From Story Drills: Deathtrap and Deus Ex Machina
Today’s fiction writing exercise is an excerpt from my book, Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises. This exercise presents two storytelling devices: the deathtrap and deus ex machina. Enjoy! Deathtrap and Deus Ex Machina If you’ve ever read a story in which characters are rescued from a dire situation in a way that is truly unbelievable,…Read More
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: People Are People
101 Creative Writing Exercises takes you on an adventure through the world of creative writing. You get to experiment with fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction while learning useful writing techniques. Today I’d like to share one of the exercises from the book. This is from “Chapter 3: People and Characters.” The exercise is titled “People…Read More
Writing Exercises: Writer, Know Thyself
Today’s writing exercise is an excerpt from 101 Creative Writing Exercises, a book packed with creative writing exercises and ideas. This exercise comes from chapter 2, “It’s Personal,” and it’s called “Writer, Know Thyself.” Enjoy! Writer, Know Thyself This exercise asks you to look in the mirror and ask yourself a critical question: Why do…Read More
Poetry Writing Exercises: Using Connotation to Find the Perfect Word
Poetry writing exercises are an excellent way to develop writing skills, especially skills that are essential to writing compelling poetry. Writing exercises can provide us with new perspectives, techniques, and ideas that strengthen and improve poems we’ve written and poems we have yet to write. Words are the most basic building blocks for writers, and…Read More
Writing Dialogue: A Storytelling Exercise
Today’s fiction writing exercise is excerpted from Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which includes lessons and exercises that help beginning to intermediate storytellers study and practice the craft of storytelling. This exercise, which is from a chapter on narrative, focuses on dialogue. Enjoy! Dialogue Dialogue is one of the most compelling elements of any narrative….Read More
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: You’re the Expert
Here’s an excerpt from 101 Creative Writing Exercises, a book that takes writers on an inspired journey through different forms and genres of writing while offering comprehensive writing techniques, practical experience, and ideas for publishable projects. Each chapter focuses on a different form or concept: freewriting, journaling, fiction, poetry, creativity, and article writing are all covered….Read More
Poetry Writing Exercise: Creative Wordplay
Charles Dickens invented the word boredom. Sylvia Plath coined the term dreamscape. William Shakespeare gave us bandit, swagger, and gossip, along with over 1,700 other words that previously didn’t exist in the English lexicon. Writers have a long history of inventing new words, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. When we encounter an idea or…Read More
Fiction Writing Exercises: Narrative Arcs
Today’s fiction writing exercise is an excerpt from my book, Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises. This one focuses on story structure and examines narrative arcs within stories and across multiple scenes and installments of a story. Enjoy! Narrative Arcs An arc has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The events within an arc result…Read More
Setting in Time
Today’s fiction writing exercise is an excerpt from my book, Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which imparts lessons and techniques on the craft of storytelling and provides practical exercises for study and practice. This exercise focuses on story’s setting and more specifically, making sure readers know when every scene in a story takes place. Enjoy!…Read More
An Exercise from Story Drills: Theme
Today’s fiction writing exercise is an excerpt from my book, Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises. This one focuses on theme, the central message and deeper meaning of a story. Enjoy! Theme is often described as the message of a story, but this description doesn’t do it justice. Theme is also the central meaning of a…Read More
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