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The writing journey can throw up plenty of surprises. I remember going to my first writing event, many moons ago, and feeling terrified at being set my first writing prompt by someone else. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to do it. I did by the way. You do just get on with it. But there was no way on this earth I was sharing that first effort with anyone! I also had no idea what a variety of writing exercises there are. I have found out since!
Now, I set exercises all the time. I also have responded to many prompts set by others since. I’ve contributed to books of prompts too. I adore writing exercises because they challenge me and I find it fun to respond to that challenge.
It has also helped me no end to realise any response to a writing exercise can only be a rough first draft and you’re in the same boat as other writers at events here. The idea of these things is to help you to think laterally and to come up with stories you wouldn’t have thought of in any other way.
Nobody is going to come up with a perfect first draft. The relief I felt at realising this was and remains enormous. It takes the pressure off (which is good because it can hamper your creativity. You don’t want the “I can’t do this” to become a self-fulfilling prophecy).
For this post, I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned now I set writing exercises and hope these tips help you.
Tips for Setting Writing Exercises
Mix up the types you set, especially for groups, as this will make things more interesting. I love setting and responding to opening line exercises but don’t use these all of the time for this reason.
Think hooks here. I will put in my exercises an interesting situation, character, setting or any combination of those. I want to trigger the “I’ve got to write a story about that” response.
Placing certain words (verbs, adjectives, random words of any kind) in different positions in a story can trigger many exercises. Random numbers can be used for this too – as times, amounts of money, parts of an address and more.
Using objects, photos, other items are great for having a specific focus to a story and so make for good exercises. The writer has to show why these things are so important to the storyline and character(s).
Do practice writing to different kinds of writing exercise yourself as you will get a feel for what works for you best and you’ll inevitably come across different types to challenge you, which you can then share with groups you’re involved with/run. Also it is a good idea to ensure you can do the exercises you plan on setting as it means you know you can do them and you may well discover useful tips you can share with your group.
Mix up the word counts you ask other writers to adhere to – the good news here is you can take a story idea and run it to 100 words, 250 words and so on. So one idea can lead to two or more stories.
Do use the random generators as there is a huge range of these. I’ve found all of the ones I’ve come across to be useful.
When setting a line exercise, mix up where you ask your group to place it in their work. The opening and closing line exercises are the most common but do try setting the line in the middle of the story or in randomly chosen (by you) paragraphs etc. This will give variety. A good tip for writing a middle line exercise is to work out what could lead to it and then what could lead from it separately. Then write the story up.
Do use old school methods here as well including books of prompts and story cubes. They are still useful.
Even if you’re not involved with/run a writing group, if you have an author newsletter and/or website, sharing writing exercises on these platforms can be a great way of engaging with the writers in your following. Sharing the exercises you’ve found useful can also give you something useful to share.
Benefits of Writing Exercises
One of the biggest benefits is writing exercises get you used to the whole idea of writing to a prompt set by someone else. This is great practice for writing competitions with set themes.
With open theme competitions, if you have some draft exercises ready for polishing up and sending, having something already written like this means you know you have something with potential to send in here. You’re not starting entirely from scratch.
If you go to writing events, exercises are usually set. If you’re already used to having a go at these, then the idea of these being set will not faze you.
Writing exercises have given me stories, some of which have gone on to be published, I wouldn’t have invented had I not come across the exercise and responded to it.
Writing Exercise Types
This can’t be a full list as there are loads but some of the most common ones you will come across include the following:-
Opening Line
Closing Line
Using a specific word in a story
Using a specific word in a specific place in a story
Object/photo exercise
An exercise which starts with a line of dialogue.
An exercise which starts with a setting.
Genre exercises – such as writing a crime story.
An exercise where you write in the first person.
An exercise based on a specific character type.
An exercise set to a specific word count. It is a good discipline for flash fiction writers to write across the range. There are various flash competitions and the most common set limits of 50, 100, 250, 300, and 500 words so if you have already practiced writing to these word counts, you’re off to a head start here.
An exercise set to a character’s thought. One advantage of this one over the dialogue one is you can see more of the character’s attitude here and that will then have impact on the story which follows. With the dialogue one, the character may hold back from saying all they want to and there will be good reasons for that. Also the thought based one is a good one to show readers your narrator may or may not be a reliable one.
Conclusion
I know writing exercises have helped me develop my career, both with published work thanks to them, and also in now setting them on a monthly basis for the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group.
Writing exercises have stretched me as writer, have challenged me to think laterally, and in submitting polished work to competitions have increased my proficiency at meeting deadlines and getting more work out there.
Most importantly of all, they’re fun. They regularly get my writing sessions off to a good start and they are great for “warming you up” ahead of writing longer works.
Why not give them a go? If you’re already doing that, why not try new ones to you and see where they take you?
After all, I responded to CafeLit’s 100 words challenge and two books later, with a third one the way, I think I made a good call in responding to that one!
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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