What a fabulous time I had sharing a (much-abbreviated) version of “Write ’til You’re Blue in the Face” with over 40 writers at the WRWA (Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Assocation) Fall Writers’ Conference in Madison this past weekend!
Participants graciously shared their own favorite exercises and practices that help them over the hump of writer’s block and keep their writing fresh:
Our Favorite Writing Exercises/Practices- Choose a new point-of-view: helps me when I need to see my other characters and make them 3D instead of stick figures. (C.M.)
- Keeping a journal (L.M.)
- I had a teacher who made us write this sentence: “I am the best thing that ever happened to me!” I keep reminding myself of that fact! (M. N.)
- Translating idioms between English and Italian (anonymous)
- I have my students sit at a ready computer. I give them a topic to type at the top of the page. They print their name a few lines below it. They hit “enter” twice. Then I ask them to shut off their monitor and start typing. (B. J.)
- I go to Bartlett’s Quotations, pick one and then write whatever comes to me about this quote. Many good essays have sprung from this. (E. C. H.)
- Reduce a story you want to tell to this outline:
- 1.)Complication 2.)Development focus #1, #2, #3 3.)Resolution, which solves the complication (S. W.)
- Keep a sketchbook. I stole the idea from an artist friend who has a sketchbook. I just write descriptions of people, places, things, actions. No point but to record impressions to use later. (A. D.)
- Writing prompts, short story using no pronouns, 50-word story (J. S.)
- Writing prompts from objects and pictures (R. A.)
- I write a column for a local newspaper. It appears twice a month. I write a second column once a month after I interview an older couple or single who are in their “golden years” and do much for the community. (L. H.)
- I sit down with paper and pen – use my “Neo” sometimes, when pen is not fast enough to get down my thoughts. Off/On switch on the “Neo” – start to write, Save button pressed, and that’s it. Use USB for computer – haven’t done that yet. (L. M.)
- Word limits. Pick-a-word. (K. S.)
- I randomly pick a phrase or sentence from a book and expand on it. I also like rocks – perspective, shape, color, feelings. (L. F.)
- I have a really fun book called, This is Not a Book. It’s good for curing writer’s block. (T. F.)
- I hope to get into journaling. (L. J.)
- My friend lives out of state and is a retired English professor. We email each other numerous times during the day–writings, our composites of each of our lives–and have been printed out in 3 hugs boxes. My children will be able to know who I am after I die. (C. L.)
- Write poetry from pre-assigned nouns, verbs and adjectives. (anonymous)
- First line jump-offs. [using the first line of another work to get started](S. L.)
- Journal writing that expands a single thought. (J. W.)
- Describe the individual by a walk through the individual’s house, just by observation of what you’ve seen. (D. G.)
- Pick a number from 1-10 and write about things associated with that number. (J. C.)
- Write on Twitter. (G. M.)
- Take an emotion and an object (put many of each example in a hat and choose blindly. Then try to connect the two words. (L. B.)
- I sometimes get ideas from newspapers/headlines. (J. S.)
- Basing a character on a photograph and starting to describe the person from a hidden vantage point. (B. C.)
- I write my first draft in pencil before I go to the keyboard. Exercise: Try to write a formal poem – to get the discipline of the structure (as I pull out my hair!) (S. M.)
- Photographic memories. [writing from photographs](J.V.)
- Choose a word from a dictionary. Build a story or memory from it. Also, Bartlett’s Book of Quotes, start from those. (J. G.)
- Freewriting. Even if I know exactly what I am going to write, I freewrite for 5 minutes to get the juices flowing. (R. L.)
- I keep a small notebook in my purse. When I hear a phrase I like, I write it down, trying to leave it open-ended. I go through these when I sit down to write a post for my blog and look for what
“hits” me. (anonymous)
Many thanks to those who participated and shared their ideas!
