WRITING EXERCISES,
courtesy of the New York Writers’ Coalition and Manhattan Writers’ Workshop
1. Begin a piece of writing with the words, “In the letter you never wrote to me, you said…”
2. Write about a room you know well. It can be a room from your past, the room you have now, or a room you look forward to occupying. It can be a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, dorm room, band hall, auditorium, etc. Describe it with as many details as you can—the color of the paint, the smell of it, the furniture or lack there of, the feelings it inspires. See where it takes you from there.
3. Open to the first page of a favorite book. Copy down the first sentence. Using that as a jumping off point, write a story.
4. Cut words or phrases from magazines and newspapers and keep them in an envelope, adding to the collection whenever you see something that catches your eye. Pull a few out and try to work them into a story. Sometimes the randomness of a word or dissimilar words grouped together can unclog the creative process.
5. I also collect postcards. Occasionally, I will pull a few out and throw them on the bed and pick up the first one that speaks to me. Then I write about what I think is going on in the picture. That often leads me into other, longer writing.