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<span class="pro_member_name">Trelawney Goodell</span>
Trelawney Goodell
marketing writer and editor
Seattle, Washington
Posted by Trelawney Goodell, Seattle, Washington | Jul 09, 2009

Subscribe to Writers' Information Sharing and Support - Discussion Writing exercises

I propose that we post nuggets to spark practice writing. (And who knows... someone might be inspired to keep writing!)

For the first one, I'm borrowing from a great book called What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter.

Without mentioning age or relying on direct physical description, write a sentence or two about a character that shows the age. You can use things like style of speech, actions, the way the person completes an action, etc.

6 Bizniks have posted replies

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  • Trelawney Goodell
    Posted by Trelawney Goodell, Seattle, Washington | Jul 09, 2009

    Oh! I forgot to mention that you are welcome to post your writing here but you don't have to.

    Writing exercises are primarily for the writer's benefit. Sharing is optional!

  • Dindy Yokel
    Posted by Dindy Yokel, Atlanta, Georgia | Jul 10, 2009

    Great idea and I adore What If? Another great resource for writing exercises is Rosemary Daniell's Secrets of the Zona Rosa.

  • Trelawney Goodell
    Posted by Trelawney Goodell, Seattle, Washington | Jul 17, 2009

    I'll have to check that out. Thanks! :)

  • Lindsay Berger
    Posted by Lindsay Berger, Stillwater, Minnesota | Aug 04, 2009

    May be weird, but I think stepping away from the computer and putting yourself in a really inconvenient place (away from a pen and paper, nowhere near your keyboard) works wonders for creativity.

    For instance, some of my best ideas come when I'm taking a shower, or going for a walk. I can't tell you how many times I've dashed out of the shower bare-assed to jot something down (sorry for the visual).

    The point is, I don't really know if this qualifies as "an exercise," but when you take the pressure off of writing, it seems like the writing flows more naturally.

    Hope this helps!

    Get marketing copy that won't put prospects to sleep.
  • Trelawney Goodell
    Posted by Trelawney Goodell, Seattle, Washington | Aug 11, 2009

    Kind of a get out of your own way kind of thing? I like it. Thanks for sharing, Lindsay! I know what you mean about ideas coming at inconvenient times. It often happens to me while I'm stuck in traffic. So... I leave myself voice messages. I know dialing and driving isn't super-safe, but it's safer than taking notes!

    A new exercise: Write a journal entry (or 10) as one of your characters. It can be especially challenging to write as someone other than your POV character.

    Happy writing! :)

  • Alex Kecskes
    Posted by Alex Kecskes, Orange County, California | Sep 15, 2009

    Hello, fellow writers. I used to write for an ad agency and some of my best copy was written on napkins at a restaurant. Back at the office, it was really tough, as Hemingway put it, to "face the white bull." Sometimes, great ideas come in seconds, other times, it's hours and hours of nothing.

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