Five Writing Exercises for New Authors

In the same way an athlete needs specific exercises to keep his or her muscles in top condition, writers need to do writing exercises to exercise their brains!  Although we'd all like to believe we can sit down and words will come flowing out of us, this is not always the case.  We need to do exercises to get the creative process going. Here are five exercises you can do now to get your creative juices flowing:


1. Write a six-word memoir. That’s all! Just write down six words that sum up your life, your philosophy or a highlight of your life.  Learn more about this process at smithmag.net/sixwords

2. Go out and do something daring, wonderful, amazing or inspiring, and then sit and write about it! It doesn’t have to be a steep mountain climb or jumping headlong into the Amazon River.  Maybe you could visit a lonely resident in the nearest convalescent home and really listen to what they have to say, and then sit and write about it. After you do this, list 10 questions that a stranger might ask you about it. Now, write a few sentences that will answer to each question. I promise you that you won’t be able to stop this part of the exercise after just a few sentences!

3. What are seven things about which you are absolutely sure?  Make a list! For example, do you believe there is a God or not? Start there. Once you have your list, select one of the things and expand on it with details and examples.

4. What question has gone unanswered for you? Begin researching the answer to that question. Using this exercise is the way I decided on the topic for my dissertation. I had always wondered if the attitudes of reading teachers made a difference in the progress of students' reading skills. After surveying the literature and researching in five schools, I had my answer and wrote it up in my dissertation. You can do the same with any question and write an article, letter or blog post about with what you discovered.

5. If these exercises do not suit you, then what social experiment can you conduct and write about?  Perhaps there is a community concern going on that is of interest to you, and you can write down your observations about what you feel.

If you can find the time to do one or all of the exercises, you will be exercising your imagination and improving your writing skills.  Many times the hardest step for first-time writers is finding something to write about!  These exercises provide a starting point for you and will give you a purpose to sit down and write.