Archive for the 'Writing Hints' Category

Everyone can get into a rut with their writing.

One solution is to change your writing environment. Here is a list of some possible places where you can do your writing:

1. In the garden.
2. At the beach.
3. Sitting by a lake.
4. On the grass on a river bank.
5. In your local library.
6. In your local coffee shop.
7. In your local hotel.
8. In a national park.
9. In a forest.
10. In a friend’s house while they are at work or shopping.
11. In a church (but not during a service – though I’ve had some great writing ideas while listening to a sermon).
12. In a swimming pool (not recommended if you are using a laptop).
13. In the bath (forget the laptop here too).
14. In bed.

I think I’ll take number 14 right now – it’s a few minutes before midnight.

Good night and good writing.

Further reading:

• Writing hints – an archive of ideas and hints to help you with your writing.

I quite often use a warm up writing exercise before I begin the main writing tasks or projects for the day. Sometimes I write in my journal and sometimes I write a new short fiction story.

Writing exercises:

Another good writing exercise is to write character sketches. Here are some suggestions:

1. Choose a person you know well: write a character sketch about that person.
2. Sit on a bench in a park: observe the other people there and choose one person to write about.
3. Go to your favourite coffee shop: observe the other people having coffee and write about one of them.
4. Watch the first ten minutes of a movie you’ve never seen before with the sound turned off: write a character sketch of one of the characters in the film.
5. Choose a photo of a person from a magazine, someone you know nothing about: write a character sketch about that person.
6. Read through the death notices in your local newspaper, choosing one person you have never heard of before: write a character sketch about that person.
7. Choose a name at random from the telephone directory: write about that person.

What to include:

• Describe the appearance of the person, both body features and clothing.
• Outline about four or five major events in the person’s life.
• Describe the person’s personality.
• Write down three or four sayings the person loves to use in everyday life.
• List the preferred food, drinks and recreational activities of your character.

Follow up activity:

If the character sketch becomes so interesting and powerful as you write, how about letting the character take over and tell his or her own story? There might well be a short story lurking there waiting to be released. Perhaps even a novel?

Good writing.

Further reading:

• Writing hints – an archive of articles full of writing hints and ideas.
• Short fiction – a listing of short stories I’ve written as writing exercises.
• Short story starters – a series of articles listing many ideas to start you off with writing stories. (Very popular)

This activity can be used in a variety of ways:

• It could be used as a warm up writing exercise to get your brain working.
• It could be used when the dreaded writer’s block comes to visit.
• It could be used as the basis of a blog post.

So it is one thing to say “make a list.”

What kind of list?

Below I have listed some things you could make a list about – but really, the list is limited only by your imagination.

A list of possible list topics:

1. Make a list of your favourite foods.
2. Make a list of your favourite drinks.
3. How many birds can you list?
4. Make a list of things you did last week.
5. Rank on a list the best ten books you have read.
6. Make a list of the songs you can sing (or whistle) from memory.
7. In alphabetical order, make a list of the cities (or countries) you have visited.
8. Make a list of people you know whose names start with A or C or F or P.
9. How many names of countries can you list?
10. Make a list of writers who have influenced you.
11. Make a list of the bloggers who regularly comment on your blog.
12. Make a list of mountain names.
13. How many oceans and seas can you list?
14. List the most important ten events in your life.
15. List the things you wish to accomplish today or this week.

Good writing.