From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Cut-and-Paste Poetry
Today’s poetry writing exercise comes from my book 101 Creative Writing Exercises. The exercises in this book encourage you to experiment with different forms and genres while providing inspiration for publishable projects and imparting useful writing techniques that make your writing more robust. This exercise is from “Chapter 8: Free Verse.” It’s titled “Cut-and-Paste Poetry.”…Read More
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Symbols and Symbolism
Today’s post comes from my book 101 Creative Writing Exercises (aff link). This is from “Chapter 5: Fiction.” Let’s take a look at symbolism in fiction. Symbols and Symbolism In Alice and Wonderland, a white rabbit appears, and Alice follows him down the rabbit hole that leads to Wonderland. The white rabbit is a herald —…Read More
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Everyone Has an Opinion
Today’s creative writing exercise comes from my book, 101 Creative Writing Exercises, which takes you on a adventure through various forms of creative writing: fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. This exercise is called “Everyone Has an Opinion,” and it’s from “Chapter 9: Philosophy, Critical Thinking, and Problem Solving.” Enjoy! Everyone Has an Opinion All good…Read More
Storytelling Exercise: Character Analysis
Today’s storytelling exercise is an excerpt from my book, Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which helps beginning to intermediate storytellers develop skills in the craft of fiction writing. This exercise explores one of the most important elements of any story: the characters. It’s called “Character Analysis.” Enjoy! Character Analysis Characterization may be the single most…Read More
Storytelling Exercise: Process
Today’s storytelling exercise comes from my book Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which is packed with lessons and exercises for beginning to intermediate storytellers. This one is about developing a process. Enjoy! Process A typical writing process includes the following steps: brainstorm, outline, research, draft, revise, edit, proof, and publish. Sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? But…Read More
Three Poetry Writing Exercises
If you’re going to exercise, it’s a good idea to warm up first. That way, you’ll get your body geared up to do the heavy lifting, the hard running, and the strenuous workout. Writing’s no different. Poetry writing exercises are ideal when you’re feeling uninspired or lazy, or maybe your poetry is getting stale and…Read More
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