cut glass spoons stirring iced candy meltdown of hopes washed out memories of faded photographs and standing in line at a supermarket eyeing the magazines their eyes watching you like cats high up in trees crying for freedom but afraid to come down

The key to stream of consciousness writing exercises is to relax your thinking mind and let the images of your subconscious take over. For some people, it takes a little practice but once you get it down, it becomes a neat trick. So what can you do with it?

Applications for Freewriting

Once you’ve built up a nice collection of freewrites, you have created a repository of images and lines, sentences, and paragraphs. You can now go through and harvest the material for your various writing projects. As you can imagine, the fruits of freewriting lend themselves particularly well to poetry.

When I’m writing poetry, I often go through my freewrites with a highlighter, marking words and phrases that pop or strike me as especially meaningful or aesthetically pleasing to the ear. Then, I pull these from the freewrite and use them to compose a poem.

Freewrites can also be used to bring creative, colorful language into fiction and prose. Strong images and rich language generates work that is more literary in nature and if done well, it’s a lot more fun to read. It will help you create words that show rather than tell and make your story or essay come alive more easily in a reader’s mind.

Have you ever tried freewriting? Do you tend toward train of thought or stream of consciousness? Are there any other writing exercises you recommend for creating more vivid prose or poetry? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

And keep on writing.

If you have any writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments.

3 Writing Exercises of Great Length

Here are some writing exercises based on an assignment I had to do in college, which has always stuck with me.

It sounds pretty easy (write a 100-word sentence), but once you sit down and actually attempt it, you’ll find out just how challenging it is.

In fact, at first glance, you might think that you can run off lengthy writing exercises such as this in just a few minutes. But you’ll soon find out that it probably requires a greater time investment than that.

Still, you can probably finish it in ten to thirty minutes.

The Writing Exercises:

1. Write one sentence that is at least one hundred words long.

That’s it, but trust me, it’s harder than you think. It has to be a good sentence. You can’t use unnecessary, superfluous adjectives and adverbs. It has to make sense, and sound right when you read it out loud. It can be about anything, but it has to meet the word count.

2. Complete the first exercise, then rewrite the sentence in ten words or less.

You have to say the same thing using a fraction of the words. Don’t leave out any important details!

2. Here’s the combo: Write two sentences – one must be 150 words long and the other exactly seven words. Oh and they have to comprise a paragraph.

The challenge here is in contrast. You go from writing an extremely long sentence to a relatively short one, and they have to be related so they can exist in the same paragraph.

Are You Up for the Challenge?

If you decide to tackle any of these writing exercises, post your sentences in the comments section.

Good luck, and keep on writing.

Do you have any favorite writing exercises that you’d like to share? Leave a comment!

Writing Exercises for Titles and Headlines

Writing for newspapers, magazines, and blogs all require good, strong headlines.

The same is true for poems, short stories, and novels, except they require good, strong titles.

Today’s writing exercises ask you to compose headlines and titles that make people want to read your work.

Titles and Headlines

Magazines use enticing headlines prominently displayed on the front cover to entice customers. Newspapers use them to draw readers into a story, and bloggers, as many of you know, use them to generate buzz and link bait.

The best headlines and titles are catchy. They impart a teaser about what a reader can expect to find within the article. Therefore they tickle the curiosity of the target audience. They are also often memorable and include familiar phrases. Here are some starters for popular headlines:

• The top ten…
• How to get…
• Everything you need to know about…
• The twelve best… ever
• What [someone] never told you about…

Other common strategies that are particularly effective with headlines include the use of words and terms that quickly capture people’s attention. Examples include sex, money, lose weight, and a host of celebrity names, especially the names of anyone who’s currently in the spotlight and generating a lot of news, or rather, gossip.

Titles, like headlines, should capture a potential reader’s attention and make them want to read the entire piece. An effective title piques a reader’s curiosity and tells a little bit about what the story or poem will be about.

You can learn how to write good headlines and titles with the simple writing exercises below. In time and with practice, your headlines and titles will become great.

Writing Exercises

These writing exercises are simple and ideal for any writer who struggles with titles and headlines.

Instructions:

Write some compelling headlines and titles. Wait – there are a few details…

Write at least three headlines each for five different publications.

• Focus on newspaper and magazine headlines.
• Identify your target publication for each of your sets of headlines.
• Include at least one publication that you would never read. If you’re a swinging, childless, single person, do headlines for a parenting magazine. If you’ve never left your home state, write some headlines for a travel rag.

Write three titles each for short stories, poems, and novels.

• Ask yourself whether short stories and novels have different requirements for titles.
• Should a poem’s title come from the body of the poem?
• You can use famous or obscure novels, poems, and short stories (rename your favorites) or you can use your own. However, be sure to title real material rather than nonexistent.

Come back and post a few of examples from your headline and title writing exercises in the comments section.

You never know, maybe one of those headlines will kick off a whole article. Or perhaps one of your titles will inspire you to write a story or poem.

And keep on writing!

Do you have any writing exercises to share? Did you find these exercises helpful? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone: A Writing Exercise

How comfortable are you with your writing?

Many writers specialize in a genre or niche. Creative writers are focused on fiction or poetry, copywriters specialize in web writing or marketing, and technical writers are steeped in jargon and code that other writers might find impossible to decipher.

Sure, some of us explore various types of writing, but how deeply are we willing to immerse ourselves in unknown waters?

A novelist might dip her toes in web writing. A copywriter might wade in children’s literature. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to dive into a completely new style of writing, or deeply explore a style you’ve only tested? This writing exercise will challenge you to do just that.

Do more than test the waters

I’m often proud of the fact that I’ve tried my hand at so many different types of writing. I am an experienced poet and blogger. I get paid to write articles, website copy, and press releases. I’ve written some fiction. And here’s where I always stop and hold my breath. Right when I get to the F-word. Fiction.

Sometimes I say that poetry is my first love because that’s what I started writing. But the truth is, my first love was fiction, because that’s what I read and what I’ve been reading for longer than I can remember. It stands to reason, then, that as a writer, one of my goals is to write a novel or get some short stories published.

But fiction seems to elude me, which is odd, considering I’ve read more fiction than anything else. It should be a breeze but I’ve always struggled with it. It’s not like I can’t do it. I can and I have and usually whatever I write is somewhat decent. But I have a hard time finishing a piece of fiction. I’m great at character development (you wouldn’t believe how many character files I’ve got). I’m not so great at coming up with villains though. And plots – forget about it. Every time I come up with a plot, I scratch it out because I feel like it’s already been done.

Setting Goals

Over the past few years, my apparent inability to complete a piece of fiction (even a short story) has created a huge barrier for me. It’s almost like the fact that I haven’t been able to master fiction has made me want to avoid it or just put it off for an unknown length of time.

This is a problem since I really, really want to write a novel.

One of my goals for this year is to step out of my comfort zone and get real cozy with fiction writing. I’ve spent time thinking about my strengths and weaknesses in this area and I’ve promised myself that I will participate in NaNoWriMo this November and attempt to produce a 50 thousand word manuscript, complete with plot and villain.

A Writing Exercise

For this week’s writing exercise, the objective is to set a goal to explore unfamiliar territory. Are you one of those people who only get in the pool if it’s more than 80 degrees (Fahrenheit)? Then get yourself into the freezing waters of the northern Pacific Ocean! Choose some type of writing that you’ve never attempted before or choose something that you’ve only toyed with. Or, choose a writing style that you’ve struggled with in the past. Just pick something that you have not mastered and then set yourself the goal of developing your weaknesses in that type of writing.

Seizing Opportunities

This week, an opportunity has arisen, one that I think will be a huge help in developing my fiction skills. The dynamic blogging duo Men with Pens have just launched a creative writing role playing game (RPG) at Escaping Reality. The concept is simple. You register for an account, create and submit a character (which has to be approved), and then join a story that is being generated by a group of writers.

If you’ve never collaborated before, this might be your chance to try something new. If you’re like me, and want to grow your skills in fiction, then this is a great way to push your boundaries. Or, if you just love to write and want to have some fun and meet other passionate writers, then get in and have a good time (note: space is limited so if you’re interested, hurry up).

Opportunities to be a better, more experienced, and multi-talented writer abound. And writing is probably the most accessible activity in the universe, requiring nothing more than a piece of paper and a writing instrument (or a computer with word processing software). Every time you launch Word, you’ve just created an opportunity to write something completely new and different, or to expand yourself as a writer.

What are you waiting for? You’ve got your Friday writing exercise. Tell us what you’re going to do about it!

If you have a writing exercise to share, feel free to post it in the comments or send it in as a guest post.

Writing Exercises: Don’t Think, Just Write

When life gets hectic, it’s impossible to get your creative writing done. Inspiration might be knocking but the house is so full, you’re not sure you can open the door and let it in.

That’s where creative writing exercises come in.

We all have responsibilities to fulfill and obligations to meet. We’ve got bills to pay, jobs to do, children to care for, and pets to play with. The lawn has to be mowed, garbage taken out, laundry done, dishes cleaned; the list just goes on and on and on.

How Do We Find Time for Creative Writing?

Creative writing happens when the muse is happily seducing a writer’s imagination. When new worlds magically appear on the page and when fictional characters seem more real than some of the people we know in our day to day lives.

Creative writing is one of those pursuits that for many people, is a dream. Like music, dance, acting, and art, it seems unattainable. Like athletics, entrepreneurship, and presidential leadership, it seems meant only for the chosen few. Every day a writer is born. And every day, a writer gives up, overwhelmed by all the things in life that require time, energy, and attention.

Every day, another blog is abandoned, another novel shelved, poem left half unfinished. “I just don’t have time anymore,” a writer says, then deletes a file that was going to be the next great American novel, or crumples up a poem that would have inspired the next great world leader and throws it in the trash.

Don’t Give Up

What if J.K. Rowling had given up on her fantastical story? What if George Lucas had given up on his groundbreaking film? What if the Beatles hadn’t taken a chance on that new sound everyone was calling rock and roll? What kind of world would we be living in?

I almost gave up on my creative writing. For several years, I rarely wrote, other than the writing I had to do for work, which was technical or business writing. It was only by sheer luck that the company I worked for closed, forcing me to find some other path, and only by an odd combination of chance, drive, and a willingness to dream did I return to my writing so that I could sit here a year later amazed that now I make a living doing it.

And I’m willing to take the dream a little further. I’m willing to dream of writing a novel. Whether it’s this year, next year, or in five years, that dream is mine, and I’m not giving up on it.

Neither should you.

Make Time for Creative Writing

If you don’t have time to write, then make time.

You don’t have to sit down and write ten pages a day. In five minutes, you can jot down a few paragraphs. In fifteen, you can run off a page. Some days, you’ll get lucky and be able to steal an hour or two. Other days, you’ll have to crunch just to get a couple of minutes.

And if you can’t think of anything to write about, then pull out your writing exercises and get to work.

Little Tiny Writing Exercises

A few years ago, I came across this website called One Word. It’s one of those sites you bookmark, then forget about, but rediscover every few months when you’re cleaning out or surfing your favorites. Every time I visit, I use it (because it’s interactive), and by the time I leave, which is maybe a minute and a half later, I feed strangely refreshed and revitalized.

One Word gives you just that — one word. Then it gives you something else. It gives you time. You get sixty seconds to write whatever you want, inspired by that single word, that gift.

It doesn’t sound like much, but every time I’ve visited that site and cranked out a minute’s worth of words, I always feel good when I leave. Like my right brain just got a little massage and the rest of my body is thanking me for it. And whether it’s been hours or days since I last took time to work on my own creative writing, One Word always reminds me that my passions need to have a priority in my life.

It’s a lot like the way I feel when I hear an inspiring, uplifting speech that motivates and moves me. Except at this site, the words aren’t someone else’s, they’re mine. Well, except for that one.

Feed Your Soul

Here’s the thing about creativity: It is food for the soul. It’s the one thing that has a guaranteed return on investment. The more creativity you spend, the better you feel, the more creative you become, and more nourished is your spirit.

People like us need to feed the fire to keep the passion burning. Giving up on your creative writing isn’t an option because if we give up, we dry up. When you feed your right brain, your whole body benefits, and when you feed the fire that is your passion, your whole life and everyone in it reaps the rewards.

It’s called happiness folks.

I like to post writing exercises on Fridays. I’ve been doing this for a year, and it’s starting to feel a lot like a tradition. I think creativity is a phenomenal tradition, don’t you?

So make some time this weekend, take some time, to write. Go to OneWord.com and write for just a minute (surely you can spare sixty seconds — how about right now?) or close all those windows and open up Word, turn off the computer and pick up your journal and just write. Write creatively and then come back and tell me how damn good it feels.

So go write and then keep on writing.

If you have any fiction writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post.

Yes we can.

Writing Exercises: Why Do You Write?

Most writing exercises are designed to give you new writing ideas or hone your writing skills. This one asks you to look in the mirror and ask yourself a critical question:

Why Do I Write?

Every now and then I review all my projects and goals and spend some time determining which ones should be set aside and which are worthy of further pursuit. Inevitably, this always leads me to ask: What do I want to write? Am I a poet or a novelist? A copywriter or an essayist? A blogger or a journalist?

Why do I write anyway?

I recently mentioned that one of my goals is to write for change. Imagine reaching out and having a real impact on the world! Comics write jokes and then give the gift of laughter. Poets use words to captivate our imaginations, tickle our senses, and trigger emotions.

The Force That Drives

There are many forces that drive writers to the page. Some do it for love, for creative expression, or because writing is simply something they must do, a compulsion. Others do it for big money, for fame, or simply to make a living.

But it’s not easy to succeed as a writer. Wendi Kelly of Life’s Little Inspirations recently talked about writing a book, and she put it succinctly: “This is where self-discipline comes in I guess.”

On top of self-discipline, writers are competing in a field that’s saturated with dreamers and overrun with talent. Creativity is fleeting, gigs are sometimes scarce, and far too many novels end up half-finished and buried in the bottom drawer.

Intent to Succeed

For those of us who intend to succeed, to finish that novel, get that poem published, or earn a living wage as a freelancer, it’s imperative that we stay focused. Writing is also one of those endeavors that lends itself exceptionally well to distraction.

One trick for staying focused is to keep your eye on the ball.

Always know where you are in relation to your goals, but more importantly, always remember why you are on the field. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves what our real goals are. Other times, we have to remember why we set those goals in the first place.

Writing Exercises

Fridays at Writing Forward are all about writing exercises. This week’s exercise is a little different, and it’s very simple. All you have to do is answer one question:

Why do you write?

If you have any writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post.

A Writing Exercise in Briefs (Not Underwear)

Brett Legree, who blogs at 6 Weeks explains why blogging for profit is like collecting underpants.

Brett talks about love of craft but he never does ask (or answer) the question that’s on everyone’s mind: boxers or briefs?

Well, I’m here to tell you why some briefs belong on the page and not in your pants.

Boxers or Briefs?

If writing for the web has taught me anything, it’s brevity. I’ve always written short poems. In fact, my poems are so small, I could slide them up my legs and wear them like a bikini. But my other writing tends to be a bit wordy, more like boxers.

And like boxers, wordy writing is long, and that’s no good, especially for online writing.

Sometimes lengthy writing is necessary and it certainly has its place in many different types of writing, like literary novels. However, on the web, most people scan rather than read, so keeping text short and concise is beneficial because your readers will be able to quickly absorb your points without having to stare at the glaring screen for too long. You can also help your readers scan by including sub-headers and breaking up your text into short paragraphs.

But what if you have a tendency to write extremely lengthy pieces?

A Writing Exercise in Brevity

Most writing exercises are designed to get creativity flowing. But this writing exercise challenges you to take a long piece and make it short and sweet.

Luckily, it’s easy. With a few well-placed edits, we can turn boxers into briefs in no time.

Here’s an example of some original text I pulled from one of my many unfinished short stories. I have gone through and crossed out parts that can be eliminated without compromising the integrity of the piece:

Saidra turned her head and took a good hard look up the street. Where were the walkers and joggers that usually passed by throughout the day? She looked the other way. Where were the mommies, with strollers and toddlers in tow, walking their young schoolchildren to their classrooms? She stared straight ahead. Every day, the little old lady across the street came out with her coffee, picked up the newspaper and enjoyed both on her front porch, under a basket of pink and lavendar fuscia. After a quick trip inside, Old Rose, as she was known, always spent the first part of her day tending the garden. Today she was nowhere to be found. The entire street was deserted.

Once I trimmed away the excess, I dressed it up a little, just to make sure it still sounds good and makes sense:

Saidra turned her head and took a good hard look up the street. Where were the walkers and joggers? She looked the other way. Where were the mommies, toddlers in tow, walking youngsters to the nearby school? She stared straight ahead. Every day, the little old lady across the street picked up the newspaper and enjoyed it with a cup of tea on her front porch. Today she was nowhere to be found. The entire street was deserted.

How do you like that? I took this from 119 words down to just 78, and in less than ten minutes. It’s like a strip show for word lovers! Hey, who says a writing exercise can’t be sexy?

Take it Off

Now it’s your turn to tackle this writing exercise. No, you don’t have to take your clothes off. Then again, the weekend’s almost here so maybe you should. You do, however, have to unclothe a piece of your writing.

Pick an poem, story, or blog post that you’ve written. Go through and get rid of words and phrases that aren’t absolutely necessary. Then go through it again, reconnecting everything and rearranging the words that remain so they are compelling. See how short you’re willing to go.

Or, tackle my paragraph and make it even shorter and show off your skills in the comments section. Come on, I dare you!

If you have a writing exercise to share, feel free to post it in the comments or send it in as a guest post.

Writing Exercises: Metaphor and Creativity

I recently realized that the posts I’ve written with metaphors always get a lot of positive feedback and everyone seems to embrace them. I thought why not make writing exercises out of this metaphor craze?

When I first wrote one recent post in particular, it didn’t tie in with food at all. But food became a running metaphor rather spontaneously while I was revising. The food metaphor was so delicious (or maybe I was so hungry) that I rewrote the entire post with food on the brain.

So, what makes a metaphor like this work?

I think the most effective metaphors trigger our senses by connecting an otherwise intangible subject to sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste. If you can engage any of these senses through metaphor, your writing will take on new life. Not only will it become more entertaining and more memorable, it will be easier for readers to relate to what you’re saying.

Using metaphors in writing exercises is a great challenge for engaging readers’ senses. It will also be a lot of fun because tickling the senses is… well… sensual. So let’s try it, shall we? You will need a topic and a metaphor to go with it.

Topic

Just about any topic will do, but keep in mind that some discussions don’t need the help of a metaphor. Subjects like sex, food, music, and anything else that intrinsically affects the senses might not benefit from a metaphor the way more abstract topics will.

Think about subjects you’ve explored recently in your writing. Were there any topics that felt flat or dry? You can revisit those subjects and see how a metaphor adds dimension and makes a piece more compelling.

Also, be on the lookout for two types of metaphoric topics: ones that work and ones that don’t. Some metaphors are just tired and have fallen into cliché status (stopping to smell the roses comes to mind). Look for unique and original metaphors and notice which ones don’t quite make the grade.

Metaphor

Choose one of the senses and come up with something that affects that particular sense. Here are some examples:

• Sight: the bold colors of a Picasso painting, anything with motion (traffic, trains, the sea), scenic landscapes
• Touch: the warmth of velvet, the hard cool of steel, or the scratchy texture of wool
• Taste: foods or flavors — sweet, spicy, rich, or tart
• Sound: city sounds, nature, music, a roaring engine, or absolute quiet
• Scent: spring showers, shampoo and soaps, swimming pools, a wet dog

There is one more metaphor that almost always grabs people’s attention, which has proven to be very effective in advertising, and which could arguably encompass every single one of the five senses. I’ll let you all guess what it is.

Writing Exercises

Now that you have a topic and a metaphor to go with it, it’s time to write. Think about how you can extend the metaphor and weave it throughout your piece. For example, if you’re going to use the bold colors of a Picasso painting, you can play off your metaphor by mixing in new metaphors about canvasses, paintbrushes, color, and light. You can even get into museums, history, and just about any other area where art is part of the context.

Metaphors work well in almost any type of writing so you can use this exercise to draft a blog post, a poem, or even a short story. Try going through your journal or files where you store pieces you’ve written and see if there’s anything that could be reworked and made more enticing through use of a metaphor.

If you don’t want to commit that kind of time to this exercise, then simply jot down some ideas noting topics and metaphors that would complement them. Come up with titles or captions that incorporate both the subject and the metaphor in a clever, creative, and compelling way.

And then, of course, come back here and tell us all about it!

If you have any writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post.

Writing Exercises: Work Your Jaws

We’re writers and that means we spend a lot of time alone tapping on a keyboard. Maybe there’s a little music playing in the background or the occasional sound of an airplane flying overhead, or a dog barking off in the distance, but for the most part, I bet most of us spend our days in relative quiet.

Many writers have commented that computers brought ease, speed, and flexibility to the writing process but good penmanship has been lost. Another thing we’ve lost, which hardly anybody mentions, are our oratory skills.

Work Your Jaws

Before the advent of readily available paper and writing instruments, stories, poems, and history weren’t written down at all. They were passed along through the oral tradition. Today, the ability to read a piece aloud either from memory, from notes, or from a full text, is rare. Yet there are still many venues and mediums in which this skill proves to be quite useful:

• Reading aloud to children either at home, in a classroom, or at a library.
• Recording the audio version of a book, article, short story, or poem (did you know most authors retain audio rights when their works are published?).
• Performing a script for stage, TV, film, or internet video delivery.
• Poetry readings and slam competitions.
• Podcasts!

Even if you’re not going to be the one performing or recording a piece you’ve written, it’s helpful to be able to practice reading it aloud privately so that you can write and revise it accordingly. Read just a few paragraphs of anything you’ve written for print and you’ll quickly realize that preparing text to be recited out loud is completely different.

Writing Exercises in Reading Aloud

Writing exercises don’t always have to involve writing. Sometimes we go over something we’ve already written. For this week’s writing exercise, let’s work our jaws by practicing reading aloud. In fact, let’s do more than read aloud. Try to actually perform a piece of writing! You can choose something you’ve written or a work by someone else. Pick a short story, a poem, or a script (monologues are perfect for this!).

Some tips:

• Choose a piece you like enough to read over and over.
• Select something short, about a page or less. If you have any shorter writing exercises that you’ve completed, use one of those.
• If you can, record your readings and play them back, making notes about what you can improve next time.
• Pick something in your area of specialty — if you’re into fiction, choose an excerpt with dialog. Poet? Choose something with emotional flair.
• Go big with intonations, flourishing your voice, shifting between loud and quiet, and make it your goal to evoke the emotion of the piece.

I’ve heard many professional writers and freelancers say that they hate talking to clients on the phone. Some of us are just better at communicating in writing (I’m one of those people!). Writing exercises like this may not involve actually writing, but they will help you build speaking confidence and improve your writing by readying it for performance or recording.

Also, lots of people squirm when they hear their own voice. If you record yourself and play it back enough times, this discomfort will pass and soon you’ll be able to listen to yourself with ease.

One last tip: if you’re really serious about improving your speaking skills or if you’re interested in getting better at public speaking, check out Toastmasters. They’re sure to have a chapter in your area.

Have a great weekend! And keep on writing!

If you have any writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post.

The Free-Lance Muse and Other Writing Exercises

Just days ago, I suggested you aspiring poets secure a copy of The Practice of Poetry because it’s full of wonderful creative writing exercises that will stir your inner wordsmith.

These writing exercises are designed as much for generating creativity as they are for helping writers craft poetry.

One of the pillars of creative writing is the exploration of different styles and genres. Die-hard poets should take a stab at fiction and short story writers should dabble a little bit in poetry. Experimenting with different styles is fun and it will make your writing sparkle even more.

Today, I thought I’d choose an exercise from the book and share it with you.

Hopefully the authors, editors, and publishers don’t mind. Since I’m rallying sales for them, I doubt they will, so without further ado, I bring you “The Free-Lance Muse,” a creative writing exercise by Ann Lauterbach. Although this exercise (and all the writing exercises in this book) are directed toward poetry writing, I think that it can just as easily be a fiction or freelancing exercise.

The Exercise

Imagine you are a free-lance muse, looking for work. In recent years you have had to supplement your life with various odd jobs — inspiring an ad executive at Nissan in Japan, writing political manifestos for East German dissidents, and typing numerous grant proposals. You’re tired and sad, and want a real poet. Write a job description for the poet you want to inspire.

Now, let me discuss why this exercise lends itself equally to poets, fiction writers, and freelancers. In fact, let me show you. I will tackle this exercise thrice for all the world to see:

Poem

Oh weary poet
I need you once more.
These writings have made me
A capitalist whore.

Fiction

The muse scrawled her ad in haste and sent it off to the printer. Those damn poets! Cheating on her with that digital network of nothingness they call the blogosphere. How dare they abandon her and leave her to sling her tweets at auto manufacturers and political wannabes? A muse typing! Whoever heard of such nonsense?

Freelancing

Feed the freelancer
ten cents a word

Putting Creativity into Writing Exercises

Now, I realize I didn’t totally adhere to the exercise. What makes writing exercises like this fun is letting them trigger your creativity. In another time and place, I might follow the guidelines more closely but I wanted to show how flexible writing exercises can be if you approach them with an open mind.

The interesting aspect of this exercise is that it pulls us into advertising, something all writers must become familiar with in order to get their work to a reading public. Of this exercise, Ann Lauterbach said that it allowed students “to begin to think about and examine what the role of the poet (and of poetry) might be in a consumer-driven economy.”

Care to give it a shot? Take any twist you like on this creative writing exercise and let’s see what you’ve got. In the comments. Virtual drinks are on me. Have a chipper weekend. Cheerio!

If you have any writing exercises to share, feel free to post them in the comments or send them in as a guest post.