Creative writing exercises are a great and fun way to stimulate your imagination, and aid you in the process of writing. “Creativity is a magic wand that works two ways. When you set it in action and seek to create something, it does not just brings into existence that object or work, it also raises in your heart a dream, a hope, and a will to achieve that creation. And when all else seems lost and steeped in hopelessness, the magic of creativity can still keep you going. For when all else seem dark, an urge to create something would still give you an aim to look forward to. And if you just take hold of this urge, it will take hold of you and see you through even the darkest times. Like it did to me.”
― Jyoti Arora, the author of Dream’s Sake
So, here are some creative writing exercises that may stimulate your writing:
1. Dramatic situations
Life is filled with dramas, tragic, serious or comic. Make use of the situations that life offers you in your writing. A few examples given below could form the beginning, the middle or the end of your writing:
• I saw a shadow on the wall.
• One day my mother divulged a secret.
• The envelope slid under the door.
• I felt a presence behind me. I turned back and saw none.
• You open the fridge to find a skull.
2. Abstract ideas
Abstract creative writing exercises offer more freedom in your writing. On one hand, there is very less information for you to rely on, and on the other hand you could draw more ideas from your imagination:
• The scent of rosemary and thyme.
• The painting on the wall reminded her…
• The familiar smell of the rain…
• The dark liquid trickled down…
• The distant mountains shone…
3. Journal thoughts
Try maintaining a creative writing journal. While it is not easy to write it religiously, writing in a journal is no hard task. All you need to do is plan and challenge yourself to write something different every time you leaf through your journal:
• DAY 1 – Write about somebody you like.
• DAY 2 – Write about the same person; include a few traits that you like about him/her.
• DAY 3 – Write about some incident or invent an incident in this person’s life that made him/her endearing to you.
• DAY 4 – Write about a good incident that you and your favorite person encountered.
• DAY 5 – Create a few dialogues that you would have shared or will share when you both would meet up.
4. The five Ws story
If you are short of time, a quick creative writing exercise may trigger your imagination. Try writing a who+what+why+when+where story. Here is an example:
• Who? Serena Wills (you can think of more interesting names later).
• What? Serena Wills went walking in the woods.
• Why? She works as a hairdresser, and leads a crime ring in her spare time.
• When? On a summer’s day in March, she went walking in the woods.
• Where? Serena Wills is now on a small island, near Scotland.
If you want to add more twists and depth to your story, include a how element. How did Serena land on an island? She got abducted! Now all you need to do is add more details.
5. Famous lines from novels
Great lines from novels are a great way to inspire your creative writing:
• When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him – McCarthy, The Road
Now imagine this situation and continue your writing. You could alter your writing like this: When he woke up in the middle of the cold and eerie night, he discovered that the sleeping child was no longer beside him.
• As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin – Kafka, Metamorphosis
You could revise your writing like this: As he woke up one morning from uneasy dreams, he discovered that in place of his hands he had paws.
Image credit: Tulane Public Relations on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0
I’m Smitha Abraham. I love traveling in my flights of imagination and use these flights to craft short stories and poetry. I am a budding writer from India. My passions are reading, creative writing, listening to music, learning new languages, meeting new people, getting acquainted with different cultures and traveling. Authors like Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, genres like magic realism, historical romance, and writing styles that are imaginative and flow effortlessly fascinate me. I love to unwind with a book curled up on a sofa or by gazing at the stars by the sea shore. I am a nature lover and spending time admiring the sunset and sunrise is relaxing for me.